But any small business strategy that's aimed entirely at expanding your business is a likely catastrophe in the offing.
The first thing to understand is expansion is not in and of itself necessarily what you want. Consider: if you're currently exhausted, is more business going to help or hinder you in your aspirations?
Can you actually handle more customers and clients with all the unavoidable and consequent increase in everything from supervision and provision to service and cash flow?
In this regard, there's no doubt small business marketing is a mixed blessing.
It's not obvious, but expanding your business too far too quickly is one of the most efficient ways to seeing it implode when you least expect it to - just when you're at your busiest and revenue is at its highest. Growing your business without paying attention to how you're going to service it is a recipe for disaster.
The second point is business growth is isn't really what you want, even if you think it is.
No, your real goal -- if you ARE sane -- should be profit growth.
I mean, surely it would be much better to be doing the same amount of work -- or even less of it -- but making more cash?
I believe 'yes' is the only rational answer to that.
With that in mind, I have 3 very simple profit growth strategies here for you that'll increase your profits without calling for you to bust a gut doing it.
To begin with, raise your prices.
This suggestion always earns a wail of protest from my clients, because they immediately and automatically presume everyone buys on price. They do don't.
Because NO ONE buys on price ALL the time. If you think I'm wrong just poke your head out of the door and see how many of your neighbors are living a truly subsistence quality of life where they make do with the cheapest of everything, just because it IS cheap.
Without going into the figures here, just believe me when I share with you a small percentage increase in your prices causes an extremely disproportionate increase in your profits (the same is true of a price CUT, so be warned). Don't believe me? Try it and see. If I'm spouting nonsense you can drop your prices again next week and tell everyone how stupid I am.
The SECOND thing is to focus not on new business but on your existing customers and clients. Yes, you need A LITTLE new business, but the easiest sales and the largest profits are to be found in your current customer base. Most business owners don't realize this.
And by far the most common cause of clients and customers abandoning your business for another is your inattention to them. Why would clients be loyal in the absence of anything to be loyal to, and a reason for BEING loyal?
No matter what method you use to keep in touch with them, with Internet marketing, sales letters or even the humble phone, you will see an increase in your sales.
My THIRD suggestion for you is to focus on service, not sales.
I know, it sounds like it does doesn't make sense. But the thing is this: if you're selling, you're talking and not paying attention. And if you're heedless of what your customers and clients desire and need, you're missing out on a lot of opportunities to serve them more fully.
Your sales and profits will echo the levels of service you deliver.
One final thing: these business-growing tips will all work for you, that I promise.
But if you don't do anything with them, they cannot possibly do anything for you.
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Jon McCulloch is perhaps Europe's top Internet marketer. Visit his website and take just 3 of his 52 FREE small business promotion tips he's giving away now, and actually put them to work in your business and you 'll be delighted by the results.
They've all yielded substantially better results for businesses just like yours over the last two years.
Get your tips here: => http://www.small-business-marketing-tips.com/52-small-business-marketing-ideas
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