Let's make things happen!

The sun is shining, spring is in the air (just about!) and it’s a great time to work on growing your business.  I have said this before but I’ll say it again…from January to June is the best time to make significant progress in moving your business forward as key business decisions tail off from […]

An unpaid sales force? I want one of those!

A common challenge that very small businesses face is how to grow when the owner is the “chief cook & bottle washer” (for my non-English followers this is when you are the only person in the business so you have to do everything).  As you’ve heard me say so many times now, the only way […]

Are you a well-kept secret?

As you can imagine I talk to a lot a business owners who are looking to grow their businesses. I ask them about the type of marketing they do to generate increased sales and most list two or three marketing channels, most commonly word of mouth/referrals, website and possibly networking too.  Individually each of these […]

Making Your Time Work Better for You!

The biggest challenge that my clients consistently say deflects them from growing their businesses is lack of time.  I’m guessing we can all resonate with that.  There are so many things that seem to fill our working days which are all legitimate business requirements such as returning phone calls, doing emails, writing quotes, going to […]

Testimonials that do the Selling for You!

There is little more compelling than having an existing client tell a prospective client about how good your products/services are.  This is why referrals are a great way to grow your business.  The classic challenge with referrals is their passive nature because the rate at which they occur predominantly sits outside of your control (there […]

How to remove your competition

People’s attitude to other businesses that are in competition to their own is variable.  Some adopt the “head in the sand” approach and just ignore competitive businesses, while at the other extreme, some business owners get very concerned about their competition.  The right way to view your competition will depend on the type of business […]

How do I attract the clients I want?

The key to successfully marketing your services or products is to dangle the value they provide like the proverbial carrot on a stick.  I see soooo many businesses fall into the same trap of talking features in their marketing material.  Features are needed to a certain extent but generally speaking features don’t sell the service […]

Who are my ideal clients?

The best way to grow your business is to increase the number of ideal clients that you work with (or sell your products to).  I’ve heard stories in the past of business owners asking marketing specialists how to work out who their ideal clients are and getting the reply of “well that’s the $64m question […]

Be brave – You have the power!

I meet numerous business owners who are worried about marketing their business.  It’s rare that this is because they aren’t sure how to do it, but usually because they are concerned about their ability to deal with the increased demand for their services/products. This usually results in them deciding not to take any action, and […]

Step Out of Your Comfort Zone

The best way to grow your business generally involves pushing yourself out of your comfort zone. Hopefully the goals you have set for 2013 will involve you stretching yourself (see my earlier blog on why this is important) so will require you to step out of your comfort zone. Have you taken any steps towards […]