It will be hard for you to generate an attractive income without a diversified, full-service product line to offer to the public—especially to existing customers. Existing clients are easier, cheaper to sell to than new customers. They already trust you and have seen your track record. Providing they have further needs, they will buy from you over someone else—of course, to get the additional sale, you must have additional products to sell. (They will not buy the same product—again!)

Memoir Business – Products Generate Income

Sometimes this is called a full-service product line. That is, you have set yourself up to provide the full-service the client needs to have the end result s/he desires.

Here is an example. My very first editing client wanted to publish her book herself. She would have bought book-production services from my company, but I did not offer that service at the time. As a result, she went to someone who did not know her manuscript as well as I did and who was not in as good a position to place her photographs, nor give her book the look that was consistent with the contents as we at The Memoir Network might have. She ended up with a less-good product than I might have provided, and I ended up having to spend time and money to find another client to provide me the income that the first would have gladly sent my way.

Both of us lost in the process. Of course, I subsequently developed a book production product line!

If you wish to maximize your profits, think through the various purchases that a client would have to make to get the end product s/he wants and then develop those products so that the client no longer has to go elsewhere for any of the steps to success.

Up-Sell and Cross-Sell Your Product Line

Repeat customers are your most lucrative clients. With little extra marketing (read: expense and time), they will buy from you again as a result of your “up-sell” and “cross-sell” options. They will stay with you because they have a relationship with you and trust you to have their best interests at heart.

Understanding the difference between “up-sell” and “cross-sell” is essential in creating a marketing plan for attracting repeat customers.r

Here’s an example of up-selling: If a client likes your introductory workshop, s/he will also like your intermediate workshop. When a client signs up for the second program, s/he is an up-buy, repeat customer. Generally up-selling refers to buying up the scale on the same product. (Akin to taking French 101 and then taking French 201.)

There is also another aspect of repeat selling: “cross-selling.” A client who is not able to take your 15-week tele-seminar may cross-buy group coaching. The person who cannot come to the introductory workshop may cross-buy individual writing coaching. (This is like French 101 being full so you take Spanish 101–so it’s not strictly a repeat.) It functions as a repeat because you have earned the customer’s trust, and s/he is willing to stay with you.

In another example of cross-buying, we are very much dealing with a repeat customer. A person who has taken the intro workshop may feel s/he would like more training and will cross-buy writing coaching or will cross-buy editing. This is, of course, a repeat customer–one who cross-bought not up-bought.

It takes time to develop a business and a product line that can attract repeat customers but your bottom line will thank you for taking care of business.

This ends up being a win-win solution.

What up-sell or cross-sell product can you develop in the next month or two?

Good luck growing your memoir- or writing-based business.

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Join us on LinkedIn in the MBA: Memoir Business Accelerator group. For Memoir Professionals seeking predictable, solid success. The MBA group was created for memoir professionals—whether involved as teacher, coach, editor, ghostwriter, publisher, scrapbooker, film maker, audio producer—to share information that will enhance their experience or that of their clients. The focus of the MBA will be to generate professionalism, promote profitability and encourage co-operation.