There's no reason why you can't incorporate several of
these different income opportunities into your business model. The
key is to focus on one, maximize revenue from it and then move on
to the next.
Of course, this choice should be made with extra consideration
to your budget. If, like most small-business people, you have a
limited budget, you'll want to focus on revenue streams (like
selling products or recommending affiliate products) that will
produce results quickly. A good place for you to start might
be:
The Sales Model
When most people think about taking a small business online, they
go straight to the sales model. That's because it's fairly
straight-forward and your source of income is obvious. You function
as an online merchant, and every time you make a sale, you earn a
profit. The more sales you make, the bigger your profits grow.
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But the really great thing about the sales model is that once
you have your main revenue stream running smoothly, you can add
every single other profit stream I mentioned above in order to
diversify your income and explode your profits! For example,
let's say you run a small business that manufactures garden
tools. When you set up your sales site, you can sell your own
product (garden tools), earning the largest profit margin. This
should be your main source of income, so make sure you focus on
this first.
You could also sell a service that complements your
products or that your customers might need before or after using
your product. Your garden tools sales site, for example, could
offer landscaping consultations with professional landscapers.
Next, you could find products available to drop ship that
complement your main product. Maybe your new garden tool owners
will need other items for their garden. Find a drop shipper that
offers bird feeders or garden gloves, and arrange to offer those
products for sale on your site.
Why not recommend affiliate products that your customers
will be interested in? You could set up a "Gardening
Resources" page on your site and use it to promote affiliate
products related to gardening, such as books or magazines about
gardening, packets of seeds, flower bulbs, plant pots or just about
anything else gardeners would be interested in. (Remember, though,
keep your focus and avoid turning this page into a general flea
market or you'll end up losing traffic.)
Try selling ad space to advertisers who are interested in
your target market. A site that sells rain gear, for example, might
be interested in advertising to gardeners since they spend a lot of
time outside. Another option would be to create a joint
venture with other businesses. Maybe you know a great local
landscaper who has never considered offering his service online.
You could set up an arrangement where you earn a portion of the
profits on any sales you send his way. Then, write a quick e-mail
promotion about his service and send it to all of your customers
who live in his area.
Finally, start an affiliate program to promote your site.
You could do all your selling yourself . . . but why would you?
Think about it--you boost your visibility when your affiliates
start publicizing your site, you gain credibility with your
affiliates' customers, and you simply make more sales! And in a
sales model site, that's your ultimate goal.
The Click & Mortar Model
In the click & mortar model, you combine your offline business
with an online presence to increase exposure and expand your
market. What you do with your Web site will depend on the type of
offline business you've already established. Your online
venture could be anything from a site that mainly functions as a
marketing tool for your offline business to a fully e-commerce-
enabled electronic store. Here are some of the profit streams you
should consider when taking your existing small business
online:
If your offline business involves selling products, you should
consider online sales. Your two channels (online and offline) can
share resources, including marketing dollars, fulfillment systems,
and inventory. Adding the online channel allows you to expand your
geographic and product market, while keeping your business
small.
If you sell an offline service, think about ways you
could promote your service online. This can be effective no matter
what service you offer. Whether you're a real estate agent, a
doctor, a dentist, a lawyer, a landscaper or a hairdresser, you can
use your Web site to sell your service. For example, you could take
appointments through your site or create a promotional campaign
online that directs visitors to your physical location.
You could sell ad space to other local businesses. For
example, let's say you're a real estate agent. You could
sell ad space to a cleaning company since people might be
interested in having their homes professionally cleaned before
moving in.
You could create a joint venture with other local
businesses. For your real estate business, you could create a
"Welcome to the Neighborhood" package filled with helpful
information and coupons for local businesses, including a pizza
place, a video rental store, a plumber, a electrician and a beauty
shop. Then make joint venture arrangements with all these
businesses so that you profit every time one of your coupons is
used. Offer this package both online and offline to increase your
profits.
And, as usual, I suggest you start an affiliate program.
Think about it--your affiliates could send visitors to your site,
where you promote your offline service. Or you could provide your
affiliates with a printable coupon campaign that they could use to
send people to your physical location.
Remember that both of these business models are most effective
when you combine profit streams to maximize revenue. For example,
if you wanted to work with your sales model site to diversify your
profit streams, you could sell your own product, while also
recommending affiliate or joint venture products that would appeal
to your audience and complement your offer. You could investigate
drop-shipping options to even further diversify your product line.
Then you could create a service that your product users would need,
and send them an offer in a follow-up e-mail promotion. Plus, you
can make more sales on all of these fronts by enlisting an army of
affiliates to sell for you.
Diversification gives you all kinds of options when it comes to
back-end and follow-up offers. And remember, if you have great
offers, the customers who have bought from you once are likely to
buy from you again.
Internet marketing expert Corey Rudl has gained popularity
because what he teaches are not theoretical approaches to
online marketing but real examples of what works when it comes to
having a successful business on the Internet. He's also the
author of the bestselling how-to guide, Insider
Secrets to Marketing Your Business on the Internet. For free
tips and resources, please contact questions@marketingtips.com.
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