Would you like to increase your business? In Jay Abrahams book, Getting Everything You Can Out of All Youve Got, he says there are only three ways (or a combination thereof) to increase your business and make more money. They are:

1. Increase the number of your clients
2. Increase the average size of sale per client
3. Increase the number of times clients return and buy again

Before we take a closer look at each of these methods, it is important to be sure that the prices you are charging are in line with the value that you deliver. Meaning, if you are undercharging please consider increasing the investment for your products and services.

Now, lets take a look at each of the ways to increase business and get you brainstorming about how you can apply them to your business.

INCREASE THE NUMBER OF YOUR CLIENTS
Look at your client data to see where and how the majority of clients find you. If you havent been tracking this start now and in the meantime just go by memory.

Add up the number of clients from each source, see which marketing strategies are working the best and start spending more time doing them. Its all about doing more of what works. This may sound simple, and it is. Its just a matter of doing it!

If none of your marketing strategies are working very well, take time to reevaluate and then begin with something new.

INCREASE THE AVERAGE SIZE OF THE SALE PER CLIENT
Take a look at all of the products and services you offer and do two things. First, think about new valuable products or services you could add to the existing ones to create more interesting packages for your clients.

Next, consider all of the ways you could bundle existing products and services in various combinations to create new packages. Look for logical themes or groups that will appeal to your clients. You could even sell all of your products as one giant package at a discounted price.

INCREASE THE NUMBER OF TIMES CLIENTS RETURN AND BUY AGAIN
A well known fact is that it costs around seven times the amount of money to acquire a new client as it does to sell something to an existing client. Take a look at your existing clients, as well as your previous clients, and think about what kinds of products and services they would like.

Consider creating follow-up or next step products and services. A great way to find out what they really want is to actually ask them what they need. You can ask via: the phone, e-mail, or a web based survey.

Are you starting to see how you can use these three ways, or a mixture of them all, to increase your business? Take the time to analyze your business, create a plan, and get into action on increasing your business.

Stephanie Ward 2006