Click here to discover how 2 guys figured out how to market any business on the Internet while also putting 15K into their pockets in 90 Days!

It’s a rare small business owner who planned to be in the business he or she lands up in (and I include myself here ). I ended up in my business partly through a love of writing, and partly through necessity. Few of us actually sit down and create a small business marketing plan for the whole venture as a business from the beginning though.

A typical error appears to be they imagine if they’re good at doing the “thing”, then they can run a “thing” business, too.

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

In this piece we ‘ll explore what I’ve found in my long experience to be the 3 most important elements of any small business marketing.

Of course, I know: I can not share all I know about small business marketing in one article and three tips … but in true 80/20 style I can give you some suggestions which, if you embrace them, are going to make a tremendous difference in your business.

1. Endless follow up

The most effective business owners understand the secret to success in business is dogged follow-up.

Put otherwise, you’ll sell more if you tell more.

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 particularly noted for its long sales cycle, I routinely get first-time purchasers who have been on my list for (literally) years and have only then decided to buy.

2. Buy customers not make sales

The true value of a customer or client is in his or her lifetime value — the amount of money he or she pays you over the lifetime of your relationship.

Too many business owners do not understand this, and instead trip over themselves in the scramble to make each particular sale, without bearing in mind this long-term value.

It’s been my long experience that my business and my dealings with clients is more financially rewarding and more enjoyable if I am level with them and even go as far as talking them out of making certain purchases. It engenders trust, and once they trust you, they ‘ll effectively pay you whatsoever you ask, for as long as you show that trust is warranted.

3. The Bullseye

What’s the raison d’etre for your small business?

Any answer much different from “to make a profit” suggests to me you might need to think again about the whole business thing.

I’m not being unethical here, because even a non-profit business founded for the most humanitarian and noble of reasons must make a profit to stay in business. No matter how good the primary cause, there are still salaries to be handed over, commitments to be met and bills to be settled.

And this means you’ve got to be making sales. There’s no other way to do it.

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

What is does NOT mean, though, is fixating on each prospect or customer as if he or she was the only one you were ever going to get. That’s the quick way to the asylum, and you don’t make any additional sales while you’re on your way there, either.

Certainly you do need to make sales. But you must never be of the opinion that any one customer, client or sale is imperative. Always be ready to walk away, even when you think you can not afford to. The moment customers and clients know they have you over a barrel … you’re doomed.

Truly, it’s easier than you think to grow a successful and profitable small business, and if you implement what I’ve given you in this article, it’s going to be a whole lot easier for you.