A solid aim for any web business has to be ancillary income, this is income that is outside of the key business, for example a hotel may sell travel insurance through an affiliate link or guide books from an Amazon link.
To give a great example of financial returns in 2009 Ryanair had ancillary revenue of €598 million, compared to a total revenue of €2,942 million. You only need to look at their website to see how important this is to the business model, on the screen capture (below) you can see both paid adverts and ‘affiliate’ links. The paid adverts will be simply that – a company paying for its advert to be shown on the Ryanair website – and dont be surprised by this British Airways have also been carrying Jaguar Car adverts for quite a while now. The affiliate links however will see Ryanair getting a commision on items sold, be it car hire or hotel bookings.
So how does this work for your business? Make no doubt this isnt a one size fits all for sure, I have listed 3 different types of business and ancillary income you ‘may’ wish to consider.
Small B&B – maps, guide book links of the area – Amazon is great for this, you’ve booked your stay now read more before you come. Also holiday insurance is applicable for all overnight stay websites….
Checkout my online shop for WesternRunner – built for free using Amazon
Car Repairs/Mechanic – motorsport books, motoring clothing, historical prints/artwork, maps – again all from Amazon.
Checkout my online shop for WesternRunner – built for free using Amazon
Estate Agents – links for insurance (you’d make commission), maps of the area – amazon again, possibly hotels and B&B’s if people are coming a distance, restaurants and eateries, bascially thinks that your clietns probably do already BUT you have an opportunity to make some ancillary revenue from.
Do bear in mind that a customers wants the product they are buying to work before they will go onto trust a company for buying any other services. Then a huge part of making this ancillary offering work is to involve your own staff in designing, developing and delivering the offerings. This measn getting your staff on board with what you offer in house and what you offer only through your website. There is nothing that will destory your well intention efforts faster in this area if your own staff are not aware what additional services your businesses is offering.
See also Amazon Associates, affiliate marketing made easy
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