10 Income Streams You Can Add to Your Business to Sky-rocket Your Sales

In a nutshell, multiple streams of income means your business has more than one way to make money. For instance, you sell products and you sell services. Those are different streams of incomes. But that's just the beginning. Below are 10 ideas of different income sources you can use to increase your business's bottom line:

1. Sell a variety of services. Or you can bundle your services into packages depending on what your typical client is looking for. But be careful about this one. Don't spread yourself too thin. You want to offer a few different services or a choice of packages but you don't want too many options because it's very difficult to market yourself effectively.

2. Sell your own products. These can be information products (books, home study courses, CDs, special reports, etc.) or they can be physical products. You can also group similar products into product lines. Then you can upsell, downsell or cross-sell products to different customers on your list.

3. Sell other people's products (or services). Here's where you become an affiliate. Basically how it works is once you're approved to be an affiliate, you get your own link. Anytime someone uses that link and buys a product, you can a percentage of the sale. That percentage can be anywhere from 10 percent (mostly for services) to more than 50 percent.

Which leads me to my next tip:

4. Put together your own affiliate program. Now you can get other people to market your products and services, and the only time you pay them is when they actually sell something! How cool is that!

5. Create a teleclass, seminar, workshop or other event. This can be a one-time deal or a series of classes. (But if you do this, make sure you record it so you can sell those later.) The nice thing about this tip is it's a good blend. You can reach groups of people at one time while at the same time providing a personal touch.

6. License one of your programs or services. This is a neat idea if it works in your business. (For instance, a coach could license tools or a program to other coaches.) I don't know much about this one, but Suzanne Falter-Barnes sells a program that can teach you how to do it.

7. Create a paid membership site. Not only will you be getting regular income each month, but you'll also building your customer base -- people who are interested in purchasing your products and services. It's much easier to sell to people who are already customers than to find new ones. Plus people like being a part of a community, and becoming a member of something is a good way to do it.

8. Start a continuity program. This is similar to a membership site where you charge a monthly fee for a product or service. Maybe you create a paid newsletter subscription or you offer monthly coaching calls or you interview successful people. Whatever it is, it's something people find valuable enough to pay you a small, but regular, monthly fee.

9. Sell ads on your web site or e-zine or whatever. This one is probably not going to make you rich, but it could turn into a nice little income stream depending on how many people are looking at your e-zine or web site.

10. Use Adsense. This is when you allow Google to place its pay-per-click ads on your web site or blog. In return, every time someone clicks on one of those ads, Google will pay you a percentage. Pretty nifty program, huh? Anyhow, I do think this is one you have to be a little careful with. Most of the time I don't think people clicking away from your web site is a good thing (especially since they'll be going to one of your competitors). But there are times when this is very appropriate. For instance, maybe you've developed a web site or blog around a hobby. Or maybe you build a web site or blog for the express reason of selling Adsense. Once it's set up, you just ca^sh the checks.

Creativity Exercise -- Find time to create multiple income streams

Probably the hardest part of creating multiple income streams is finding the time, especially when your primary business is service-based. So, now that you know how important it is, how are you going to find the time to start doing it?

Here are a few ideas to get you thinking:

* Hire a virtual assistant (VA) or bookkeeper to take care of some tasks you have no business doing anyway.
* Create systems in your business so you can complete business tasks faster and more efficiently.
* Raise your prices so you can take on fewer clients and make more money.
* Dedicate a Saturday or Sunday to working on your business. (Be careful with this one as you could very quickly end up burning yourself out.)

Get a pen and paper and do some brainstorming to see how you can find more time to start creating more income streams.

Copywriting 101: How to Get Your Customers to Take Action

If you want people to buy, you gotta ask for the sale.

Truly, it is that simple. Yet I can't tell you how many ads, Web sites, brochures, sales letters, etc. are floating around out there that aren't asking.

So, what is a call to action? It's telling people what action you want them to take. Typical calls to action include:

Hurry in today.
Buy now.
Call now.
Visit now.
Click here now.

Nothing terribly sexy, I agree. However, if you want to see an increase in your customers, leads, income, etc., this is an essential component.

But, you might be thinking, isn't it obvious? Why else would you be running an ad if you didn't want people to buy what you're selling?

Good question. And it's true, people do know (if they stop to think about it) that you would probably like them to buy from you.

However, the unfortunate truth is your potential customers aren't going to spend that much time thinking about it. People have too much going on in their lives to spend very much time and energy on your business. If they do read your ad or promotional material and it doesn't contain a call to action, they'll likely say, "Oh, that's nice" and go on to the next thing.

And even if they were interested in purchasing your offerings, they may not know what their next step should be. Do they pick up the phone? Go to a specific Web page? Visit a store? And if they don't know what they should be doing, chances are they won't do anything at all.

So you need to tell your potential customers what you want them to do. (Remember, people are busy, and if you don't make doing business with you easy, they probably won't do business with you at all.)

So, back to the above call to actions. Did you notice they all had something in common? The word "now" (or, in the case of the first one, "today").

If people think they can buy from you anytime, they'll say "oh, I can do this later." And later rarely comes. You need to give them a reason to buy from you right now, while they're interested. Adding the "now" or some other urgency or scarcity technique (maybe a limited time offer or few copies left statement) is a great way to push people into doing what you want them to do right now and not later.

While we're on the topic of calls to action, I want to talk about one other type of advertising campaign where you rarely see calls to action. These are called branding campaigns. Typically they're shown on national television by big corporations (MacDonald's, Nike, Starbucks, Target). In those instances, the businesses are building a brand that will cause you think of that business first when you're interested in purchasing their products. For instance, when you're hungry, you think MacDonald's. You need new athletic shoes, you think Nike. You're dying for that cup of joe, so you think Starbucks, etc.

While there's nothing wrong with branding campaigns, they are tougher to track than campaigns with a specific call to action (Sale ends Saturday, call before Friday to receive your free gift, etc.) Those campaigns are also called direct response because you're asking the customer to respond directly. Direct response campaigns can be tested, so you have a good idea what's working and what's not (and can tweak the campaign accordingly). And, if the campaign doesn't require getting a salesperson involved (i.e. if the call to action is for the customer to whip out his wallet right there) the campaign will just run itself (and make money all by itself).

(One note: You do need to do more than add a call to action to have a strong direct response campaign, but that doesn't negate the power a call to action can bring to your campaigns.)

Branding campaigns are nearly impossible to test, track and tweak. They either appear to work or don't appear to work. And if they don't appear to work, it's very difficult to start tweaking to improve the response rate.

However, branding is still very, very important. As a business owner, you need a good brand and you need to communicate that brand effectively. And sometimes it makes sense to run a branding campaign.

However, my advice for most situations is to combine branding and direct response. Your brand is clearly communicated in your ads and promotional materials, but you also take advantage of some direct response techniques at the same time.

If nothing else, make sure you don't forget the call to action.

Creativity Resources -- Write Your Call to Action

Want to include a call to action in your promotional materials but don't know where to start? Here's an easy step-by-step formula:

1. Figure out your purpose for the ad or promotional material. Why are you running this ad, creating this Web site, printing this brochure? (And no, an acceptable answer is NOT because everyone else has one.) Is it to generate leads? Get your name out there? Get people to buy? Or what?

2. Now write it down.

3. That's it. That's your call to action. Whatever the end result you want for the campaign is what you should be asking people to do.

Now sign up for your free WordPress Blueprint e-Course (see what I did there:)

Copywriting 101: How to Get Your Customers to Take Action Now

If you want people to buy, you gotta ask for the sale.

Truly, it is that simple. Yet I can't tell you how many ads, Web sites, brochures, sales letters, etc. are floating around out there that aren't asking.

So, what is a call to action? It's telling people what action you want them to take. Typical calls to action include:

• Hurry in today.
• Buy now.
• Call now.
• Visit now.
• Click here now.

Nothing terribly sexy, I agree. However, if you want to see an increase in your customers, leads, income, etc., this is an essential component and lets be honest an increase in customers, sales and cold hard cash makes the words a lot sexier.

But, you might be thinking, isn't it obvious? Why else would you be running an ad if you didn't want people to buy what you're selling?

Good question. And it's true, people do know (if they stop to think about it) that you would probably like them to buy from you.

However, the unfortunate truth is your potential customers aren't going to spend that much time thinking about it. People have too much going on in their lives to spend very much time and energy on your business. If they do read your ad or promotional material and it doesn't contain a call to action, they'll likely say, "Oh, that's nice" and go on to the next thing.

And even if they were interested in purchasing your offerings, they may not know what their next step should be. Do they pick up the phone? Go to a specific Web page? Visit a store? And if they don't know what they should be doing, chances are they won't do anything at all.

So you need to tell your potential customers what you want them to do. (Remember, people are busy, and if you don't make doing business with you easy, they probably won't do business with you at all.)

So, back to the above call to actions. Did you notice they all had something in common? The word "now" (or, in the case of the first one, "today").

If people think they can buy from you anytime, they'll say "oh, I can do this later." And later rarely comes. You need to give them a reason to buy from you right now, while they're interested. Adding the "now" or some other urgency or scarcity technique (maybe a limited time offer or few copies left statement) is a great way to push people into doing what you want them to do right now and not later.

While we're on the topic of calls to action, I want to talk about one other type of advertising campaign where you rarely see calls to action. These are called branding campaigns. Typically they're shown on national television by big corporations (MacDonald's, Nike, Starbucks, Target). In those instances, the businesses are building a brand that will cause you think of that business first when you're interested in purchasing their products. For instance, when you're hungry, you think MacDonald's. You need new athletic shoes, you think Nike. You're dying for that cup of joe, so you think Starbucks, etc.

While there's nothing wrong with branding campaigns, they are tougher to track than campaigns with a specific call to action (Sale ends Saturday, call before Friday to receive your free gift, etc.) Those campaigns are also called direct response because you're asking the customer to respond directly. Direct response campaigns can be tested, so you have a good idea what's working and what's not (and can tweak the campaign accordingly). And, if the campaign doesn't require getting a salesperson involved (i.e. if the call to action is for the customer to whip out his wallet right there) the campaign will just run itself (and make money all by itself).

(One note: You do need to do more than add a call to action to have a strong direct response campaign, but that doesn't negate the power a call to action can bring to your campaigns.)

Branding campaigns are nearly impossible to test, track and tweak. They either appear to work or don't appear to work. And if they don't appear to work, it's very difficult to start tweaking to improve the response rate.

However, branding is still very, very important. As a business owner, you need a good brand and you need to communicate that brand effectively. And sometimes it makes sense to run a branding campaign.

However, my advice for most situations is to combine branding and direct response. Your brand is clearly communicated in your ads and promotional materials, but you also take advantage of some direct response techniques at the same time.

If nothing else, make sure you don't forget the call to action.

Creativity Resources -- Write Your Call to Action

Want to include a call to action in your promotional materials but don't know where to start? Here's an easy step-by-step formula:

1. Figure out your purpose for the ad or promotional material. Why are you running this ad, creating this Web site, printing this brochure? (And no, an acceptable answer is NOT because everyone else has one.) Is it to generate leads? Get your name out there? Get people to buy? Or what?

2. Now write it down.

3. That's it. That's your call to action. Whatever the end result you want for the campaign is what you should be asking people to do.

Now follow the link for your free WordPress BluePrint e-course  

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