Do you remember a while back, I wrote an article about one of my businesses that was not doing well? I felt that it was because I had not been paying adequate attention to the business. I called the article “Innovate or die,” and that title was really fitting because due to my lack of innovation in the business, it really was dying.
In the article, though, I committed that I was going to put more concentration in that business to try to bring it back to life again. I mean, it was not dead (yet), but it was headed that way. My sales were down to only about 1/3 of what they had been in their heyday, and they were progressing downward.
What action did I take? My first thing was that I made some small, subtle changes in the website to kind of update it a bit. I also instituted a weekly sale. On the home page of the site, right up front and center is a listing of the items that are on sale that week. Why is something like this important? Well, it shows that somebody is home. The site is not just on autopilot. Somebody is behind the scenes making changes and there to assist people. When I put up a sale, I put what dates the sale is good for, something like “Prices good through June 15, 2008.” Why? Because it shows that it’s current, not something that I threw up there 3 years ago, and the site is long since dead. That gives people confidence.
Have I seen results? You better believe it! It’s been only (less than) two months since I published that article. You know what? I have seen sales increases of up to 100% per week compared to what I was seeing two months ago! That means that I am still down about 30% from where I was a couple of years ago when the business was at its peak. However, traditionally, this is the slow time of year for the business in question. Mid-May through the beginning of September has always been the low time for that business. So, I am feeling that if I continue to nurture the business, keep my hand in play there, and build customer relationships, coming up in September and beyond, I could well expect to see the business recover completely.
It’s a good feeling to restore something that you have allowed to wither. It’s also a good lesson not to let it happen again. We get lessons in life every single day. Do you listen when the messages come? It’s really important to keep your ear tuned in for such messages!
Hi Bob,
Delighted to see that things are turning around. This is an important lesson. I can’t tell you how many people I have heard over the years who said ‘oh I tried a website doing this or that and it isn’t working. When I visit to see what they are trying to do and see if I can see anything wrong I invariably see the signs they haven’t been there/haven’t touched things in weeks.
(Not that I always follow my own advice) but I find that making money online is very much like gardening … it is less a matter of skill or expansive tools than it is constant care and attention. Getting busy and ‘tending the garden’, even if it is just stirring the soil and picking off a few bugs will reap big rewards.
I know what you mean. I got busy doing other things and one of my main websites went down significantly in readership/traffic ranking. While I am headed back where it should be, it seems like it is harder this time to get that traffic ranking back to that same place.
It would have been much easier to just have kept up with it.
Hi Tom Nixon – Nice to hear from you! I hope you are doing well. Yes, keeping attention focused on your important enterprises is always something that is important, and it’s always something that is easy to ignore. Keeping with it is always the best plan, IMHO! 😆
Hi Dave Starr – Not sure why, but I just noticed that your comment had ended up in the spam filter. Glad I caught that.
Yes, I agree with you about providing regular attention to any kind of business (online or off), it can make all the difference in the world!