Seven Tips to Quickly Improve Your Profit Margin

For one reason or another, your marketing tactics just haven't been as good as they used to be. Is it possible you're overlooking something? Many business owners are surprised to find out that by simply incorporating one or two simple marketing strategies into their routine bring a much higher ROI (Return On Investment) than they originally thought. Here are just a few of such tactics that should help your bottom line in the long run:

1. Publish an e-book online and give it away (yes, for free) on your website. The trick is to use this e-book as a bait piece, including just enough information to get the reader interested in hearing more. You'll be able to offer them more information via your products or services. Consequently this will also drive more traffic to your site and possibly earn you more subscribers for your newsletter.

2. Concentrate on new product ideas only if your market research has established a proven need for them. This is one trap too many entrepreneurs fall into: creating a product based on their perceived need for it, not solidly-backed market research. You'll only throw good money after bad that way.

3. One tactic that won't cost any added time on your part would be to add a postscript to the end of your direct mail letter, stressing the benefits you've already described at the beginning of the letter. Your reader will be reminded of the reason you want them to purchase your product, possibly earning you an extra sale or two, and it costs little to nothing extra. Don't forget to tailor the direct sales letter to suit your customer's needs; you may want to go over the ad copy again to ensure you aren't accidentally missing out on an opportunity.

4. On your web site, take them to a page that thanks them for their business when they place an order, and offer products similar to what they've just purchased. Even if they don't buy the product now, you've introduced them to it-and if they're interested, they might just take you up on the offer later on.

5. Also on the subject of web sites, consider joining an affiliate program or two with other companies that sell complementary products to yours. With an affiliate program you're simply promoting another company's products, so as long as their products aren't similar to yours (remember, similar and complementary do not mean the same thing) you and they could both benefit from the association.

6. Although options and customizations are seen as a good thing, try to avoid giving your customers too many product choices on your web site. A good thing taken too far only causes confusion and frustration as your would-be customer slogs through pages of products they don't want just to find the single item they do. Thanks to the excess of online stores these days, if navigating your site becomes a chore they'll simply look elsewhere and you've just lost a customer.

7. Finally, do not (repeat, do not) neglect to include contact information on your web site. Stores without contact information are seen as unprofessional and downright shady, while stores with a "Contact Us" page are regarded more highly. Give your viewers at least a phone number and e-mail address if you can't give them a brick-and-mortar address. They'll appreciate this if they need to contact you for some reason, and it may just give you an edge over the less reliable competitors.

These seven tips should help boost your bottom line almost immediately, or at least keep your ship from sinking. Tenacity and resourcefulness are the keys to becoming a successful business, and utilizing the above methods will prove you possess both.