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Breathe Life into Your Home Business
by: Kit Lum
Have you been struggling with sales? Are you lamenting that you haven’t made
a single cent from your online business, and that no matter what you do, you
just haven’t been able to secure any sales?
Well, if it’s any consolation, you’re not alone. There are many business
owners just like you while those who consistently reap in oodles of cash from
their online businesses are few and far between.
That said, if you’re not getting anywhere after a certain period of time,
maybe it’s time to change tactics. Sometimes it could be as simple as tweaking
your marketing strategy or reworking your ads.
But to be fair, you must give things a reasonable chance to play out. So
don’t give up too soon. Stand back and take a look at the big picture; only
don’t just stand there staring because nothing’s going to happen until you take
positive action.
Ready to get started? Here’s a list of simple things you can do to breath
life into your business:
1. Promote both online and offline. Don’t discount the importance of offline
promotion even if your business is online. You should maximize your business
exposure by doing both.
2. Distribute those business cards religiously every chance you get. Give
people two business cards, and tell them to give the other one away to someone
they know. Drop them into the fish bowls at restaurant receptions. Leave them
with people who are likely to pass them on.
3. Grab the opportunity to give someone your elevator speech when they ask
you what you do. Have your 30-second elevator speech well-rehearsed and ready.
Describe your business and tell them something unique about it that will make
them remember you the next time they’re in need of the product or service you
offer.
4. Take a look at your online ads. Maybe you need to tweak those a little
here and there to turn them into real attention grabbers. Track your ads so you
know which ad copies are performing and which ones you can throw out.
5. Work with someone who has a business that complements yours. By this, I
don’t mean a joint venture necessarily. It could be as simple as agreeing to
cross-promote for each other or exchanging links. It’s a win-win situation where
both sides will gain more exposure resulting in more business for both. How cool
is that?
6. Put aside a little time each day to actively network in forums, groups and
communities. Networking is not about advertising your business. It’s about
cultivating relationships with people which in the long run, may bring in
business for you.
7. Start a business blog. Blogs are making the buzz on the internet these
days so jump on the bandwagon, why don’t you? They’re easy to do and provide an
interesting platform for you to offer advice and business ideas.
8. Get your own website with your own domain name if you’re using a standard
affiliate website. Use it to offer information and promote other affiliate
programs as well. Canned affiliate websites are counter-productive because they
tell people very little about you. People prefer to do business with a familiar
face so let them get to know you and trust you.
9. Invest in your own domain name if you’ve been using a free domain name
and/or a free email address. Domain names and web hosting are not very expensive
these days. They are a very real business necessity.
Free domains and emails don’t speak very well for the professional image of
your business. To establish trust and business credibility, show your potential
customers you’re serious about your business and that you are here to stay for
the long term.
10. Take a look outside of your business. When you’ve been working too long
and too hard at your business, you may run dry of ideas and things may get a
little stale, a little old.
So look away for a while. See what others are doing. See how your competitors
are doing. Talk to people. You’ll get lots of ideas and inspiration just by
looking around you. Sometimes all it takes to turn your business around is a
little creativity, a dash of spice here and there.
There’s lots more you can do than I have space to list here. Got a bright
idea? Be bold, go ahead and try it. Like I always say, you never know till you
try. There are no right or wrong answers, just your willingness to take action.
Businesses, like seasons, are subject to cycles. There are good days and
there are bad days. Don’t expect sales to come pouring in overnight. Keep
working at it, keep learning and educating yourself, and the sales will follow.
Wishing you lots of success.
Copyright 2005 Kit Lum. All rights in all media reserved.
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Breathe Life is right on the money and all strategies small business owners could benefit from doing. I would like to add:
1. Don’t be too sales-like: customers want to get to know you, get to know your brand. So don’t be pushy and “salesy”. Interact with your customers and try to find out what they want, what they like and what direction they would like to go; then…give them what they want.
2. Offer information: this is your chance to talk to your customers and give them something your competitors may not be giving — information, useful information, relevant information. Tell them about alternative ways to use your products/services, exciting innovations in your industry, new things that your company will be doing in the near future.
3. Listen to feedback: tell your customers that you value their feedback, take their suggestions and comments seriously, make changes according to what they are looking for and then get back to them and point out that you’ve made changes, additions and corrections. You want your customers to know that their feedback is valuable and you listen to what they have to say; and that starts by giving them a way to provide feedback, not just an email address, surveys, Chat box, Comment Box “We’d love to here from you.”
Today, everything associated with our customers and potential customers is relevant.
Denay