Make It Easy for Your Clients to Pay You for Your Services When They Are Ready - BobWP Monetizer Podcast

Yes, we can set up ways for people to purchase our services easily on our WordPress site. But are you ready for that moment when they want to buy now. An easy page where they can pay you the amount you have agreed upon. That is what we are talking about today.

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Although this podcast is not focused on helping you run your business, but more on effective ways of monetizing your WordPress site, the ability to get clients to pay on the spot is helpful for anyone selling their services online.

Back when I was providing WordPress design, coaching and training, I tested many different ways that my clients could pay me easily, the best ways to get their money into revenue stream faster.

Keep in mind,  most of what I go over here does not apply to checks you receive by direct deposit,  where you don’t incur some kind of a processing fee on your end.

Packaged Prices Work Best with Online Payments

From experience, I found that service packages under $1,000 are easier to get full payment up front. Anything beyond that, the 50-percent upfront deposit is your best bet. Then it’s a matter of setting up a cart or product on your site for your service package as you would for any other product.

What WordPress Plugin to Use?

You can easily set up a PayPal button, but using an eCommerce plugin, a platform similar to Cart66, or even a contact form,  will give your service a more professional look.

In the example below, I am using the WooCommerce plugin. And although it may seem overkill for such simple needs, it might be a good choice if you are looking to branch out into products or memberships down the road.

The WooCommerce plugin creates a professional and attractive purchase page for your WordPress site.

You can also do it with your contact form plugin if you have one with the right features and payment integrations. A good example of two of these are Gravity Forms and WPForms.

For example, I use Gravity Forms, which allows me to set up payments through my forms via PayPal, Stripe and others. I can then create a page, adding the form at the end with the information I need, as well as the purchase function.

The other advantage of using a contact form for this is it’s much easier to set up the form to collect additional useful data.

Per-Hour and Retainer Sales

If you provide any kind of support or professional services, you might consider offering retainers or by-the-hour purchasing. You are typically paid in full to start and you provide either a specific service or a set number of hours, depending on the terms. The most important part with retainers is that you need to be clear on what you can and cannot provide,  as well as an expiration date on them (or a client may come back three years later and try to claim the rest of their unused hours).

WordPress Plugins

Again, using WooCommerce, you could set something up like this.

You can also use a forms plugin, although WooCommerce has an easy way to group the options as shown above.

What I Call the Catch-all Page

Depending on whether the cost of your services fit into a packaged price or a retainer, this is an option that seals that delivery of payment even quicker.

There are going to be times when you are talking with a potential client online, either through email, a Skype call or maybe even a Twitter exchange. Let’s say they needed some of your coaching time, and they describe to you exactly what they need.