Inception of the Business

Spencer’s journey began as a non-developer in a chat room. He initially created a software system for personal use, quickly gaining traction and feature requests from other users. 

He recognised the opportunity to monetise, scaling from a few users to hundreds. Faced with requests for features like free trials and referral rewards, Spencer, despite the initial MVP’s rudimentary state, saw the potential for growth. 

“I had to charge for this and then I kept reinvesting all that money into the software’s development,” Spencer said.

This marked the start of his entrepreneurial venture, growing his idea into a profitable business.

The business is a comprehensive platform and Payment Bot designed for seamless transactions. It supports multiple payment methods including PayPal, Stripe Credit Cards, and others. The platform enables users to accept payments, donations, and manage membership subscriptions with ease. It’s compatible with various platforms such as Web, Discord, and Telegram, enhancing the sales process and customer experience.

Building in a “vacuum”

Spencer built his business during a time when “building in public” wasn’t a widespread practice. This posed unique challenges. 

“You have no idea what the user audience wants until they request it or react to a release. Building without real-time feedback, you invest a lot of time and energy navigating this uncertainty,” Spencer said.

Starting with a modest $6,000 investment, Spencer and one other developer built the platform, scaling their monthly recurring revenue to $141,000—a significant feat for a two-person team. 

So, how did he do it?

Here’s a summary of the growth strategies he implemented:

• User-Centric Development: Spencer continually adapted the software based on user feedback, adding requested features such as free trials and referral rewards.

• Reinvesting in Development: All earnings were reinvested into software development, which was pivotal for enhancing the product’s features and capabilities.

• Pricing Model: The transaction-based pricing model was a key differentiator, tying the businesses success to the success of its users.

• Expanding Payment Options: Encountering limitations with Stripe, Spencer integrated PayPal and later Venmo, significantly expanding the platform’s reach to over 200 countries and regions.

• Direct Outreach and Networking: Spencer engaged in direct marketing and outreach to potential users, nurturing grassroots growth.

• Building a Reliable Team: Despite starting with just one developer, he built a team that was instrumental in scaling the business.

• Adaptability and Persistence: Spencer’s persistence in integrating with major payment platforms and his adaptability in business strategy were crucial for the platform’s growth.

Reaching for a Global Scale

Spencer encountered limitations with Stripe, initially available in only 14 countries, restricting his business’s global reach. As Stripe expanded to 30 countries, he still found it insufficient for his rapidly scaling business. 

“I thought this still isn’t it, we need the big Kahuna. We need PayPal,” Spencer said. 

But this missing piece of the puzzle didn’t come easy.

Spencer described PayPal as an essential player in his business model, which he saw as unique and distinct from typical B2B or B2C models. His company operates on a B2B2C model, serving merchants who sell to their customers. 

“We took a percentage of the transaction. So if a merchant made money, we made money. If they didn’t, we didn’t,” Spencer explained. 

Once Spencer got in touch with someone at PayPal, they weren’t interested. His business was too small. 

Spencer persisted. He kept calling and emailing different people at PayPal, until someone finally got in touch. 

“I wore PayPal down. A giant, massive corporation. They put me in touch with the integration team. It took about a month to integrate with just myself and one developer,” Spencer said. 

After they integrated, they started seeing their numbers boom.

“It wasn’t due to the lack of Stripe, it was just having the doors open to 200 countries and regions. So now we had PayPal and Stripe, why wouldn’t we go after more?”

Spencer set his sights on Venmo. And Spencer got Venmo. 

Spencer personally reached out to potential users and engaged in direct marketing, fostering grassroots growth of the user base.

He placed significant emphasis on integrating user feedback into the development process, ensuring the product met the actual needs of its target audience.

“We just kept going and then eventually I said, you know, it is time to sell,” Spencer said. 

Selling with Flippa

The decision to sell came from his desire to diversify and “not put all his eggs in one basket.”

“Having to do the vetting yourself while trying to run a six-figure monthly business is like a second job,” he said.

He struggled with other platforms, where “there were no profile pictures. No LinkedIn and very basic.” 

This led him to Flippa, where he met Fiona, his M&A Advisor. 

Spencer appreciated Fiona helping him to navigate negotiations and protect his boundaries.  

“As a risk-averse person, there were a lot of requirements that I had because, you know, going through the business world, you get very cynical. There’s a lot of backstabbers out there,” he said.

“I had specific strict requirements. I’m not showing my customer list before the check is in. I’m not going to give you the names and emails of everybody, nor will I give access to our source code.”

Spencer said Fiona was there to reassure and smooth things over.

“She was a real advocate, always in my corner, handling due diligence, and fighting for my interests. Her efforts in hustling the deal were fantastic, which is why she deserves her own Singapore office.” 

Fiona’s support led to a successful sale of over $3 million dollars, leaving Spencer to contemplate what’s next. 

What’s Next for Spencer?

Well, he’s not one to sit back and relax. Spencer’s diving headfirst into the world of personal branding and the creator economy. He sees big potential in building a direct connection with audiences and sharing his journey. 

Spencer plans to become a buyer himself, utilising his experience and insights from selling the business. His goal is to acquire businesses in familiar domains, such as marketplaces or SaaS platforms. 

Content creation and mentoring are also on his radar. He wants to share his insights and guide some up-and-comers in the tech world.

Inspired by this story? Read up on others who have successfully bought and sold their businesses here.

If you’re ready to sell, get a free valuation for your business here.

If you’re ready to buy, find your next business venture on Flippa. 

All businesses look for cost savings, but only 43% of organizations actually achieve the cuts they set out to make in the first year of cost reduction. When you realize that planned reductions aren’t feasible, you end up going over your budget.

In this post, we’ll suggest 6 realistic tips for reducing development costs. These methods will bring significant savings without sacrificing the quality of your products and services.

Common Business Development Costs 

Before you get started on business development, you have to make a realistic assessment of the likely costs and the impact any potential changes will have. Here are 4 of the most common development costs you’ll encounter.

1. Scalability

Whatever size your business is right now, it’s essential that you plan for the future—and that means making sure the company and its activities are scalable. But building scalability into your projects can come with a high price tag.

For example, complex software projects will cost you more in terms of time, as well as the development of architecture, integrations, and security. You’ll need technology to develop your product at scale, especially if you plan to expand the business into new regions.

SaaS products require built-in scalability so you don’t get caught out by a sudden jump in user numbers, causing the app or software to slow down.

Free to use image sourced from Unsplash.

2. Infrastructure

Infrastructure refers to the foundations of your company, including facilities and services. These will necessarily cost more money as the business develops, from paying for larger office premises to buying more computers, devices, and software.

One of the biggest costs is associated with on-premise computing systems as opposed to cloud-based platforms. If you want to run your system in-house, you’ll face a high upfront cost as well as the ongoing cost of maintenance. You’ll need your own servers and data center and the energy infrastructure to power it.

Of course, cloud systems still have a cost attached (usually a monthly subscription), but the vendor owns the infrastructure and takes care of all maintenance and upgrades for you.

3. Digital assets

Software counts as part of your infrastructure, so what do we mean by digital assets? Essentially, we’re talking about digital pieces of content, such as images, videos, and e-books. They’re assets because they’re of value to you as a business but also to your customers.

For example, if you use photos and online catalogs in your marketing campaigns, you’ll engage users and increase your revenue. Other digital assets include graphics and logos, and files and documents used to run the business, such as PDFs, Google Docs, and HTML files.

It costs money to develop and store these assets, so you have to consider their return on investment (ROI) and look for ways to reuse and revamp them where possible.

4. Opportunity

Opportunity costs are the costs of missing out on a potential benefit. It’s when you choose one area of investment instead of another, but you might have made more money from the road not taken. This happens when companies don’t properly consider the merits of all possible solutions or strategies.

For instance, let’s say you put off upgrading your software until next year—you could miss out on months of improved productivity with a new system. Or if you spent money on expensive packaging to boost your product’s appeal, you might make more revenue by developing new features instead.

It’s important to weigh up the costs and benefits of every business development option. Estimate the expected ROI for each one, and then the opportunity cost is simply the difference between these figures.

Free to use image sourced from Unsplash

6 Tips for Reducing Development Costs without Sacrificing Quality

So, we now know the main costs of development—here are 6 tried-and-true methods of reducing costs while maintaining the quality your business is known for.

1. Plan your budget with cost reduction in mind

Your cost reduction strategy should begin when you plan your budget. Start by evaluating current and expected expenses, and ask employees if they’ve spotted opportunities for reducing waste. Then, you can identify the most appropriate areas to make cuts.

Make sure you adapt your plan to fit your organization’s specific financial needs. For example, whether you follow a Discounted Cash Flow Analysis (DCF) model or subscription revenue accounting model will change how you calculate your revenue. So, this will also have to be taken into account when you consider your reduction strategy.

All too often, businesses do this the other way around­­—management allocates the budget and then departments make their plans. It’s better to consider what’s necessary for a development project before setting the budget, making it clear where the money will be going.

Keep quality in mind at all times. For instance, when you’re developing a new product, you can’t skimp on testing just to balance your budget.

2. Invest in team development and training

If your business is expanding, you’ll probably want to grow your team—but a more cost-effective way to handle increased demand is to help existing employees develop extra skills. This way, they can take on more responsibility, and you can improve your products without spending on new hires.

Whether it’s software developers, marketers, or accountants, a well-trained team works faster and makes fewer errors. Training and development are good for morale too. Don’t forget to train your teams to be good collaborators and communicators. Lack of communication can lead to misunderstandings and delays, which hamper your cost-cutting efforts.

3. Consider outsourcing

Of course, training takes time, and if your business development strategy involves world domination, you’re probably not going to have enough human resources in-house. An alternative option is to outsource certain aspects of the business, such as contact centers and software development.

This can be a money-saver, especially if you go offshore. The global IT market gives you access to specialists in regions such as Eastern Europe, where a lower cost of living enables outsourcing outfits to charge lower hourly rates.

The other advantage is that you can hire a whole team of specialists in your niche, with a range of diverse skill sets and experiences. You don’t need to search and interview each contractor or freelancer yourself­ nor do you need to provide work premises and equipment for them.

4. Streamline development processes

Streamlining your processes is a crucial part of the cost reduction strategy. It becomes even more important as you grow and take on more customers with ever-changing needs, which can cause your existing workflows to become messy.

To reduce costs but maintain quality, you need to lessen bottlenecks and inefficiencies. If some of your product’s features are almost never used by customers, ditch them. If you’re struggling to keep up with demand, consider a low-code platform that requires less training.

Streamlining also calls for the automation of as many routine tasks as possible. Project scheduling, software testing, and accounting are all candidates for this, which boosts productivity and reduces errors. 

For example, automated accounts payable software helps you stay on top of cash flow, meaning you have more to spend on development. Whilst project scheduling tools help to automate your workflow, by prioritizing tasks and making sure projects stay on track. 

5. Leverage existing solutions 

If you’re trying to trim costs, there’s no point in spending unnecessarily. Although you may find you need some investment in new tech for your development activities, it’s worth evaluating what you already have.

Is there a system that works well? Could you integrate it with a newer tool to make better use of the data? Bringing separate systems and software together via an application integration means you don’t have to scrap your legacy systems all at once. It’ll help you avoid silos and time wasted on searching for information.

You may also be able to use existing tools and processes in different ways to meet changing demand. For example, finding a more efficient way to deliver the same level of service.

6. Explore cloud-based storage services

Cloud-based storage is a great way to save money while improving productivity and collaboration across teams. Like any cloud-based solution, your vendor owns and maintains the infrastructure, so you just pay a monthly subscription—and scale your storage space up or down as required.

You don’t need to store documents on your own machines (or in bulky filing cabinets), as everything is secure in the cloud. This means you can have smaller premises, or go fully remote as everyone can access the documents from anywhere. It’s also less likely that files will go astray or get duplicated.

Final thoughts

As you develop your business, it’s vital to strike the right balance between quality and cost. By building cost reduction into your budget, you can factor in scalability, infrastructure, and digital assets—and weigh up opportunity costs.

Through upskilling, outsourcing, and automation, you’ll streamline the core elements of your business and find further opportunities to control and reduce costs.

Reducing development costs will benefit you and your customers, as you can focus your resources on more experimental and development projects.

In this article, we will explore how startups can effectively use data to capture the attention and investment of potential backers.

This article explores:

• How VC funds evaluate investments.
• TAM, SAM, SOM.
• SaaS metrics that matter.

How Do Investors Decide to Invest in a SaaS Startup?

When it comes to data, there are many factors involved to demonstrate how your Saas company is performing. But how do investors decide to invest in a Saas startup?

To explain this, let’s first understand how investors, in this case, VC funds work.

VC funds usually have a five-year window in which they invest in a number of startups. This could range between 20-100 startups, depending on the fund.

Not all of the startups will become successful, but these funds bid on a few that have the potential to become unicorns. 

In general, the majority of portfolio returns will be generated by only two or three investments, where the biggest players achieve significant success. 

VC funds, depending on which stage they invest in (seed, series A, B, etc), will expect different returns.

Seed investors aim for a staggering 100-fold return on their investment, while Series A investors seek a more modest 10 to 15 times return. 

Later-stage investors have lower expectations, aiming for a 3 to 5 times multiple of their initial investment. These varying targets translate into targeted internal rates of return (IRRs) ranging from 20% to 35% for their investment portfolios.

Understanding this aspect of how VC funds look at investments, how could you make your Saas startup more attractive to investors, for them to potentially invest in your company?

7 Aspects Needed to Make Your Company Stand Out

1. What is your Value Proposition?

Your value proposition is of high importance when it comes to showcasing your solution to investors. Startups that use data to support their claims about solving a critical problem for their target market are far more likely to convince investors to invest in their company.

But how could you articulate this best? 

This can be achieved through customer testimonials, case studies, or market research that demonstrates the demand for the solution. By presenting tangible evidence, startups can instill confidence in investors that their product has real-world value and market fit.

2. User Metrics

Investors are interested in SaaS solutions’ user adoption and traction. Startups should highlight key user metrics, i.e. the number of active users, customer acquisition rate, retention rate, and engagement stats. 

This should be calculated from the start of the startup and measured over time in order to gauge the health of the startup.

These metrics provide quantifiable evidence of product market fit and growth potential. Investors seek assurance that a SaaS startup’s product is gaining momentum and has the ability to attract and retain customers.

3. Demonstrating Revenue and Financial Metrics

Generating revenue and achieving profitability is crucial for SaaS startups.

By presenting financial data such as Annual Recurring Revenue(ARR), Monthly Recurring Revenue (MRR), average revenue per user (ARPU), customer lifetime value (LTV), and customer acquisition cost (CAC), startups can illustrate their revenue-generating capabilities. 

To measure the health of Saas company, the rule of 40 is another metric that can shed light on how well a Saas company is performing as it compares revenue growth to profitability. It states that a healthy SaaS company has a combined growth rate and profit margin of 40% or more.

For example, if your company’s growth rate is 60% or more, you could lose 10% or 20% and still be “healthy.” Investors may consider an unprofitable business healthy if it generates enough revenue as a tradeoff. 

Other metrics founders should look at are LTV/CAC ratio (3:1) meaning your LTV should be at least 3 times your cost to acquire a customer, in order for the company to acquire customers profitably.

These data points provide insights into the business model’s viability and showcase the potential return on investment for investors.

4. Churn and Retention Rates

Low churn rates and high customer retention are indicators of a SaaS startup’s long-term viability. In Saas, depending on which industry you are in, the ideal Annual Churn Rate(ACR) would be ideally 8% or less.

By showcasing data related to churn rates, expansion revenue from existing customers, and customer retention strategies, startups can demonstrate their ability to retain customers and build long-lasting relationships. These metrics calculated in conjunction with one another, can assure investors that the product has stickiness and the potential for sustainable revenue streams.

5. The Market Opportunity

Investors are interested in the size of the target market and the scalability potential of a SaaS solution.

As a founder, you can show investors that you have deep knowledge of the market by dividing these into TAM, SAM, and SOM.

• TAM means the Total Available Market, 
• SAM means the Serviceable Available Market
• SOM means the Serviceable Obtainable Market

TAM is defined as the ‘total market for your solution.’

SAM is defined as ‘how much of the total market can the startup realistically capture based on their current resources.

SOM is the percentage of SAM the startup can capture at this moment.

By breaking down these 3 key areas, founders are able to show investors a concrete plan on how to capture the market and provide a clear picture of the market opportunity. This data should be supplemented with growth projections and strategies for capturing a significant market share. Demonstrating scalability through data ensures that the startup can meet investor expectations for exponential growth.

6. Emphasizing Data-driven Decision-making:

Data-driven decision-making is a critical aspect of successful SaaS startups. By highlighting how data is collected, analyzed, and utilized to drive strategic decisions, startups can showcase their ability to adapt and optimize their product. Investors appreciate startups that leverage data to inform product development, pricing strategies, and personalization of user experiences. Demonstrating a data-driven approach provides confidence that the startup can make informed decisions and stay ahead of the competition.

7. Building an ‘Economic Moat’:

Coined by Warren Buffett, the concept of an “economic moat” describes a business’s capacity to safeguard its long-term profits and market share by preserving competitive advantages over its rivals.

As a Saas startup, could you build a solution where you can acquire customers for a lower CAC and retain them longer (LTV)? And if so, how can you do this better than your rivals?

Data can be instrumental in showcasing a SaaS startup’s competitive advantage. By utilizing data-backed testimonials or third-party benchmarks, startups can illustrate how the solution outperforms competitors in terms of features, performance, or customer satisfaction. This data establishes credibility and provides a compelling reason why customers choose the startup’s solution over alternatives.

Conclusion

In the competitive landscape of SaaS startups, leveraging data-driven insights has become a critical factor in attracting investors. By effectively utilizing data, startups can bolster their value proposition, demonstrate growth potential, and showcase their ability to generate sustainable revenue. From user metrics to financial data, churn rates to market opportunity, and data-driven decision-making to competitive advantage, startups can paint a comprehensive picture of their business’s potential. Investors are increasingly drawn to startups that back their claims with tangible data, allowing them to make informed investment decisions. Ultimately, by harnessing the power of data, SaaS startups can position themselves as promising investment opportunities in the Saas space.

Let us know, how are you leveraging data in your Saas startup?

Share your thoughts with us in the comments below and let’s start the conversation!

And if you are a passionate Saas startup founder in search of funding to further accelerate your Saas?

Discover how to secure the funding you need to fuel your startup’s growth and success and schedule a 15 min call with our team to see if you apply.

Affiliate marketing has a special place among popular methods to make money online. In fact, due to the success stories, it is one of the most trusted methods to make money online. 

Building a successful affiliate marketing business, contrary to what people think is not a get-rich-quick scheme but a legit strategy to generate passive income online. However, it’s important to take your process seriously so you can become a success story, and to help you we will explore affiliate marketing as a whole to help you make an informed decision before you jump into the digital marketing scene as an affiliate.

Image source

What is Affiliate Marketing? 

Affiliate marketing is an online marketing business that has proven to be a successful method for making money online by promoting third-party products and services in exchange for a commission on the sales generated through your marketing efforts. 

The reasons for its popularity are multiple, but the most remarkable are: 

•  Low starting costs: because, as an affiliate marketer, you don’t sell your services and products, there is no need to invest in inventory and production. It’s possible to start with little to no money. 
• It is an on-the-go business: You can run your affiliate marketing from anywhere, and your working hours are up to you too. 
• Affiliate marketers don’t need an inventory: or shipping budget. With affiliate marketing, you are promoting products to generate your affiliate income. Since you are not selling your goods, there are no production and inventory management costs. 
• Access to multiple product options: the alternatives are vast. You can choose an affiliate program that resonates with your interests and passions.  

How Does It Work?

When you become an affiliate marketer, you promote products or services and earn a commission for the sales you drive using your unique affiliate link.  

Once your business and strategies are set and running, it’s the time to consider your affiliate a revenue a passive or semi-passive income, but as a beginner, there is work involved because you need to research and build your plan so you can have a map and compass and direct your efforts accordingly. Take a moment to learn more about the structure behind affiliate marketing and the different actors involved in the marketing chain.  

The Product Owner

It is the person (or company) behind your product or service. In the affiliate marketing industry, you can find individuals, small businesses, and established companies because affiliate marketing is a cost-effective marketing strategy to generate sales and increase brand visibility.  

The Affiliate Marketer

The affiliate marketer is the one driving sales through an exclusive affiliate link. Beyond sales, affiliate marketers are avid content creators and social media marketers. 

The Consumer  

The consumer can is the final link of the affiliate marketing network. He is living proof of the actual value of your affiliate marketing strategy.   

The Affiliate Network

The affiliate network is the platform or service that serves as the middleman between the affiliate marketers and the merchants.

Joining an affiliate network has added benefits. When you become an affiliate marketer for a network, you can access a standardized commission structure, technical support, tracking, and technical support for problems related to an affiliate program.  

How Do You Become an Affiliate Marketer?

Before you start an affiliate marketing business, notice that apart from your passion and commitment, you’ll need a marketing platform to promote your products or services, a platform to share high-quality content, and a niche or affiliate network to direct your efforts. 

Select Your Marketing Platforms

Affiliate marketers need a place to showcase their affiliate products or services. Think about a platform you can drive traffic to and where you can regularly create content to engage internet users and drive sales through content marketing. YouTube, Instagram, and blogging are excellent options.  

Research

If you are still here, you already know that affiliate marketing works. 

You have probably heard a lot about the industry and feel you are ready to jump in, but like in any other entrepreneurship, you need to educate yourself before deciding to engage in affiliate marketing. 

Many affiliate marketers skip this crucial part of the process and fail because they didn’t take the time and resources to understand how the affiliate business behaves. 

Find a Profitable Niche 

The end goal of affiliate marketing is to make money, and you must drive sales. 

For that reason, you must target and attract a specific audience to convert leads into sales. These niches tend to have a steady following and provide a massive audience to direct your affiliate marketing efforts, increasing the chances of affiliate revenue.       

Select Products and Services 

To become a successful affiliate marketer, you must promote the right products and services. 

Affiliate sales are tricky at times, consider your passions and life experiences to choose the products to promote.

Ask yourself what you would like to promote and target only products within your niche to keep your audience hooked and coming back for more.

Affiliate marketing involves planning and strategy. Decide if you want to associate with a seller or join an affiliate network. If you decide that affiliate networks work best for your particular niche, we suggest you explore the following first. 

Amazon (Amazon Affiliates Program) 

The commission for this affiliate program range between 1-10% of the sale price. Like many affiliate programs, you can promote your affiliate link using social media marketing, blogging, and advertisements. 

ShareASale

This affiliate marketing program helps content creators and influencers to start affiliate marketing to further monetize their content by partnering with popular brands.   

ClickBank

It is a leader in the market and has successful affiliates to back its reputation. For new affiliates has an added benefit, as it offers training and resources to help you become the most successful affiliate marketer you can be.

Omnisend

Omnisend’s affiliate program offers a 20% monthly recurring commission for each new referral that joins the platform on a paid plan, with a 30-day payout time and a dedicated account manager. The program also provides ready-made packs of banners, ads, and other content, as well as above-average ratings from users on popular review sites. Omnisend also has a partner program with revenue share opportunities, bonuses, and access to value-add services

Build Your Operations Center 

You have your game ready, but there is one fundamental thing you need to get started, you need to buy domain name and start your affiliate website. Affiliate marketers need a go-to place to conduct their business, and having your website is the most efficient way. 

There are multiple approaches, some affiliates prefer having only an affiliate marketing website, while others prefer to strategically divide their efforts across multiple websites to boost their resources. 

Consider your objectives, budget, and projections to decide if you want (or can) run multiple websites at once. 

FAQs

What to Consider When Choosing Your Niche? 

Finding the niche for your affiliate marketing business is a complex task. However, you can consider some key factors to make affiliate marketing work for you.

• Compepetitivity and opportunity 
• Profitability  
• Audience size
• Your background and general experience 
• The resources you are willing to invest (money and time) 
• Your interests and Passions
• Evergreen Vs trending marketing niches

What Is the Real Secret to Affiliate Marketing?

It is a tricky question, and the answer relates to who you ask and their personal experience with this business model. 

Thinking about adding value to your affiliate marketing is not just about selling a product, is about selling a solution. 

Connecting, nurturing, and growing an audience drives more sales and helps you build a steady source of affiliate marketing revenue.

Neal Taparia, the founder of Solitaire, recommends focusing on becoming an authority. “If you can show that you’re a trustworthy source where you can provide unbiased recommendations, you can succeed well. We’re able to affiliate market card decks because our users see us as the leader in card games.”

Another secret, or not so secret, is to diversify. A blog can become an excellent strategy for generating affiliate income, but if you are committed to developing your online business, you need to move further than search engine optimization. 

As an affiliate marketer, you are trying to build a steady and trustable source of income, and you can not risk losing everything due to an unexpected penalty from Google.

Always use a multi-channel strategy including social media, forum marketing, and email marketing to spread your unique affiliate link to the world. 

What Should You Avoid in Affiliate Marketing?

Affiliate marketing requires a good strategy and part of it is avoiding the common mistakes that often lead affiliate marketers to failure. We gathered a few examples of the common flaws in affiliate marketing. 

Promoting Too Many Products

The best practice to maintain audience engagement and use your resources efficiently is to concentrate your efforts on a limited list of products. 

Promoting the Wrong Product 

Choose your niche and product carefully. If your product doesn’t align with your audience and niche, you may fail in affiliate marketing. 

Ignoring Search Engine Optimization

SEO is the best way to increase and sustain organic traffic and generate revenue. Never underestimate the power of SEO. 

Final Considerations

We explored all the aspects of the affiliate marketing business to provide insight for digital marketers considering stepping into the affiliate industry. 

Affiliate marketing is a legit business model with the potential to create a steady and sustainable revenue if you are willing to invest the resources into this digital marketing venture. 

Many affiliate marketers see the process as an instant solution, but becoming a successful affiliate marketer takes time and commitment. That is the unfolded truth. 

Amazon is the largest market leader in D2C (direct-to-consumer) sales and among the five largest companies by market cap.

The company reported net sales of over half a trillion US dollars – with North America generating $315.9 billion alone and international markets contributing another $118 billion combined.

With over 2 million active sellers on the marketplace, the digital landscape shapes a vivid ecosystem of third parties: product brands, dropshippers, indie makers, authors, affiliate sellers, publishing and media partners, influencers, and more.

No matter what stage you’re in right now, focus on yielding the most out of the growing shopping universe. 

Let’s review the most lucrative opportunities to join the market or increase your performance in the coming months.

1. Streamline Your Business Model

If you haven’t explored Amazon as a strategic channel – or don’t generate substantial revenue yet – start with the basic business foundations.

There are well-known and established opportunities such as:

• Dropshipping
• Selling private label products
• Retail arbitrage
• Fulfillment by Amazon
• Running a blog selling Amazon affiliate products
• Influencer marketing

Diving into the foundations of every segment will enable you to employ the best practices in each of them.

Play to your strengths and explore a channel that you feel comfortable with. Furthermore,if you’re already involved in a segment, consider diversifying within the same realm. 

Successful brands are often led by founders or C-levels investing heavily in personal branding. Brand founders engage in influencer marketing activities and vice versa. 

FBA aggregators also run blogs and publish sites to develop new sales and marketing channels in parallel.

There are less-known Amazon segments worth exploring, too! 

Amazon Business is Amazon’s B2B marketplace for services. While it’s less popular than the consumer space, it’s less crowded too. 

And with the evolution of AI and GPT, launching ebooks is easier than ever. The marketplace can take care of everything – from print-on-demand to electronic versions to Audible outsourcing for their audiobooks.  

2. Use The Right Platform

Once your business model is fully defined, consider if you’re using the right platform to succeed.

Great shops or content creators often start with a general no-code platform or a site builder such as Carrd or Wix, but quickly reach the limits to scale and optimize for conversions successfully.

What’s more, influencers may end up stuck with the latest privacy or data regulations by platforms like Facebook, the ad revenue cut by Snapchat introduced several months ago, or potentially the ban of TikTok in the US. 

Maximizing Amazon opportunities and running your own data is imperative to succeed.

When it comes to running a brand website, an eCommerce store, or a content creator community, the two leading market players remain WordPress and Shopify. 

Both provide large ecosystems with many thousands of plugins and apps, facilitating professional email list building, consumer tracking, remarketing, and anything you need to develop your online store or resell Amazon products through featured content.

3. Acquire or Merge to Accelerate

Eager to start or grow faster?

Acquisitions are a great way to penetrate a new market or expand your business.

Amazon affiliate websites, dropshipping Shopify stores, creator landing pages and tools, PLR stores with freebies, automated WooCommerce resellers: thousands of opportunities available on Flippa as low as $200 for a starter website (up to 8-figure stores for sale).

Expert investors and acquisition veterans are well aware of valuations, but due diligence requires some effort on behalf of newer buyers. Luckily, the marketplace provides financial data (and revenue/profit multipliers) for reference, along with advisory services for larger purchases. 

One sweet spot I truly enjoy for launching new brands are acquisitions within the $3K to $30K range. 

Launching a new site or brand is about credibility. And credibility takes time to develop.

Acquiring a publisher or a Shopify store launched 2 or 3 years ago carries a lot of weight. 

• Your site has built some starter Domain Authority as Google SERP recognition. 
• Relevant communities will see you as an established founder.
• Some traction has already been vetted – the foundations of product/market fit.
• Sites/stores generally come with digital assets like Facebook/Instagram profiles or small email list. It’s an incredible start!
• Bonus points for some reviews or testimonials. Making the first sale is the hardest, followed by the first 10. Once you’ve crossed that, things gradually get easier.

I’ve acquired and grown over a dozen properties over the past 9 years and it’s a key go-to-market strategy in my playbook.

4. Diversify Revenue Streams

While Amazon is king, basing your entire business model on a single market is a recipe for disaster.

Marketplace regulations shift all the time. The same goes for commission rates, marketplace SEO, and costs of internally boosted content. 

Just as basing your entire marketing funnel on Facebook ads may backfire, diversifying your revenue streams matters as much.

As a product brand, you can still run your own Shopify or WooCommerce store in parallel. Yes, free traffic won’t grow as quickly, but you remain in control of future growth and visibility. 

As a publisher, look into other affiliate programs as well – such as Etsy, Walmart, or Target. While commission percentages may be lower, look into each program’s affiliation and attribution policy, cookie retention, and the possibility of profiting off of other purchases (not necessarily what a customer clicked on.)

And content creators can build more diverse partnerships and explore additional marketing and promotion channels to stay in the green at all times.

5. Go Omnichannel

A large portion of Amazon sellers solely rely on free traffic. 

In terms of paid, Facebook and Instagram ads are among the leading paid traffic channels funneling growth for many established brands AND publishing partners. 

But Facebook created a Marketplace and also lets you run your store straight into Facebook or Instagram. 

And while it still lets you connect your Shopify, WooCommerce, or BigCommerce store and catalog, it’s not necessarily a streamlined way to grow further.

Other networks pose limitations of external links – just as Instagram won’t let you post a clickable link in the caption of organic posts.

So – look into different ways to diversify your own offering, too. 

Amazon Ads is a powerful addition to amplifying your organic reach.

Building viral videos on TikTok or making a hit with Instagram reels could make a real difference for you.

YouTube unboxing or product demos can help both organically and amplify visibility and brand recognition over time. 

6. Build Strategic Relationships

A key omission in what makes a brand successful is building key relationships.

As a brand, you can only benefit by growing your professional network and developing any form of cross-promotion offers together.

For product brands, think of cross-sells and group promotions, bundling products, and running campaigns together.

As a dropshipper, there are profit share opportunities and performance marketing agencies scaling indefinitely without paying ahead of time.

Amazon Sellers work closely with influencers and agencies, running different campaigns across the board.

Even podcasts and radio yield incredible results for many brands. Podcasting hosts may quickly become your best friends.

7. Optimize For Revenue

When the product-market fit is achieved and you can afford to maintain scale, what makes a real difference is increasing conversion rates. 

Great brands build comprehensive dashboards, pulling any data point they can access: from Analytics traffic through remarketing pixels, heatmaps, user journeys and lead flows, abandoned cart segments, and everything in-between.

Investing in a professional data warehouse solution or a commerce-specific dashboard SaaS makes a true difference in determining net profit – considering ad costs or influencer payments, COGS, shipping and packaging fees, average returns, and other operating expenses. 

And investing in post-order experience, such as order tracking and notifications, upsells, cross-sells, integrating with your marketing automation sequences, and increasing retention from abandoned carts through recurring seasonal discounts, is the difference between a smaller brand and a successful machine.

As far as Amazon is concerned – there are unique opportunities that aren’t recognized by default (or explored as a business opportunity).

Amazon’s “deep link” functionality lets you open the Amazon app on any device with the app installed, passing the cookie attribution and retaining the user behavior (and commission tracking) back to the source. 

Brand referral bonuses can add an extra commission of about 10% on average by signing up to the Amazon Brand Registry.

Connecting publisher and seller accounts together can streamline the process and optimize additional fees on Amazon’s end, too.

Experienced partners working with Amazon sellers and publishers often specialize in these lesser-known opportunities that often make the difference between a successful paid campaign and one running in the red.

And while you’re refining your business model and shopping for the right asset – you can land on one that’s already set up for success! 

I’ve always been a serial entrepreneur on a mission to be financially free. So, I created The Financial Appetite to help other entrepreneurs along their journeys. My existing business is an entrepreneur’s community for education, inspiration, and connection. My business is currently very small, with goals for significant growth in the next 3-6 months. I intend to use Flippa for two purposes: to purchase a company and then to leverage that company to optimize my current one.

In this article, I am going to share with you the refined process I have been using so you can learn from my experience and insight.

So grab a cup of coffee and let’s dive in!

The Power of Finding Good Companies to Integrate Into Your Existing Business

The process of integrating old businesses into new businesses for growth is not new. It can provide real benefits and give you a mega push toward significant growth.

A buyer can expand their business quickly and effectively, especially if it’s in the same industry. 

Here are some acquisition strategies for buying a business in order to grow your existing business:

1. Customer Base: The buyer can target their marketing efforts with the acquired business’s customer base or use the customer base to cross-promote their own goods or services to the acquired business’s clientele.

2. Email and Subscriber Lists: The purchaser may market their goods and services using the acquired company’s email address, or they may send targeted emails and expand their newsletter.

3. Brand Reputation: The buyer can leverage the acquired business’s reputation to become recognized as an expert in their field or to draw in new clients who are already familiar with it.

4. Technology: Integrating proprietary software or technology from the purchased online business into the buyer’s own online business can be a huge advantage. By utilizing the new technology, a buyer can improve their products and services or streamline business operations.

5. SEO: If the acquired online business has a successful SEO strategy and positioning, the buyer can use that to boost its own positioning. To help improve their website’s authority, search engine results, and traffic, the buyer can incorporate the keywords and backlinks from the acquired company’s website into their own. A great resource to find articles on SEO is PracticalEcommerce

Flippa’s Helpful Features to Find the Right Company:

You can establish criteria and receive notifications with different features from Flippa. 

1. Save your search: When searching for a business on Flippa, you can save your search criteria by choosing the “Save Search” button. By doing this, you will be able to access your search criteria with ease in the future and receive alerts when new postings that match your criteria become available.
2. Set up alerts: On Flippa, you can also create alerts for specific groups. You can do this by going to your saved results and clicking “Create Alert.” Then, you can make alerts for specific terms and get emailed when a new match comes available. 
3. Follow specific sellers: ​​If there are any specific sellers on Flippa whose listings you are especially interested in, you can follow their profiles to receive notifications whenever they list a new business for sale. To do this, go to the seller’s website and click “Follow.”
4. Use Flippa’s broker services: Flippa also offers broker services to help you find and purchase businesses that meet your requirements. I have not done this, but I imagine it’s a big time saver!

These features are so helpful in saving me time by directly delivering opportunities that make sense for The Financial Appetite.

Assessment of Potential Opportunities

How do you thoroughly assess a company that you think looks interesting to make sure it’s a real opportunity? 

The most crucial factor to take into account is the website’s traffic and revenue. Google Analytics can be used to check the amount of traffic and where it is coming from, as well as metrics like bounce rate and time spent on the page. Over the previous 12 months, look for consistent patterns of revenue growth and traffic growth. Examine the traffic’s sources, such as paid advertising, social media, and search engines. 

Say, for instance, that only one or two articles account for the majority of the page’s traffic. What if one of those articles loses ground and its ranking drops? You could lose a ton of traffic. Check to see if the website is making money from affiliate marketing, ads, or product sales. 

What if the website’s only revenue stream comes from Google Ads? If one source accounts for all of the traffic to a website, that is not good. What you want is a balanced mix of traffic sources.  

The traffic trend is also important to look at. If you see an increase in traffic, it could mean that the owner is focusing on building the site. You’ll want to know the seller’s growth strategy and what’s been effective. Do they have quality content and a lot of traffic coming from their ads? Knowing this reason is important so you can grow and maintain the strategy they are getting traction with. 

On the other hand, if visitors are dwindling, when was the site last updated by the seller? A site could be seasonal, and if you’re looking to buy in high season, the traffic skyrockets, making the company look very valuable in that season only. It’s important to know why it’s trending and have an accurate view. 

Besides looking at the traffic, consider these six factors to assess a potential opportunity:

1. Determine whether the website’s niche has room for expansion by conducting research in this area. Look for competitors and analyze their strengths and weaknesses. Determine whether there are any barriers to entry in the niche, such as high competition or limited growth opportunities. You can check Googletrends.com to see how the site’s associated keywords have been trending.

2. Check the website’s age and history: This will help determine a site’s longevity and stability. Check whether the website has had any penalties or suspensions from search engines or other online platforms. Determine whether the website has a loyal audience or customer base.

3. Analyze the website’s assets and liabilities: Look into the domain name, hosting provider, the strength of the content, inventory, and any outstanding debts and expenses. Always have the seller show proof and have them screen share whenever possible to verify accuracy.  

4. Analyze the website’s SEO health. Take a deep look into the strength and quality of backlinks. You want to make sure the site has quality backlinks and not spammy ones with low domain ratings that may have been purchased. Also, look at the domain rating which is a measure of the site’s health and is scored out of 100. Low is not always bad, it could mean that there is room for improvement or scalability. Comparing the domain authority of your website to that of your competitors is also a good idea. To dive deeper into SEO, check out this article here.

5. Check the seller’s reputation: Research the seller’s reputation on Flippa and other online platforms. Do they seem reliable? Look for feedback from previous buyers and analyze the seller’s communication skills and responsiveness.

6. Consider the asking price: Determine whether the asking price is reasonable based on the website’s traffic, revenue, and growth potential. Consider whether the price includes any assets or liabilities and what additional assets come with the sale. For The Financial Appetite, I’m looking for a 1.8x annual profit multiple. There’s a great article on this here.  For determining how the price looks, take the income multiple into account. By dividing the selling amount by the annual revenue, this can be determined. As a general rule, a multiple of 2-3x could be considered a decent deal, while a multiple of 4x or higher may be regarded as expensive. However, keep in mind that depending on the type of business, industry standards for revenue multiples can vary.

Effective Due Diligence

I believe that conducting thorough due diligence is the most important skill in vetting a company to integrate into yours. 

The biggest error people make when buying companies is making emotional purchases. Being excellent at carrying out due diligence helps limit the emotional component and solely rely on facts. Thus, practicing successful due diligence is the best thing you can do. 

Every time I evaluate a company, one of the things I try to do is prove why a company appears to be a bad investment before looking at why it is a good one. This strategy helps take the “rose” out of your “rose-colored” glasses and gives you a more realistic view of the company’s health.

The key seller inquiries I use when I am seriously considering a company are listed below. Try to keep these questions open-ended as often as possible, forcing the seller to give more context, which can help offer more valuable and rich information. 

For any questions on a website’s statistics or numbers, ask to do a screen share with the seller to see the platforms they use and verify the information firsthand. For example, you want proper access to the business merchants, whether that’s PayPal, Stripe, or Shopify. Make sure not to accept any old Google Sheet or Excel, as that is not a valid indication of profit and loss.

There’s a great podcast called Buying Online Businesses that teaches you about the power of due diligence here. This was a great resource when starting my journey and educating myself. 

Seller Questions For Effective Due Diligence

• What would you do to make this business less risky and make more money?

• What is the history of the company, and why are you selling it?

• What is the revenue and profit history of the company, and what are the major revenue streams?

• What should any new owner of the website be worried about and why?

• What is the composition of the customer base, and what is the retention rate of customers?

• What is the marketing strategy of the company, and what marketing channels are used? (Social, email, content marketing, etc.), and can you show proof of metrics for each?

• How much money and time are you spending on marketing? (They may not be spending a whole lot of time on building traffic with content, but they may be spending hours on social and reaching out for links, which would pay off later)

• What is the current technical infrastructure of the company, and what software or technology is used?

• Who are the current employees of the company, and what are their roles and responsibilities?

• What is the current online reputation of the company, and what is the sentiment of online reviews and feedback?

• What is the intellectual property of the company, including trademarks, patents, and copyrights?

• How is the competition presenting itself, and what do you know about any weaknesses that may help the business?

• What did you do to grow this website’s revenue (this also allows you to be conscious of what did not work and what skills you need to run the site)

• What should I know about the business that I don’t already know?
• How would you like to get the funds? Less upfront or more paid out over time? Is seller financing possible? How can we be creative about an offer I have submitted?

Red Flags to Watch Out For

1. Poor Traffic Quality: 

A website may receive a lot of traffic, but if that traffic is of poor quality or is not directed at the target market for the business, it may not result in sales or income. To make sure that the traffic is of high quality and applicable to the business, you should carefully assess the sources, channels, and demographics.

2. Look for outdated, harmful algorithms. 

Are there any unusual traffic peaks and troughs? Checking whether a website was affected by a previous algorithm update is essential to determining whether the site is simply declining as a result of that change. It’s vital to understand, as the new owner, if you will or will not be able to restore it. 

3. Time spent on page and bounce rate.                                                                                                   

These elements offer useful insight into the user experience that website visitors have while browsing the site. Visitors will leave a website quickly if they feel that it offers them nothing, is irrelevant to their needs, or has low-quality content. A time on the page of 1 to 2 minutes is acceptable and shows that visitors value the website. 

A low bounce rate and a healthy time on page, which indicate that users enjoy the content and the site, are necessary before investing in a website. 

That said, there can be big opportunities for people to make those metrics better when they purchase; this would be considered a “fixer-upper.” 

4. Outdated or Ineffective Marketing Strategies: 

If the online business relies on outdated or ineffective marketing strategies, the buyer may need to invest significant time and resources into revamping the marketing plan.

5. Limited Growth Potential in the Niche: 

The buyer should evaluate the potential for growth in the online business. It’s possible that the buyer won’t be able to grow the online business significantly or bring in a sizable amount of money if it has a small room for growth or operates in a declining sector.

6. Technical Issues: 

You should assess the online business’s technical foundation, including the website, hosting, and software. The online business might not offer a positive user experience or bring in a sizable amount of money if it has technical problems like slow loading times, poor mobile responsiveness, or out-of-date software.

7. Hidden Costs or Liabilities: 

You should evaluate the existing financials of the online business to identify any hidden costs or liabilities, such as outstanding debts, unpaid taxes, or pending lawsuits. Make sure to have the seller do a screen share when possible and get reports directly from the source (Paypal, Google Analytics, etc). Do not accept a Google Sheet or manual document that can be tampered with.

My Story

Hi! My name is Joanna Golden, and I am a business owner, seasoned businesswoman, mother of three young kids, and serial entrepreneur. I’m a woman with a huge appetite for life, especially when it comes to business. 

I spent 15 years at media companies in various leadership and business development roles. I mostly oversaw the development of large partnerships with consumer and enterprise companies. Most recently, I was the Head of Global Sales at a media company. I also established a small real estate business at that time, and I currently have six rental properties. Fast forward to now, and I am just starting a new business that is a financial community for entrepreneurs called The Financial Appetite.

Exactly one year ago, I quit my cushy corporate job and decided I had enough of making other people money. I wanted to use my skills in business development, sales, and leadership to build something of my own. And I wanted financial freedom—to live my life on my terms. Though I was making very good money, I knew the only way to be truly free was to do something on my own. So, I leaped into the abyss of the “unknown” and started The Financial Appetite. And now, it’s up to only me to grow this thing and do it in an intelligent way. Hope to see you on the journey!

Conclusion

In summary, I discussed using Flippa to find companies to integrate into my existing business for growth. I outlined the benefits of business integration for growth as well as the features that will make your search easier. In addition, I went over how to assess a business once you’ve found it. 

I spoke at length about the importance of due diligence to help understand if the company is indeed a real opportunity. If you can get good at one thing, it should be due diligence. Ask as many questions as you can, and make sure they are all open-ended. Let the seller divulge information for you to feel out.

I have developed a system and checklist for assessing each company to integrate that takes into account all of the details I’ve provided in this article, and I suggest you do the same. This makes it incredibly simple to look through each company and identify the gems while avoiding the duds.

Keep an eye out for my next guest post on the subject after my imminent purchase, where I’ll be documenting the post-buy merger process. 

I wish you the best of luck in your business hunting and integration journey! 

Ready to grow you businesses through acquisition? Start your search for online businesses to acquire here.

Recently, AI technology has become more accessible and affordable – even to smaller companies. Today, all online businesses, from startups to established names, use AI-driven software and tools to scale their operations and improve their online visibility, efficiency, and customer relationships. In fact, 84% of top business executives believe that artificial intelligence will help them to gain and sustain their companies’ competitive advantage moving into the future. 

To harness the power of artificial intelligence for your business, we look at what AI is and the specific areas you can use it in to grow your digital business.

What Is Artificial Intelligence?

Artificial intelligence (AI) is a computer science branch that seeks to create intelligent systems that can work, learn, and react autonomously without specific programming for each task.

Digital systems using AI can solve many complex problems and complete tasks that would otherwise require large teams of people, a lot of time, or costly resources. For instance, many of the devices and applications we use today, such as smartphones or social media apps, use AI to customize our experiences to our preferences. They achieve this through sets of rules known as algorithms, which collect large amounts of data, study it to recognize patterns, and then make decisions from that information.

As a result, the business world is starting to take note of the enormous potential of this technology. A PwC survey shows that 75% of business leaders believe that AI helps them make better decisions, and 64% think it is crucial for their enterprises’ productivity, efficiency, and growth in the future.

Five Ways AI Can Help You Grow Your New Business

With life getting increasingly expensive – for instance, the average cost of living across all provinces in Canada is now over $4,000 a month – you cannot afford to let your investment in an online business go down the drain. Taking advantage of AI’s capabilities can help you quickly grow your newly acquired business and make it profitable as soon as possible. 

The right software and digital tools can help you achieve rapid growth by increasing your brand’s or website’s visibility online, boosting engagement rates on your content, and providing an improved user experience.

AI can spur business growth in five essential areas: 

• Data analytics
• Customer satisfaction
• Targeted marketing campaigns
• Sales process efficiency
• Customer engagement

Let’s examine each of these areas in detail:

Data Analytics

Business analytics is the study of historical data to help optimize operations and make projections of future performance. Machine learning makes the process of analytics faster and more accurate, so you can process large volumes of data quickly using algorithms that work faster than any human can.

Whenever people visit your website, the technology helps you gain crucial information regarding their interests.

The different types of data that AI collects include:

• Visitor demographics
• Browsing patterns
• Traffic sources
• Geography

AI constantly works behind the scenes to collect generous amounts of information as users continue to use your app, giving you the data you need to make strategic decisions.

The more data the software can filter through, the more personalized and targeted your service, accelerating traffic to your business. Armed with detailed insights into your customers’ buyer behaviors, trends, interests, and preferences, you can tweak your services and create products that excite the market. This allows you to easily reach buyers through the most opportunistic channels. 

Moreover, AI helps you stay ahead by offering tools that can constantly track and report on your competitors’ performance and activity. For instance, you proactively follow your competitors’ moves in the market and make predictions instead of reacting to their announcements and releases.

Customer Satisfaction

For growth and profitability, your business should offer maximum customer satisfaction. Understanding your customers makes it easy to provide better products and services. Moreover, you can also identify the best channels to reach new customers and find the best prices for your products.

AI can play an important role in analyzing the needs of your customers and the state of your market. You can apply predictive analytics to data collected from social media, system matrix, and web matrix to offer an enhanced and more satisfying product.

To ensure customer satisfaction, maintain an open-door policy to provide customers with timely support and offer them swift responses to their expectations.

Often, the first line of support customers get is a FAQ page full of irrelevant questions and awkwardly-phrased answers. Instead, you can use the power of AI to communicate with your audience in a personalized way, helping you to increase your brand’s reputation and accelerate your new online business growth.

The figures back it up – statistics show that 26% of customers prefer chat support over other types of online help since they get answers to their questions quickly. AI-powered chat is fast becoming the preferred platform for consumers to reach brands for assistance. AI saves you the expense of having dozens of human support staff and helps you track real-time conversations.

Chat insights can help you establish peak business hours, how many agents you should provide to serve customers, and the type of support your customers prefer (chat or phone). Furthermore, you can use the data to give your agents the feedback they need to offer better services.

Targeted Marketing

Simply having an excellent product or service is no guarantee that the market will buy from you. Marketing is challenging at the best of times and can be even more challenging when you acquire a digital property and need to adapt it to a constantly changing market.

Because people now spend most of their time online on smartphones and tablet devices accessing apps and social media, your business can reach out to them on various channels. 

AI is causing a revolution in marketing and content creation by powering software that provides advanced personalization and speeds up conversions. Your company will come across as transparent, responsive, and communicative.

Your marketing team can use machine learning to predict the customers most likely to react to your campaigns and the product or service they will purchase. With AI, your marketing team can personalize your message to the individual level. As a result, you can recommend services and products tailored to each buyer, improving your brand’s reputation.

AI tools help you create personalized content aligned with your brand and customer expectations. Targeted marketing can provide measurable success for your business, with 86% of marketers reporting a lift in sales from personalization efforts.

Sales Process Efficiency

Today’s sales techniques are a far cry from the old ways of cold calls or sending long emails that recipients would often delete without reading. Many new types of media influence consumer decisions – from TV commercials to ads on social media platforms. 

The situation is compounded by the fact that most households spend two-thirds of their income on the essentials of food and housing. Therefore, you and your competitors are scrambling for a small part of the pie, and you need a highly efficient sales machine to have an impact in a crowded market.

Suppose you integrate AI into your Customer Relationship Management system for a more effective and innovative approach to marketing your business. This strategy lets you automatically craft a sales pitch to reach your target customer at the right time via the most effective platform. Best of all, the AI-powered CRM can handle multiple sales functions autonomously, giving you and your team more time to take on more strategic duties. 

Sales forecasting is another crucial function that AI can help improve for a new digital business. Smart technology can boost the accuracy of your sales forecast by providing a real-time snapshot of the health of the different deals in your pipeline. With these insights, you can decide whether to pause or advance your pending deals.  

The beauty of using AI software to market your newly-purchased app is that it empowers your sales team instead of replacing it. Ultimately, relationships are important – particularly for enterprise sales. AI is most effective by providing insights that enable humans to develop stronger relationships, generating greater revenues.

Customer Engagement

Getting new customers to sign up for your product or service is only one part of growing your new business. Arguably the most important aspect is engaging your existing clients so they give you repeat business or recommend you to others.

Effective engagement all comes down to what AI shines in – personalized experiences. Unlike human client success agents, AI can analyze vast data collections more effectively to identify patterns in your customer behavior. The technology can analyze millions of transactions and records daily to extract information like buying preferences, purchase history, credit scores, and more to help you tailor your service to the customer’s needs.

The software’s actionable intel can let you analyze a specific customer in minute detail before, during, and after they make a purchase. With the information collected, you can design an appropriate engagement at every stage of your interaction.

Artificial intelligence helps you to know who is likely to bring you repeated business or is open to an upsell of another product or service. Having the history of the customer at hand makes the sales process smoother and ensures a pleasant experience for your clients.

Additionally, managing your client accounts is easy with AI-based accounting software that allows you to view the financial health of your business while offering clients and partners access to their payments and invoices in real-time.

Leverage AI Technology To Scale Your New Digital Business

So, what can artificial intelligence do to help you grow your newly-acquired digital business? The simple answer is that it can do almost anything if you set it up correctly. You cannot ignore the value leading companies enjoy from using AI and the possibilities it can open up for you. 

Although you cannot count on AI alone to grow your business, combining the power of this revolutionary technology with your human touch will help you close in on a growth strategy that will work for you. Leverage AI for the automation of manual operations so you get more time for yourself as you grow your business.

AI has revolutionized our lives in many ways and is now integral to almost all the technology we use. Ultimately, to accelerate the development of your newly-acquired website or app and get ahead of your competitors, you need AI and machine learning to help you save time and improve efficiency.

I decided to start a side hustle of selling on Amazon after hearing about a friend who was making a killing doing it. He told me that he was earning several thousand dollars per month in profit, and I was immediately intrigued. After doing some research, I found out that there were many people who were having success with Amazon FBA businesses.

And so, I decided to give it a try myself. Now, fast forward a few months later and my side hustle business has been booming! In fact, last month alone I made over $10,000 in profit from my sales on Amazon! If you’re looking for a way to make good money online, then starting an Amazon FBA business is definitely the way to go.  

Learn how to make money on Amazon FBA and be successful!

How to Make Money on Amazon FBA

Fortunately, there are plenty of ways to raise money for your business. In this blog post, we’ll share 11 different funding options with you – including the one you’re probably forgetting. So whether you’re just getting started or looking for ways to grow your existing business, read on to learn how to raise money for a business.

One of the most important things to remember when starting a business is that you will need to raise money. There are many ways to do this, and the best way depends on your situation. This guide on how to raise money for a business should give you a good place to start. And if you’re still not sure which route is right for you, be sure to speak with an experienced business professional who can help guide you in the right direction.

If you’re thinking about starting your own software company or selling your software online, this guide will teach you all you need to know about the SaaS business model including its pros and cons:

SaaS Business Model