Online Business Profits
You have heard the saying “work smarter not harder” this is
true for your online business as well. Your goal is to increase
profits not increase your work load.
Offer an up-sell for your product or services. A good example of an
up-sell is a popular game console sells a basic edition for $295.95
now they also offer a premium edition for $395.95. The difference is
two components that are required for specific game play. To upgrade
at a later date those two components would cost approximately
$150.00 dollars more. Most people will purchase the premium edition
as they see this as a good deal and getting more for their money.
You will want to test various methods of providing an up-sell for
your particular service or product. You can offer this premium
edition or enhanced service prior to customer purchasing or after
they have purchased and before final purchase settlement.
Subscriptions are an excellent way to increase your profits. If
customers like your service they will be happy and renew each year.
It requires little time, effort, and cost to keep them as customers
and happy. It is much easier to keep someone happy than to build a
new relationship from scratch. A subscription service is easily
done. By using your imagination you will find one that fits your
target audience. Here are a couple suggestions to help start.
Have a popular site category on your website. Charge a yearly fee
for inclusion in your links or directory. This will pay for your
time and effort to review each link request and also allows
discourages the casual link requester which also improves the
quality of your links.
Offer a printed copy of your newsletter. Include expanded details on
information and also coupons or discounts that readers of the
regular newsletter would not receive.
Create a subscriber only service and offers information or services
that are not immediately available to someone visiting your site. An
example would be. If you have a housing referral site that gives
housing information. For a fee they can also get contact information
for any of the rentals or for sale homes on your site.
Continually follow up with customers and potential customers. Let
them know you are available for any questions or concerns they may
have. If you have any new products or services just in and not
announced on your site as of yet. Be sure to inform the customer who
has purchased a companion service or product of these new offerings
first. An auto responder can make this task much easier than
manually doing each one.
Work on building relationships. You want your online business to be
considered friendly, reliable, and trustworthy. Offer to go above
and beyond expectations if possible. You will set yourself apart by
gong from the online world to the outside world even if it is just a
simple thank you card sent in the regular mail. People do remember
such acts and will reward you with future purchases, and a word of
mouth recommendation to others.
If necessary get rid of the high maintenance customer. You will
never be able to make everyone happy. Some customers are so
constantly demand extra’s but not willing to pay for them; others
are just rude to you on a regular basis. Be polite but explain that
you will no longer be able to supply them with goods or services for
them. You can direct them to a competitor’s website if you wish. But
it is your online store and you have the choice as to if you want to
serve them or not. The goal is to make money and increase profits
not increase your work load and headaches.
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