Desire Lines
One of the most gratifying things about being in business is being able to satisfy other people's desires -- satisfy desires and make some money in the process.
Jay Abraham claims there are only three ways in the world to grow a business:
- Increase the total number of customers you have.
- Increase the price of what you sell.
- Or increase the amount of money each customer spends with you.
Of these, the last one is most often the quickest way to increase your income.
| Get out of the rut of (stubbornly) selling (only) what you're selling. Shift into the mindset of selling what your clients most want, by looking for their desire lines. |
What do your customers want that you aren't currently selling? How many times have you been asked for something by a client, only to have you say 'no' and moved on to the task of trying to drum up more business?
There is an old saying about delicatessens: If three people ask for a sandwich that's not on the menu, they put in on the menu. We'd like for you as a business owner to start thinking a little like a Deli.
A desire line is an urban planning term that refers to pathways that spring up in parks and fields when people walk where they want to. These paths are said to show yearning on the part of the walkers, and similar desire lines occur in businesses too – your business, in fact.
Think about it: You'd imagine a cookie store would also sell milk. A self-storage business probably sells boxes. And maybe also cleaning services and garage sale kits. If you're any kind of a consultant, make extra sure you save email requests asking for just "a little advice about something important."
These are naturally occurring desire lines in your business; noticing and acting on them means more money, more easily.
Making more money really isn't hard if you're able to think of yourself as in the business of satisfying desires.
Not sure what else your clients may want to buy from you? There is a simple way to find out – just ask! Send a short survey to your existing client base to find out their current challenges/problems… and then look for products to solve this for them.
Keep your survey questions short - in fact, we recommend asking just one quick question to get the highest response rate (the more questions you ask the less likely people are to respond). For example:
- What is your biggest question about building your business online?
- What is your biggest challenge in finding new clients for your business?
Get more information about this concept from
Andrea Lee in her book Money, Meaning and Beyond