Maybe you’re busy with carpooling the kids, maybe you’re pinning Halloween projects and can’t quite spare me a moment.  Maybe you’re in such a happily catatonic state from sipping pumpkin spice lattes that you haven’t even read the blog in 11 days.  Just know this: you missed it.

I gave you the key to making more money without changing a damn thing in your business, save a few paragraphs — and you missed it.  Here it is again, peeps, using a different example.  Ignore it again, and I’m gonna…I’m gonna go all SOY MILK on your LATTE.  Yah!  Yah, that!  Ooooh, scary, I know…please don’t make me do that.

Words sell stuff.

You’ll sell more stuff if you use better words.

Here is the way to make the words.

First, let’s fill a piece of paper with common questions your best clients have asked prior to working with you.

A list for those who sell services:

What is the service, in a nutshell?
What happens during the service?
Is there anything special I should do the day/week before we work together to get ready for our time together?
How many sessions/massages/psychic interludes do you conduct per week? Per month?
How much does your typical service cost? (Note the use of ‘typical,’ not ‘basic.’)
What’s included in your typical service package?
How far in advance are you booked?
What makes you qualified to provide these services?
What happens if I don’t like the outcome of our time together?

So, let’s say I’m a photographer. On this page, I want to sell a portrait session.

What is the service, in a nutshell? A portrait session with yours truly lasting up to 90 minutes.

What happens during the service? We laugh and play together.  You’ll hardly notice a camera is present.

Is there anything special I should do the day/week before we work together to get ready for our time together? I’ll send you a list of tips and tricks to prepare for our time together.  From fashion to snack ideas, it’s all covered!

How many sessions/massages/psychic interludes do you conduct per week? Per month? I shoot 3 sessions per week.

How much does your typical service cost? (Note the use of ‘typical,’ not ‘basic.’) $250.

What’s included in your typical service package? Up to 90 minutes of shooting, transportation to and from the session site, a ‘Get Prepared!’ kit, pre-session consultation, and an ordering session three weeks after the portraits are completed.

How far in advance are you booked? 6 weeks.

What makes you qualified to provide these services? Member of PPA

What happens if I don’t like the outcome of our time together? This hasn’t happened yet — but if it does, I’m happy to offer a full refund of your session fee.

Now, let’s ditch the questions and weave them into our answers!

A portrait session with this member of the Professional Photographers Association lasts up to 90 minutes, during which time we’ll laugh and play together.  (You’ll hardly notice a camera is present.)  You’ll be totally prepared for your session, because I’ll send you a list of tips and tricks to prepare for our time together.  From fashion to snack ideas, it’s all covered!

Your $250 session fee includes up to 90 minutes of shooting, my travel to and from the session site, a pre-session consultation, your ‘Get Prepared!’ kit, and an ordering session three weeks after the portraits are completed.  Because I accept only 3 sessions per week, I am often booked six weeks in advance.  Please call me at xxx-xxx-xxxx to discuss your portrait session ideas!

Oh, and if you hire me for a session and are not 100% pleased with the outcome, I’m happy to offer a full refund of your session fee.  That’s never happened, but the offer is there if you need it.

Now, imagine reading the paragraphs we just created versus ‘$250 includes photographer’s time and talent’ as the sole indicator of session experience on a photographer’s website.  Who would YOU hire? 

If you change only one thing in your business this year, make it the words on your website.

To sell products — like albums or digital files, you’ll need a separate set of questions.  Find them here.

Got questions? Already did this?  Confused or intrigued or just wanna say hi?  Hit me in the comments.