Great News For Service Business Owners – Martin Lewis Sells MoneySavingExpert.com For £87 Million
There is great news today for all small service business owners across the UK.
One of my main traits of advice when marketing a service business is to tell you to use personality. In a professional services firm this is even more important as so often accountants, solicitors, architects etc are considered ‘stand-offish’ by the very nature of their professional service.
Other service business owners like consultants or coaches worry that using their personality all over the website and in their other promotions makes it look like a small business, or that if their long term plan is to sell it it is much better to have a ‘faceless’ business which is not dependent upon them or their image.
Well, proof today that you need not worry about this (and that my advice is right).
Martin Lewis, the chap who really is the MoneySavingExpert.com website, who plasters his face all over his website, is on television and radio all of the time promoting his website and money saving, has sold his website for £87 million. MoneySupermarket.com is the buyer and they recognise that the brand and the following he has created make this a good investment. It might have been Martin Lewis’ face, comments, television appearances etc. that has got the website to this stage of popularity, but it is the regular users of the website who MoneySupermarket.com are paying £87 million for. They now have a database of millions of people who they can softly softly promote their website to.
So if you are a small or medium sized service business owner, whether professional services or general services, be proud of your brand and your website. Plaster images of yourself and your staff all over your website and all over your promotional materials (people are sick and tired of ‘Stock Photography’). Be proud of your business, even if you intend to sell it one day. You might just add some zeros to your turnover and profit, and in time a few extra zeros to the sale price too!
Well done to Martin Lews, good job indeed!