Starting on July 3rd, 2008, and running throughout the month of July, Michael Walsh will offer FREE group sessions to experienced business owners in the Lower Mainland. Five sessions will be offered, but there’s only room for 12 participants in each, so don’t wait to sign up as space is limited. Topics will include increasing your sales, hiring A-Players, increasing productivity, and aligning personal freedom with the growth of your business. 

Select one of the 5 dates listed below and sign up online at: www.21stCenturyEntrepreneur.com/BusinessSession

Or, phone (604) 263-5670 if you would like to attend.

Dates of Group Sessions (limit 12 participants in each):

July 3, 2008 – 8:30am-10:30am

July 9, 2008 – 4:30pm-6:30pm

July 22, 2008 – 8:30am-10:30am

July 31, 2008 – 8:30am-10:30am

July 31, 2008 – 4:30pm-6:30pm

 Location: These sessions will be held near UBC in a beautiful setting overlooking the ocean.

 SPACE IS LIMITED (sign up today and receive a free DVD!)

Step 1: Thinking Through the Bigger Game

The first thing to do when you are thinking about the large scale growth of your company is to picture how the business will run at $3 million (using our example).  How will it be attracting customers?  How will the customers buy at that point?  How many people will you have working for you?  What size of facility will you be in?  What will the geographic span be to achieve your new, larger size?

All of these questions and more need to be addressed.  By thinking these things through, you will start to see much more clearly what the infrastructure will need to be to support your organization at its new, bigger size.

Step 2: Draw it Out

It is one thing to answer these questions to yourself or on paper.  Now, draw out your current organization chart, followed by the organization chart that your new company will need to look like if you are to achieve and sustain the sales levels you desire (in this case the $3 million).  Don’t worry about exact names in each of the roles that will be needed.  Start with the roles themselves.  The visual of how many people will be working in what roles will give you a good idea of space requirements, and other supports that you will need.  Don’t worry about getting it perfect.  You can, and will, adjust this as you grow.

Step 3: Do the Math

After you have a potential organization chart, now it is time for the calculator.  Sit down and figure out what your future Profit and Loss Statement will look like.  You may need your accountant’s help with this, but it is worth it.  You already have a rough idea of how many people you will need, from your organization chart.  Now, through the financial statement, you can figure out the space requirements, the sales support needed, as well as all the other levels of infrastructure you will need to achieve the $3 million in sales.  This is critical to catching all that you will need to address, so don’t skip this step.

Step 4: Develop the Transition Plan

You know where you are currently, and you now have a plan for what the future might look like, at triple your current size.  Next is to sort out the transition plan.  You still can’t afford to add all the pieces at once, but you can decide how you will phase them in, as you grow.  Check to make sure you are funding the steps in a manner that makes sense to you.  This is another area where your advisors can really help.  By making the infrastructure changes event specific (i.e. when I hit $1.5 million, that’s when I add the next salesperson, for instance), you can afford your growth along the way.

The difference is that you will have thought it through, including the pieces that most people miss.

By following this approach to large scale growth, you will find it easier to overcome the fear and tap that internal fire in the belly to grow your business consistent with your dreams.

When business owners start thinking about growing their companies, most have a two-sided reaction: First, they feel a fire of excitement about having the business of their dreams.  Along with that comes a quiet feeling of revulsion that dampers the fire, because they know that it will take a lot of work to take their business to the next level.

The source of these mixed feelings isn’t a mystery: Didn’t it take a lot more than you expected to grow your business to the point it’s at right now?

It’s one thing to have the skills to deliver exceptional value to clients and customers as you grow. Then there are all the things you had to learn about sales and marketing, about finances and, of course, about hiring and working with people. How will these areas evolve alongside your growing business?

Traditional Growth

You now have your business running at a level that pays you well, and it seems to be working (though you still put too much time into the business for your liking).  The idea of growth is both daunting and enticing.

Think about it for a minute:  Usually, a small business will naturally grow fairly quickly up until the point of getting to full capacity in one area or another.  Let’s say you get to $1 million in annual sales.  You have a system that seems to be working, so you decide on a 15% increase, pushing sales to $1.15 million.  Then the next year, you grow a little again, going to $1.25 million.  Then up to $1.4 million.

However, there is a problem here.  Whatever that “natural capacity level” is that was at full capacity is now becoming stretched.  You’re stretching your existing structures past their capacity levels.  That’s when people start to get spread too thin.  They start getting tired and making mistakes.  Then you try to solve that by adding more people, only to find that the efficiencies you enjoyed at $1 million have gone away, and that your costs are getting out of hand, while your customer service levels are slipping.

What’s Missing is Infrastructure

You know you need more infrastructure to make this work – some major capital expenditures, whether it be new software, a new piece of equipment or new space for your people.  But with the increases at the size they have been, you can’t afford to make big changes. If you are at $1 million in annual sales, an  extra $150,000 might only leave you with $30,000 after expenses.  That’s hardly enough to spend the $40,000 to $50,000 on that new piece of financial and accounting software.  It makes no sense.

Anytime you decide to grow by little bits, unless you have excess capacity in all areas – including your own time, by the way – then something will get stretched and possibly break, making the whole growth thing that much more difficult.

The Good News

The good news is that it is actually easier to double or triple a business than it is to grow it by 10% to 15% per year.  Yes, that’s right.  I said easier.  The reason is that while you may delude yourself that you can get by with small growth without changing your systems, there is no way that you will think you can run a $3 million company the same way your now run your $1 million business.  It just can’t be done.

Instead, what people do when approaching large scale growth is to think through the bigger game.  You may not be able to afford that new software program at $1.15 million, but you know for certain that you will need it before you hit $2 million, and definitely by the time you get to $3 million.  And, there are lots of other changes that will need to be made too.

Getting excellent suppliers is a challenge. Too often when I’m speaking with entrepreneurs, the feedback is inconsistent about their experiences with their suppliers. Whether it is their accountant, an outsourced bookkeeper, their banker, or some other service-based vendor, the reviews that I hear are all over the map.

“She is wonderful. I don’t know what I’d do if she ever retired.”

“They drive me nuts. But I just don’t know where to find someone better.”

“My guy is great. I could never get by without him.”

If your suppliers and vendors are great, then that’s wonderful. However, if they are not so great, you have a problem. It’s very expensive for a small business owner to put up with poor, inconsistent or even OK service.

What if you had a system to recruit and select the best vendors and suppliers?

We just happen to have such a system. Like most systems, it requires a little bit of work up front. By putting in the effort in advance, you will find that you have a much easier go of it later on. The system has 5 steps.

The 5 Steps

Step 1. Get clear on your outcomes.

What are the outcomes that you want to achieve? The more specific you are, the better. The key here is to write these down, and keep getting more specific until you have a clear picture of exactly what you want.

Whether it is an outsourced vendor or supplier, or someone in-house to work with you, you need to identify what specifically, you want them to do (the To Do’s of the service or role).

I recently needed someone to help dress up and pull together some of our materials for the consultant training we are currently conducting in different parts of North America. Initially I thought I needed a graphic designer, and I decided to get someone in-house, either part-time or full-time. When I posted online for this, I got resumes back from a bunch of artists. Not what I wanted or needed.

Then I reread my ad. I saw that I wasn’t specific enough. By changing the ad to attract exactly the skill set I needed and changing categories to writer/editor instead of graphic designer, I was able to find a wonderful person who truly fits our needs.

Step 2. Decide what type of person / company fits your needs.

Once you’re clear on your outcomes, decide what the level of skill or expertise is that you need to accomplish your goals.

What are the alternatives that might fit? Will an in-house person be needed? Is it a small company you want, where you might get more individualized attention? Or do you need a larger organization, where you have more depth of expertise? Perhaps some combination … list the alternatives, as part of this step.

Step 3. Build specific lists.

For each alternative, build a list of specific potential suppliers.

For example, if I want marketing expertise: I could list a number of small, boutique marketing houses; I could list some of the larger advertising agencies that also serve smaller companies; and then I could identify solo practitioners who might do the job.

Listings in the local Chamber of Commerce or your Board of Trade roster can give you access to all of these.

Step 4. Go interview people.

Choose a few people to meet and interview them. When you are speaking with these people, check to see if they meet these three criteria:

1. Do they have the right skills that you seek
2. Will they be able to address your priorities?
3. Are they a fit with your company?

Step 5. Conduct reference checks.

When you are speaking with the references of the shortlisted individuals, listen for any nuances that may give you a clearer sense of how this supplier might be able to assist you. How has the supplier helped the reference? In what specific areas were the biggest differences made? Are these the areas you seek?

By taking time and working through this process, you will be more likely to find solid vendors and suppliers that may assist you as you grow your business, consistent with your goals and commitments in life.

Have you read the best selling book Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion by Robert Cialdini? It's a classic in the field and in my opinion, required reading for a business owner.

In it there's a story about a jewelry retailer who had brought in a specific line of items that were not selling fast enough. She was going on vacation, but at the last minute decided to leave a short note to her store manager to cut the prices by 50%.

The manager, rushing to open the next morning, glanced at the note and made the changes.

When the owner returned from her vacation, she was surprised to see that other than a couple pieces, all the items had sold. Her manager was beaming when he came in.

I imagine the conversation went something like this… "What happened? Lowering the prices on those items really made them popular, right?"

"Lowering? You're a great kidder. I'll tell you what though, doubling the prices on those items was genius. They sold like hot cakes!"

The manager in his rush had thought she meant to double the prices, and customers had snapped up the items in response.

The new price matched the customers preconceived ideas of the value of those items, where the original lower price didn't. The higher price was in effect, a message to market match.

Value is a relative measure of the benefits you get for the money you spend.

In almost all cases, perception is the most important factor. Your customers preconception that "You get what you pay for" will influence their perception of the value you offer.

Refer to this earlier article:

In summary: The 9 times higher priced of two differently priced glasses of the same wine, actually tasted better to people (measured by their reporting and fMRI brain scans.)

• So what is your customers perception of the value of services that you offer?
  
• What can you do to influence their perception of the value of your product or service?

For instance, pricing, exclusivity, and guarantees are proven ways to influence used by companies. Other ways include free trials or samples, media coverage, thrid party endorsement, testimonials, referrals and positioning (titles like foreclosure, auction, or short sale all automatically suggest value.)

Picking one, how can you make your guarantee be a key influence of your customers perception of value?

Let's dig deeper into value. What are people pressed for more and more in this busy world of ours? Time?

What if you had an "on time delivery" guarantee. Worked well for Domino's Pizza and Federal Express. What about a price guarantee, an extended warranty built in, and of course a satisfaction guarantee? Brainstorm with your team about other out of the box guarantees, that would influence your perceived value.

Understanding your market is important. But beware of your own preconceptions. For instance, the only proven way to really know the most effective price, is by testing.

Other thoughts from around the net:

It’s all about the perceived value - One thing that counts a lot for any product is its perceived value. Customers do not buy the product, they pay for the value that the product provides them. The more the perceived value of the product, less relevant is the price tag on …

Improving your product's perceived value - So what is perceived value, and what does it have to do with your product? Perceived value is what customers think your product should cost, or more specifically, what value they think it has to them and what they would be willing to …

Perceived Value - Here is a quick video that discusses perceived value and the importance of understanding your audience, what you sell to them, and what it’s worth to them. I hope you enjoy it! To your success, …

The admittedly grim statistics of business failure can be an amazing resource. The trouble is that many people ignore the facts and don't use that information to change how they operate their business. Frankly, the stats should motivate you to start thinking about your business in an entirely new way.

In this article, I'm going to give you some proven tips for taking action on your business. These tips will almost ensure that you are not only a surviving, but a thriving business owner category. They're easy and won't cost you anything to implement.

For a number of years I've quoted some chilling statistics about business success. For instance, 80% of new business fail within 2 years. And of those left, only 3% make it past 10 years.

If that's not bad enough, only 1500 out of 10,000 businesses reach a $1 million in revenue.  Only 75 of those get past $5 million and only 1 or 2 of those gets to $10 million.

So clearly, building a thriving business is a rare thing. In fact, with those statistics… building a business would seem to be one of the hardest tasks there is. What's the secret?

Aside: This is exactly what we do at Kaizen Consulting – take thriving businesses and grow them into $5 - $10 - $100 million dollar companies.

Full disclosure, Safety Tip: You've probably heard these before… If you've ignored taking action on them, allow yourself to take the opportunity to do it different this time – ok?

Tip One: Take time

Take time each week to work "on" your business, rather than in it. Schedule it now. Make it a regular and re-occurring commitment to take a programmed hour a week (to start) and just think about your business and where it's going.

Tip Two: What to think about

To take maximum advantage of the time that you are thinking about your business, start to target the areas that will make the most difference to your business. Where's the pain? Start there!

Some suggestions… how do you do more of what you are best at and less of what you could hire someone else for; specific pieces of your sales process; what are your specific goals for the business, what marketing tactics will deliver ROI, how to hire great staff, using the internet to develop business, etc.

Here's the system that makes this work.

If you start with a large subject, break it down into the specifics. Address an area each week and think through the ways to improve and refine that specific area.

For instance, look at your sales process. What are all the steps in the process? Prospecting, getting appointments, building rapport, presentation (what to say and how to say it), education based–sales support material, building a relationship, closing, follow up… etc.

Week 1 you start with prospecting: How can you improve and leverage your prospecting time? Well, let's dig deeper… Who are your best customers?

Who are (and where would you find) your "ideal" customers? Make a list of the top 50 or 100…

What's the best way to contact these people? It takes 7- 9 touches before your customers might respond so how can you automate some of that – beyond dialing for dollars? Direct mail, email, newsletters, radio advertising, internet advertising (adwords) … etc?

End your session with writing down 3 realizations and 3 specific actions that you are going to implement in your business. Then do the actions!

The next week you think through the next specific piece and break it down into it's components, so you can keep making progress. After a few months of this, can you picture how you will be systematically improving every aspect of your business?

This is the unbeatable way to grow your business so that you meet all your expectations and dreams.

Like this post? Publish It On Your Own Blog

Some other good thoughts from the web…

Cool site full of great ideas on Business Planning  Right-Brain Business Plan

Top 5 Mistakes that Create Stress and Overwhelm  Work With Ease

Marketing is an area that can boost your business quickly. In this article, I'll outline 7 proven steps to kick your marketing into high gear.

Marketing Step #1 — Be different and unique

What is your unique selling proposition? What makes you different - that really unique thing that is difficult for the rest of the competition to copy or do better? (Hint - if it's price, you're already in a race to the bottom where everyone loses.)

How are you different? What makes you, your services or products unique? With over 80% of small businesses having a strong service component, this is a critical area - set yourself apart from the rest.

If you are providing a commodity product or service, you might think it's hard to set yourself apart. Always, there's something you can find, do or commit to in your business that no one else can duplicate. Be creative, and use a secret weapon… (write this down) Google.

Marketing Step #2 — Stay in Contact

More than 80% of all sales are made on or after five contacts with the potential customer. Yet studies have shown that 54% of all salespeople give up after the first call… and 96% give up after 4 calls.

Many small businesses do not consistently stay in touch with their prospects, referral sources and existing clients. This is a critical mistake.

Develop and use a follow-up system. Write on your blog, publish a weekly newsletter or ezine, collect and distribute interesting articles, regularly send out useful postcards with a short tip and special offer.

There are many inexpensive ways to regularly put your name in front of your clients and prospects. Just get started and do it consistently!

Marketing Step #3 — Be conspicuous

Are you consuming all your time with "busy"? It's time to develop effective ways of letting people know who you are and what you do. You can tactics to get media and public attention and that can boost your business.

Use free tactics like networking, public speaking, publishing articles and press releases. These are effective of getting the word out. Plus you build credibility by having someone else talk about your business.

A website / blog, radio advertising, direct mail, telephone marketing, and follow up systems can all be very effective… especially when used together. It's simple: if no one knows what you do, you will struggle to build your business.

Marketing Step #4 — Do what it takes to impress

Marketing guru Jay Abraham defines clients as:
Someone who is under the care, guidance and protection of an expert in a particular field.

It easy to lock in on securing more business. A great way to differentiate is to “Hug” and over deliver to the clients you already have. Would your referral rate increase if you  regularly responded to your clients, like you did on the day they hired you?

You see this is a simple, overall element of marketing and building a brand – consistently  over-deliver. Just being consistent with how you deliver will bring a level of security to your clients and they will come back for more.

Marketing Step #5 — Sell by educating

You are an expert in your market area and field. But you must continually educate your market to both establish credibility and to bring them up to speed on what your expertise will do for them. Most potential clients don’t know how you can help them. Educating them, breaks down their resistance.

Use industry study findings, facts and research to prove that you know more than they do - you'll lessen the times when you feel like they have all the control. Four more ways to boost your educational element: write articles both online and off, public speaking in your expertise area, offer an email newsletter or write a book.

Marketing Step #6 - Build and use a marketing plan

Doing is the preoccupation of most business owners and professionals. That's how they get a ton of things done. More often than not though, it becomes a habit… and a blind spot. They are so busy doing that they don't plan and work "on" their business.

Creating a marketing plan is best done by starting simply. Sure there are a million marketing tactics to try, but start with the basics and expand from there. Build a simple marketing plan so that you take action today.

Start by listing who your ideal clients are. Then think about the top three lead generating strategies to reach them, and then brainstorm out the first few steps to get started with.

List it all one one page. This will get you focused and motivated to take action and the results will follow.

Marketing Tip #7 - Go online

90% of small business web sites are a total waste of time and money. They do not make back the investment that the owners made. You can easily turn your "Welcome To XYZ Company's Website!" online brochure into a lead and profit generating machine.

A strong online presence is a serious marketing tool, and is easier for a local business. If you're not sure how to make your web site generate leads and sales, get expert help. That's not your web developer in most cases. Hire someone with a track record in building leads and sales with web marketing.

Other good stuff from the interweb…

5 Steps to Reach Your Goals - Don’t make the mistake of confusing marketing activity with marketing strategy. It’s the difference between eating high-fat junk food instead of balanced meals; your stomach may feel full, but you aren’t building a healthy future. …

The Most Common Marketing Mistake: Advertising = Marketing - Four Steps to Understanding Your Market. Advertising and promoting are important marketing tactics but they are not nearly as crucial as the process of understanding your market. Marketing is like hunting - advertising is a lot like …

10 steps to powerful personal marketing - How to get started with your own personal marketing campaign. The ten steps below show you exactly how to apply a marketing mindset to achieving your own goals. Want a short-cut? Try just doing #1, #6, and #9 for your first ad. …

One thing that almost every small business benefits from is putting into action the systems and processes that help everyone in the business perform at their best… or even like a star!

Now, if you've been able to just hire people who are naturally great, then you probably don't need to read the rest of this. But if, like me, you're struggling to find talent, than you have a look at this 3 step system. It just might dramatically increase employee performance inside your business. And because it's a system, even your stars will perform better.

Over the years I've proven that you can get profound results in your business if you work on it (rather than just in it) starting with only one hour per week. The key is that one hour is designed to be effective and you're committed to improving your business and it's systems incrementally.

Let's quickly review a core "Kaizen" philosophy.

Bad is better than nothing.
Good is better than bad.
Perfect is the enemy of good.

So the system setup point here is that you must get started. A small movement forward will bring positive changes, that you can easily build more positive movement on. To the system…

Step 1
This system starts with your commitment to working on your business, each week. Commitment is a powerful force in itself. It sends a message both to yourself and your environment that you "mean business"… you're going to do this. Commitment in this case is simple – schedule a time.

Step 2
Next pick an aspect of your business to work on. For example – how to pump up your marketing; or how to free your own time, so you do more of what you are excellent at; or how you get appointments.

I suggest that you start with brainstorming in one of 3 areas: one; How do I take more time off? Two; How do I free myself up to do more of what I am best at? Three; What is the structure of my company at my desired next stage of growth?

Step 3
Next, at the scheduled time each week, think or brainstorm about how to make that area just a bit better. My experience is that by tackling the first areas I've identified, you will gain significant momentum and personal energy for your business. Applied to other areas, by the time you reach ten sessions or 10 weeks, you can easily have a major improvement in that area.

Small improvements might not seem like much in themselves. When you dig into all the pieces of an area of your business, and then multiply improvements happening across many aspects of your business, you start to see dramatic changes. Faster than you think.

For instance, if you looked at your sales process… you can address targeting your best accounts, getting appointments, presentations, objection handling, closes, strategic objectives you want to achieve from every call, etc. When you break down an area like getting appointments, you can look at areas like amount of action, number of telephone calls, who's targeted, positioning what's said, what research or tool do the sales team have/need, etc.

Safety Tip

If you are brainstorming about a specific area, have the staff involved in that area participate with you. Get them involved and leverage their expertise. They will have more ownership of the better ideas generated and will take action on "their ideas."

In summary, start working on your business – this week. Commit and schedule the time, pick the area of your business to start with and spend the time thinking and brainstorming. Your business will grow, and you'll soon have more staff operating at their best. 

"97% percent of all business failure is due to the system – not the person."

W. Edwards Deming.

Here are some other good ideas on this from the world wide web…

Deming Auto Repair - Applying the business management principles and 14 points Dr. Deming taught, allowed me to transform my small automotive repair shop. By changing the business management system my auto repair shop became a profitable multi-million …

Lessons From Toyota - (According to McKinsey, two-thirds of companies that put quality improvement programs in place abandoned them.) And that's precisely why the relentlessness of the Toyota approach is so hard to emulate. …

Entire businesses can be launched on the radio. Combined with press releases, radio appearances reach a whole new audience, create tons of credibility and build goodwill.

There is a specific system of steps to use to get on the radio—and effective methods to use to create inteerest and listener action when you’re on the air.

Step 1  - Listen to the radio, read newspapers, watch TV news, subscribe to news blog rss feeds, and setup a Google Alert that tracks your area of expertise. These actions will help you stay current with what’s in the news and how your message might tie in with it.

Step 2 - Once you've discovered an angle or obvious tie-in to a current news story, write a press release that both illustrates your expertise on this issue, has a unique take and clearly explains to them the reason their listeners will benefit from hearing you as a guest. Remember, pitch your expertise as a solution to the problem that’s making news.

For example, computer security firms could write "10 tips to Secure Your Online Identity" press release and then back that up with their track record and unique position in the market. A meat market might write a press release about "7 Reasons Local Fresh Meat Is Safer and More Nutritious"… you get the idea.

Think outside the box! Radio is a bit different and they like guests with unique and useful takes on situations.

Your key will be to connect your product, your service, or simply your own industry knowledge to either a current news topic or a relevant topic that a particular talk show host is looking for.

Step 3 - In many cases, it might be some time until there is a logical or even illogical but useful tie in to your service or expertise. This is where you can build a relationship with the host.

Most times you will be offering your story directly to the show’s host before getting invited on the air. (With larger shows, you’ll probably speak with the program director or producer.)

Sending out a general press release that talks about your company, your area of expertise and your availability to talk on short notice about that area plants seed that media people will appreciate. If you follow up on the phone and have a quick conversation, just to show that you are normal, and sound good with a good mind, that will really help. 

Always be mindful of their time.

Radio hosts are under a lot of pressure… sifting through, evaluating and producing a tremendous amount of information each day. If you can show them how you can be a trusted resource to make that job easier, you will be on the radio quite a bit.

The Best Hook

The best hook when first approaching talk show hosts and producers…

Build a Top 7 or Top 10 list that relates to a recent news item. 

Remember: talk radio is entertainment that has a purpose to inform and engage the audience.  It's about interaction. The more interesting and lively you can be on the air, the longer the show’s listeners will stay tuned.
 
To take maximum advantage and make income while you’re on the air,  remember a short summary sentence, so that you sound natural when you deliver it. You might offer every listener a free report if they join your mailing list, for example. Use a short url for the landing page.

Whatever you decide to offer, make it especially easy to respond.
 
A large percentage of listeners are hearing you while they are driving in their car. Get a toll-free number and have a 24hr recorded message, and register a website domain that is easy to write down. Then, be prepared to receive potentially hundreds of calls and responses within minutes of your being on the air.

Other Posts online…

 Are You Ready For Radio? - One little mention on the radio can do wonders for your business. But it takes a lot of preparation to get mentioned, to sound eloquent, and to be ready for the listener response. Here are some tips to help you through the process. …

Get Interviewed - Live Radio Show - As I’ve posted before - we’re in the process of writing a book about “go getters” people who found their passion , embraced it, and started a business with it… or at least has landed on the path to fulfillment. …

It seems our society has an affiliction where "if some is good, then more is better!" It's something I've helped a number of small business owners reframe over the years.

In my consulting business, I've proven that trying to serve as many customers as possible, without regard to alignment, ideals, and living up to my – would I enjoy having them over for dinner – test … just isn't worth it. In fact, the opposite is true.

The more targeted customer that I go after, the better I feel about working with them, the better the results they get and the more money all of us make.

John Reese, who is a brilliant marketer (famed in internet marketing circles as the first person to make a million dollars in sales in 24 hrs.) had an excellent post about this recently. Here's an excerpt:

" The WORST thing you can do with your marketing is try to “be all things to all people.” This is what many refer to as the SHOTGUN APPROACH — you advertise and promote your business to anyone and everyone with the thinking that you’ll sell more by reaching more people.

Massive mistake.

If you truly focus your efforts (the way you communicate, your marketing style, the benefits that you stress, the stories you tell, the keywords you bid on, the places you choose to advertise, etc. etc.) towards your most ideal prospect then you stand to make the most money."

I recommend you read it at his blog.

Sometimes it can feel like it's counter-intuitive … but concentrating on fewer (but better targeted) clients can absolutely cause your business to grow.

Here's an important key. Make sure you stay in touch with your best customers. Your loyal customers need more communication, not less. Your competition is going to try to woo them especially if the market is tough.

There's no special tricks to doing this. Just regularly staying in touch and telling them that they are appreciated sends a powerful message. Your best source for new business is your current customers. Budget part of your marketing for this specific purpose; regularly communicating with your existing customers.

Other opinions from the web: 

Your Target Audience – Who Are They & What Do They Want? - Put your thinking cap on, and come up with more ways to get to know your target audience. Perhaps you could visit a company that falls within your target customers’ line of work, and observe them for a few hours. …

Research paints portrait of digitally savvy consumer - Learn how to create brand engagement with target customers directly on the content real estate of your chosen partners' websites. If online ads are dead, what will you do to connect consumers to your brand? Learn more.

How to select a target market - My target market was upscale serious fly fishermen. At times I thought about compromising the home page to push components in addition to the custom rods. I was tempted to work hard on improving the components section of the web site …