How to Generate Revenue (Even When You’re In a Slump)

How to Generate Revenue (even if you're in a slump)

Launching a new product isn’t likely to get you out of a slump.

Neither is having a blow-out sale.

There comes a time in every business when you need to generate revenue — fast. And it could be for any number of reasons — something didn’t play out as you had expected, unforeseen expenses, maybe you had to take some time away…

Your bank account starts looking a little lonely and you need to generate revenue quickly, and without resorting to coupons or deep discounts.

I always encourage my clients to look at their business as a money machine: it has different parts that may need to be added, greased up, or fueled, but once you get it working properly, you should be able to turn on the money machine and generate revenue any time you need to.

How do you reconfigure your business to be a money machine?  A few dos and don’ts.

1) DON’T try to launch a new product.

Launching all the time, creating products all the time (even if you’re an idea person like me!), and selling all the time is exhausting. Beyond that, it’s not building a legacy for your business. It doesn’t give your prospects something to remember your business for.

But most importantly, constantly creating new offers doesn’t set you up for making more money in the long run.

Every time you launch a new product or program, you’re only tapping into a very small segment of your potential customer base (the Early Adopters). If you stop there, other customers might trickle in over time but most people won’t even know you have that offer available.

This is a great case study on this very topic by Jeff Goins.

That just puts your business back in the position of needing to generate revenue with another new product. It’s a vicious cycle.

2) DO send a sales email about your best-selling product or service.

Instead of a vicious cycle, your business needs a system for marketing, launching, and selling your best offers over & over again. And when that system also includes products that work together to create more value for your customers and your business than they could alone, it’s a Business Model.

When your business has that kind of system in place, revenue becomes predictable and more consistent. At the very least, you know when it’s coming. Best of all, you’ll find that your offers start to generate more and more revenue each time you enter a sales cycle because your customers are expecting them, planning for them, and eager to buy them.

What’s your No. 1 seller? There are people on your list who haven’t bought this product or service and likely would, if they knew about it. Even when we think “everyone” has bought our main product, there are people you’re connected to who still don’t know it exists.

Sometimes the best way to generate new revenue is to focus on old assets. What could you craft a fresh sales cycle for?

3) DON’T wait until you have the perfect “next big thing.”

I know you: you’re sitting on a great idea. You haven’t figured out how to make the time, find the money, or craft the sales process for that new product or program you have in mind.

Pro tip: don’t.

I’m not saying don’t make the thing, I’m saying don’t make the time.  Because more time isn’t going to magically appear in your schedule.

Instead, write down everything you know about the first iteration of this product. Then write down all the reasons your best customers or most engaged audience members need it. Put those things together with a strong pitch and…

4) DO beta test a new product or service with a small group of hand-picked customers.

…present it to a select few you know will dig it.

In Quiet Power Strategy, we call this the Living Room Strategy, and it’s a simple way to test out a new idea on a few of those Early Adopters who will be thrilled to work with you. You’ll generate revenue while doing the work to create the product, instead of waiting for the product to be ready & waiting to get paid.

5) DON’T discount your prices.

It seems to me that whenever entrepreneurs need to generate revenue fast, their first thought is to discount — but really, that’s backward thinking. If you lower your prices, you actually have to sell more to make up the difference.

In addition, discounting, sales, and coupons train your customers not to buy. It tells them that if they just wait long enough, there will be a sale and they can pay less.

6) DO consider raising your prices or adding a bonus.

Instead of discounting, consider if there’s a way you can raise a price or add more value.

There are two ways you can approach raising your prices. If you’re regularly selling something that’s been on the shelf for a while, you can just raise the price to give you a revenue boost.

The other way to tackle this is by giving your customers a heads up on an impending price increase. There’s probably something sitting on your “shelf” that could use a 10–50% bump in price. Craft an email that lets people know the price is going up and they have until a certain date to get the item/program/service at a lower rate.

If you’re not ready to raise prices, you can run a promotion instead of a sale, and add a bonus to entice people to take action. Promotions are very different than sales, but they almost always motivate people nearly as much.

In almost every case, I encourage you to add value instead of subtracting from your price.

7) DO repackage and reposition.

Many times, businesses have several smaller products that can be repackaged as a bundle with more value. In fact, the repackaged product might be a more compelling offer than the individual products.

If you’re a jewelry designer, you might try to package up a necklace, bracelet, and pair of earrings. Simple, right? But the result is a greater value than the sum of its parts; it’s now a night-on-the-town kit.

If you’re a health coach, you might try to package a recipe book, coaching program, and one-off session with you. Again, simple. And again, the result is a higher value than the sum of its parts; it’s now the method, the accountability, and the day-to-day information you need to succeed all-in-one.

8) DO reach out and find a collaborator.

You can also bundle your products or services with someone else’s to increase value for both of your audiences.

For example, a yoga studio and a massage therapist could come together and create a package deal to help people de-stress.  A handbag designer could pair up with a clothing designer to do trunk shows. A copywriter could pair up with a graphic designer to offer a single price for a finished ebook.

The possibilities are practically endless if you look at what else your customer might need.

The best collaborations often start from very small joint ventures. If there’s someone in your network you’ve been dying to connect and create with, this could be the time to jump on it.

By your powers combined, you could whip up a workshop or small event that will have both of your audiences asking for more. You get the chance to test drive the partnership, your audiences get value that they couldn’t have gotten from either one of you individually, and you generate some revenue to boot.

The trick here is to keep the scope small and the expectations for each party well-defined. That benefits both of you… and your customers.

The truth is, once you get the pieces in place, your business should be able to generate revenue any time you need it.  Of course, that doesn’t matter much if the prices you charge don’t support your growth. Enter your email address below to get my FREE “Price for Growth” course:

How to Create $10k in Unplanned Revenue: Breanne Dyck Case Study

One of the most fun parts of being an entrepreneur is the ability to generate revenue from nowhere. Of course, it’s not really coming from nowhere. You need to be able to spot an opportunity, create the right conditions for success, and make it all happen.

It’s not that it’s easier said than done but that it takes a type of perception that needs to be worked at. The good news is that anyone can learn this type of perception and learn it quickly. It’s one of the things that I teach our clients in Quiet Power Strategy™.

  1. They learn that opportunities are most often driven by their customers’ evolving needs. In other words, you’ve probably nailed one need at this point so now you need to ask, “What do they need next?”
  2. Then they learn how to create valuable experiences that require very little work to produce. Instead of trying to get everything right, they only prioritize what their ideal customer truly cares about. They also take into account what is going to make them as both a business owner and a value deliverer most effective.
  3. Finally, they create a plan to make it happen. We focus this around their Chief Initiatives so that they have the kind of focus that not only transforms the way they work on a day-to-day basis but transforms the way others perceive their businesses.

Breanne Dyck: learning strategist & coachBreanne Dyck, a brilliant learning strategist who has helped me craft my last two CreativeLive workshops, used this system to generate unplanned revenue and seriously up-level the way her business is perceived in the market. Not only that, but the way she perceives herself and her business has changed. Here’s her story:

“Create a plan to generate $8000 in un-planned for revenue during the course of the program.”

 

That was the challenge that Tara gave us in September, at the start of Quiet Power Strategy™.

 

My gut response was, “$8000? Unplanned?! In four months!?!”

 

It’s not that I didn’t want the revenue; I just didn’t see how it could be possible. My plan for the rest of the year had included no new sales cycles, offers or clients. Just taking the program.

 

What I didn’t realize at the time was that this “plan” was really just me holding myself back. Over the next few months, the coaches helped me strip away that false complacency and lack of confidence. Nothing was sacred; everything I thought I knew went under the microscope.

 

I thought I helped online entrepreneurs who wanted to create online courses. Turns out, “my people” are business owners who want to be recognized as best-in-class, every time they show up in the world.

 

I knew they liked my experience, smarts, and ability to apply theory to the “real world.” But I learned that they love  my drive for excellence, my ability to quickly zero in on opportunities, and my dedication for making them – and their work – stand out.

 

Quiet Power Strategy™ didn’t create this knowledge. Instead, it helped me to articulate it and bring it together, so I could stand firmly and confidently in the overlap. In doing so, I found a brand new business model, a new way of talking about my work, and a set of all-new offerings.

 

Looking back now, I can hardly believe that so much could change in such a short period of time. There was a lot of unlearning to do; a lot of stepping outside of my comfort zone; a lot of trusting myself and my instincts. But every step moved me closer and closer to where I want to be.

 

And that insurmountable-feeling challenge?

 

I knocked it out of the park, with more than $10,000 in new, unplanned revenue. My January 2015 sales alone exceeded 1/3rd of my total prior-year revenues.

 

What I’m most excited about, though, is that I know the best is yet to come.

If you’re looking to develop a best-in-class workshop, program, or course, I cannot recommend Breanne more highly. She has helped me infuse incredible value into my teaching and create experiences that are grounded, measurable, and truly beneficial to my students. You can find out more about her Elevate sessions and get access to over 9 coaching videos by clicking here.

And if you’re ready to learn how to start applying these principles to your business, I invite you to check out my free training on creating your Chief Initiative and finding the focus that not only transforms the way you work but the way people perceive your business. Click here to register–FREE.

Why More Offers Don’t Equal More Revenue

Need to make more money? Generate some revenue? It’s as easy as creating a new offer, right?

Not so fast. True, being an entrepreneur means that, even if money doesn’t grow on trees, it’s not so hard to find something to sell when you need a few extra dollars.

But creating a new product, program, or offer every time you want to generate revenue isn’t a good plan. In fact, it’s not a plan at all. It’s a reaction to a need.

When you’re just starting out, most of what you do is react. And that’s okay. But you’re really ready for something a little more proactive now, aren’t you?

My story starts no differently than yours. I “got” the entrepreneurial money mindset—that you can create revenue whenever you need it—well before I “got” planning for steady, predictable revenue growth. When I wanted to make some money, I’d make something new. I’d write a book, create a program, make a new coaching offer.

Of course, launching all the time, creating products all the time (even when you’re an idea person like me!), and selling all the time is exhausting.

Beyond that, it’s not building a legacy for your business. It doesn’t give your prospects something to remember your business for.

But most importantly, always creating new offers doesn’t set you up for making more money in the long run.

Every time you launch a new product or program, you’re only tapping into a very small segment of your potential customer base (the Early Adopters). If you stop there, other customers might trickle in over time but most people won’t even know you have that offer available.

That just puts your business back in the position of needing to generate revenue with another new product. It’s a vicious cycle.

Instead of a vicious cycle, your business needs a system for marketing, launching, and selling your best offers over & over again. And when that system also includes products that work together to create more value for your customers and your business than they could alone, it’s a Business Model.

When your business has that kind of system in place, revenue becomes predictable and more consistent. At the very least, you know when it’s coming. Best of all, you’ll find that your offers start to generate more and more revenue each time you enter a sales cycle because your customers are expecting them, planning for them, and eager to buy them.

It’s so much easier to sell to a prospect who is already aware of your product. It’s even easier when your prospect knows people who have purchased and loved your product already. That’s easy to accomplish when your business has regular sales cycles for your best offers.

My business now has two main offers: Kick Start Labs and Quiet Power Strategy. And with just those two offers, my business is on track to do $100,000 more in revenue than it did last year—and possibly much more. Instead of generating new offers over the last 2 years, I’ve focused on making those offers better and better, more predictable, and more familiar.

To get really specific, that means that my interest list for an offer like 10ThousandFeet has gone from 20 to 50 to 150 to 250 to many, many more without much promotion. When I enter a sales cycle with that group, they’re there because they’re truly eager to find out more about the program. They’ve probably heard about it from a past client and they want to get similar results.

Each time I launch the program, it’s easier and easier to sell and I’m more confident about its ability to sell out.

That’s how a blockbuster product is born.

It doesn’t happen all it once. It builds over time. When you design your whole business model that way, you’ve got the makings of a blockbuster business.

This is a great time of year to step back and examine the offers your business currently has, how they’re working together (or not), and how you could plan a system for revenue growth based on those existing offers. Your Next Big Thing might be something you’re already selling.

5 Ways to Generate Revenue Now Without Having a Sale

There are lots of reasons you might need to generate revenue right now. You’re moving, you’re having a baby, you’re feeling the pinch at tax time, you want to redesign your website, you want to take a trip.

Needing to generate revenue now isn’t something to feel bad about. It happens in successful businesses, it happens in little businesses, it happens in big businesses. It’s just part of being in business!

So let’s make you some money—and soon

1) Send a sales email about your bestselling product or service to generate revenue.

What’s your #1 seller? There are people on your list who haven’t bought this product or service and likely would, if they knew about it. Even when we think “everyone” has bought our main product, there are people you’re connected to who still don’t know it exists.

Last week, I casually linked to my bestselling product, The Art of Earning, and—without mentioning it by name—quadrupled sales over the week before.

Sometimes the best way to generate new revenue is to focus on old assets. What could you craft a fresh sales cycle for?

2) Beta test a product or program that’s been on your mind to serve clients & make money now.

I know you: you’re sitting on a great idea. You haven’t figured out how to make the time, find the money, or craft the sales process for that new product or program you have in mind.

Pro tip: don’t.

Write down everything you know about the first iteration of this product. Then write down all the reasons your best customers or most engaged audience members need it. Put those things together with a strong pitch and present it to a select few you know will dig it.

You’ll thrill the early adopters in your audience. You’ll offer killer value for a great price. And you’ll be that many steps ahead when you go to do a bigger launch on a more refined version.

3) Raise your prices to leverage existing sales.

Two ways you can approach this one. If you’re regularly selling something that’s been on the shelf for a while, you can just raise the price to give you a revenue boost.

The other way to tackle this is by giving your customers a heads up on an impending price increase. There’s probably something sitting on your “shelf” that could use a 10-50% bump in price. Craft an email that let’s people know the price is going up and they have until a certain date to get the item/program/service at a lower rate.

4) Repackage what’s already on the shelf.

Often, businesses have several smaller products that can be repackaged as a bundle with more value. In fact, the repackaged product might even have a more compelling value proposition as a package than as individual products.

If you’re a jewelry designer, you might try to package up a necklace, bracelet, and pair of earrings. Simple, right? But the result is a greater value than the sum of its parts; it’s now a night-on-the-town kit.

If you’re a health coach, you might try to package a recipe book, coaching program, and one-off session with you. Again, simple. And again, the result is a greater value than the sum of its parts; it’s now the method, the accountability, and the day-to-day information you need to succeed all-in-one.

What do you currently sell that actually makes more sense together?

5) Find a partner to create new value.

The best collaborations often start from very small joint ventures. If there’s someone in your network you’ve been dying to connect and create with, this could be the time to jump on it.

By your powers combined, you could whip up a workshop or small event that will have both of your audiences asking for more. You get the chance to test drive the partnership, your audiences get value that they couldn’t have gotten from either one of you individually, and you generate some revenue to boot.

The trick here is to keep the scope small and the expectations for each party well-defined. That benefits both of you… and your customers.

A word to the wise: it’s easy to fall into a pattern of gotta-make-money-now in business, especially once you realize how easy it can be. However, planning for revenue, proper product & customer development, and sales cycles will always be the real key to feeling secure in your business. 

Part of truly stepping into entrepreneurship is understanding how easy it is to generate more revenue. If your cash flow is feeling a bit tight, I encourage you to try one of these ideas and get a taste for the entrepreneurial money mindset yourself.

A Confession of Sorts–or–There’s More Than One Way to Grow Your Business

Will you allow me to share something a little uncomfortable with you for a bit? When I file my 2012 taxes this year, my personal income will be considerably lower than in 2011.

No, I didn’t cash in on some big business expense that allows me to claim less income. No, I didn’t shelter any in quasi-legal bank accounts.

I just made less.

About halfway through the year, I began to feel (as in, in my body) the results of earning less income. There were knots of stress, anxiety headaches, and the taste you get in your mouth from eating a bit of humble pie.

Maybe even some shame.

Luckily, I recognized the problem fairly quickly with the help of my set of trusted mentors and coaches. The problem? Oh, it wasn’t earning less money. It was that I wasn’t acknowledging:

  • that I had purposefully taken “time off” from earning to grow my business in other ways
  • that I was having great success with that growth
  • and that I had changed my spending circumstances to meet the challenge
  • oh, and, that my measure of success–even in business–was not revenue.

Let me back up. In early Spring 2012, I had constructed a plan to restructure the very foundation of my business. I started working with a literary agent on a book proposal. I changed the way I worked with 1:1 clients.

With more clarity than ever before, I worked to make the next iteration of my business based on how I was best suited to make the impact I want to make on the world.

For me, that means writing books–whether traditionally published or self-published–because I’m an ideas person. I’m curious, a bit obsessive, and could happily converse all day on the big picture. It also means continuing to speak, teach, and blog.

That means the rest of my business needs to grow into buckets that can take care of themselves. Scoutie Girl is one bucket. Kick Start Labs is another bucket. Even my own coaching and consulting is another bucket. Those buckets don’t function without teams, clear goals, and individual visions.

So, back to that revenue thing again. I didn’t personally make as much money this year, as I said. Why? Well, this kind of growth–even carefully planned, almost-can’t-fail strategies–takes time. I had to “give up on” some big streams of revenue to transition the business into these buckets. Then I had to rebuild those streams of revenue under new brand names and with new people.

In the midst of this transition, I purposefully took some serious time off from making money to work on my book proposal. It wasn’t a sure thing–still isn’t–and there was little chance it would make up for the money I wasn’t making. It was an investment in a different type of growth, one for which I’m very well suited.

Here’s the thing: I made less money in 2012 than in 2011, but my business grew like crazy. It made a big impact. I’m so proud of everything we accomplished.

How do you know if your business is growing if you’re not making more money?

…or hiring more employees …or quadrupling your subscriber base …or selling more products

You have to change how you define growth. In my new book, I talk about growth in terms of 3 areas: reach, revenue, and depth.

Growth based on reach is about fostering new connections. You’re putting your work and ideas in front of new people, more people. You’re casting the net to gather everyone who can take your vision and turn it into deep good. You’re partnering, networking, broadcasting.

Growth based on depth is about uncovering needs and desires that reside far below the surface. You’re working towards loyalty and strong relationships. You’re allowing curiosity drive those relationships and you’re rising to the task of creating a vast impact in individual lives.

Growth based on revenue is recognizing all the ways you’re creating value and implementing systems to receive value to match. You’re organizing, marketing, and packaging. You’re letting the current reality around your business guide you to higher returns.

When you consider how you’ll explore your next growth stage, you need must consider where your strengths naturally fall. If you’re really not into diving into big questions, you’re probably must better suited to growing your reach than growing in depth. If you’re really good at recognizing opportunities to create transactions, you might be best suited to grow in revenue.

You also need to consider what the big vision is for the impact you want to make in the world with your business. If your vision is to transform lives one at a time, growing in reach doesn’t serve that vision. If your vision is to introduce broad communities to your big idea, trying to grow in depth doesn’t make a lot of sense.

When you consider your strengths (both as an individual and as a business) and the impact you want your business to make, you’ll have a prescription for the type of growth you want to embark on next. You’ll be able to weigh other considerations (like a dip in profit!) against the type of growth you’re generating.

That means you can grow without (much) anxiety. You can change directions with purpose. You can create change with a vision.

That’s the art of growth.

Praise for The Art of Growth

The Art of Growth by Tara Gentile“…offers tools to help your beloved business come of age and come into its own while simultaneously handing you the reins to your life back.”
— Tanya Geisler, creator of Board of Your Life

“By engaging the reader with her business philosophies gained through hard-won expertise, The Art of Growth will leave you with pages of notes and hope for scaling your next venture.”
— Dusti Arab, writer and branding strategist

Learn more or get your copy here.