A business associate and I were speaking when he asked about my first online business, House Of Rave.com.
I told him I started it in high school and it had consistently made an average of $800 or more per month for the last 5 years, I don’t keep any inventory and all the shipping is done in California.
He then asked me, “Can you make more?” The answer was a simple yes. I spend less than 20 minutes a day on it, and if I spent a little time upgrading the whole operation, I could bring in about 50% to 100% more money. I know what works and doesn’t work with this particular business, I’ve just somehow always been satisfied with the money it brings in.
He told me, “This is low hanging fruit for you,” and that sentence re-sparked my interest in the business.
Over the month of September, I am going to enact the following items to improve the business:
-Add 1-800 number – I already have a VOIP phone for the business, so a 1-800 number is only $5 more per month.
Add my own pictures – I never see most of the products I sell, so I want to order select popular items for myself, take my own pics and write my own descriptions. I’ve done this before and it was very successful.
Make contact form – An online contact form would allow customers to ask questions without having to physically send an email with their own account.
Put tracking system on my own server –I currently have an order tracking system, but it is hosted elsewhere. Customers do not see it is hosted elsewhere, but it costs more money to host with someone else.
Get exchange server for mail – I use webmail for the business right now, so I cannot keep long term track of old mail/sent mail.
Offer Gift Certificates – My shopping cart software allows for gift certificates, so there is no harm in offering them.
New SSL certificate – I just didn’t want to pay for it, so the user-end shopping cart system has not been on an HTTPS connection for about a year now. I need to get a new certificate now as they are not expensive, and they give customers a better piece of mind.
Updates every three days – This rule would make me update either the main page or the blog at least twice a week. This lets users know there is someone on the other end.
These are just a few of the updates I am going to make. Hopefully within the next few months I can increase net profits by at least 40%.
