How to Keep the Cash Coming — My 10-Year Bulletproof Action Set

Cash flow engineering done my way

Every business should strive for success, and one of its biggest markers of success is continuous income. Smart entrepreneurs prioritize this, and accordingly map out a comprehensive marketing plan around it.

I’m proud to say that I’ve started my business from absolutely nothing, and I just learned these ropes along the way. What I’ll share with you here is the shortcut, compact version. I’m still learning and innovating; but this info will help you get where you want to, only faster.

Turn On More Than One Income Tap

Build a solid set of business channels in positive ROI from several sources. You should monitor your sales effectively to find your strongest points, and position your marketing efforts better. When you find your strongest points, build 2–3 upsells from each one, and see how you can make the upsell worth it.

One of my most successful ventures is my gift shop. We used to sell bouquets-on-delivery only, however, as we went through the years, we have expanded our offerings to chocolates, teddy bears, jewelry, and services such as serenades, surprise and proposal event coordination, and just recently, launching our engagement package where we provide sets that include a ring, flowers, balloons, and a cake. All of these offers make sure we hit a huge part of the market and retain our position as a top “surprises and delights” provider, which is our brand.

When someone inquires for one thing only, we offer another thing, give discounts for packages, and we also offer free assistance to customers who find it difficult to pick a gift for their significant other. Through this approach, we are able to sell more while building relationships with our clients.

When you siphon off additional potential avenues for revenue from your product, you stabilize the flow of money into your business, and consequently strengthen it.

Grow Your Connections, Expand Your Circles

Networking is a vital ingredient in any good marketing plan. The people you associate with have connections that your business can benefit from. This is why it is advisable for you to attend talks and conferences that aim to further your specific industry. In doing so, you do not only represent your brand, you also have a chance to meet people who may be able to help you grow your business.

My best bet is to attend high ticket workshops, because the people who are attending it also made a huge investment to attend the event, meaning, they are most likely very successful businesspeople too. Aside from getting premium knowledge, you also get to rub elbows with people who are switched on when it comes to business.

Now, don’t pressure yourself to close a deal for every event though. Desperation shows, and it slows you down. Instead, make it your goal to help as many people as possible, and people will remember.

Deliver Excellent Customer Service, Never Settle

How you treat your clients factors significantly into your sales numbers. Where necessary, your team should be trained to improve its skill set and deliver a better experience to your target market.

It is also important that you inculcate ideals in your people that are focused on excellent salesmanship. Repeat clients — and new acquisitions — can happen better if your company has a solid track record of doing good business.

Make your clients your best evangelists. Don’t just deliver customer satisfaction, but deliver customer delight. Continuously please them, exceed their expectations that it will be crazy for them to not gush about your business. One of my time-tested strategies to deliver customer delight is this: giving an unannounced bonus AFTER the client pays the down payment.

Anther advantage I like when you have a warm audience because of happy customers — even way after their transaction with you — is that you can always hit them up for a new offering, when you know that they liked your product/ service. This is why when we’re a loyalist to a brand, and they release something new, we are more likely to “try it out”, hence, spend money, vs. a brand that’s totally new to our eyes. I take advantage of this situation by releasing affordable new products, or upsells which I know they like and will pay for right away. Cash on demand, that’s what it is.

Fortify Your Business Offerings

A stale marketing model will get old pretty quickly, and it will reflect in your books. Boost every business offering by creating refreshing campaigns that attract and retain attention from consumers. Arm yourself with industry updates, tweak offers that seem to perform weakly, and always keep an eye out for a fresh new audience to appeal to.

In one of my ventures, the corporate events and PR agency (PREP), I initially sold private events — weddings, birthdays, anniversaries, etc. Then I realized that the market was too saturated, plus I have a very strong marketing and PR background from years of teaching in the university. I shifted to corporate events, and made a list of decision makers. Then I changed my strategy, language, and approach to appeal to these decision makers. My initial marketing campaigns reaped better results than I imagined, and I began gaining an edge in the corporate events industry. In 2016, I eventually dropped private events altogether.

A foolproof technique that I apply to my business is always the 3 Business Offer Categories — Low end, Mid range, High end. Now, this doesn’t mean that you hit ALL markets. You serve one market, one profile, but in order for you to sell to them repeatedly, or for your to offer “some other thing” that they need, you need to have offers for all three brackets. Whatever bracket they bought from FIRST, they will surely buy from the other ones during different times of their lives. This is how you can sell to a client at least 3 times, and get business from them at least 3 times.

Lastly, don’t forget to train your people well. Prep your staff towards always moving forward, so you can provide a backend that meets your clientele’s evolving needs.

Build a Strong Business Name

Build a culture that aims to infuse your brand with every good thing about your products and processes. A solid reputation SELLS ITSELF, and drives more interest and purchasing decisions, than any other promotional plan.

When you have a strong business name, you will find that it may be all that you need to generate interest from your target market, convert them into clients, and keep them.

Invest in Advertising

One of the key mistakes that business owners make is being cheap on advertising. They do all of these good things — optimization, good service, upsells — but they still scrimp on spending money on advertising.

Here’s the real deal: one of the biggest hurdles that a business will always have, is to convince a prospect to try them out for the first time. Another common hurdle is to convince them to come back, despite the myriad of choices out there. Keeping a customer is a perpetual courtship, and that is why even big brands spend so much on advertising.

To avoid being cheap on advertising, stick this idea in your brain: advertising is buying customers at a profit. It’s an investment. When done right, it will yield really good results. So make sure you stick with a professional ads guy / gal, brainstorm, deploy, and evaluate, and put your money where your mouth is.

Ready to keep the cash coming? Brace yourself and prepare the money bags for the days to come!

P.S. And just between the two of us, if you like this article, I have a worksheet for you in my book. Plus a hundred other stories and worksheets. You can check it out here — https://www.karlasingsonshop.com/optin16586011