This law impacts every single part of your business.

Everyone’s heard of a marketing message or a unique selling proposition. Those are what make your business unique and has it stand out among a crowd of look-alike services.

But an Ultimate Outcome goes beyond that. Let me demonstrate what this means to you in one simple example. You might say this is the difference between talking about your business in a general way and talking about it in an outcome-oriented way.

Two people have very similar businesses. They are Information Technology consultants. They have similar backgrounds, similar knowledge and similar skills. But how they talk about their businesses and how they’ve structured their services is very different.

One of the specialties that both work on are issues regarding disaster recovery. This is an important area for all companies, because if you lose your data, you lose your competitive advantage as a company.

IT Consultant #1
She talks about her disaster recovery services in these terms: “We work with companies who are concerned about retaining their business information. We work with our clients, to implement strategies that help to keep their data secure and available and then to retain the data for the long term. We use tools such as assessments, periodic testing strategies, data verification and management and supervisory data reviews.  

OK, that sounds pretty good. Sounds like she knows what she’s doing and has the understanding, skills and expertise to help her clients. I’d say her overall marketing is pretty clear. Now let’s look at how our next consultant helps with retention.

IT Consultant #2
He talks about his disaster recovery services in very different terms: Our average client company is losing between one and twenty million dollars each year due to data that is lost or stolen. These costs are mostly for recapturing data and securing systems and adds up to an average of $200K per executive. We provide a turnkey “Business Continuity” Program that is guaranteed to do the following: a) cut data loss by 37% or more in the first year and by 63% in the second year. Our “Intuitive Processing” Program guarantees a data retention rate of 87% over a three- year period. We save our average client $4.2 million in the first year.

Guess who’s going to get more business? (And who’s going to be able to charge a whole lot more for their services?)

IT Consultant #2 sells an Ultimate Outcome, not a service. In fact all of his services have Ultimate Outcomes. They are relevant and measurable. They grab immediate attention. The solve a pressing problem and offer a turnkey solution. There is no process in an Ultimate Outcome, it’s all about results.

Now, I know your objection to all of this. You have no idea how you could possibly structure your business to offer an Ultimate Outcome like this. How is it possible? After all, you don’t have those figures and results to point to, for a start.

Sadly, most business owners have gone with th idea that this is my process path for so long that they don’t even think about what the client gets. They only know what they do. They have not tried to produce bottom-line results for clients, but have settled with implementing various processes to the best of their ability. 

Would you accept such an approach from your doctor?

Doctor #1
“Well, we work with sick people and we do all kinds of operations. You have some kind of cancer, but we arenot sure what. It’s hard to tell what the outcome will be but we’re really good with our surgical instruments and will give it our best shot. I don’t know what your budget is, but we’ll try to make it as affordable as possible.”

Doctor #2
“We are cancer experts. You need to have an operation immediately to remove that tumor. In cases like yours, we have a 79% success rate, so the prognosis is good. We’ve done dozens of these operations before and we are confident this one won’t present us with any major complications. The fee for the operation is $20,000.”

Let me see, I think I’ll take Doctor #2, thank you very much!

Therefore the answer to, I don’t know how to do this is, Learn and make it the primary focus of your business. If you don’t learn how to deliver Ultimate Outcomes to your clients, you will never reach the level of professionalism that is possible.

Here’s the basic process you need to follow: 
Determine the biggest, most pressing problems of your clients.
What’s a major concern that’s costing them dearly?

Can you offer a turnkey solution to that problem? Do you have the knowledge and skills to offer an Ultimate Outcome?

Develop a program to deliver that Ultimate Outcome. Don’t think of what the client can afford but how your Ultimate Outcome will pay for itself many times over.

Create compelling marketing materials and strategies that communicate the value (not so much the process) of your Ultimate Outcome. Make sure to create a case study for each client success story.

Develop a “selling conversation process” that engages a prospect, determines the cost of their problem and then presents your program as the desired Ultimate Outcome.

Deliver your program with every ounce of professional skill that you possess. Don’t cut corners. You’re there to produce an Ultimate Outcome for a client, not to “render a service.”

I wish you the best in creating programs that deliver powerful Ultimate Outcomes. Your success depends on it!

The Bottom Line: If you are not marketing and selling an Ultimate Outcome, you are missing huge opportunities to not only expand your business, but to make the lasting impact with your clients that you’ve always wanted.

We live in a society where the choices seem to be unlimited. But when it comes to persuasion and having your prospects make a choice, it’s often a better strategy to offer a limited choice.

Ever browse the supermarket aisle in search of a new product?

When confronted with the choices, it can be daunting: Small, medium and large; no fat, low fat and regular fat; low sodium, regular sodium; flavored, unflavored… the list goes on.

The fact is, that when faced with an abundance of choices, we are actually less likely to make any choice at all. We get stuck in “paralysis by analysis.” This is why it’s so much easier to shop after we have chosen the brands and products we like; then we just pick those same ones every time without thinking.
If we can make the choices simpler for our prospects and clients, we’ll usually get a better overall response to our marketing. Let’s look at a place where we are asking our prospects to choose – on our web sites.  

How to Limit the Choices on a Web Site
If you look at your web site through the law of limited choice, you’ll start to notice how a visitor confronts choice when browsing your site. This is especially true for someone coming to your site for the first time when they are not familiar with it.

Remember, you don’t just want someone to visit your site and then leave. You want them to DO something. Ideally you want them to make the choice and take the action of giving you their name and email address. Nothing is more important, as it is the follow-up emails that build relationships and make sales, not the initial visit.

 The limited choice you want to give is, “Visit this page to get a free article or report and in the process, sign up for my eNewsletter.”

That should be the very first link a visitor encounters on your site.

 How many links do you have on your home page? It’s not unusual to have half a dozen or more. And just like making a choice in the supermarket, your visitor becomes intimidated. “Where should I go first? I don’t want to waste my time or make a mistake.” The feelings of frustration and confusion grow.

 And then your visitor clicks off your site, thinking, “Maybe I’ll come back later when I have more time.” But they rarely do. So by offering too many choices of where to go, you’ve lost a potential client – perhaps forever.

 If you narrow your choices down to one or two, the first one being to get some valuable free information, a much larger percentage of visitors will click on that link. Then when they get to your “Free Information” page, what do they see?

It’s not unusual that they’ll encounter a long list, from articles and reports to audio recordings and videos. Again, it’s confusing.

There’s too much choice, and overwhelmed feeling is triggered. “What should I get first? I don’t have that much time!”

 On your “Free Information” page you need to narrow the choices down just like you did on your home page. Offer one (or at the most two) valuable things that they can get right now in exchange for their name and email address.

 This is the “most wanted response” on your web site. To expect someone to buy something on a first visit is simply unrealistic (not to say that it never happens). But by giving them one simple choice for some valuable free information, a relatively high percentage of visitors will respond to your offer.

 Examine the Choices You Offer
Where else do you give too many choices to your prospects? Where could you narrow down the choices? Here are a few that I have seen used.

 1. Speaking Engagements – Giving several topics for talks when you approach an organization. Just give one. It makes the job easier for the program director. Also go into more depth about the topic and it will be much more persuasive than a list of several topics with brief descriptions.

2. Choice of Services – It’s not unusual for businesses to list half a dozen or more services on their web sites – each with a brief outline about each service. As with the list of speaking topics, make the list shorter and go into much more depth about each of the services.

 3. Options for Meetings – When we encounter a prospect who shows interest in our services, we are sometimes to eager to say we are open anytime in the hope of making an appointment. This not only smacks of desperation, if makes the choice hard for the prospect. Instead, offer just two available times. It makes the choice much easier.

Take a look at your marketing and where you are asking your prospects or clients to make a choice. Are you making it too complex, confusing, or difficult with too many options? How could you make it simpler and easier with fewer choices?  Think, “Simplicity of choices equals better persuasion.”

 The Bottom Line: Carefully think through the choices you offer to your prospects. Give them one to three choices, not five, six, or more. Make it simple for them to choose and they will actually take action instead of delaying action or never acting.

Here are some instant ways for you to bring in more customers and grow your business.

The following are 30 questions that will immediately pinpoint where your business is doing well  and where you can take action that will produce rapid results.

These are the questions that may help your business, if you are willing to spend a few minutes giving them serious thought – the results can be quite profound.

You should be aware that each question you answer ‘no’ to probably means that you are losing out on untapped profits. But the purpose of this process is not to have you feel bad – it’s to motivate you to make marketing a top priority. Have fun!

1 Can you and your team name three things that set you apart from the competition?

2 Do you communicate the benefits of your product or service in all of your promotional literature,
websites, letters etc?

3 Have you tested Telemarketing to attract new customers? Did you accurately measure the results?

4 Have you tested Direct Mail to attract new customers? Did you accurately measure the results?

5 Have you tested PR to attract new customers? Did you accurately measure the results?

6 Are your ads powerful direct response ads that compel the reader to contact you – or are they
mundane like all the competition?

7 Do you advertise in certain publications just because your competitors do?

8 When you speak to a potential new customer, do you use words that set you apart from the rest and
immediately capture the customer’s attention?

9 Have you tested pay per click search engine advertising?

10 Have you tested Internet Advertising?

11 Do you send regular email communications to your customers and prospective customers?

12 How much time each year do your key team members spend learning leading edge sales skills?

13 Do you have an excellent lead generation process in place?

14 Do you set up an ongoing communication with qualified leads consisting of phone calls, letters,
and emails?

15 Do you obtain and use testimonials from your best customers?

16 Do you have excellent referrals systems in place?

17 Did you know there are more than 90 ways of obtaining referrals?

18 Do you offer something of value to your website visitors in exchange for their contact details?

19 Do you know how to write a press release to instantly grab the attention of the person reading it?

20 Do you personalize your email newsletters?

21 Do you know the most important piece of marketing information there is – your clients’
birthdays!

22 Does your team understand that the best way to sell is to ask questions?

23 Do you rent or purchase mailing lists of your target customers?

24 Do you take amazing care of your current customers?

25 Do you know why it’s important to include a ‘PS’ in all of your sales letters?

26 Do you communicate by mail, email and telephone on a frequent basis to your current customers
to ensure they know what you have to offer?

27 Do you use just one or two ways of marketing to promote your business? Do you know why you
should be using between six and ten?

28 If you used ten ways to market your business have you any idea how successful you would be?

29 Did you know that if you follow up a mailing with a phone call you can increase response rates
by 100 – 1000%

30 Do you realize that your competitors probably answered ‘no’ to even more questions than you
did!

Now here’s a Free Tip. Pick just three of the above that are important to you and take some action today to improve those areas. Print this out and come back to the checklist in the weeks and months ahead. You can use it as a very good way of measuring your progress as you implement the marketing strategies that are going to make a difference.

You think this is FUNNY?

Do you work from home? Here are some tips that will make your days more productive.

1)      Start Each Day with a Plan
I know early in the morning what I will be working on that day. A lot of people start by checking their email and then do whatever comes to their minds next. You should spend at least 10 minutes every day to answer yourself this question, “What is the ONE thing I need to get done today that will put me closer to my goal?” That’s your top priority; work on it first.

2)      Have a Functional Workspace
* You need your own room. You can’t work in the kitchen with the kids running around.
* Have all the elements you need at hand. You shouldn’t have to stand up to pick up a notepad or go to the other room to print a document.
* You should work in a pleasant environment. Make sure it is noise-free, the temperature is adequate, your items are organized and you have a glass of water next to you.

3)      Create a Schedule and Adhere to It
This is extremely hard to do; especially if you own the business. But, mastering this skill will make you and your family happier. Decide what your work hours will be and stick to your schedule. You can carry a notebook and if you get an idea outside business hours, you can write it down and do it the next day.

4)      Learn to Say No
If your spouse wants you to pick up the kids from soccer because “you are home”, remind him or her that you are working, not “relaxing at home”. Learn to say no.

5)      Set Small Goals and Don’t Take Breaks Until You Accomplish Them
I like working in chunks of one hour each. If I need to email 100 people and each email takes me five minutes, then I know that I can email 12 people per hour, so I make that my goal and I don’t do anything else until I’m done. I don’t check my email, answer the phone or cook myself lunch. When I’m done, I take a break and do whatever else I need to do. If an idea comes to my mind while I’m working on the 12 emails, I write it down for later and continue working on the emails.

6)      Take Care of Yourself
Even though you work from home doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t shave, shower, exercise, or eat well. Looking good makes you feel good and when you feel good you are more successful.

7)      Analyze Each Day
This exercise will only take you five minutes and it’ll make you much more effective. Whenever you feel you haven’t had a very productive day, write down everything you’ve done that day. Figure out what the biggest time drainers were and how you can stop them from happening again. Don’t be too hard on yourself; working from home isn’t easy. Just learn from your mistakes and move on.

Do you know what your Value Proposition is exactly? You must know it and be able to deliver it each and every day to add VALUE for our clients and customers.

So, what IS your Value Proposition? Many will say something like “Excellent Customer Service”, or “Exceptional Products and Service”. Others will suggest it has something to do with their reputation or their long standing history of excellent performance. I believe it must be stated in terms of a FEELING that they get when they do business with you.

That’s right – it is a FEELING! Have you ever defined your value proposition in terms of a feeling? Think about it. When a customer uses your product or service, how does that make them FEEL? Do they get a sense of confidence? Do they feel refreshed? Does working with you give them a sense of hope and accomplishment? Maybe when they visit your business they are overwhelmed by a sense of calm relaxation. What is it that you want them to FEEL?

This is not a “touchy feely” exercise or activity. This is a critically important assessment of what you are trying to accomplish in your business. We need to realize that most of us do not have a name brand where the satisfaction guarantee is almost certain because of our reputation and brand. Most of us also do not have a product that is so well known, like a Dell or HP computer where our customers don’t need to worry about the quality of what they are buying because our previous products speak for themselves.

Most of us are in a business where it is neither the Brand nor the Product that is the real reason people buy from us. They are buying from us because of the FEELING they get when they do business with us. What is that FEELING that keeps them coming back? That feeling that keeps them from going to the competitor?

If you are scratching your head, then here is a simple exercise for you, ask some of your current customers! That’s right. Ask your customers why they buy from you and not from your competitors. It is unbelievable as to how many business owners don’t take the time to ask their current customers. Maybe it is because they are afraid of the answer. Maybe they are worried that their customer may just say “Gee, I don’t really know why I keep buying from you, maybe I should try someone else!”

Ask them! Ask several of them. Get them to tell you why in terms of a FEELING they get. Then, when you get several who share a similar feeling with you, you will know exactly why they like doing business with you. Think about it, how can you ever know how to replicate what matters if you don’t know what matters? Your customers will tell you what your Value Proposition is or what it should be!

So, a Value Proposition is a difficult stage. It is not an off the wall thought or conclusion. This must be thought about deeply and then researched with some current customers. But once you have your Value Proposition you will be in a position to pick up the pace as you head into the next stages. Hopefully your Value Proposition excites your business and causes enthusiasm to move forward.

My business is basically a sales business, and it requires a lot of cold calling. I do it well, but I do get tired of hearing “no.” Do you have any tricks for turning a “no” into “yes”?

Of course I do. No one likes hearing “no”, but I would venture to say we entrepreneurs hear that word more than almost anyone else, if you are doing your job right. Your job is to continue to take risks and throw out proposals, plans, and products. Eventually, one is going to stick and you will get the next gig or sale, but in the meantime, you will be hearing plenty of  “no’s.”

But does it get easier? Probably not. Here though are a few tips for dealing with the dreaded “no,” and remember, “no” also means that the next “yes” is coming down the pike.

Learn from it: A no may mean many things, and the first thing to figure out is whether it comes from them or because of you:

  It may be that what you have to sell is not what they need to buy. No problem there. Or that they don’t have the budget for you right now. Or that the timing is wrong. There are any number of reasons that a prospect may say no that has nothing to do with you. Don’t sweat it and move on.

   Now, it may be that, to quote George Costanza, “It’s not you, it’s me.” If the reason you hear no too often is because you are doing something wrong, then you better figure it out pretty quickly. Is it your presentation? Your prices? Your manner? Whatever the reason, if you can discover a consistent theme, then you can begin to make corrections.

  How do you do that? Be bold, grasshopper, be bold. You have to ask your declining prospects why they said no. They may be honest and they may not, but unless you ask, you will have no idea.

   I do this and it has helped my business a lot. When I am up for a speech and don’t get it, I will often ask the event planner why. I have found that email is a great way to do this as it is a tad less personal than a phone call and thus people feel freer to be more honest. I then use the feedback to tailor my approach better the next time.

Turn it around: Sales can be described as the art of overcoming people’s obstacles. Zig Zigler says there are five basic obstacles to any sale No need, no money, no hurry no desire and no trust. Overcome those, and no becomes a yes.

Of course there are countless ways to do that, but here is a new one I recently discovered. I saw Jack Canfield speak recently (Chicken Soup for the Soul, etc.) He has a principle called “10.” He asks prospects (among others) “Was my proposal a 10? If not, what would it take to make it a 10 for you?

If you hear a no, remember Zig Zigler’s wisdom, zero-in on the most likely obstacle, and use a variation of Canfield’s strategy. “I am committed to getting you what you want, what would be a 10 for you?” Maybe you can do it, maybe not, but at least you will still be in the running.

Use it to your advantage: A no can perform several useful psychological functions, take your pick:

   It can fire you up: The greats, at anything, were often told they could not do something. Let your no fuel your fire.

   It can point you in a new direction: A no is feedback. Use it as such.

   Or it can reinforce that you are on the right: A no is just one person’s opinion. You give it the weight you want.

And finally, sometimes a no is just a no. No big deal. As a wise man once told me, “smile and dial, smile and dial.”

Steven J. Beaman is the founder & principal owner of BCSG, LLC, a licensed professional business advisor/coaching organization whose primary focus is independent professionals and small businesses. Steven helps businesses to determine the constraints that are causing them to become stagnant or unproductive. He also assists start-up businesses to determine the roadblocks or obstacles that they may not have perceived. He also guides organizations through the start-up process, rapid business growth, or a turnaround situation. He does this using his wealth of management experience gathered during his over 35 year career of managing a variety of business functions in both small and medium businesses. He has expertise in numerous types of businesses (for profit and non-profit).

Perhaps one of the seemingly best ways to get new leads is to purchase them. However, I’d like you to take a second look at your skills and your neighborhood.

Here are some ways to get new leads without investing a fortune:

1. Contact the business or entrepreneur’s group in your community. Join in and participate in their activities and, as always, leave a brochure of your business.
2. Participate in small fairs and community events. You’ll never know who’s relative comes to visit. This also helps keep you visible in the community and builds a reputation for you and your business.
3. Offer to teach or talk at your local community college on entrepreneurship. Contact also any local interest groups and offer a one-day coaching session on starting a business.
4. Invest in low-cost advertisements in local newspapers and online ezines. You’ll be surprised that there are people who will take up on the offers posted in these publications.
5. Share your expertise online. Write articles and publish them on content sites such as e-How.com and ezinearticles.com.
6. Participate in online forums and public bulletin boards. Take the time to ask and answer questions to establish yourself as an expert.
7. If you haven’t done so, create a blog or website and promote it via click-per-view services.
8. Create and publish professional looking e-zines and email updates. Send them out to your mailing list and those who seem interested through the contacts from your forums.
9. Open up an account for your business on Twitter, Facebook and other social networking sites.
10. Start a networking site with your downline on ning.com or squidoo.com.

If this seems like so much work, remember that building your network is at the heart of multilevel marketing. The key is to get leads that are of good quality but won’t cost too much of your resources.

Steven J. Beaman is the founder & principal owner of BCSG, LLC, a general business consultancy and coaching organization whose primary focus is independent professionals and small businesses. Steven helps businesses to determine the constraints that are causing them to become stagnant or unproductive. He also assists start-up businesses to determine the roadblocks or obstacles that they may not have perceived. He also guides organizations through the start-up process, rapid business growth, or a turnaround situation. He does this using his wealth of management experience gathered during his over 35 year career of managing a variety of business functions in both small and medium businesses. He has expertise in numerous types of businesses (for profit and non-profit).

A major business enterprise spends a fortune on advertising and outbound marketing. How much of that budget would they have to allocate/invest in order to turn their customer service into a discussion-worthy best in the world?

As well as addressing the aforementioned issues,  think about improvements like:

• Staying open 24 hours a day. Routing calls to a different time zone shouldn’t be a problem, especially for a global company.
• Implementing dead-end safeguards. If a customer has been on hold for a certain period of time, escalate the call’s priority to a more senior person who can take action.

The Point: You don’t have to be a multinational corporation—or even facing these specific issues—to learn a lesson from these thoughts. Simply put, a huge marketing budget might all be for naught if it doesn’t come with a great customer service experience.

Steven J. Beaman is the founder & principal owner of BCSG, LLC, a general business consultancy and coaching organization whose primary focus is independent professionals and small businesses. Steven helps businesses to determine the constraints that are causing them to become stagnant or unproductive. He also assists start-up businesses to determine the roadblocks or obstacles that they may not have perceived. He also guides organizations through the start-up process, rapid business growth, or a turnaround situation. He does this using his wealth of management experience gathered during his over 35 year career of managing a variety of business functions in both small and medium businesses. He has expertise in numerous types of businesses (for profit and non-profit).

Small is beautiful.
Slow and steady wins the race.
Inch by inch, row by row, that’s the way my garden grows.

While such homespun wisdom might be fine for the common folk, it can be awfully frustrating for an ambitious small business owner determined to take the business to the next level of growth and profitability. Sure, a thriving one or two person service business with no inventory, rent, or employees can seem like an easy way to make money at first, but when the phone starts ringing off the hook and customers keep coming back for more, business owners who fail to plan often fall victim to their own success. Either they burn out trying to juggle everything themselves or they spend so much time and money hiring people to help them that their profits decrease considerably.

Fortunately, there are some ways to take your business to new heights without sacrificing your profitability or losing your peace of mind.

Follow these 10 steps to grow your business into the personal and professional success it was meant to be:

Focus on a single product or service
Focus on a single product or service, and then market it, sell it, promote it do everything you can to increase sales of that one product or service. While it is tempting to swing for the fences and try to be all things to all people, it is often less risky and more profitable to pick a product or two that you can execute really well and just try to get on base.

A landscaper started a dog waste removal business called Dr. Pooper Scooper when he got tired of picking up the dog poop from his customers’ lawns. Instead of splurging on a retail storefront or an expensive Yellow Pages ad, Roy decided to use his truck as his primary advertising vehicle. He decorated the truck as a Dalmatian, used full signage, and put magnetic business cards on it. By using the truck as my moving billboard, by joining community groups, and through word of mouth, he turned what was once a nightmare into a thriving business serving 100 customers and making 1,100 pickups a week. He did it 12 months a year and never had to fix or replace equipment. It is also three times easier than landscaping, and he can do it until he can’t walk anymore.

Expand your product line
Expand your product line to offer complementary products or services. Once you have hit on a product or service that customers really like, don’t miss the opportunity to bring out related items to diversify your product line. Not only does that give your customers a wider selection, but it also makes your products more appealing to retailers who typically like to stock a line of products as opposed to a single item.

Find ways to increase sales to existing customers
Find ways to increase sales to your existing customers. It is much cheaper than finding new ones. Even if you can’t expand your product line, you can boost revenues by selling more of your existing product or services to the clients you already have. One easy way to do this is through volume discounts. Especially if your products cost little to produce, offering your customers the chance to buy, say, two T-shirts for the price of one lets you ring up additional sales without sacrificing much profit. Another common practice is to reward loyal customers by giving them a punch card that entitles them to a free product or service for every 10 items they buy. This technique is common at hair salons, car washes, and arts and crafts stores, but other businesses can use it, too.

Hire someone to help you out
Hire someone to help you out, an employee, a freelancer, an intern, an independent contractor, even your kids. Not only does this free up cash flow by adjusting your expenses to the level of work you bring in, but it also enables you to cultivate a large network of talented people you probably couldn’t afford to hire full time.
A neighborhood directory publisher, may employ 50 to 75 writers, all of whom are freelancers to develop the directory’s content. This way, the publisher saves on payroll taxes, medical benefits, employer liability insurance and all the other costs of hiring full time employees. There are other benefits, too. Bringing in outside help gives you someone else to bounce ideas and strategies off of and it prevents you from feeling you are going it alone.

Create a Web site to advertise your company
Create a Web site to advertise your company or sell products online. Thanks to the Internet, it is no longer necessary to open a store to reach retail customers. For marketers of specialty products like rare books, collectibles and gourmet foods, a Web based boutique lets you reach millions of shoppers around the world without paying for rent, utilities, or garbage collection. And while creating Web sites once required a big investment and the skills of an experienced Web designer or programmer, do it yourself Web sites are now available for less than $30 a month with no technical knowledge required. Typically, the companies that help you register your domain name (Web address) will provide online templates you can use to build your site, host your Web pages on their server, and provide you with multiple e-mail addresses as well. E-commerce capabilities can often be acquired for an additional charge. You can also set up low cost Web sites through Web hosting companies and search engines.

Join forces with another business
Join forces with another business to promote your company. Partnering with a company in a related industry is one of the cheapest and easiest forms of marketing that you can employ. If you make spa products, for example, you may be able to convince a local health club to carry them in their store by offering a discount to the members. Likewise, you can send a free, one day health club pass to anybody who buys your lotions and scrubs.

Target other markets
Target other markets. If you sell to teens, start marketing to college students. If you sell to working moms, maybe your product will work for stay at home moms with a few modifications. Another strategy is to take a retail oriented product or service and sell it wholesale. For example, a catering business that specializes in cakes, pies, and other tasty desserts can contact local bakeries to sell its goods on a wholesale basis. While the price you get from the bakeries will be lower (because the bakeries need to mark it up to their customers to make a profit), you will sell more products and generate consistent cash flow that you can bank on.

Find new ways to market your business
Find new and different ways to market your business through e-mail newsletters or by doing guest speaking or by teaching a class. Marketing your business doesn’t need to involve spending big money on newspaper ads, Yellow Pages listings, or TV or radio ads. Grassroots marketing techniques cost far less and are often much more effective. Most chambers of commerce and community groups are more than happy to provide a forum to a local business owner who is willing to share his expertise at no charge. Sending out a weekly newsletter is also a great way to get your name out in front of new and potential clients. Thanks to the Internet, you can send out your newsletter via e-mail using online templates and automated delivery systems.

Expand to another location
Expand to another location. That could mean renting “virtual” office space in a business center or by sharing office space with another growing business. A CPA could spend most of his time at home preparing tax returns, developing tax-planning strategies, and revising his clients’ QuickBooks files. When he needs to go to the city for a meeting, he could rent space at a business center that offers temporary office space. For a monthly fee or a la cart, business centers can offer everything from conference rooms and receptionist services to remote access voicemail, high-speed Internet connectivity, and technical support, offering business owners as much or as little outside office services as they need. While still running the business from home, this allows him to pursue new opportunities and network with other professionals.

Turn your business into a franchise
Think about turning your business into a franchise or business opportunity. While most businesses remain small, yours may have the potential to expand through franchising, licensing, or wholesale distribution. The key question to ask yourself is if your business can be converted into a business format that somebody else could operate (a franchise) or if you have a standardized product or service that someone could resell multiple times (a business opportunity). While you may think that expanding your business requires raising capital, hiring employees, buying equipment, and leasing office or warehouse space, it is often more profitable and less risky to license your product to a big corporation with manufacturing capabilities and an existing sales force to do the work for you.

Steven J. Beaman is the founder & principal owner of BCSG, LLC, a general business consultancy and coaching organization whose primary focus is independent professionals and small businesses. Steven helps businesses to determine the constraints that are causing them to become stagnant or unproductive. He also assists start-up businesses to determine the roadblocks or obstacles that they may not have perceived. He also guides organizations through the start-up process, rapid business growth, or a turnaround situation. He does this using his wealth of management experience gathered during his over 35 year career of managing a variety of business functions in both small and medium businesses. He has expertise in numerous types of businesses (for profit and non-profit).

1. Business Cards
Whether you love them, hate them or are simply indifferent, you can’t discount how much business those little 3.5 x 2 inch cards can bring you. But are you aware of all the many things you can do with them? The standard image that comes to mind is passing them out at a networking event while chatting with interested prospects, but don’t stop there! You can include them in correspondence (this includes statements, invoices, thank you cards, etc), leave them at your favorite café/restaurant, have friends/vendors pass them out for you, leave them with tip/payments, throw a party and tie them to helium balloons all around the room, get magnet versions and pass those out, throw a bizcard party, and so much more. Be creative!

2. Postcards
Some people would prefer you to believe that with the internet as the “new” rage — printed media and direct mail are dead. Never! With more and more companies turning to the world wide web, print is even better than ever due to the market becoming less saturated as companies try to save costs by choosing to advertise online. Now, you don’t want you to market en masse. You need to be selective. Break out your contact list and send postcards that are tailored to keeping your current clients, prospects and suppliers interested in you (preferably contacts that you’ve spoken with in the last 6 – 12 months). This will surely get you some business you didn’t know you could get.

3. Newsletter / eNews
Marketing to your current clients is the easiest way to get additional business. You’ve already earned their trust. They like you. They’ve already given you money and they are very likely to do it again. A good way to remind them that they need you and that you are available is to send them a great newsletter filled with your latest work, achievements, promotions and some tips/tricks/faqs/news that your clients would like enough to read your newsletter, because it can’t ALL be about you.

4. Link Share
If you read a lot of blogs, you probably have some favorites that are just fantastic and gain a lot of readership, why not see if you can share some traffic with them? Write some articles and ask the blog owner(s), if they are interested in cross-promoting. Some bloggers LOVE to share the wealth of readers, some want it all to themselves. It doesn’t hurt to ask. The worst that can happen is that they either ignore you or say no. Either way, their loss!

5. Themed Promotionals
Do you have a theme to your business? Can you find a way to exploit and promote it? Let’s say you are an architect and you want to drive traffic to your website: you could hire a web developer to build an interactive game that allowed prospects to create their dream home (obviously a rough version) and then be invited to meet with you to see it through. How about if you are a business coach who wants to promote their workshops: you could create a small booklet styled brochure of the top reasons why someone needs a coach that includes a free 30 minute session to test out your services or maybe include some sort of tool that most people need to get through their day ($10 Starbucks card, a nice ballpoint pen, $10 gas card, etc). You will be remembered and TALKED ABOUT for sure!

Steven J. Beaman is the founder & principal owner of BCSG, LLC, a general business consultancy and coaching organization whose primary focus is independent professionals and small businesses. Steven helps businesses to determine the constraints that are causing them to become stagnant or unproductive. He also assists start-up businesses to determine the roadblocks or obstacles that they may not have perceived. He also guides organizations through the start-up process, rapid business growth, or a turnaround situation. He does this using his wealth of management experience gathered during his over 35 year career of managing a variety of business functions in both small and medium businesses. He has expertise in numerous types of businesses (for profit and non-profit).