It's funny how things work out...
I had originally planned this post for last week, but didn't schedule it until tonight....Of course, one of the members of the CTP community posted something on Noise.App earlier today that fit the topic perfectly...
There seems to be a new business model online but not only in the online business world. I've seen this creep it's ugly head for a while now and thought it would be a great post on what not to do in business.
The nickel and diming of customers has become the new normal around the world.
This is when I first saw it, not online but doing every day shopping for my family...
Charging customers 5 cents for a plastic bag. The stores will say it's for the environment, but let's be honest. It's a revenue stream. The 5 cent a plastic bag model lasted for a few years an d now they have switched it up...To reusable bag which are a lot more than 5 cents each.
It may not seem like much, but I bet any of the offline businesses that have implemented this, have seen a pretty nice increase in revenue from it.
Let's bring it online, and what 
Another scummy practice businesses seem to be pulling especially in online marketing circles is what Jay spoke about. In affiliate marketing, we are used to having a threshold to reach before our commissions are paid. Standard practice now seems to be....Raise that threshold!
These two examples may seem like different ends of the spectrum but for me it comes down to this....
Businesses take their customers for granted. And instead of providing more value for those customers, they end up nickel and diming them to death.
For me, it's a head scratcher and I get it...Inflation, the cost of living, yadda yadda....But these kind of practices have been appearing in many businesses years before the 'COVID explosion and prices rising'. It's just greed and to me, an awful way to treat your lifeline...Your customers!
Why not do something special for them, maybe discounts for repeat customers, reward programs, things that actually make your customers feel valued?
Instead....We charge people 5 cents for a plastic bag and raise prices every chance we get.
I think something businesses can do to go against the grain and actually stick out from the crowd is, reward customers of course....But how about making a big deal about...Not charging you if you need a plastic bag to carry your groceries? Or promote the fact that prices are NOT rising and are actually going down?
Utopian thoughts maybe...But hey, when you see what your competition is doing and how little they value their customers, this should get your entrepreneurial thinking cap going at full speed!
Just asking yourself every day....
How can I show my customers that I value them and that I NEVER take them for granted?
Crazy business model, I know....
