10 Tips for Growing Your Business the Organized Way
by Maria Gracia
Growing a business is similar to tending a vegetable garden. Knowledge,
careful planning, organized systems, use of proper tools, continuous care,
and dedication give you the very best chance of producing a beautiful and
abundant garden that brings forth fresh veggies for years to come.
The same is true when it comes to growing your business. By following a
specific sequence of steps, just like growing a garden, you can succeed.
Neither can be accomplished with a haphazard approach.
Discovering how other businesses are growing, thinking through your
marketing strategy, taking an organized approach, using the proper tools
to get the word out and focusing on achievement will help you reach your
business goals and set you on the right path towards accomplishing your
greatest success.
- PROSPECTING. For most services and products, it is imperative
to first generate qualified prospects. Only then do you work on converting
those prospects into first-time buyers, repeat customers, and finally,
life-time customers. If you’re trying to generate an immediate sale,
chances are, you’re going to be disappointed with the results. You will
make most of your sales by following up with your prospects repeatedly.
- WHAT IS A PROSPECT? A person is a prospect only if they:
a) have a genuine interest in the particular service or product
you provide
AND
b) have responded to one of your offers
AND
c) they have provided you with contact information (name, e-mail, etc.)
AND
d) they have the authority to buy your service/product and can afford it.
Everyone else is a stranger. Not a prospect.
- TARGET. You can’t try to market to everybody. When you do,
you’re marketing to nobody. Pick a niche market and focus on your main
audience. Target them in all of your marketing materials.
- OFFERS. To get people to respond to your marketing, develop an
enticing offer and get it in front of as many people in your target market
as you can. Perhaps, a free tips report, free e-zine, or free sample.
The best offers are generally the FREE offers.
- GETTING THE WORD OUT. There are a multitude of ways to get the
word out about your offer. You can try traditional marketing, such as
direct mail, press releases, networking, ads, etc. Or, you can use the
Internet, such as online networking, joining in discussion forums,
submitting to search engines, link exchanges, affiliate programs and so on.
Whatever you choose, schedule time each day to market your business.
Write it on your calendar. When it’s written down, it is more concrete,
and there is a better chance that you will do it.
- FOLLOW-UP. Once you begin to generate prospects, it is
imperative that you get their contact information (i.e., name, e-mail
address, and any other pertinent information) into an organized database.
Why all the work? Because follow-up is the key to successful marketing.
Once you have contact information, you can continue to make enticing
offers for your product and/or service (discounts, gift certificates,
2 for 1 deals, etc.)
- ONE SERVICE/PRODUCT. Choose ONE product or service to market
at a time, or you’re liable to confuse your prospects. You can have more
than one product listed on your website. However, when you contact your
prospects, it’s best to focus on one product at a time.
- GUARANTEE. Guarantee your products or services. Offer, at
minimum, a 100% Money-Back Guarantee. When it is clear that you stand
behind your services/products, you will have accomplished a trust-factor.
This is called risk-reversal.
- PROACTIVE. Don’t use the Passive Marketing technique. That’s
when you distribute general information, verbal and written, about your
company, and then just sit around waiting for the phone to ring, or for
your e-mail inbox to fill up with orders. In the real world, it doesn’t
work that way. You have to be proactive.
- TRACK. Track. Track. I can’t say this enough. Keeping accurate
numbers will help you make good marketing decisions. If you don’t know
what’s working, you’re going to waste a lot of time and money. However,
if you do know exactly what’s working for you, you’re practically
guaranteed to reach your goals.
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Copyright © 2000-2023 by Maria Gracia, All Rights Reserved.
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and International Copyright Laws, and may not be copied,
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distributed by any means without explicit written
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