As business owners, I think it’s safe to say that one goal we all have is to increase our earnings. But, do you have a solid plan for getting there? An actual way to increase your business income?
Most of us don’t.
Like, duh, of course a goal is to grow, earn more, save more, etc. but if you have no idea how you’re going to get there and you keep doing the same thing. What makes you think it will change?
I’ve been in that place where I want to grow, but just wasn’t sure how, and today I wanted to take you through 3 ways to increase your business income that are actionable—not just wishful thinking.
As an added bonus, I created another freebie for you guys on how to plan out your 6-figure year. For whatever reason, that first 6-figure year can feel like such a big milestone and hurdle, but when you plan for it, you’ll see that it’s probably not as difficult to get there as you might think.
GRAB IT HERE: How to Plan Your 6-Figure Year
3 Ways to Increase Your Business Income This Month
Raise Your Prices
Nothing will up your income like raising your prices! But, raising your prices can also come with a lot of fear and anxiety. Years ago, when I was running my blog design business. I hit a spot where I was completely overwhelmed with people that wanted to work with me. I was working weekends, late nights and I still couldn’t keep up. Even with all the extra clients, I didn’t feel like it was moving the needle that much in my monthly income.
I talked to my dad about it and he casually said, “well, looks like it’s time to raise your prices!” and it was like this omg, duh ah-ha moment! Of course!
Sure, raising your prices will put you out of some people’s price range, but those who truly value your expertise, will understand your worth and be happy to pay.
I timidly raised those prices and no one batted an eye—in fact, my waitlist didn’t shrink at all. In hindsight, I think that was a sign that I didn’t raise them enough, and that I was still well-below the market rate—so remember that if the same thing happens to you.
Raising your prices means you can take on the exact same amount of work that you normally do, but you earn more. Boom—how simple was that?
Sell to More People
I think this is most people’s tactic for increasing their revenue—but sometimes the idea of finding new people can be such a struggle, right? Here are a few ways to turn some of those followers or email subscribers into first time paying customers.
- Offer a discount or promotion on their first order
- Share Testimonials (in email marketing and social media)
- Ask your current customers for referrals
- Make ordering EASY—go through your own process and make sure it’s simple and straightforward
- Answer questions—ask people what’s holding them back and answer those questions
- Run Ads—Facebook ads can be so impactful and can be done on tight budgets
- Partner with Influencers and Bloggers in your Niche
- Improve your SEO
- Write Good Blog Content to Bring in Organic Traffic
- Create and Engage with your Facebook Group
- Provide Value around your Audience’s Core Problems
Most importantly is that you show up consistently. People need to see things a minimum of 16x before they take action, so sharing about your product or service once or twice a month is simply not enough.
You don’t have to constantly be “selling” but you need to show up and talk about what you do, actively help people, provide value and share testimonials and build that trust. It’s a process, but it should become a natural part of your business when you do it regularly.
If you have an email list, which you should (Flodesk is my fave, more on that here!), you have a built-in group of people who already love your products—have you reached out to them lately?!
Sell More to your Current Customers
Increase Income With Bundles
One way to quickly up your cart value is to sell things in a bundle. For anyone who has digital products, this is so dang easy to create a bundle and offer it as a discounted price. First off, once you create those digital products or courses, you’re kind of done—they’re created! It’s no extra work for you when another one sells, and discounting it in a bundle doesn’t impact your bottom line like a physical product might.
If you have a few products that you know work super well together, build a bundle and add that as an option. You earn more while you’re able to serve your customers better!
GRAB IT HERE: How to Plan Your 6-Figure Year
Offer Upsells & Downsells to Boost Cart Total
This is similar to bundles, but is done in the cart. I use a cart software called ThriveCart that allows me to add upsells or downsells to every product. For example, if you’re checking out and purchasing a website template, I could offer an upsell to include Pinterest templates, or add an eBook for an additional price.
These upsells can be affordable items, or they can be big-ticket items that are heavily discounted for a very short period of time. I’ve been upsold a 4-figure course after purchasing something before and they did it so well, I really considered it!
A downsell is something you can offer to someone who says, “No thanks to your first upsell offer”—this downsell offer should be something more affordable that’s easier to say yes to, but ultimately increases your cart value.
Created Recurring Subscriptions or Memberships
I love the idea of subscriptions and membership programs because they bring you sustainable revenue every single month—the trick is providing such amazing value in your membership program that you keep your audience around for a good amount of time. You can set these up so that there’s a minimum 3-month membership or something like that, but these can be so so beneficial to your bottom line.
Repeat Buyers
It’s easier to sell something to a customer who has already invested in you. They know your product and trust you, making that second sale much easier. You might have a product that works really well in tandem with something they’ve already bought, or maybe you have a product line that grows with your customer.
For example, let’s say you’re a newborn sleep consultant, but you also have sleep programs for children at different ages. When someone buys your newborn sleep course, you could add them to an email sequence and in 3 months (or whatever is appropriate), you alert them to your next course—”How to Overcome the 4-Month Sleep Regression” and again for the next one, and so on and so on. This is just one example, but see if there’s a way you can work something like this into your own business.
What’s great about this is that you already have that content created. Then, you create the email sequence once and it sells for you on autopilot. Is everyone going to buy? No, but I’m willing to bet that some people do!
Sometimes it’s as simple as reaching out to your past buyers to let them know what else you have to offer! If you never tell them, they’ll never know! It’s easy to think that everyone sees all of our new offers and products when we first share them, but the reality is that most people don’t see them for a while, so you have to keep sharing!
There you have it—3 ways to increase your business income and turn up your earning power this month. Which one feels the most aligned to you?
BTW, December 2021 Blog & Business Income Report, and 10 tips for planning your most successful year yet.