Grow revenues now: 6 steps to success. (Small Business E-commerce Link Digest – April 24, 2009)

Tom Peters once said, “You can’t shrink your way to greatness.” Sure, we want to contain costs in the current economy, but true business growth depends on driving revenues. Profitable revenues, of course. But revenues all the same. Here are some tips on how to do that:

• Start with existing customers. George Michie has a great piece looking at how to track “lifetime” value of a customer. The easiest sales are to customers you already know. And to the people those folks recommend. How can you do that? See the next item…
• Work your email list. Stephanie Miller at MarketingProfs offers some guidelines for what works in email (even now).
• Improve existing sales channels. The fine folks at HubSpot have an interesting video on improving sales teams in an inbound marketing world It’s awfully noisy, but it’s quick and worth the view.
• Then explore new sales and marketing channels. Looking for new customers? Dawn Baird takes a look at getting business through Twitter. And I like mine, too.
• But make sure you question every channel. Kevin Hillstrom offers a great process for valuing sales channels, using Google as a case study. And make sure to use social channels the right way. As Mashable suggests, influenced social invites skepticism.
• Finally, improve your website. Smashing Magazine has some simply… um… smashing tips on how to improve your website’s conversion rate. And Jeff Sexton at FutureNow offers some additional thoughts on Smashing’s list.
• …or don’t. Linda Bustos takes Kevin Hillstrom’s process seriously and asks the almost heretical question, is e-commerce necessary for a retail brand? (See issue #9 on GetElastic). I say the answer is a resounding “YES.” But, driving sales to your most effective channels – and questioning whether your website is one of them – is a useful dialogue for most small businesses.

Driving revenues requires you to look at your customers and your sales process with a critical eye. And no two businesses are the same. What else can you do better? What’s worked for you? Tell us about it in the comments.

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