Can you believe we're closing in on the end of 2011 already? We say it every year - "Where did the time go?" When you're a busy entrepreneur, I can tell you where it went. You poured your time into creating a successful business. You poured your time into serving your clients. You poured your time into the grind. Hopefully, you've enjoyed yourself along the way. Otherwise, what's the point of owning your own time?
But no matter how well you planned or how hard you worked, there's a chance you're starting to feel that stress that creeps up toward year's end. Maybe you haven't quite hit that revenue goal you had in mind back in January. Maybe you think it's too late, and you're starting to project that next year is your year. Next year will be the breakthrough year. You'll hit your mark. Next year.
Here's what I have to say to that - "la, la, la" - with my fingers pressed firmly against my ears. I don't want to hear it. There's no reason to give up yet. You can still make more money by the end of the year. It might be too late to turn your whole business around, but it's not too late to add some quick cash to the books. You just have to be willing to do what it takes to tap into it.
Here are 5 ways you can make more money before year's end.
Write and Sell an E-book
The common misconception is that an ebook takes tons of time to write. An ebook can be anything from a short pdf report to an in-depth full-length book project that just happens to be in electronic format. Writing an ebook does not have to be something that requires you to go on sabbatical and move into a cabin on Walden Pond to write. It consists of information that you've organized and edited in a way that's useful to people. It contains essential information that your list craves. Find out what kind of information people would want from you, spend a a few hours pulling it together from previous blog posts, articles, and audios you've created. If necessary, enlist the help of a freelance editor to organize and proofread it for you. Then offer it up for sale on your website.
Host a Workshop
Creating a 3-hour workshop based on information you know that others don't is a nice way to bring in extra revenue. Your town probably has nice meeting space available to rent at an affordable rate. You'd be surprised how accessible this sort of thing is. Many local papers print upcoming events in their calendars for free or at a low rate. Put up flyers. Contact your network and ask them to spread the word. Facebook it. Tweet about it. Put some energy into it, and people will show up. Set your pricing such that people will recognize the information as valuable, but also low enough that it's not a major financial decision.
Host a Teleseminar Series
Perhaps you would rather host a virtual workshop than one that meets face-to-face in a physical location. Teleseminars are an excellent way to teach a large number of people in widely dispersed geographic locales using technology to your advantage. You can use low cost or even free bridge lines, send out the dial-in information, and you're good to go. Don't let the idea intimidate you. If you know how to talk on the phone, you can host a teleseminar. Like a face-to-face workshop, select a topic people are dying to learn, and promite it through whatever channels you can think of. People will pay you for your knowledge. Bonus tip: You can record the series, and sell it as an information product later.
Offer a Special One-Time Opportunity
If you are looking for a practically guaranteed cash infusion into your business, this is an excellent tip that works amazingly well. Contact a select list of some of your most responsive prospects and clients - the people who always open your newsletter, the people who purchase your lowest priced information products and membership programs, and/or people you have worked with in the past. Let them know you are working on a special new program, technique, skill, or offering and say you'd like to give them a special one-time opportunity to benefit from it. Make the offer affordable enough that they can't help but jump at the opportunity to work with you.
Promote Someone Else's Stuff
If you are truly not ready to put together your own information product, workshop, or teleseminar, promote someone else's stuff. Select programs and products your list can benefit from and that you feel comfortable standing behind. Sign up for the affiliate program, and send out promotions in your newsletter or in a special email blast. It's important that you do this with integrity and that the offer is a good fit. If so, you will be happy to receive some extra cash for your efforts. Many successful entrepreneurs who market online actually earn a significant portion of their income from affiliate sales. It might be just the nudge you need to push you over your revenue goal.
In order for any of these tips to work, you might have to pull yourself away from business as usual temporarily. But if you're busy, and things aren't working for you - you're not bringing in the kind of cash you want - it may just be time to reevaluate anyway. It may just be time for you to implement multiple streams of income into your business model.
You might think I've grossly oversimplified these tips, but you will be amazed at how smoothly you can pull them off if you just get creative and set your mind to it. Let me know how it goes.
