6 Ways to More Sales During A Slow Season

By Tinu AbayomiPaul
Posted Thursday, September 9, 2004

Unbeknownst to me, it's a slow summer for business this year. Here I've been panicking when I see a sales dip over 48 hours, and some folks are complaining of not seeing Any sales for a whole week!

So, upon feeding myself a healthy slice of "I need to stop whining - there are people with real problems", I'm departing from my regular Yahoo and Google love affair to share what I've been doing that has me earning a steady income.

(If you miss my Google chatter, come by on Google Tuesdays to read my blog - see the link at the end of the article.)

Please keep in mind, I'm no millionaire, so don't expect some miraculous windfall of cash. Many of these tips steadied my income, as I now work completely from home and make about the same as I used to make before taxes back when I worked as a IT Consultant.

Space permits only my top six, but you can stop by the site on Fridays for more.

#1 - Take advantage of super-cheap ezine advertising.

The prices in summer are just incredible, if you know where to look. I have a list you can check out.

#2- Submit a press release. I haven't done this yet this year, because I have a special date that I stick to, but you should take advantage as soon as you can. Why is this time of year different?

Except for election updates, this time of year is among the slowest for fresh news. If you've got a quirky story about your site, your business, services or products, make it into a press release.

But not just any press release. Research what journalists in your market want to write about, and do most of the work for them. Have a press kit on your site where they can get pictures, and updates. It shouldn't read like a sales letter, it should read more like a slightly longer news story that you'd see in the paper, very just-the-facts-ma'am.

A severely overlooked market for these are local journalists and smaller news papers. You might assume that because they are smaller, they don't get read, but that's not necessarily true. I used to save my Prince George's County Journal when I lived in Maryland.

#3- Write articles. I know I harp on this all the time, but really, I make the majority of my money from writing articles. I give about 10% of the knowledge I have or find for free after I test it on myself, and only charge for my secrets and special techniques. That may seem a little nuts, but crazy or not, I end up with plenty of consulting contracts with people who just don't have time to do these things themselves.

Even when I don't make money right away it works out.

I also figure that I'm saving someone the trouble of spending hours doing the same research I did, and they'll remember me for saving them time or money when they're ready to spend. Sometimes you have to give before you get.

#4 - For crying out loud, get that news feed up.

Legitimate email marketing isn't going anywhere, so of course, don't stop publishing your ezine.

However, adding a feed can get you in front of a great quality audience for top keywords you might not normally be able to access. It sounds like it's a lot of work but it doesn't have to be if you incorporate it into your daily routine.

Do it right and do it now. The majority of small business owners are dragging their feet with this - you can beat them to the punch. If you need help, my forums are open 24 hours a day.

#5 - Run a special yourself.

But be careful.

Instead of slashing prices on my products with no rhyme or reason, I like to offer an amended version to my member and subscriber audience, and give them the choice between the full version, that comes with my special brand of priority hold-your-hand consulting, and a members-only version, that comes with catch-me-when-you-can email-only consults.

I've come to realize that the majority of people really only want to be able to ask me a couple of questions- though the ones who need support *really* need support. It's surprising how many people, faced with a choice, will buy something of greater value at a higher price.

The ones that opt for email only are sales you wouldn't have made at your regular price, and they get to save a few bucks. Everyone's happy.

#6 - Team up!

There's someone in a market parallel to yours (similar subject but not a competitor) who has a product, service, newsletter, or audience that has the same desires as yours. Find those people and work together.

You could rotate top sponsor ads in each other's newsletters, trade links, write (sincere!) testimonials on each other's products, or unite your products into one big super package that all of you sell through Clickbank, thereby making a larger profit on a collection.

Those are my top 6, but I have more of these types of tips on Fridays at my site - I'd love to see you there.

About the Author
Tinu? Poor thing, she's afflicted with that "free website traffic" disease. Then when she finds out what works she tells the world - (http://freetrafficdirectory.com/blog) (feed enabled). Poor crazy thing...