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10 Tips for Growing Your Business the Organized Way
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Maria Gracia
ebscompanywi.rr.com
Give to Get Marketing
http://www.givetogetmarketing.com
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.
1. 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.
2. 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.
3. 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.
4. 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.
5. 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.
5. 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.)
7. 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.
8. 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.
9. 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.
10. TRACK
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 (c) 2002, Joe & Maria Gracia
Give to Get Marketing
http://www.givetogetmarketing.com
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