When trying to grow a business, one the hardest things to do is say to no to any kind of new revenue. Cash flow is so important in the early stages of development that many people will accept any type of new business out of fear that the next lead may be a while. This thought pattern will actually lead to stagnation or worse, a decline in revenue.

In order to grow your business, and maintain your sanity, you must learn to say NO. Saying no to potential new clients is something they do not teach in business school, and in the real world of entrepreneurship, is very difficult.

At Bourn Creative, we have experienced growth year after year, and one element that continues to thrive is that we actually have become more selective on who we choose to work with. I know that seems a little backwards, as clients are also choosing to work with us, but let’s face it, clients shop around, so why shouldn’t you?

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If you are marketing with features, facts, and figures, you get an “F” and your sales probably reflect that. If you are marketing with benefits, results, and stories, you get a “B” and are probably doing fairly well.

But, if you are marketing with benefits, results, and stories, and you bring your audience to that do anything, pay anything point, you get an “A+” and you’re probably nodding your head because your sales reflect that and you’re kicking butt.

Let’s talk about the marketing debate Features vs. Benefits.

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When a consumer visits your website you only have a few seconds to capture attention and interest. If your website fails to hook them and they leave your website, they may never come back! This could potentially cause you to loose prospects, lose customers, and lose profits.

Here are five things to remember when creating or upgrading your business website to make sure you present your business professionally and credibly, and make a great first impression:

• Just as you need to dress appropriately for a business meeting and put your best foot forward, your business website needs to also put its best foot forward with a clean, polished, professional appearance.

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I have seen it over an over. One person creates a marketing piece, such as an advertisement that is really good. The ad is converting leads into sales and the marketing is seen as a success.

Unfortunately, the next thing that usually happens is that others try to copy the successful ad for their business.

Here is the problem, they don’t adjust the ad to fit their marketing or their focus and the ad fails to answer the three key questions every marketing piece must answer for its audience in order to be successful.

The result is failure and money and time wasted on a marketing piece that was copied instead of thought out and planned.

I don’t want to see you make the same mistake, so I am sharing with you the top three questions every successful marketing piece needs to answer to produce the results you want and attract the clients you want.

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Recently I was at an eWomenNetwork event and the chapter director asked the audience, “How many of you have all of the clients and customers you could ever need?”

Let’s just say I wasn’t very surprised when not a single person in the room raised their hand. These eWomenNetwork entrepreneurs understand that you don’t just market your business for the customers you have right now, but for the customers you want to attract in the future.

For example, the signed contracts that are coming in to my office almost daily are results from contacts made and relationships built over the last three to six months. Likewise, the marketing I am doing now will fill my business in the future.

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This past weekend we took a family trip out to Bishop’s Pumpkin Farm for some fall fun. I love the smell of fresh apple pies baking, the caramel apples, the miniature stream train that winds through the walnut orchard, and the 67 acres of pumpkins… I look forward to this outing every year!

We usually end up there at least two or three times before Halloween, so I guess you could say Bishop’s has become a yearly tradition. Each year, the Bishop’s Farm re-invests in the business, adding new attractions and improving old ones. And, each year, we come back excited for the traditional train ride, petting zoo, pig races, caramel apples, and to see what’s new!

This year I noticed something different.

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I know you’ve seen them; the homemade brochures, the flyers that use Microsoft word art, the business cards that were printed at home and cut crooked by hand, and the websites that look like a high school homework assignment.

If you’re anything like me, you pause just for a moment when a business person hands you something like that, and you wonder how they can represent themselves so poorly.

Investing in professionally designed marketing materials instantly gives your business an image upgrade.

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If you’re like most entrepreneurs, you’ve probably noticed that your prospects are holding their hard-earned dollars much tighter these days. With the over-saturation of email marketing and infoproduct pitching, you’ve probably also noticed that reaching and grabbing the attention of qualified leads who are ready and able to work with you is becoming more difficult.

The good news is that there is something you can do reach your target audience, get their attention, and convert those qualified prospects into buyers. Almost every marketing professional will tell you the same thing: People do business with people they know, like and, trust. In fact, I have heard this said over and over and several conferences and workshops.

To cut through the marketing clutter and speak to your ideal client, there are three things that you can do right now to build upon the know, like, and trust factor to get more clients and grow your list.

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I get it, social media is a hot trendy topic these days and all the cool kids are “doing” social networking. Hey, for the past year, I’ve been on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn more than I care to admit and I love it. But as a friend of mine, Andrea Costantine said many people “think ‘social media’ is the end all be all, but nothing beats a good old fashioned relationship.”

I wholeheartedly agree with Andrea, which is why I have put a lot of mileage on my car this past week. My schedule has been completely jam-packed with normal business meetings, several awesome networking events, and a fun family night out (see my hubby, kids, and father-in-law in the picture)! Check out what my week looked like:

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Marketing is often a word that when mentioned around business owners draws out grumbles, moans, and sighs. While the task of marketing your business may not be your first choice, it is a vital part of the success of your business.

Here are three simple things you can do to make your marketing, advertising, public relations, and sales efforts much easier:

Differentiate yourself

When your marketing and sales message is too similar to your competitor’s message, your prospects and customers are left with price as the only differentiator. Trust me. You never want to be in that situation.

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Turn on any news station, pick up any newspaper, search any news site on the web and I guarantee you that they all will be talking about the down economy. The media seems to be focusing all their attention on how much money consumers don’t have.

What about focusing on how much money consumer do have? The figures don’t lie. Ninety percent of all American mortgages are being paid regularly and on time. Businesses, especially targeted niche businesses are continuing to push ahead, growing and expanding everyday. Consumers are still spending money.

How does this affect you? It’s simple. Most small business owners and entrepreneurs are losing money everyday simply because they aren’t picking it up off the table. Your leads and prospects want to work with you, they want to give you their money and you aren’t giving them enough opportunity to do so!

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