I haven’t checked email much lately. It seems my inbox has been inundated with special offers and sales and luring deals to get me to buy something that I don’t need from someone who’s “clearing their shelves” and doing a new year clean out.
I get it. Holidays are a good time to have a sale. People are in a spending mood. I’ll admit that I’ve even waited for the holiday season before making some purchases because I knew there would be a sale. BUT… as much as the holidays boost income at the end of the year, which is usually a slower time for most industries, what really keeps a business healthy is consistent sales.
A few weeks ago I had my monthly meeting with my book keeper and we reviewed our numbers. In a couple of weeks we’ll meet again to review the entire year, but one thing I’ve noticed over the year is that I do the same things over and over again to get that revenue in the door and to keep a steady stream of new people noticing me. Here are a few:
1) Online Engagement – Now for me there are a lot of things that I do, from a weekly newsletter to social media to guest interviews and teleclasses. The most consistent of these for me is the newsletter. It builds trust, and by having that newsletter go out every single week I have subscribers call me and say, “Hey, I’m ready to work with you and I want to get started tomorrow”
2) Live Events – I make it a point to attend live events every month but the real turnaround came when I started hosting my own live events. I initially started because I wanted to get a pulse on the business climate in a different area of my local community and it proved quite fruitful. Fabulous, actually. So now I do this more and more. I’m scheduling 6 live events next year, and may be expanding to do the same event across the U.S. I haven’t figured that part out yet, but I’m looking into it, so who knows, I may be hosting one in a city near you soon.
3) Availability – If you call me, you’ll probably reach me, but even if you don’t you’ll reach someone! I’m one of those people that gets a bit irritated when I call a new company and get an answering machine. I may call them back again in a couple of hours but that’s not always a guarantee. If I DO call back in a couple of hours and still don’t reach anyone, chances are I move on to the next provider on the list. I lose trust when I can’t reach someone, at least a receptionist, and not surprising, I’ve had sooooo many clients and prospective clients tell me “I can’t believe I can reach you on the phone”
My tips are simpler than you thought, aren’t they? Yep, it really can be that simple. Start with these tips, look at your business and figure out where your holes are in these three areas, and I know you’ll see an increased ROI as a result.
Any tips you can offer that have helped you with consistent revenue? Share them with me and others in the comments below.