Content Marketing, Online Copywriting, and Business Website Strategies
“In business, you’re either growing or you’re dying.” Ok, perhaps it’s not that simple. Business growth is hardly a 100% up or 100% down situation. That said, we should all take this idea to heart when thinking about any type of entrepreneurial project. Obviously, we all want growth. No disagreements there. But how do we get it? When do we get it? And, most importantly, how much of it should we be getting?
To make things more interesting, web business growth can be an especially tricky matter since the size of your niche or marketplace can be a bit difficult to measure.
But let’s get straight to the point here and talk Internet Business Strategy for growth. As usual, these basic principles apply to virtually any offline business as well.
What do you usually think about when you decide to grow a business? Hopefully two things come to mind: customers and money. You’ll need both to increase the size of your business, no doubt about it.
But here’s the problem: More money is one thing, but more customers could actually be more of a step backwards than a step forwards. The first thing on your mind for business growth should be, “How can I get more revenue out of my existing customer base?”
The growth strategy is simple: Develop new products and services to sell to the list you’ve already developed. Instead of investing more money in finding more of the same type of customers, invest time/money into product or service development for the customers and clients who already trust and value your brand.
CAVEAT: Of course, this rule really only applies to businesses that are fairly developed with an established base of customers. The size of that base really depends on your niche, product, service, etc. In addition, I definitely do not want to suggest that you should ever stop trying to get more customers with your existing marketing plan.
The strategy I’m presenting here is nothing new. It’s one of the oldest in the book. But in the online marketplace I think we often forget how important it is to build on the list we’ve already created.
It’s just too easy to setup a new website or try out a new project away from our existing revenue stream. Unfortunately, it’s also too easy to overlook a large growth in revenue that could result from delivering even more to the customers who already appreciate us.
It’s no secret – things move fast in this industry. Low barriers to entry, a poor economy, and a variety of other factors help to create a highly competitive environment.
Still, the importance of web business growth is about something far more significant for Internet Entrepreneurs. Business development — whether successful or not — is one of the greatest teachers any of us will ever have. It’s like anything else: the more we do it, the better we get at it. Failures included.
Periodically during my tenure as a college writing instructor, I taught a course on Technical Writing and Communications including discussion on workplace documents, correspondence, resumes etc. I always gave a talk during the resume unit about Interviewing and Career Development. One of the strategies I shared with the students about finding the right job and improving their interview skills I borrowed from Richard Bolles’ popular career building book, What Color Is Your Parachute?
Bolles’ advice was to celebrate failure as an inevitable path to success. He suggested thinking of finding the right job and getting hired as a numbers game – 20 interviews = 19 failures/denials and 1 succcess. As Bolles advice predicted and as my personal observations proved, the most successful job hunters are those who know how to deal with failure in these terms.
Entrepreneurs are no different. Like interviewing and career building, business building is a skill that relies on experience – both the bad and the good.
So where do you go from here?
First, it’s time to acknowledge that the quote really is true – “You’re either growing or you’re dying.” That counts for your literal business as well as your identity as an entrepreneur.
Second, you have to accept and even embrace failure if you want to really move forward. Mistakes, angry customers, frustrated employees and contractors, missed deadlines — let’s face it, no entrepreneur is perfect and no business is perfect.
Third, instead of looking outside of your business for new ideas and new sources of revenue, start looking within. Try to determine what your existing customer and client base needs that you’re not offering and then offer it to them.
Finally, take action! Decide on the top goals you need to accomplish today and this week to put you one step closer to a bigger business and a more entrepreneurial you.
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I totally agree with you on the ~failing for success~ point. Failure is the learning process even when (or esp. when) the learning curve is high. Great post! Glad I found your site….. Todd Jones
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