How to scale your online business

What do you, Bill Gates, and the hot dog vendor on the corner all have in common? 

We’ve all got 24 hours in a day. 

There’s no magic formula for increasing the hours you get per day on this planet, but there are methods to help you stop trading those precious hours for dollars. In this post, we’re talking all about SCALING YOUR BIZ.

Scaling is a fun subject because it means more money in your pocket — and who doesn’t love that scenario? It’s exciting to figure out how and where you can grow your business!

Today, I’m sharing the three best ways to scale your biz and some inside tips on how to implement these strategies. Focusing on these areas both collectively and individually can really increase your 2020 profits. 

STAGE 1: SCALING CUSTOMERS AND GROWING YOUR AUDIENCE

Simply put, the more targeted people you reach, the more sales you will make and the more money you’re going to bring into your business. 

This step concentrates on increasing the number of buyers. Whether you’re a service provider looking to add more clients to your roster or you have a product-based business and want to increase the number of people who are purchasing, this is the first area most business owners consider when trying to boost profits.

Take Action: list out all of the ways you can grow your audience and get more customers or clients?

• Social Media Posts / Stories
• Ads on Social Media
• Online Ads (Display ads/Search ads/PPC)
• Offline Ads (Magazines/TV/Radio..etc)
• Referrals from Affiliates/ Joint Ventures
• Referrals from guest blog posts / social media take-overs
• Search Engine Optimization
• Direct Mail
• Email Marketing
• Resource / Review sites (Yelp, etc..)

Take Action: List out all of the ideas for converting more of that traffic and new audience into email subscribers

• Freebies (printables/worksheets..)
• Webinars
• Mini-courses
• Email Courses
• Challenges
• Resource Libraries
• Discounts / Coupons

Take Action: List out all of the ways you can then convert email subscribers to customers

• Education Email Marketing (in an Email Sales Funnel)
• One-time offers (OTO)
• Tripwires (also known as one-time offers)
• Sales / Flash sales
• Scarcity Offers / Limited time
• Limited tickets/spots
• Upsell / Downsell / Cross Sell
• Coaching
• Services / Done-for-you products
• Bundles / Kits
• Membership / Subscription (value + consistency)

Related post: FINDING AN AUDIENCE FOR YOUR FIRST DIGITAL PRODUCT

STAGE 2: SCALING YOUR PRODUCTS

This step is all about expanding what you already have to generate more cash. Adding new products or adding value to existing products can increase your profits without having to spend the time and energy landing new customers. 

Do you offer one big course as your main way to make money? 

Try creating mini-courses out of that course. 

Do you usually sell smaller courses? 

Consider bundling them together to create a package with a higher price point. 

Do you have a product that has lost its initial momentum with your audience?

Try adding freebies and bonuses to make your current offering more appealing. 

STAGE 3: SCALE YOUR PRICING

Increasing the per-unit price of your products or services is an important part of scaling your business. As you continue to improve your product (or your knowledge and expertise as a service provider), you should be infusing that knowledge into your products and services to make them better. 

This means as you add this value, you’ll need to compensate yourself by raising your prices. This step is really all about confidence and knowing your worth. As you increase your visibility, you naturally need to bump up your prices to match your level of influence. 

HERE ARE SOME EXAMPLES OF EFFECTIVE SCALING 

Meet Josie, a virtual assistant who specializes in Pinterest and social media management. Josie is looking to scale her business to make more money in 2020. Here are three techniques she can use to accomplish this goal:

• Cross-Selling.

When someone purchases Josie’s Pinterest package, she immediately pitches her Instagram management package as a second service she could offer the same client. She explains how bundling the two together can benefit her client’s business.

• Up-Selling.

Josie also takes a look at her Pinterest package and notices how she can add additional services that complement the main package. She decides to offer an additional 100 pins per month on top of her regular package. 

• Down-Selling

Josie pitches her Pinterest package to a client during a discovery call, but the clients decide not to buy. They need her services, but the monthly price is out of their budget. Josie then presents the potential client with her smaller, down-sized package as an alternative. She offers a Pinterest management package with less bells and whistles, but with a lower, easier-to-swallow price point. 

Remember, these techniques aren’t just for service providers. They can easily be used within the product realm as well. 

HOW TO IMPLEMENT ALL OF THE ABOVE IDEAS:

While the above techniques can take place through one-on-one conversations, OR live launches – they’re also great to use within automated funnels.

A few of our favorite programs to help you automate include:

Woocommerce and Send Owl for digital and physical products. 

Teachable, Podia, and Kajabi for online courses. 

Each of these platforms has built-in processes to help business owners automate their upsells, cross-sells, and downsells. 

GET THE CUSTOMER’S JOURNEY RIGHT! 

This part is where the magic happens for the best brands. This is how you will deliver remarkable quality and stand out above the rest. 

Every person who interacts with your business enters your customer journey. Some may never progress past the beginning stage, but the goal is to take them all the way through this process until they become an advocate for your biz.

To maximize the scaling potential of your business, it’s important to plan out how you’ll best serve your customers within each step, and how you’ll move them through this process into the next level. 

Remember, these little touches are to build that relationship and create something truly unique.

Ways to do this include:

• Loyalty programs that reward frequent customers
• Affiliate programs for raving fans who can promote and sell your products to others

*For a detailed explanation of the customer journey, grab the Scaling Your Biz workshop and workbook for only $20.  The workbook includes questions to ask when hiring support staff, dos and don’ts of scaling, knowing when the time is right to scale, and more.

READY TO SCALE YOUR BUSINESS?

If you’re experiencing these signs in your biz, it may be time to take the leap and start to scale.

1. The business is consistent. Are your goals being met? Do you have a good flow of business and a decent customer base who keeps coming back?

2. Customers are asking for it. Are customers asking what else you have to offer them or what more you can do for them? 

Example: A course creator who has students craving more one-on-one attention may decide to offer a high-end mastermind group to take these students to the next level. This mastermind would be a coaching experience that builds off of the course material and is offered at a much higher price point.

3. You have support. Do you have a VA or a customer service rep to free up your time so you’re able to focus on creating ways to scale?

It not, it may be time to take the leap and invest in support. Make the time by hiring someone to help you!

We recommend you look at your business from ALL angles, and you’ll see that there are multiple ways to increase the amount of money you make!

It’s time to take your unique skills and learn to confidently scale them to make the most profit for your business.

YOUR NEXT STEP FOR SCALING:

Meet the Creative Boss Method! This 6-part series includes all of the Creative Boss Method Workshops:

• Brand Strategy Workshop
• Pinterest Marketing Workshop
• Instagram Marketing Workshop
• Creative Boss Revenue Workshop
• Systematizing Your Biz Workshop
• Scaling Your Biz Workshop

PLUS, when you purchase the bundle, you’ll receive our actionable workbooks packed with tools to help you take action and apply what you’ve learned in the workshops.

Click here to grab the Creative Boss Method Workshops