Creating new revenue streams for your business
We have entered a new normal in our personal and professional lives. I hope you are doing well through this stressful time.
While this is a very uncertain time and we are all concerned about paying bills and/or staff; this is not the time to stop marketing your business. In fact, it may not seem like it but this is a perfect time to look at new revenue streams and pivot to a more adaptable online presence.
In fairness, I am a home-based entrepreneur so “social distancing” hasn’t been an issue for me and I don’t have the added stress of operational overhead. However, I realized that my business was completely reliant on client work. And now that many of those clients have temporarily closed or postponed projects, my revenue has been severely cut off. So, I am pivoting to creating other revenue sources that can assist in the short-term but also work for long-term business stability as we are in a global economy where these types of impacts will become more commonplace.
Here are five new revenue streams I am creating or have created that will work for other small businesses.
Start selling online
I am working on creating packages for purchase on my website such as media relations which would include templates for news releases, media advisories and email pitches, along with a short presentation from me on the process, timelines and building relationships with media.
My colleague Quant Communications has created a full e-commerce site of products making an easy one-stop-shop for prospective clients. It’s a great example of what you can do.Develop new products
While the lead time to create new products is longer than quickly pivoting to online selling, the long-term potential profit is worth the setup effort.
Over the past few months, I have been working with talented colleagues to create a communications academy for small business owners and non-profits to lay a solid foundation designed for longevity by mastering smart marketing, communications and PR strategies and tactics and a new lifestyle podcast for women entrepreneurs.
The launch of s.m.a.r.t. academy was intended to be an in-person workshop but with the current state of the world, we quickly pivoted to an online model which is both cost-effective and provides a greater target geographic area. The first session on scheduling social media is April 16; sign up now.
After a six-month slog of technology and scheduling issues, I am pleased to share that my little labour of love, the Ladies Who Launch podcast is now live. This collaboration with my opinionated pal, Dakota Kidby of SocialCentric, Inc. was created as an outlet to discuss the chaos that is life.Episodes will cover our lives as women entrepreneurs, being single in the city and will also have interesting guests covering topics such as leadership, mental health, politics and community engagement.
The first episode drops on April 1; you can subscribe at the links below.
Apple Podcasts
https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/ladies-who-launch/id150275857
Spotify
https://open.spotify.com/show/6IWwGKZJYuBu2boUMg79IU
Increase your social media presence
As mentioned above, this is no time to stop marketing your business. And one of the most effective ways to do this, without costing money is to get active on social media. Businesses that have a solid online presence should continue to post and share their stories. I would suggest showing the “down and dirty” of working from home, showing uploads of new products to your website and the general life of a small business owner. Be relatable, compassionate and also hopeful.Offer value add services
If your business currently sells products online, start offering online training sessions/webinars for those products. Push those sessions through your social media channels and professional platforms such as e-newsletters. Those sessions allow you to be virtually face to face with prospective customers, allowing them to get to know you which in turn, often results in greater sales.
We are even seeing consultants offering free services in crisis communications to help businesses with messaging through COVID-19.
Develop passive revenue streams
Passive income is created through blogs and affiliate links. If you aren’t currently writing blogs or posting video vlogs to your website, that is step one. Step two is to monetize those platforms. Affiliate links are ads for products or services embedded in your blogs that generate a commission each time that link is clicked. Neil Patel has a great blog on how to get set up with affiliate links.
There are also online advertising networks where you can offer ad space on your website or blog. I would recommend only working with businesses that align with your company’s values and that your customers would be interested in. This blog by Blogging Explorer is a great overview of ad networks and how they work.
If you need help with creating pivoting your business to new revenue streams, get in touch with us. We are happy to help.