Marketing On A Dime
Sunday, January 11, 2009
In today's rough economic times, most marketers and small business owners are looking for creative ways to reduce costs. As always, reducing expenses is only one way to be successful in maintaining a healthy business. The other side of the equation is revenue. What are you doing to grow your business?
You might be saying, "How can I grow revenue while cutting expenses?" I believe the answer is knowing what marketing tactics are generating a positive return on investment and which are not. If you want to begin reducing your expenses, treat them subjectively.
Late last year, I began cutting back on a number of services I use to run my online businesses. The first step was to make a complete list of all my expenses. Once complete, I evaluated each one based on:
1. Critical to business operations.
2. Important but not essential.
3. Nice to have.
By categorizing expenses in this way, I found it easy to determine which ones had to go and which ones had to stay. Additionally it gave me an opportunity to consider what level of service I needed. There were many instances where, instead of paying for the "premium" service, I simply downgraded my service - saving me hundreds per month with little or no impact on revenue.
Revenue Generating Tips
Once I reviewed my expenses, I took a closer look at opportunities for revenue growth. Because we're all trying to grow "on a dime", I thought I'd brainstorm innovative ways to enhance my sales.
My list was short but actionable. Here's what I decided:
1. Spend more time asking for and getting referrals.
2. Focus on high margin products.
3. Bundle products to generate a higher price point.
By implementing these revenue generating ideas, I hope to make 2009 another profitable year. When focusing on cost reduction and revenue growth at the same time, you're sure to be successful.
You might be saying, "How can I grow revenue while cutting expenses?" I believe the answer is knowing what marketing tactics are generating a positive return on investment and which are not. If you want to begin reducing your expenses, treat them subjectively.
Late last year, I began cutting back on a number of services I use to run my online businesses. The first step was to make a complete list of all my expenses. Once complete, I evaluated each one based on:
1. Critical to business operations.
2. Important but not essential.
3. Nice to have.
By categorizing expenses in this way, I found it easy to determine which ones had to go and which ones had to stay. Additionally it gave me an opportunity to consider what level of service I needed. There were many instances where, instead of paying for the "premium" service, I simply downgraded my service - saving me hundreds per month with little or no impact on revenue.
Revenue Generating Tips
Once I reviewed my expenses, I took a closer look at opportunities for revenue growth. Because we're all trying to grow "on a dime", I thought I'd brainstorm innovative ways to enhance my sales.
My list was short but actionable. Here's what I decided:
1. Spend more time asking for and getting referrals.
2. Focus on high margin products.
3. Bundle products to generate a higher price point.
By implementing these revenue generating ideas, I hope to make 2009 another profitable year. When focusing on cost reduction and revenue growth at the same time, you're sure to be successful.
Marketing Blog founder and top-selling author Michael Fleischner has been featured on The TODAY Show, ABC World News, and Bloomerg Radio. 
2 comments :
Well, its not exactly free, but even in this age of SEM and social networks, it still helps to pick up a phone and call all those clients you haven't serviced in a long time.
Hey , you have a very good blog, its excellent information in its field. You have done a great job, keep doing it for to help, people like Myself. I read many blogs earlier about this topic. But I never found complete information earlier, but your blog is giving real information. I also have several WordPress blogs. And in my experience social bookmarking, article submission and press release submission is way to quickly quickly get my blog posts spidered and am on page one of Google many times in a few hours.
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