	Article Directory		Article Submission Service		Article Marketing Blog		Publishers		Member Log In

Article Directory :: Business - General Articles

How to Market Your Small Business - 3 Tips To Better Results

By Jonathan McCulloch

Republish: EasyPublish™
Published: 29Feb2012
Word count: 2041
Viewed: 356 time(s)

Get Free Content For Your Site

Most small business owners tend to "fall" into the business they're running. Some drift into it, and others seek to fulfill a dream, but very few of them actually have a small business marketing plan and plan the business AS a business.

They seem to suffer from the illusion that because they're good butchers, bakers or candlestick makers they're going to be good at running those kinds of businesses.

Alas, it's rarely the case, because they don't understand the fundamental truth: every business lives and dies by the quality of its marketing.

So in this short article I share with you what I consider to be the three most important elements in any small business marketing plan.

There is much more, to be sure, but if you can master these three, then this alone is going to put you head and shoulders above your competition.

1. Relentless follow up.

The most successful entrepreneurs realize the key to success in business is relentless follow-up.

The more you tell, the more you sell, in other words.

Your chances of selling something to someone on the first pass are usually pretty remote, and even in my business, which is in an industry not especially noted for its long sales cycle, I regularly get first-time buyers who have been on my list for (literally) years and have only at that moment decided to buy.

2. Focus on buying customers, not making sales.

The real value of a customer or client is in his or her lifetime value -- the amount of money he or she gives you over the lifetime of your relationship.

Too many business owners don't understand this, and instead fall over themselves in the rush to make each individual sale, without bearing in mind this long-term value.

In my experience, it's often been the case I make more money in my relationship with a client in the long term by talking them out of an early and to my mind inappropriate purchase.

3. Focus.

Why are you in business?

If you answered anything other than "to make money", then you might want to rethink your career.

I'm not being mercenary here, because even a non-profit business founded for the most humanitarian and noble of reasons must turn a profit to stay in business. No matter how good the ultimate cause, there are still salaries to be paid, commitments to be met and bills to be settled.

All of this means you've got to be making sales -- and this does have to be your focus.

This is no contradiction of my previous point, by the way, because by focusing on the relationship and the long term value of the customer or client you are also necessarily focusing on sales.

What you're not doing is focusing on any single sale as being especially important.

Yes, you need sales and you need customers and clients ... but no single one of them is indispensable. If they are, then your business is in a very precarious position and you need to do something about, and soon.

Running a successful small business isn't hard and these three powerful tips will go a long way making it happen for you.

Jon McCulloch is perhaps Europe's top direct response marketer. Visit his website now and take just 3 of his 52 FREE small business promotion tips he's giving away now, and actually put them to work for you and you'll be amazed by the results. They've all produced substantially improved results for small businesses just like yours in the last two years.

EasyPublish™ this article - publishers click here