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Do you feel like every dime you make gets sucked into a black hole to pay bills and leaves you asking yourself, 'Where did all the money go?' Want to know an age old secret about managing money?

You must make more money than you spend!

How do you do that? With a money management tactic called INCOME PLANNING. Here are some steps you can do every week to make more money.

FIND OUT WHAT YOUR CUSTOMERS WANT - As a first step, figure out what services or products your customers want to buy and then provide that. One way to figure out what your clients will buy is to look over receipts from your past sales, and figure out what product or service is selling the best. Question your customers about 1) why they bought that item, and 2) what benefit they expected to get from the purchase Then use their response in your advertising to promote that product or service.

TARGET YOUR MARKET WITH PROMOTION - Promoting something in a way that will be responded to by your customers is an art. Advertising does not have to include offering a reduced price. It's much more important to find out why a customer needs or wants your service or product, and exactly what criteria they will use to make a buying decision. Fast delivery and dependable service may be more important than price.

Find cost effective methods to promote. Ask for business cards from potential customers you meet, and mail them a personal letter to let them know how your products and services can be of benefit to them. That is one of the least expensive, most personal promotional activities you can use. Postcards mailed at regular intervals to current and potential clients can also be an effective way to promote.

Another good way to get new customers is to request referrals from your satisfied customers. You can make it enjoyable for your customers to participate in referring new customers by creating a referral game they can play, where they get something in return for a certain number of referrals who buy. Allow your customers help you out. They really do want you to succeed in your business.

SELL AND DELIVER - Selling is easier when you are honestly interested in your customers and want to help them. ASK them what they need. That makes it easier to sell them your products or services. Here's an example, a family of 4 who wants a van to cart the kids and their equipment around to sports activities is going to walk off in disgust if the salesperson is showing them 2-door sports models, despite the fact that the sports car is a good deal.

After you've sold the product, fast, courteous, professional delivery is necessary to ensure your customer's satisfaction. If you are in a service business, this is doubly important. Taking care to deliver exactly what you promised, when you promised it. can ensure repeat purchases and referrals of new customers.

PREVENT THE WASTE OF MONEY - For each dollar you decide to spend in your business, ask yourself how that dollar is going to bring $5 or more in income back into your business. Set aside a percentage of the income every week to fund a promotional budget and then work out the most cost effective ways to reach your target market within the budget. It is no laughing matter when your hard-earned income gets wasted on expenditures that do not give you a profitable return on your investment.

REPEAT SUCCESSFUL PROMOTIONAL ACTIONS - Take a look back in the past to when you were last making the most sales. Work out what successful promotions you were doing at the time that may have dropped out and do those actions again.

There is a revolutionary new money management software tool available to help you use your time, energy, and creative thinking power on planning how to get the income up. That gets the CASH FLOWing in the right direction. It helps you manage your money so you can put your attention back on servicing your customers and you will enjoy your business even more.