How to write a winning service

First of all, keep in mind that a service is a unique and specific offering, delivered exclusively online. A service is not a list of a range of things you can do. If you want to offer several different services, you must create separate entries for each one. Once you have chosen the service or services that you wish to offer, you will need to fill in various sections to write an effective ad. 

Here’s an example of a finalized service displayed on the website.

HEADING AND CATEGORY

Heading

Your heading must describe what your basic offer is, without any options. Basic offers start at $5, or more if you meet all the requirements.

You must complete the following sentence: “I will...” and then present your basic offer. As soon as you start typing, the three dots disappear and the rest is added automatically. For example, if your service is creating a logo, you should write: “create your logo”.

✅ Your heading is important for searches. If you write nothing but “I will make a logo”, you will not optimize the search. If instead, you write “I will help you create a professional logo for your company”, the number of keywords will be higher, and you will appear in more searches. ✅  Do not mislead buyers with a heading that promises more than what you can actually offer. Be clear and honest.✅  A heading can set you apart from other sellers. Be creative and inventive.

Category

You can add only one and it must relate to your basic offer only. Make sure to browse all our categories as it’s likely that one of them corresponds exactly to what you offer. By selecting the right category, you’re helping our team of moderators as they won’t have to correct or change a thing. If you make a mistake, don’t worry — we’ll take care of it. 

Once our team of moderators has updated the category, it cannot be edited.

STARTING PRICE, DESCRIPTION, AND DEADLINE

Starting price

You can choose your starting price based on your ComeUp Plus plan. 

💵 If you do not have a ComeUp Plus plan, you are limited to a starting price of a maximum of $100.

💵💵 With the Standard plan, you can have a starting price of a maximum of $250. 

💵💵 With the Premium plan, you can have a starting price of a maximum of $1,000. 

✅ Starting at $5 will not place you at a disadvantage! On the contrary. In general, buyers are reassured when they feel like they are ‘in control’ of the price. They can choose to start with the $5 basic offer or select options. Seeing the difference between what they can have with or without options may make them want to spend more. Don’t underestimate the psychological impact that starting at $5 can have on buyers.

✅  Starting at more than $5 will help you attract a different type of clientele: fewer in number but more demanding. However, you must be experienced because there is no tolerance for trial & error. You will need to develop your offer differently. For example, starting with a rate of $100 and adding options means that you will reach fewer buyers. As such, you must have a solid profile with good statistics and reviews to play it safe.

✅  The best strategy is to offer smart combinations of services. If you design websites, for example, offer a service starting at $5 with tiered options. Then offer another service for $500 or more — a more premium, comprehensive service on which you will spend more time. By doing so, you will appeal to all types of buyers.

Description

The description must be long enough (buyers will never go for a service described in just three sentences) and contain all the information required to understand your service. Above all, it must not contain any errors. Descriptions that are too short and written in a hurry will not inspire trust in potential buyers and you are unlikely to make any sales.

In this example, you will find excerpts from the description of a service offered by Patrice, a web editor. Please remember that this is only an example. Please do not copy the text, or any other text that appears on this website or elsewhere online.

1️⃣ Catch your buyer’s attention

Your intro is essential because it must catch your buyer’s attention. Why should buyers be interested in your service? What problems can you help them solve? 

Are you looking for more than just a web editor? Are you looking to do more than just writing text for the sake of it? Would you like an effective strategy to encourage visitors to keep coming back and turn them into prospects? Customers even? Or better yet, ambassadors who love your content? As you’ve undoubtedly realized, there’s more than one kind of web editor. You seek quality, not quantity.

Some people focus blindly on SEO and inundate their texts with keywords without paying much attention to how well the text flows. They forget their main target: human beings, who are likely to skim through the text. They are your future customers... You’ve put in time and money into driving them to your page, so don’t scare them away with on-page SEO that is devoid of any interest just to reach the top of Google search results.

Many web editors settle for ready-made templates without heart or soul. On some websites, the texts have just as much appeal as flavorless ready-meals. 🤢

Highly technical blog posts, meanwhile, must be accurate and thoroughly researched. Nevertheless, if they are skillfully presented, they are easy to digest and useful. Such chemistry cannot be achieved in just a few minutes of undervalued, run-of-the-mill writing. The posts published on your page are priceless, they are your treasure — don’t sell them short. 💸

2️⃣  Spark your buyer’s interest

It’s time to talk about you and what you sell to make people want to buy from you.

I have been a webmaster for more than 17 years. Having worked with one of the best SEO companies in France, I have learned everything there is to know about web marketing and SEO. I have worked in several different business, trade and service areas.

More specifically, I’m a copywriter. My words are crafted not only to be read but also to convince readers to do something specific. I am also an author and train others in web editing and have done since 2018. I have taught hundreds of students as part of one of the most renowned online training courses in the field. My combination of skills means that I can guarantee expertly crafted copy, both in terms of marketing and high editorial quality. I have every reason to go above and beyond in my work, and I promise to do so.

3️⃣ Convince your buyer to place an order

Your service can be bought as a standalone offer, but you can add options for a more comprehensive and appealing offering. List all your prices and delivery times here. End with a call to action that will encourage buyers to place an order.

As part of my basic offer, I will write the start of an article (around 100 words). If you want to take things further, you can choose from the options below:

✅ Select the option that corresponds to the package you want in the form below and click on the blue “Buy now” button, and I will get to work quickly. Your satisfaction is my priority.

⭐️ Do you have any questions? Get in touch using the blue button under my profile: “Ask a question”. I will be delighted to get back to you as quickly as possible.

That’s the end of our example. After writing your description, proofread what you wrote and make sure your text:

✅ Doesn’t contain any errors

✅ Describes your offers accurately so that buyers can place orders without needing to ask questions

✅ Contains several keywords that will make you appear in the search results

✅ Is original and not copied from elsewhere

Delivery time

The delivery time is the time you will need to do everything you have set out in your service from the moment that you accept an order. 

For example:

- If a buyer sends you a text to correct, it’s the time that it will take you to deliver the correction.

- If a buyer requests one hour of coaching, it’s the time that it will take you to complete the hour of coaching. You can only deliver after you’ve done the work required, so allow enough time to agree to a meeting.

- If a buyer wants you to manage an advertising campaign for 30 days, it’s the time that it will take you to complete the work, so at least 30 days. As such, your delivery time cannot be shorter than that. 

❗️ The delivery time for your order is the total time that you have specified for your basic service AND any additional options the buyer has chosen. The delivery time for an order can never exceed five months.

❗️ If your delivery time is too short, you are bound to deliver late. If you deliver an unfinished order to avoid delivering late, you risk having your account suspended. Make sure you specify a sufficient delivery time for your basic service and all your options.

OPTIONS

A service starts with your basic price ($5 or more), but remember that you can upsell by using our options system. Buyers spend $70 on average per order, so don’t be afraid to present the additional options you offer.

Each option must follow these rules:

✅ An option must complement the basic service. If it does not, it will be refused. For example, you cannot offer to create a logo as an option for a writing service.

✅ An option must be clear and easy to understand, and it should not contain any errors or be ambiguous. Feel free to use the service description if you need to describe the option.

✅ An option must be independent of other options. You cannot force buyers to bundle several options.

✅ An option should make the buyer want to pay more, thus increasing your average order value.

If you will spend time on an option, specify a delivery time for it. It will be added to the total delivery time if a buyer chooses it. For example, the delivery time will be extended if an option is chosen that takes an extra 15 days to complete compared to the delivery time for your basic offer.

If you are a seller with the ComeUp Plus Premium plan, don’t be afraid to select a recommended option. Your buyers will see the recommended option by default in addition to the basic service. We give an example in this service.

💥 Good to know: You can change the order in which your options appear. Your service page will display the order you set. 

EXPRESS DELIVERY

The delivery time can be shortened if the buyer chooses express delivery. Express delivery can be applied to your basic offer as well as your additional options.

For example:

You offer a service with the following tasks and delivery times:

Basic offer: I will create a logo in 4 days

Premium package: 1 additional day

Gold package: No additional days.

Express delivery is designed to shorten the delivery time, so you can set one for your basic offer (option 1) and option 3. Then you can specify how many days you can shave off and how much it will cost.

Basic offer: One day faster, $10 more.

Premium package: No difference in price.

Gold package: Two days faster, $40 more.

If the buyer chooses the basic offer and the “Add all rights reserved” option when they place their order, both of which are available for express delivery, they will be asked if they would like the project to be delivered quicker for $10 + $40 = $50. The website combines all express deliveries.

INSTRUCTIONS

For most services, you need certain information from the buyer to complete the task.

For example:

- To translate, you need the source text.

- To create a logo, you need complete specifications from the buyer, namely: style, colors, font, examples of what the buyer likes, the buyer’s field of business, their website, and so on.

- To conduct a coaching session, you need to have a date when the buyer is available.

⚠️ Bear in mind that whatever you write in this box is the first message your buyer will receive after they place an order.

Remember to write it in the form of full sentences: “Hello, thank you for your order. Please send me the document to translate in an editable format as soon as possible so I can get to work for you.”

If you don’t need any instructions, just check the relevant box.

IMAGES AND VIDEO

You can add up to ten images and one video. The order you choose on this page will be the order in which the images are displayed on the service. The first image will be the main image and will appear in categories and search results. 

If you put the video in the first position, it will appear as the second item in your images. 

Each option must follow these rules:

✅ You must own all the rights to the images and videos that you use or they must be royalty-free.

✅  The allowed formats are JPG, PNG, and GIF and the ideal size is 260*708 pixels (or bigger as long as the aspect ratio of 16:9 is kept)

✅ The main image is CRUCIAL. It’s what will draw visitors to your offer and entice them to click on it.

✅ The main image must show your basic offer. This means that it must advertise your $5 offer and not a more expensive option, it cannot be off-topic (e.g. a photo of a kitten when you offer writing services), and it cannot be a photo of you (that’s what your profile picture is for). You should also make sure that all the other images reflect the service that you’re selling in case you want to use them.

A question in our FAQ is about our image editor, which you can use to create a beautiful image relating to your service.

Another question in our FAQ is about what you are not allowed to include in an image (for example: your statistics, images of stars, etc.)

WANT TO FIND OUT MORE?

ComeUp has created comprehensive training videos to help you create a service, optimize it, sell more effectively, and much more. You can watch them all at https://comeup.com/en/sales/training

You will also find many topics on how to improve in the seller forum or by asking directly on our Discord channel.