Bear with me. This really is about increasing profitability for your memoir or writing-based business.  I like to have my house be in a state of presentable for an unexpected visitor. I look around the place periodically and ask myself how, if a friend just dropped by, how s/he might find the place. Oppressively messy or welcoming in its orderliness.

Of course, there are many times when I look around and find the place to be a mess. Usually, this is at a moment when I am going to the office for a variety of tasks that I must get done. It’s very easy to be overwhelmed by everything, but here is a secret tactic that works orderliness miracles.

Tips For Increasing Profitability

What five things can I do right now that will bring the biggest dividends to making my home more orderly? The windows may need washing but taking care of the laundry on the couch (otherwise known as the laundry room!) will bring a bigger sense of order to the living room.

The dishes from last night when I had guests who stayed late may need washing, but I don’t have the half-hour just now when I want to get into the office. Taking two minutes to stack them in the sink against a time when I can wash them will bring some semblance of order to the countertops. Picking up shoes and bags left in the entryway brings huge returns.

Anyway, you get the idea! Since some tasks bring in bigger dividends than others, doing these first is a tactically wise move. When you don’t have time to do everything, do at least five things!

Your office work provides the same opportunities. While there are a myriad of tasks that could be done on any given day to promote your financial and critical success, it is clear that some tasks undertaken right now will bring in many more dividends than others. Here is a question I ask myself every morning: What five things can I do today in my business that will bring in the biggest return?

At this point, many of us will answer with a task that we most enjoy doing. I love to co-author and it is billable time. Co-authoring is, therefore, a deceptively easy choice. If I am arriving at the end of the manuscript and I know that my work with this client will be finished in two months, then my best choice is not to do billable time right away but to devote an hour to outreach for a new client who would come online in a few months before continuing with the current job. Then, I ought to move on to billable time.

So, every morning, why not ask yourself, What five things can I do today to make my memoir work more lucrative? If the answer is not immediately forthcoming, look to your strategy plan.

2 Ideas For Increased Profitability to Grow Your Memoir or Writing-Based Business

As you grow your business, you will learn there are practices that have been proven successful over time. The two ideas that follow are proven and will serve you well.

1. Keep doing demographic and psychographic analyses of your most lucrative clients and then find more just like them. Essentially, do not broaden your base beyond this profile. Find out the channels they accessed you by and continue to work with those channels. There is a temptation to be everything to everyone. WRONG. Work only with the client base you attract most naturally.

Even when you are starting out, write up a demographic and psychographic profile of your desired clients (admittedly, you will have to do a lot of guessing here when you start out). Make a best guess about how to reach such clients. Generate some outreach through the channels these clients are familiar with. Always choose channels that promise pre-qualified clients over broadcasting.

2. As they say, cash is king. Pay attention to the bottom line and be sure that it is always where you want it to be. If not, create a massive action to bring the bottom line up to where it needs to be. CASH IS KING IN EVERY SUCCESSFUL BUSINESS!

Since cash is king, fill your calendar with workshops/programs/”events”. You cannot earn any cash unless you have events at which money can change hands–either in the form of tuition, fees, or products. Arrange enough programs to be earning sufficient income on a regular basis. If you do not have books, tapes, etc. to sell–these are always a good addition to tuition, get some of the titles wholesale and resell. By having enough things to sell, you assure that you will make a decent income.

Do you have tips and ideas for increasing profitability you could share with us?  Share in the comments below.

Good luck in growing your company.