I heard a nice quote about profit margins the other day…”Gross is for Vanity and Net is for Sanity”. Kinda cute huh?  So in today’s post I’d like to explore 5 ways you can increase your bottom line or net profits. After all its easier to squeeze more money from current income streams than it is to go about creating new one.

1. Get to know your customers & their preferences. As best you can, offer things that they are interested in. (A client interview can help you find that out easily.) You can use this information to segment your mailing and emailing lists, and match special promotions to people that are most likely to buy what you have to offer. Matching the offers to the list-members will save you time and money, and make your offers more interesting and compelling to your customers.
2. Focus on tangible transactions and/or tangible benefits rather than concepts. Remember that when market forces put you in survival mode, most of your clients are ALSO in survival mode, which means they need to better justify their purchases as needs rather than wants. This is easier to do if the benefits are tangible. (If you are selling large flat screen TVs, for example, concentrate on the benefit of more enjoyable time at home – versus going out and spending money—rather than the prestige of having the best TV in the neighborhood.
3. Develop Niche Markets – Be really specific about who you can help.
   
4. If appropriate, dress your product as an affordable luxury
5. Target industries that prosper from economic downturns and/or those that are less vulnerable to economic conditions such as:

• debt collection firms
• attorneys
• healthcare and medical services
• debt consolidation/ credit repair services
• process servers
• discount retailers
• court reporting agencies
• repair services
• security-related services
• accountants
• staple goods manufacturers and distributors
• companies that service essential government contracts
• insurance services

See how many of these 5 you can start implementing this week. Please leave a comment below and let me know your question or keep me updated on your successes!