Article Resources

If you feel like all your money is falling into a black hole just to pay bills, and you keep asking yourself, 'Where did all the money go?' here is a principle of managing money you need to know.

You must make more money than you spend!

How do you do that? It's called INCOME PLANNING. I've listed 5 things you can do to make more money in your business.

IDENTIFY WHAT YOUR CUSTOMERS WANT - To begin, find out what products or services your clients want to buy and then provide that. One way to find out what your clients desire is to go through your sales receipts, and find out what product or service is selling the best. Question your customers about 1) why they bought that item, and 2) what benefit they expected to get from the purchase Then repeat their response in your advertising campaign to promote that product or service.

ADVERTISE TO YOUR TARGET MARKET - Promoting something in a way that will be responded to by your customers is an art. Advertising does not necessarily mean offering a discount. It's much more critical to find out why a customer wants or needs your service or product, and exactly what criteria they will use to make a buying decision. Fast delivery and dependable service may be more important than price.

Find effective, inexpensive ways to promote. Ask for business cards from potential customers you meet, and send them a personal letter telling them how your services and products would help them. That is one of the most personal, least expensive promotional activities you can do. Postcards mailed at regular intervals to potential and current customers can also be an effective way to promote.

Another great way to get new clients is to ask your satisfied customers for referrals. You can make it fun for your clients to participate in referring new customers by creating a referral game they can participate in, where they get something in return for referrals who buy. Let your clients help your business out. They honestly do want you to succeed in your business.

SELL AND DELIVER - Selling is less difficult when you are genuinely interested in your clients and want to help them. ASK your customers what they need. Then it becomes much easier to sell them your products or services. For example, a young single person who wants a 2-door convertible sports car is going to walk off in disgust if the salesman insists on showing them 4-door sedans, even if it's the deal of the century.

After you've sold the product, courteous, professional, fast delivery is a key to guarantee your customer's satisfaction. If you are in a service business, this is doubly important. Delivering what you promised, when you promised it, can ensure repeat purchases and referrals for new business.

DON'T WASTE YOUR MONEY - For each dollar you decide to spend in your business, ask yourself how that dollar is going to return $5 or more in income back into your business. Carve out a percentage of the weekly income to fund an advertising budget and then figure out the most effective ways to reach your customers within the budget. It is no laughing matter when your hard-earned income gets wasted on expenditures that do not give you a profitable return on your investment.

REPEAT SUCCESSFUL PROMOTIONAL ACTIONS - Take a look back in the past to when your sales were highest. Figure out what your successful promotional actions were at the time and put those actions back in.

There is a revolutionary new money management software tool available to help you utilize your creative thinking power, time and energy on planning how to get the income up. That gets the CASH FLOWing into the business. It helps you manage your money so you can put your attention back on customer service and you'll find you are enjoying your business more.

Sandra Simmons, President of Money Management Solutions, has years of experience helping professionals manage their income to reach their financial goals. To find out about the Money Management Software she created, watch the FREE 5-minute demo video on her website at www.moneymgmtsolutions.com