7 Strategies to Boost Your Business

1. Learn all you can about marketing

Marketing is absolutely crucial to the success of your business and you avoid it at your peril! New business owners can think that marketing is quite a complicated process. However, it's not rocket science and the basics can easily be learned. It can be very helpful to reframe selling as simply building relationships and having conversations. We can do this by talking to prospects and finding out more about them and what they want before we pitch in with what we can do for them.

Learn as much as you can about marketing. For the small service business there are certain things that you can do that are low cost or even no-cost. So don't be afraid of it - learn the steps that work for your size and type of business and go for it!

2. Market the results of your service - not the processes

Beware of having a website or brochure that is too process driven. Market the results and benefits of your service or product - not the features and processes. Coaches especially can fall into this trap. We tell people all about what coaching is and how it happens. It's much more effective to actually state what changes people can expect from working with you.

Using case studies and testimonials will really help you here - then it's not just you saying "this is what you'll get out of working with me " - you'll have other people saying it for you which is so much more powerful. Get into the habit of asking your new clients for testimonials and referrals.

3. Have a follow up system

We all go to networking events and gather handfuls of business cards and we may even get as far as putting them into Outlook or some other contact system, but what do we do after that? I think it's vital to have some form of "keep in touch" marketing such as a newsletter or blog.

I really cannot overestimate the importance of follow up. By keeping in touch regularly, it means that when someone is ready to buy, your name and business is at the front of their mind because they have heard from you recently.

4. Have a written business plan

A lot of small business owners tend to be a bit reactive when it comes to marketing their business and also a bit haphazard about which thing they should do next. Life's events and distractions can take over and if we haven't got a written plan we can lose sight of our goals.

A Business Plan isn't just something you do to get a bank loan. Think of it as the map and the plan for you to grow your business. Where do you want to be in six months; in a year; in 5 years? Arguably, the most important part of your Business Plan is the Marketing Plan. Make your Business Plan a living document and update it at least quarterly, or even better, every month. Let it help you stay on track and use it to capture new ideas.

5. Be the perceived expert

It can take quite some time to build your reputation, but if you write, speak and network, then people will start to associate you with your niche.

If you hate to do public speaking, you can still build up expert status by doing a lot of writing. You can do this by writing articles for publication, having your own newsletter and by starting a blog.

There are lots of groups out there looking for guest speakers. You may not get paid but think of it as fantastic free publicity. After all - the person at the front of the room giving the talk is a lot more memorable than one of 20 business cards you picked up!

6. Have a strong clearly defined niche

Of course, in order to be perceived as an expert, you need to have a clearly defined niche. This is so important, yet many people try to be far too general in what they offer. One of the best ways to stand out in a crowded market is to be very specific about what you do and who you do it for.

Some of the key benefits to having a niche are:

• It radically simplifies your marketing

• It makes it so much easier to say what you do and who you work with

• It builds your reputation as an expert

• It also builds your confidence

• People can refer potential clients more easily because they understand what you do

• You develop a "Personal Brand"

• People prefer to work with a specialist and expert

• You can more easily identify your target market and where they congregate

And - you get to work with your ideal clients.

7. Pick a few simple marketing tasks and do them consistently

C J Hayden the best-selling author of "Get Clients Now!" calls this "The Persistence Effect" and I have seen it work time and again in my own business and in my clients' businesses.Try picking as few as five marketing tasks to concentrate on for a couple of weeks and see what happens. For instance, decide to write three articles, attend three networking events, follow up with ten people, start your newsletter or blog or arrange two speaking events. Pick your own ideas, but make it a short list.

Many people tend to try "a bit of this and a bit of that" and they often give up too soon when a bit more persistence would have paid off. A few tasks done regularly over time will work much better than occasional bursts of activity and expense.

(c) Shona Partridge 2008