5 ways to make money online with your physical business

There has never been a better time to become a knowledge entrepreneur. The great thing is that it’s not just for people who have a digital-only business. Whether you have a bakery, yoga studio or other physical business, here are 5 ways to make money online with your brick-and-mortar business.

Teach others how to start a similar business

Think back to when you started your physical business: how much would you have paid to know the solutions to all the hurdles you would face?

You can create online courses, e-books or other digital products about running a business. There’s a large market for teaching existing and aspiring business owners how to better run their business. Unlike an MBA or general business advice, your knowledge could be extremely valuable because it’s tried-and-true advice from someone in the field every day.

You should get as specific as you can. If you run a restaurant, focus on the specific aspects of running a restaurant that other owners would want to know. This could include: 

• how to secure a liquor license
• analyzing the cost per dish 
• how to hire the best staff for the front and back of the restaurant 
• And much, much more. 
  

Some of you may be thinking, “I don’t want to give away my secret sauce.” And that’s understandable. You can still deliver a lot of value without giving away your proprietary information.

For example, I’m sure that KFC could teach a lot about franchising, running a restaurant, logistics and much more without giving you the exact fried chicken recipe.

Hold virtual classes in addition to your in-person ones

Adding virtual classes is another great way to make money online with your physical business. This can provide a convenient way for customers to use your services, as well as create an additional revenue stream for your business.

Let’s take a yoga studio as an example. Your yoga classes are limited by the physical space you’re in because you can only fit so many people in per square foot. This is exacerbated by the pandemic and physical-distance requirements.

But you could create an online yoga courses to supplement your in-person classes. This could include live-streamed sessions or recorded yoga classes. You could even offer things like digital checklists, quizzes or other engaging digital content to make your customers feel special.

The best thing about this is you’re not limited by physical space. Your yoga online course could serve hundreds or thousands of customers at a time and your costs won’t go up.

Provide online content that supplements your services

If you have a service business, you can sell online content that supplements your “main” business. This is a great way to extend your business in a way that’s beneficial to your customers.

Let’s say you have a hair salon. Your main revenue is driven by services for hair appointments. But those customers could also be interested in online courses or content about: 

• How to better handle their hair
• How to style their hair 
• How to treat and maintain their hair 
• How to do at-home touchups 
• And more. 
  

Because they’re coming to your physical business for services, you already know they’d be a good target audience for similar online content. This can apply to virtually any business niche.

Create an online community around your business

‍Consumer behavior is changing. Your customers don’t just want transactions, they want relationships and community. The Internet is a great way to build those communities. ‍

Using social media is an easy way to create a community around your business. At a minimum, you should: 

• Create a social media page for your business 
• Respond to questions and complaints 
• Share information about your business, as well as other neat content 

But you can go even further to build up an online community. You can start up a Facebook Group for fans and users of your business. You can create an email newsletter for your customers that provides updates on the business, as well as coupons and deals. 

Building a community pays off in many ways. It can lead to more direct sales at your physical store. It can boost your brand awareness and, importantly, it can lead to happy, repeat customers. It can also be a great place to market your digital products that you offer.

Use Kajabi to make money online with your physical business

Kajabi is the ideal platform to help your physical business expand online. We provide all the tools you need to build your online content, market it and sell to your existing and prospective customers. Kajabi is also ideal for business owners who want to focus on building content and earning revenue instead of tweaking with tech.

Start your 14-day free trial today!

Need some inspiration on what type of digital product to sell? Watch our video:

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