Business Coach, Joan Nowak

#1 Rule To Get More Customers December 2, 2009

If you want to grow your small business, here is the #1 rule you need to follow. Never let a day go by without doing at least one marketing activity.

Unfortunately many small businesses only focus on marketing when time allows, which rarely happens, or when forced into it when leads and sales dry up. Like most things in business, success comes from consistency – doing a lot of small things each and every day.

I know many of you are thinking, “I barely have time to do what I do, how do I add marketing into each and every day”? Well here is the key – break down activities into small tasks that can easily be done in 15-30 minutes AND block the time on your calendar to do them.

So what can you do in just 15 minutes a day? You will be amazed at what you can accomplish when you stop viewing it as just 15 minutes. Here’s a few things to get you thinking:

• Write a few notes (or cards) to people you met at an event
• Call a customer (or two) to request a testimonial for your website
• Write a blog post (mine typically take 15-20 minutes)
• Make a ‘stay connected / how is it going’ call to a strategic partner
• Post an update on a social media site like Linked-In or Facebook
• Contact former customers – engage them – any new opportunities
• Ask or answer a question on a social media site
• Make a follow up call to prospects in your sales funnel
• Make a ‘survey’ call to customers or prospects – for feedback and ideas

So what about all those ‘bigger’ activities – like a direct mail campaign or a new tactic you want to implement? That’s where breaking them up into smaller pieces really pays off.

Here’s an example. Let’s say you want to start using (or get) Linked-In – but it will take a few hours to create a quality profile, download contacts, request connections, etc. So you wait until you have a few extra hours to tackle this – which rarely happens.

But, what if you broke the task into a series of smaller ones – first complete general information, next current business / position, then past positions, then, summary and specialties, etc – and worked on each of these for 20 minutes each day. In about a week, you would likely be done — and can remove it from the ‘to do’ list!

Remember, if you want to see consistent results – you need to take consistent action. So make marketing activities – big or small – something you do every day!

Find this helpful? Then share it with others. For additional resources and ideas to grow your small business, visit my website. While you are there, join my mailing list to receive my monthly eNewsletter and get a free copy of my eBook, Mastering the 7 Elements of Business Success.