What is continuity? Well, I look it up in the dictionary. Did you know that looking words up in the dictionary is UNCOMMON. A great man named Michael York taught me that. Not many people do that - you should try it frequently. Here is the definition of continuity... An uninterrupted succession or flow; a coherent whole. So you are probably thinking what I am talking about? What does continuity have to do with my business? My answer to you... ...everything - that is if you want to make a lot of money. Continuity in your business means creating ways for uninterrupted succession of you collecting money from your customers for something that is easy for you to deliver. This concept is used in the information publishing business and mail order business all the time. Some examples are magazine subscriptions, book-of-the-month, tape-of-the-month, Columbia House, BMG, Netflix and so on. Recently I have seen THREE very good examples of this done by regular businesses. Big League Haircuts For Men: I don't know if I mentioned this place before but it is a great example of picking a very specific niche and being just for them. This is a haircut place designed around men. They don't care about alienating women. They charge more for a haircut but make it worth it for men to come in. Flat screen TVs at every hair cut station and then men get to hold the remote is just one of the ways they accomplish this. This place is truly sensational. BUT they are smart enough to implement a continuity product. They offer a yearly and monthly subscription for haircuts. You can come in all the any time during that time and get unlimited haircuts. The subscription automatically renews itself unless you cancel. Think about how that can revolutionize the business and the cash flow. Info USA: This company deals in mailing lists. These are normally sold on a per name basis - a few cents per name. Info USA has an annual continuity product that gets you something like 15,000 names for a set annual price and then additional names for a low low cost. The subscription automatically renews itself every year unless you cancel. Amazon.com: Amazon who sells books one at a time just recently offered me a test membership in a new program they just launched - Amazon Prime. As a prime member I get free two-day shipping on all books I order. Plus, overnight shipping on any order for just $3.99. They offered me a 3 month trial membership which then bills $79 annually. This auto renews annually until you cancel. Think about how you can cannibalize this concept and offer a continuity product to your customers. Only a fraction of your customers will bite but you will create recurring revenue that you can count on. Not to mention the significant acceleration of cash flow. If the continuity product is monthly you can develop a fantastic monthly base the can add significant revenue to your bottom-line. The take-away here for you is that continuity products work and they can mean big profits in your business. It may take some non-traditional thinking and a little effort but the results are well worth it. |
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