Do you work so many hours at your job that the only thing you do after work is rest?
And after working all of those hours, do you often think you will make enough money to pay your bills or save for the future, only to find out you cannot do either?
In this article, we solve that dilemma with a strategy that is little known using skills you already have but don’t apply to your advantage.
Right now your default is probably to work your way to success in your business manually, one step at a time. What would you do if someone taught you how to get to the next level by skipping some of those steps? In such a way that you could move forward working fewer hours while doubling what you make now? Would you take it?
Well, hold onto your seats, we are about to show you how to forge a new path to success in your freelance or agency business which will double its revenue and growth potential while allowing you more time and freedom to enjoy life.
Bonus: Download the Double Your Business Checklist.
Includes additional strategies & examples not listed in this post.
Disclaimer: This post may contain affiliate links. Please read my disclosure for more details.
Reasons Your Business Is Failing
Photo by Estée Janssens on Unsplash
We know you are busy running your freelance or agency business and trying to grow your company to the best of your ability. You have followed all the steps taught to you in Business Entrepreneurship 101 and that's part of the problem.
A common pain of startups after an exhilarating first surge of early adopters is a long and frustrating plateau of slow growth, where it seems like nothing you do will get your business to profitability. Too many entrepreneurs don’t know what to do at this point, largely accounting for that disappointing 50 percent of startups that fail in the first five years, according to Gallup.
Don’t be a part of the failing 50% statistic listed above. Not when we are offering you a way to avoid business traps, downfalls, and mistakes. We realize we have all made the mistakes listed below when we started our own business. This list is applied to all businesses, no matter what service or product you provide. Which one of the symptoms below do you think is causing your business setbacks?
- 1Either you set no goals or you don't outline specific details on how to achieve those goals. This list is usually created before you open your doors or your services to the public. Then over time, you notice you don’t have as many customers as you used to yet you still have bills to pay, so you start to panic without once going back to the goal list with strategies you created for this business.
- 2You make your first mistake and agonize over it. You think you can perhaps do it over again and it will work out the way you intended it to the first time, but the mistake continues to happen to you again. You start digging in your heels and refuse to accept you made the mistake, instead of admitting you made a mistake and moving on from it.
- 3One of the hardest things to learn is "Who are your customers?" Yes, you know you provide amazing technical skills and everyone will be impressed with how brilliantly you code or build creative website designs. Actually, it doesn’t matter how good you are, if you don’t first understand who your customers are and their pain points. Otherwise, you will set yourself up for failure.
- 4Every entrepreneur falls in this trap in the beginning. We undervalue ourselves and believe that lower prices will bring about more customers and ultimately more customers will balance out the lower prices and lead to business success. They never do. This fallacy goes back to the premise of understanding who and what your customers are so you can meet their business needs at an established and worthy price.
- 5Lastly, you're afraid to make changes. You think by making changes you will lose whatever you have now. It’s not a good business strategy to keep things the same because you fear the unknown. You had enough courage to start a business from nothing, so have enough conviction in yourself to know when it is time to make changes to make your business more lucrative and successful.
Don't Be Afraid of Change - Embrace it!
FORMULA TO DOUBLE YOUR INCOME
How will you dig yourself out of the hole you made for your business? We have a way you can do just that and it is a strategically proven method which most people in business are aware of yet fail to use. If you can stay the course on what we give you below, you will double your business while working less and earning more.
If You Are In A Hole...Stop Digging!
The goal is to increase your total sales revenue, which is the product of your total number of customers multiplied by the average spend per customer.
Total Sales Revenue
Total # of Customers x Average Spend Per Customer
For example, say I have 1,000 customers and their average spend is $1,000.
My total sales revenue is 1,000 multiplied by $1000 which equals $1,000,000.
Traditionally, to double your business you can either double the amount of customers or double their average spend.
Double Your Revenue - Traditional
[ 2 x Total # of Customers ] x Average Spend Per Customer
OR
Total # of Customers x [ 2 x Average Spend Per Customer ]
So 2,000 customers with an average spend of $1,000 equals $2,000,000 in total sales revenue.
Or, 1,000 customers with an average spend of $2,000 equals $2,000,000 in total sales revenue.
However, you can distribute your effort by increasing both measures by 50%.
Doing so allows you to work less while earning more.
Double Your Revenue - Work Less, Earn More
[ 1.5 x Total # of Customers ] x [ 1.5 x Average Spend Per Customer ]
Thus 1,500 customers with an average spend of $1,500 equals $2,250,000.
Technically only an increase of 42% is required, but it’s easier to remember 50%.
So how do you put this into action?
TEN WAYS TO DOUBLE YOUR INCOME AND WORK FEWER HOURS
Let us start with a productive first step by explaining how you can distribute your efforts to get more customers while encouraging them to spend more.
- 1Figure out where your audience hangs out and which platforms they use. Then determine how you can utilize those sources to increase your online presence and brand awareness. Rule of thumb is if you fail in your first attempt, and you probably will, convert the failure into a lesson learned and move forward. Continue experimenting until you find your winning formula. For example, the National Postal Forum trialed their marketing outreach with Flipboard magazine and it outperformed their results from Facebook.
- 2Towards that end, use growth hacks to build traffic to your website. Your marketing begins and ends with your website, so make it work for you. One of the strategies here is to create long-form content of at least 1000-2000 words as SERPICO reports people will often link to it when they are writing their posts.
AVERAGE CONTENT-LENGTH TOP 10 RESULTS
- 3How you handle your website traffic will float or sink you as a business. Therefore, when someone visits your website, it's important that you capture their contact information, like an email address. One way of doing this is by using a lead magnet. Say you optimize your lead magnet and increase its conversion rate from 2% to 3%. By itself, just doing that one step alone can increase your revenue by 50%.
- 4Another way to capture leads is by using pop-ups. Yes, pop-ups can be annoying but when combined with a compelling offer they can double your email list. Statistics have proven they convert 2.75%-4% of your visitors into customers.
- 5Use social media platforms, like Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn. These platforms offer organic and paid marketing methods and technology tools that you can employ to drive traffic to your website. Not only that, these platforms can help increase engagement, boost brand awareness, and grow your business reputation.
- 6Create an online quiz. Sounds crazy, right? Yet, Forbes, NBC, and Ramit Sethi use them to market and increase their brand. The ones that work are compelling yet simple 2-3 question formats. Interact gives you templates you can start with and customize.
- 7Create a webinar. Remember the quote that states, “What is the one thing in life that is priceless and once lost, you can never get back?” The answer to that is time. Webinars are a great way to scale your marketing without wasting your time. An excellent place to start is Webinar Jam.
Webinar Overview
- 8Offer more value to your customers by bundling your services or products, resulting in them spending more money.
- 9Upsell more expensive products or services. In the book Marketing Metrics, the authors share a fascinating finding from their research showing that, statistically, upselling works. The probability of selling to a new prospect is 5-20% whereas the probability of selling to an existing customer is 60-70%.
- 10Create a membership subscription program for your business where customers receive valuable, exclusive content and discounts each month.
As a bonus tip, consider giving a customer something extra that adds value to their purchase, but doesn’t cost you that much to give. Statistics show that customer perks help to generate more revenue for your business.
For example, when you have a loyal customer they usually convert and spend money on services and brands they trust. The more loyal the customer, the more they spend. Finally, in the U.S. 40% of online shoppers of products and services come from repeat customers.
Next Steps
To double your income, you just have to ask yourself two questions:
- How can I get more customers?
- How can I get customers to spend more money?
By focusing on these two questions, you'll be able to grow your business more rapidly. However, for your business to grow, you have to act. By failing to do anything, you end up doing nothing and you'll never be able to get your business off of the ground.
If you’re struggling to grow your business or even curious how you can start your own, schedule a free 30-minute consultation to make real progress today.
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Hear more about how to double your income as a I chat with James Rose on Agency Highway, Episode 27.