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Do you want to make more money with your small business? To be fair, what small business owner doesn’t?!
While you might assume that you need to add an entirely new product or service to increase your revenue, there are a lot of ways you can make more money practically doing what you’re already doing. You simply need to make a few changes to your processes.
In this episode of Priority Pursuit, I’m excited to discuss five easy ways to make more money in your small business.
1. Resell work you’ve already created.
As a creative entrepreneur, chances are, you can resell work you’ve already created or start producing work that you know you can sell again and again—giving yourself a stream of passive income.
For example, if you’re an artist, you can make and sell prints of your original artwork. Perhaps you already have work that you know would print and sell well. Or, the next time you’re between projects, you could create work that people would love to have replicas of. Either way, have your work printed at various sizes or on products (such as on mugs and tea towels), and sell your work on your website or on Etsy.
Or, if you’re a photographer, consider selling stock photos. I know several photographers who use their free time (even if this means just getting to a shoot a little early) to take photos of landmarks, nature, products, or whatever and then sell their photos through stock photography websites, such as Getty Images or iStock.
Setting yourself up to be able to resell your work might take some creativity and time upfront; however, if you can figure out a way to resell what you’ve already created or how you can create something that can be resold, you can likely give yourself an excellent stream of passive income.
2. Upsell to your current customers.
Another easy way to make more money in your small business is to figure out how you can upsell to your current customers. In other words, you can increase your revenue by offering your clients an upgrade or some kind of added value to whatever they’re already purchasing from you.
For example, a few years ago, Zach (my husband) commissioned Jessie Roseberry of Roseberry & Co. (a local watercolor artist who has been on Priority Pursuit in the past) to paint a portrait of Hattie (our goldendoodle) as a Christmas gift for me. When the portrait was complete, Jessie asked Zach if he’d like to add prints of the portrait to greeting cards.
Knowing I would love this, Zach took the upsell. Jessie increased her revenue from a single project; I got greeting cards I love; and Jessie actually keeps the print on file, so when I want more greeting cards of Hattie, I can order more, giving Jessie even more easy income. Everyone wins!
Need help growing your team? Want advice for making your first hire? Tune in to “Episode 011: How to Build Your Team as a Creative Entrepreneur with Jessie Roseberry of Roseberry & Co.”!
As a wedding photographer, I primarily upsell to my clients through wedding albums and prints. For example, I share galleries through Pixieset, and clients can order prints through their online galleries. This is something they can do entirely on their own, and while I do have content developed to help clients decide what to print, I don’t have to do a thing since the print lab handles every aspect of the order.
I also upsell through wedding albums. My wedding photography packages include a wedding album credit that ensures all of my clients receive at least a simple highlight album from their celebrations. However, I also offer larger albums—which clients can put their credit toward—and nearly all of my couples choose to upgrade to larger albums. This upsell is beneficial to them because the larger albums allows a couple to preserve more of their wedding day, and this upsell is beneficial to me because I’m able to make more money pretty easily from an existing customer.
Based on the products or services you’re already offering, what added value could you offer to increase your revenue? If you own a boutique, maybe it’s a hat or a bracelet for a discounted price. If you’re a social media manager, maybe it’s X custom graphics per month.
You’ll likely need to do some brainstorming, but your current customers already value what you’re offering, and chances are, they’d be happy to buy even more from you.
3. Utilize affiliate links in your content.
If you’re regularly producing content—which you should be unless you’re confident you’ll forever have more customers than you know what to do with—taking advantage of affiliate links is a great way to increase your income.
Now, you might be thinking, “I can’t make money off of affiliate links because I only have X followers.” However, regardless of the number of followers you have, I can almost assure you that you can make money from affiliate links.
First, if you love a particular business or product and feel that your ideal client would also enjoy the product or service, check the business’s website to see if there’s any information about an affiliate program. If you can’t find details, reach out to the business and ask if they have an affiliate program. Whether the business compensates you in cash or gives you a credit to put toward a product or service you already plan to invest in, this transaction will benefit you.
Next, take advantage of Amazon’s affiliate program—Amazon Associates. Now, there are tons of affiliate programs out there, and if you ask me, many of them are confusing. However, Amazon Associates is very straightforward. You simply sign up for an account, search for a product Amazon carries through Amazon Associates, generate a link, and you then have an affiliate link. You can then share that link and will earn income if anyone purchases the product after visiting your link.
Amazon affiliate links can be shared on social media; however, social media posts and stories tend to quickly get lost since algorithms prioritize newer content. With this in mind, I’d argue that your blog is the easiest and most effective way to utilize affiliate links. Plus, because you can share much of your blog content again and because your blogs can be found via Google Search 24/7 (if you’re optimizing them for SEO that is), affiliate links used in your blog posts can help you earn more income regularly over a longer period of time.
In case you need some inspiration, here are a couple ways you can include affiliate links in your blog posts:
- If you’re an artist who is regularly asked what kind of paint, brushes, or whatever you use, write a blog post with Amazon Associates links to the tools you use, and share this blog post whenever someone asks.
- If you’re a wedding photographer, write a blog post about gifts for bridesmaids and use Amazon Associates links to share cute robes, pajamas, champagne glasses, or whatever else you like. You can share this blog again and again on social media and share it with your brides as they plan their weddings.
- If you’re a makeup artist, create a blog about your favorite mascaras and include Amazon Associates links to each. Share this blog on social media and keep it handy for whenever someone asks you what mascaras are best.
The possibilities are endless, but simply including affiliate links in your content is a very easy way to make more money in your small business, especially if you’re already producing content regularly.
4. Charge for coaching sessions.
Do others in your industry ever ask you if you can “meet for coffee so they can pick your brain”?
Don’t get me wrong. Community is important. But, your time is precious, and meeting an acquaintance for coffee is either going to take time away from your work or from your family and other loved ones.
I’m not saying don’t network or never grab a cup of coffee with someone you’d like to get to know. However, if people (even just a couple) are asking if they can meet with you for business or industry advice, there’s a good chance you’re ready to start offering some kind of mentoring or coaching.
This might sound intimidating, but coaching and mentoring can be as involved or simple as you like. For instance, I offer both business coaching and SEO coaching sessions for photographers. Both of the coaching sessions last about five hours, and with the exception of a couple hours of research I have to do for each client’s individual business before the session, I’m able to do a coaching session in a coffee shop in a single afternoon, help another photographer grow their business while being fully focused on them, and increase my revenue. Everyone wins!
5. Raise your prices.
Last but not least, an easy way to make more money in your small business is to raise your prices.
You might cringe at this statement, but here’s the thing. According to the SBA, only 33% of small businesses manage to stay open for 10 years, and one of the most common reasons small businesses fail is simply because small business owners don’t charge enough for their products and services.
With this data in mind, there’s a good chance you aren’t charging enough to cover your cost of doing business and all of the time you’re putting into serving your customers. So, do the math, and if needed, raise your prices!
As creative entrepreneurs, most of us started our businesses because we’re passionate about what we create or do. However, your passion is only a business if it’s generating income. Don’t be afraid to use these tactics to make more money in your small business.
Links & Resources Mentioned in This Episode
- “Episode 011: How to Build Your Team as a Creative Entrepreneur with Jessie Roseberry of Roseberry & Co.”
- Pixieset
- Amazon Associates
- Business Coaching for Photographers with Victoria
- SEO Coaching for Photographers with Victoria
- Join the Priority Pursuit Facebook Community
- Follow or DM Victoria on Instagram
