Free advice is always popular but none more so than the answer to the question “How can I make more money?” It’s one of the questions I’m asked most often, and although there are many answers depending on perspective, the simple answers are these:
1. Raise your prices: If you think you can’t, stop and really think about it because, yes, you can, and here’s why it’s worth consideration: Every penny you get by doing that drops directly to your bottom line and directly into your pocket, one way or another. So the question isn’t whether or not you should raise your prices, but by how much should you raise your prices.
Entertain this thought for one hot minute: Choose one or two of your most popular product lines and increase the unit price by fifteen cents. Now do the math. Then, increase the price to .25 cents and do the math. See my point? You’ve made no drastic changes, not incurred additional costs, and you’re already making more money.
To make the largest impact on your bottom line, do this across product lines, or services offered. Just decide on how much revenue you want to add and then raise the prices accordingly. Be judicious, not greedy. A small increase across multiple lines or services can contribute significantly to profit.
2. Reduce vendor costs: Every dollar you don’t spend is a dollar dropped directly to your bottom line, so investigate vendor costs and options regularly—up to and including the idea of using another vendor. Be fair to long term relationships, but be informed, too, and adjust relationships and terms accordingly.
3. Consider affiliate marketing: If there are products and services you’re already recommending, consider an affiliate relationship with that company and earn a small commission if your customer buys. Most cost little or nothing to establish, and can add revenue for minimal effort.
4. Create new revenue streams: Sell your by-products. Is there anything of value that’s created as a result of the normal production of your product or service? For example, if you’re into social media and are good at getting noticed online, then offering online marketing services may be a viable option for generating additional profit at little or no cost.
5. Focus on the right things: Just because you’ve done the same things for as long as you can remember does not mean you should continue. Be fanatical about WHY you’re doing things, and quantify how what you are doing is beneficial to your bottom line. You may think that a method of operating or way of doing business is impactful and generating revenue, but make sure you’re correct by checking facts, which more often than not come in the form of cold, hard numbers. The simple question is: Does this make my company money or does it not, and can doing it differently or not at all increase profit? You may find that doing something less or differently is far more profitable to your bottom line than maintaining the status quo.
Any one of these small changes will result in maximum impact for your bottom line.
So what do you think? Are you going to try one of these tips? Will you try more than one? We would love to hear your thoughts in the comments below.
