Prosper Newsletter: January 2007 > Small Business

You understand that the following information is educational in nature and is not intended to be legal, accounting, or tax advice. You are responsible for your own financial decisions and should consult your own legal, accounting, and tax advisors before making your financial decisions.

Success Recorded

I have worked through these ten weeks with my coach and am truly sad to see them end! He has been terrific in working with our existing company to guide us toward powerful new ways to improve our web site, expand our business, and promote ourselves to achieve far more successful results. Initially we talked about ways to create new services and products; a decision was made to expand our recording studio business in addition to my work as a composer/lyricist and performer/recording artist and my husband's work as a broadcast systems integrator. My husband and I began to conceive new ideas for recording projects for other organizations and individuals, since our recording studio has almost solely been for my own use in the past.

Following one of the early sessions working with my coach on these possibilities, I was at a rehearsal for a joint choir project between two area synagogues and the Baptist church. As we were rehearsing the performance, it occurred to me that we should record this performance. With my coach's words echoing in my mind, I turned to the synagogue's cantor who is a friend, and said, "We've got to record this! It would be an incredible fundraiser! The members of the choir will all want CDs and their families and friends, plus the people at the service and all three congregations can sell the CD. We can create the CD for you and print up CDs whenever you need them and you don't have to stock large quantities and we can create your graphics and print the CDs and labels for you!" He looked at me with surprise and said, "Okay, let's do it!"

Out of the blue, phone calls and e-mails have began arriving, inquiring about our studio (which we do not advertise). It seems that others heard about us by way of the synagogue for which we recorded the concert. As those people began asking me about our studio, they began spreading the word with others. Without yet conducting any advertising and without even completing the brochures and promotional materials that I have conceived for this aspect of our business, we are being referred to other congregations and individuals and receiving their calls on a daily basis! The mere intention of expanding this business and conception of the possibilities has already been sending new business to us each day, and each of those clients has been referring us to others as well.

I see, very quickly, the possibilities for a magnificent expansion of the company as envisioned by myself with the coaching, and I see that I have not even scratched the surface of what is possible in my own work as a concert artist (which, incidentally, has suddenly increased in bookings some eight-fold over what it was 3 months ago before I began working with Prosper), with our web site (which I am still rebuilding), and with our vision for the services and products we offer. Imagine, if all of this is happening already even as we have just started to put into play the ideas my coach and Prosper have given us, what will be the possibilities as we implement more of these projects?

I look forward again to completing the assignments on the Prosper pages over and over in the process of fine-tuning the marketing of our business. I see that each time I refer to them I discover something new that is possible.

The vibrancy, power, and skill of my marketing coach has inspired in me the desire to know more about the many facets of my business as well as to promote myself more diligently in my work. His advice has been beneficial in increasing my business and clientele. I am deeply grateful for the skills and guidance he has provided.

- Joy K.
Palm Harbor, FL

Getting Customers to Buy More, More Often

Six ways of increasing transaction value - getting customers to buy more:

1. Up-sell or cross-sell
   
   
   Up-selling: when you have a client that has just made a purchase, you offer them an additional product or service that is complementary that would help them at the point of sale. For example, you buy a piece of furniture at a furniture store, you are asked if you want it scotch-guarded or if you would like a warranty, etc. On average, 30% of those clients that you offer an up-sell to will accept it.
2. Point-of-Sale Promotions or Add-ons
3. Bundling/Packaging complementary products and services together
4. Pricing: is one of the quickest ways to increase transaction value. You should constantly test your pricing to see what the market will bear. A lot of times we aren't sure what our pricing could be or should be. You need to know how the competition is pricing and how you rate against the competition. Your pricing should be based on the value of your product or service. The formula is: Competitive Environment +/- Your Position in that Marketplace.
5. Upscale your profile, move to a higher tier
6. Offer larger units of purchase