Increase Your ISP Bottom Line

There are two ways to increase your business bottom line: Cut costs and increase your revenue. You eliminated the fixed costs typically associated with running an ISP when you selected visp.net as your wholesale ISP partner. So let’s talk about increasing that top line number. Growing revenue means adding subscribers, and you do that by implementing a simple, effective marketing plan. You don’t need a big budget to grow your business. All you need is persistence, a little knowledge, and the desire to succeed. To help you get started, here are seven ISP-specific strategies that will help you grow your business.

You’ve probably heard this one hundred times, so here’s one hundred and one: Know your customers! If you don’t understand who your customers are, how are you going to reach them? For example, are you targeting residential or business customers? Do you want to reach current Internet users or people who are new to the Internet? Answers to questions such as these help you invest your promotional dollars more effectively. Select a business name that places you high in the Yellow Pages listing for Internet Service Providers. A significant number of people use the Yellow Pages to locate an ISP, especially people who are new to an area. This is low-hanging fruit. First position is best, but in any case you’ll receive more calls if you pick a name that appears as one of the first three listings in the ISP category. If you have an existing name, file for one or more alternate business names to get better Yellow Pages positioning and to appeal to different customer wants. For example: 1st Choice Internet Access Now Advanced Internet Services Join your local Chamber of Commerce. People like doing business with community members, and your local chamber is full of potential customers. As a visp.net partner ISP, you offer the advantages of the nation’s largest providers and you’re just around the corner. Your customers can look you in the eye -- something they cannot do with EarthLink or AOL. Use that angle in your advertising! Offer to teach a class to chamber members on subjects such as email management, virus protection, or spam filtering. Get involved and your business will grow. Partner with other local businesses, such as computer stores, computer consultants, or web designers. Referral partners are a great source of new business. Give them a free account as a reward, or offer them the first month’s revenue from each new subscriber they refer. Giving away the first month’s revenue is a powerful marketing technique that AOL has used successfully for many years. Why not try it? Offer to teach an Internet or computer class through the adult education department of your local community college. Continuous learning programs are very popular with retiring baby boomers. Teaching, establishes you, as a subject-matter expert. People are more inclined to buy from -- and refer others to -- those whose expertise they trust. Share your knowledge! Partner with your local computer club(s). Plan and schedule to attend and speak at their events. You’ll get subscribers along the way. As you build rapport, you’re more likely to get the club’s endorsement for your services, too. We’ve seen this result in hundreds of subscribers for ISPs who adopt this strategy. Educate yourself on low-cost promotional techniques. Knowledge about marketing will put you far ahead of most of your competitors. Try: Marketing Kit for Dummies by Alexander Hiam. Uncommon Marketing Techniques : Thousands of Tips, Trick and Techniques in Low Cost Marketing Methods by Jeffrey Dobkin. Both books are very good resources for the business owner on a budget. (Okay, this makes eight!) Take advantage of our current product promotions. Our promotions will save you money that you can use to expand your marketing efforts!