One of my most favorite ways to inject a little cashflow into my business is by hosting a SALE on my products and programs. I’ve hosted Valentine’s Day sales, Holiday sales, Mother’s Day sales—you name it!I personally love this cashflow strategy because it’s not only a great way to leverage work I’ve already done, but it’s also fun to shake things up and generate excitement around my business.
While most of these are geared for products and courses, consider how you could offer a limited time special on your services as well. Not all of these will fit your business, but I bet you’ll get a great idea from at least one. And one is all you need!
Let’s took a look at 13 ways YOU can have a sale this month…
IMPORTANT: You’ll need to put some type of time limit on the offer to encourage folks to buy now and not later. It’s also better if you explain to your readers WHY you’re having the sale. You’re not Wal-Mart and you can’t just drop prices whenever you feel like it. Instead, give your prospects a reason. (Even a funny one — see idea 13!)
1. Close-out sale. Have inventory you want to get rid of? Making room for other products or new versions of products? Then offer the current version at a significant discount. I did this with my Online Success Blueprint System. It was my best-selling program, and people were shocked that I decided to let it go, but it was just time to make space for the new. So, I sold the last remaining copies at a discounted price, and the decision turned out to be as profitable as it was cathartic.
2. “Scratch and dent” sale. Have any books, tapes, or CDs that were returned to you by customers? Offer them at a hearty discount for people who don’t mind if they’re a bit worn. Apple has an entire section of their site devoted to refurbished goods and products, and it’s proof that people have no problem with a few minor imperfections, as long as they can get the same VALUE for a great price.
3. Half price sale. Knock off 50 percent from all your goods, or select just one. When you’re offering such a generous discount, you might want to keep the sale to just one or two days, to keep your profit margins high and not devalue the perception of your products.
4. Coupon sale. Allow customers to enter a coupon or promo code to get a discount. (If you have a decent shopping cart program you should be able to set this up in seconds. We use www.AliBrownCart.com.) To make it fun, you could offer this to your Twitter followers only, or mention it in your ezine one week, or create one for new customers and clients. Since you can set up your own coupon code, you can tag them however you’d like and come up with fun titles for them—just be sure to keep track of them!
5. Free shipping sale. Think of all the times you’ve pulled out your credit card because your favorite shopping site was offering limited-time free shipping. Don’t underestimate how well people will react to the same type of deal on YOUR site. Another option is to upgrade folks to express shipping at no extra cost. Or, do a minimum purchase type of arrangement like many sites do these days.
6. “We’ll finance it” sale. Offer a payment plan–this works great for higher priced items and programs. I do this for almost all my programs and products, because it’s simply a great way to make my offerings available to everyone. (Again, if you have a decent shopping cart program, you should be able to set up timed, automatic billing.)
7. Free 30-day trial. Get their credit card information at the time of order, but don’t charge them until the month is up. Another variation is the 30-day trial for $1. If you provide a service, you could tweak this model and offer a free mini-session, or some kind of teaser that allows you to show people exactly why they’d want to buy into what you offer.
8. Pre-order sale. Start taking orders before your product is even ready. (Seeing orders come in is also a great incentive for you to finally finish creating that product!) And best of all you are financing the creation of your product or book, so you aren’t spending money out of pocket.
9. VIP discount. Give a special offer to a certain group. Show your e-zine subscribers, your clients, your speaking audiences, etc. that they’re special.
10. Buy one get one free (aka “BOGO”). It’s true—BOGOs aren’t just for shoe stores! This type of sale works great for information products and services. The purchaser can give the extra copy to a colleague as a gift, or two people can split the cost and essentially get your product or service at half price.
11. Special bonus. Give something extra if people purchase before a certain date, or offer a limited number of something. My team and I call this our “Fast Action Bonus”, and it’s a great strategy to generate buzz, add extra value to your offering, and add a time-crunch to your sale.
12. Package discount. Offer a big discount if they order all your products/services or a select combination thereof. My Ali Ultimate Success Package is an example of this—and it includes almost all of my products in my Success Store. You’ll also see that Amazon.com offers two similar products, or complimentary products, at a package deal. These package deals are almost irresistible when you’re looking for resources on a certain topic and you want to stock up!
13. Birthday sale. Or any fun occasion… Valentine’s Day, your anniversary, Groundhog Day, your dog just had puppies, your kid just lost his first tooth—have fun with it! One of my most amusing sales was back in 2006 when my old cat Francine turned 19 on September 19. I took photos of her in a birthday hat (Tip: cats do NOT like hats. Wear protective gloves.), I had a 19% off sale, and racked up a quick $10,000 or so thanks to my adorable ancient feline.
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© 2012 Ali International, LLC
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“Entrepreneur mentor Ali Brown teaches women around the world how to start and grow a profitable business that make a positive impact. Get her FREE CD “Top 10 Secrets for Entrepreneurial Women” at www.AliBrown.com“