1. Outsource what takes you too long to do

When you don't have time to do something, you either don't do it, or do it faster and make mistakes. This can hurt your business. One mistake people often do when they start an online business on a shoestring is that they don't give themselves a value! I hear someone saying : "I will optimize my site to get traffic from the search engines because it is free traffic". Think about this for a moment : if you spend 200 hours writing content for your optimized website, it is NOT free : you have to count the hours of work you have put in the realisation of your site! Personally, I don't have time to write anymore, so I hire people to do it. Another thing people should outsource more often is the things they don't have time to learn. For example, you need to use a new software for a one-time deal. If you know it will take you 20 hours to learn how to use the software, it might be wiser to hire someone to do it!

2. Use the proper tools to save time

Are you still building your sites one page at a time? And when you need to change something you need to do it manually on each pages? I know, I was still doing that not long ago! This is hurting your business. By not using the proper tools, or the proper software to do some things, you are often loosing countless hours each months and this lost time could have been used to grow your business! Think about it : is there something you could improve today with the use of the proper tool?

3. Try something different

We often get comfortable with our site, and we stop testing new things. I hear you say "yes but I have a good conversion rate!" Great for you, but don't you think it could still get better? Yes it could. But the only way to find out is by testing new things. Make it a weekly task to try one new thing. At the end of the year, you will have done 52 tests on your site and? I'm sure you will have improved something!

4. Use and read your stats

I do SEO for a living, and one thing that never stops to amaze me is when people tell me they will hire me to optimize and promote their site but they can't ell me how many visitors they currently have! Statistics are one of your best friend online, and you must use them and read them at least once a month! I check them regularly and it helps me find new ways to work on my site. Try it, and you could find hidden gems that will increase your business profit.

5. Offer a special promotion to your mailing list

Try to give a rebate, or even better, and added bonus, for a limited time. This can increase your sales. You might make a little less profit per-sale, but if you make 50 more sales per month, you will end up making more!

6. Seek Joint Ventures

Joint Ventures can help you grow your mailing list faster, or sell more products. They are fairly easy to set up when you take the time to do it. Find a website online that could have an audience interested in your product and contact the owner. Offer her to talk about your product in exchange of a commission.

7. Outsource what you don't like to do

Sometimes, when we start online, we can't afford to outsource the things we don't really like doing. I used to do everything myself, but I found out that I can grow my business so much faster when I pay someone else to do the things that I really hate! Why? Because the things I don't like to do make me procrastinate. By having someone else to them, I don't have to think about it and I can concentrate on growing my business and increase my profit!

Stephanie Hetu
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