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Mark Stevens, Author of one of my favourite marketing books Your Marketing Sucks says:

“Marketing is not about spending money on things such as advertising, direct mail, and PR. Those are just tools. Marketing is about growing your business – its revenue, its profit and valuation.”

If you think of your marketing in terms of which ‘tools’ you spend your money on then think again. Marketing for most businesses is now about generating good quality leads or prospects that become wonderful clients.

The good news is many of the most effective marketing tools are virtually free and often go under the radar. They may not give you a nice warm feeling or put your name up in lights but they can be directly linked to sales, can save you money, and done well, will lead to great customers. They do however take some effort and commitment, and because of this you can safely assume most of your compeitors won’t bother!

The hottest tip first - How to spend less on marketing!

Most marketers won’t tell you this but often when you stop some of your marketing you will see no difference! Just the money you will save. The trick is to know what to stop, what to continue with and what new things to do. If you stop altogether then you are likely to get into trouble so choose carefully.

Start by reviewing how much you spend on marketing and the results you are getting.

Measure where your leads are coming from by listing all the marketing you are doing (free and at a cost) and track which ones are generating you the best leads. This is not necessarily the most leads – but those that turn to sales easiest and are great customers to have. After a period of time you should have a clear indication of what is working and what is not. Stop all those that are not working.Of course you could always phone your customers and ask them where and how they heard about you. . You can do this in conjunction with the next point too….

An easiest place to start for more sales. – for free.

This one will cost you nothing. Start with a blank piece of paper or a screen. Make a list of all the people your business knows. This could be friends, family, customers, suppliers, prospects etc of your self and your staff. (If you have a database already then this job is so much easier!)

Go through your list and highlight those ones that are a good fit with your business and who you would like as customers;

• people who have bought from you in the past and should buy from you again.
• people who have talked about buying from you and just never have got around to it!
• people who said they knew others who would be interested in what you sell.
• people who you know but you have never offered your services to.

Note that you need to list the people, not the companies. All sales are done between people and even if you sell to very large corporates it still comes back to the relationships and trust you can build with the key people. Also remember that the single best way to grow any business is by making it easier for your current customers to buy from you again. These people know you. Know your services, and hopefully value you and what you do. They will decide quicker.