To increase cash flow you need to have a revenue generating activity list that you can do when you don’t have a website that books calls and you don’t have much traffic coming to your website. These 10 activities will help you to book more sales calls.
10 Revenue Generating Activity List
- Send a mailer
- Revamp your website
- Write a blog
- Create a lead generating PDF
- Connect and send a note on LinkedIn
- Run Facebook Ads to your last Facebook Live
- Email customers asking for a review
- Write a better proposal
- Do the homework for the last online course you bought
- Ask to be interviewed
Send a mailer
I know, I know… who uses this snail mail option these days, right? I suppose I’m a little ashamed to admit this, but, while quickly going through my junk mail, I have paused for a bit longer when I run across a postcard that is put together well. The truth is a lot of people can still be reached this way and it’s a great way to target a specific area for local marketing. The United States Postal Service has a program that enables you to use a free tool to target a specific area. This can be for both local small businesses or large corporate mailings.
They have a variety of offerings with a wide range of options from which to choose. Head on over to USPS to see what’s available for you.
Build Your Email List
Email lists have proven to be one of the biggest assets for businesses today. It’s a fantastic way to keep your audience aware of all your up-to-date content as well as any current offers. You’ll need an email service provider. If you’re having to stick to a budget, Mailchimp is a great option.
The following is from wendymaynard.com:
Studies show that (if you nurture them as I mentioned above), on average, each email list subscriber is worth about $2 per month in revenue to you.
This means that if you have 500 subscribers, you can expect to make $1,000 each month. With $5,000 subscribers, you can make $10,000 per month and so on. See why people say, “The money’s in the list”?
She goes on to say, “If you communicate with your people regularly via your list, when you are ready to make an offer about a service or product, your email list already has warm and fuzzy feelings about you.”
Revamp your website
Logging onto an outdated website is today’s version of walking into a brick-and-mortar that makes you feel like you’ve been transported to the past. It’s no good for business. That’s why retail stores change their look so frequently. The same goes for your website. You need to be current. Notice I said ‘be’, not just seem. First, we’ll talk aesthetics and then move onto the techie side of things.
Know Your Brand
What’s your story? What is the most likely story of the client or customer that will be seeking you out to help them solve the problem they’re having? You must know these things in order to be noticed. Many businesses try to reach everyone thereby reaching no one. You want to stand out, not get lost in the crowd.
Be Aesthetically Aligned
Visually speaking, who are you trying to reach mostly? Women? Men? Or both? This will make a difference in how you decide to proceed with the look of your website. This does not translate to soft equalling weak or visa-versa. Be careful not to ‘be’ what you think people want to see. Just BE YOU! Your people will be attracted to you for that very reason.
One great tip which also works in the tech area is to make sure your images are properly sized. You want your site to load across multiple devices without potential clients having to wait.
Increase Ease Of Site Navigation
You want people to not just come to your site, but to look around and stay awhile. Making it easy for them to find what they need will make them happy. Keep the 3-click rule in mind. Anyone visiting your site should be able to find what they’re looking for in 3 clicks!
The revenue generating activity: People need a reason to click, so give them one. Great offers are key. If you’re offering to solve their problem quickly, you’ll likely draw them to click.
Onto some techie stuff…
Headlines and CTAs
According to copyblogger, “on average, 8 out of 10 people will read headline copy, but only 2 out of 10 will read the rest”. They go on to say that “this is the secret to the power of your title, and why it so highly determines the effectiveness of the entire piece.”
CTA is your call-to-action. You want to compel and entice your reader forward. You want them to read the first sentence, the second sentence all the way down to your call to action. This is the secret sauce of copywriting!
Headlines and CTAs work together and you want to strengthen your use of both for your website (and blogs which we’ll talk about in the next section).
SEO
Be sure to use the following tips on your website to optimize it as best as you can.
- Keyword and Keyphrase Research – be sure to use all these words on each page of your website and any content you create.
- Use images and size them properly. In addition, be sure you’re adding a keyword to the alt-text of your image before you upload.
- Use internal links and backlinks on your site and in your blogs.
- Be sure you’re using Google Maps and other resources to fully optimize your website. Complete all information and be sure it’s consistent across all platforms.
You’re losing money by not doing these 3 daily activities. CLICK HERE for a free PDF.
Write a blog
Write a blog… but don’t write one blog, write consistently. You must consistently create content.
Some great advice from wendymaynard.com, says to get on a consistent schedule of content generation – this is what will bring you a continuous stream of leads. She talks about nurturing your ‘peeps’ with your content but also that lead generation (creating continuous traffic) and lead nurturing work hand-in-hand.
In your blogs, you’ll want to continue to use many of the tactics and strategies that you use for your website. Correctly sized images, headers and CTAs, SEO, etc…
In addition, your blog posts should be no less than 1,300 words with 1,500 to 3,000 being the sweet spot. I remember the first time I was told to write that many words and frankly, it freaked me out. I didn’t think I could possibly write that many, but with practice, it started to flow. It will for you too!
The best way to start to generate traffic to your site, thereby giving you reasons to have offers, which have great revenue generating activity potential is to get started with your blogging. As far as offers go, think about what you have to offer. Again, what problem are you solving for people?
The revenue generating activity: Align your blog topics with the offers and be sure to use internal links on each blog to other blogs you’ve written on your site. The internal links being part of your website SEO magic.
Create a lead generating PDF
What is a lead-generating offer? It is a piece of valuable content that you provide to a lead when they give you their email address. Once you have their email address, you can create a campaign that nurtures their particular needs.
Lead-generating offers are a key element of Storybrand‘s Marketing Roadmap.
Each lead-generating offer must include the following:
- It must identify your customers’ problem
- It must solve your customers’ problem
- It must bring attention to your product or service
- It must establish trust
- It must create brand reciprocity
- It must offer free value to customers
If you’re new to this and suddenly realize just how all those businesses and websites got you to hand over your email address so easily, you’re getting it!
Connect and send a note on LinkedIn
Whether you’re reaching out to a 1st, 2nd, or 3rd contact, this is something that can be difficult for everybody, let alone reaching out to someone whom neither of you has in common. But, I do believe It really only takes having a plan.
LinkedIn is about networking and connection so while you should personalize some requests, you can keep it casual. The best tip here is to keep it simple and real.
- Introduce yourself
- Let them know why you want to connect – do you admire their work? Do you want to speak with them about something? Do you have a connection in common? Just be real with them. People appreciate that!
- Be tactful and use good judgment about whether you should offer something right off the bat. Maybe consider waiting until they accept your connection or reply.
Run Facebook Ads to your last Facebook Live
According to an article by Hootsuite from January of 2021, Facebook, the biggest of all social networks has 2.74 billion monthly active users, and there is no other platform that offers this kind of reach.
Webfx lists Facebook advertising costs, on average, to be $0.97 per click and $7.19 per 1000 impressions. Ad campaigns focused on earning likes or app downloads can expect to pay $1.07 per like and $5.47 per download, on average.
If this is in your budget, you will certainly have a rather large fishing hole to explore.
Email customers asking for a review
Why not email your current customers asking them to review your product or service? The important thing here will be to have a template with questions for them to answer. Have at least one of those questions be an open-mic type question, that way they have the floor if they want it. Otherwise, your template will likely be helpful and spark ideas and inspiration for them.
Again, let’s talk about solving problems for your customers. Your template questions should inspire them to tell readers what their problem was and how you helped them solve it. Try to format it for storytelling. Have a look at one of our affiliates, RebelFishLocal, for some inspiration.
Write a better proposal
I like the advice from Inc on how to write a winning proposal. First, you must understand the purpose of the proposal. It is to “make a persuasive case that leads to a sale.”
Your proposal must be wanted by the customer. If they don’t know who you are, your proposal means nothing to them. So do your homework and lay the groundwork (like a LinkedIn note that leads to a connection).
If they want the proposal written in a specific way, write it that way. You’re going to have to be pliable and willing to bend in some cases.
Be sure your proposal makes sense. Define the problem and offer the solution. Be sure your proposal offers value. Your proposal will likely not be the only one potential clients will consider, so you must figure out how to provide the most value. You do that and you’ll win!
What if you lose the proposal? Find out why. Be willing to do the work to figure out what you could have done better. It sucks but it’s a great learning tool.
Do the homework for the last online course you bought
I don’t really want to admit to this, but I’ve purchased several online courses that I never got around to completing. Some of them I never even started. So, which ones have you bought into that you didn’t see-through? There is value in doing the work. You’ll learn things you never knew before and it will absolutely help you with your business.
This one’s pretty straightforward. Do the work!
Ask to be interviewed
If you have expertise in a particular area, being interviewed by those who have some kind of connection to that same area can be a great way to widen your reach. Why not? All someone can say is yes or no, right? You have nothing to lose.
Reach out to bloggers and business owners that are up-your-brand-alley and find out if you can trade and interview for an interview. This could lead to further collaboration which never hurts.
You generate revenue when you are talking to a human being. But if you don’t have many 15-minute sales calls booked or new patient consultations, pick a couple of these to work on this week. For all service-based businesses, your goal should be to spend two hours a day on sales calls.
Schedule a Call with us today, we’d love to help!