The Only 3 Ways To Grow Your Business, Make More Money & Have The Lifestyle You’ve Always Dreamed Of…

Yes, there really are ONLY 3 ways your business can make more money. You may think of more, but when all is said and done they will fall into one of these three categories.

Let’s examine each of the 3 ways…

The first is, charge higher prices.

I know, pretty obvious way of making more money. But you’d be surprised at how many business owners refuse to raise their prices.

How about you? Where do you fall within your market as far as pricing goes? Have you raised your prices? Recently? Ever? Or, are you thinking you can’t raise prices because of the economy? If so, you’re dead wrong, and we’ll talk about why in a minute.

Do you sell a product? If so, do your competitors all sell the same product, or type of product? If that’s the case you may feel like you have to charge what your competitors charge, right?

That’s flawed logic.

I know, you’re about to tell me you will lose business to your competitors if you charge more for the same product. The customer will not pay more if they can get it cheaper, right?

Again, that’s flawed logic.

What about if you provide a service? Do you feel the same way, that you can’t charge more then your competitors? Because if you do your customers will buy from your competitors, not you?

Wrong! It’s flawed logic.

Let me explain why. We can start with those that sell products, because generally I find this group of business owners more emphatic about their reasons for not raising their prices. Why would someone pay more for a product you sell, if they can get it somewhere else for less money?

Because they aren’t buying the product. Huh? What do I mean they aren’t buying the product? Of course they are. No, actually they’re not buying the product at all. The fact that you think they are, is the reason you have been unable to jusify in your own mind why you can raise your prices.

Here’s an example. Maybe not a great example, but good enough that you will get the point. Say you recently had all of your impressive diplomas framed in beautiful, expensive frames. Now you want to hang those frames in your office so you can proudly display them for all to see.

What do you need to have in order to hang them? You need nails, right? And a hammer, too. (Stay with me here, this will make sense) Are you buying the hammer and nails? What kind of hammer and nails do you want? Not the cheap kind, after all you just invested a lot of money in these expensive frames, right?

But are you really buying the hammer and nails? No, you’re not. You are buying what they can do for you. Remember, the diplomas you want to proudly display? You have great pride in your accomplishments, don’t you? That’s what you’re really buying. The hammer and nails are just things you need in order to get what you really want.

The hammer and nails are a means to an end. Yes, you need them to hang your frames. But what you really want is to have those frames hanging in your office so others can see your accomplishments. So they will notice, maybe some will even acknowledge your accomplishments. And yes, some may think more highly of you and your skills and abilities.

This is what you want. This is what you’re thinking about as you go to have your diplomas encased in expensive frames. Otherwise, you could have just as easily taped your diplomas to the wall. Using scotch tape gives you the same result as the frames, hammer and nails, right? I’m being silly here to prove a point. The point that it has absolutely nothing to do with the hammer and nails.

But that’s exactly what the hardware store is selling you.  Just a hammer and nails. Shame on them!

The question I have for you is, are you selling the hammer and nails to your customers, or are you selling them the pride they will feel in the recognition of their accomplishments (also known as diplomas)?

Hopefully now you understand it’s not the actual product you should be selling. It’s what the product will do for your customer. Only when you stop selling the product, and instead sell the results your product provides, can you easily charge more money.

Also, with all of your competitors selling the product, and you now selling the results the product provides, what do you think happens to your business? Yes, you start getting a lot more customers!

How about if you sell a service? It’s really the same principal at work. Let’s use me as the example.

I am considered a “Marketing Consultant”. When a client comes to me, they are looking to improve their marketing. That’s obvious, right?

But that’s not what I really do for my clients. It’s what my competitors do. They sell Search Engine Optimization services or Copywriting, or any number of marketing strategies or tactics. Don’t get me wrong. That’s all very important, but it’s not really what I do for my clients.

The bottom line is, my clients want to grow their businesses. Deep down they really don’t care which marketing tactic I use. They only care that their business grows, they make more money and have a much better life.

Who can demand higher prices, the guy who sells SEO services or me, who sells growing your business, making you more money, and helping you improve your lifestyle?

Now do you see how you can raise your prices? Do you see why you should raise your proices? You have to change your mindset from selling the “thing”, to selling what the thing will do for your customers/clients.

The second way to grow your business is to get more customers.

Another obvious answer. This is an area most business owners spend the majority of their time. Trying to find ways to get more customers. Hey, I can’t argue with this strategy. Every business needs more customers. I’m not going to spend a lot of time on this method. I think it’s universally understood.

Of course there are a million different ways to do this. And in most cases, it helps to have someone like me who can give you specific strategies and tactics to accomplish this more easily, and afford-ably.

Here’s the thing…

While it’s extremely important to the growth of your business, you may actually be wasting time doing it. What I mean is, you need to balance your time and effort with this method, and the final method.

The third and final way to grow your business is to get your (current & past) customers to buy more.

This is typically the most overlooked way of growing your business. Perhaps you have come up short here too? It’s okay if you have. But now it’s time to do something about it.

First, let me explain why this is so important.

It will cost you more money to go and find a new customer then it will to get your current customer to buy from you more. Additionally, it’s easier to sell something to your current customer then it is to convince a new customer, who is basically a stranger, to buy from you.

This is because your current customer already knows you, and knows what to expect. They have been through your sales process already, so they are more comfortable as a result. And if you’ve done your job, they now like and trust you, which again makes the next sale easier.

Would you rather buy from a total stranger or someone you know, like and trust? Your customers are no different. This is why selling to them again is so much easier than trying to convince a new customer, who is a total stranger , to trust you enough to buy from you.

Additionally, and equally important is that it will cost you less money to make another sale to your customer than it will be to market to a new customer.

Yet so many business owners never look in their rear view mirror. They ONLY look forward, trying to find ways to attract new customers.

HUGE MISTAKE!

Done properly, this can be the difference between an average business and a wildly successful business. I have seen business owners in just about every market make this mistake. And it’s really sad because this truly can be the difference not only in your business, but in your life!

Let me ask you a couple of questions, and be honest, not with me but with yourself.

Do you currently have a marketing plan in place to sell more to your current/past customers? Be honest.

Do you communicate with your current & past customers on a regular basis? Do you have a mechanism in place for doing so?

Do you know how many, or how often your past clients buy from you a second time? A third time? a fourth? More than four times? If so, great! If not, why not?

This isn’t about hard selling your past customers. You don’t need to beat people over the head with a sales message to get them to buy from you over and over. That stuff just doesn’t work. And maybe you haven’t put a plan in place because your mindset has you thinking you’d have to do that.

You don’t. You simply need to provide ongoing value.

Yes, it really is that simple! By providing your customers with ongoing value there is no hard selling involved. In fact, it won’t even feel like selling at all. Imagine sending an email (or other communication) to your past customers and because that communication provided value they end up buying something from you.

No, that’s not crazy talk. It’s what you should be doing, consistently. Because if you do, you will see your bottom line grow significantly over time, allowing you to not only have a much better relationship with your customers, but it will allow you to enjoy the lifestyle that you dreamed about having when you first started your business.

So there you have it. The ONLY 3 ways your business can make more money, so you can live the lifestyle you’ve always dreamed of.

Any questions? Comments? Bring them on.

In the meantime, if you’d like to discuss how you can charge more money, attract more new customers and sell more to your existing & past customers so you can improve your bottom line and live the lifestyle you’ve always dreamed of, pick up the telephone and call me at 561-208-6469.

Yours for Massive Results,

Jay