Focusing on Organic Growth | The Monday Marketing Tip

tips on small business marketing with Renzie Baluyut.

Welcome to The Monday Marketing Tip. Starting today and for the next several Mondays, I will be sharing insights and little notes on marketing communications- little bits of advice for small business owners, entrepreneurs and online professionals.

Marketing, I believe, is something every digital entrepreneur and freelancer should get into. How else do you suppose could people learn about your expertise, products and services? You don't need a large budget to run with the big dogs- all you need is some creativity, some diligence, and ruthless efficiency.

Focusing on Organic Growth

Marketing a small business is totally different from planning and executing a marketing plan for a much larger corporation.

For starters, most small businesses operate on a much smaller marketing budget, or sometimes even no budget at all. And while there are a number of low- to no-cost ways available out there, the objectives remain essentially the same.

Remember: the end goal of marketing is to increase business for the company. This can be achieved by putting together a suitable marketing plan and simply following it through. You might be amazed- many organizations out there don't give marketing and business development any serious thought.

In fact, putting together a marketing plan for any small business isn't too difficult. All you have to do really, is focus on organic growth- increasing your customer base, increasing your output, and increasing your sales. This is by far, the most effective way to grow and expand your business.

How do you achieve increased organic growth? Laura Lake of About.com shares with us four ways to get it done:

1. Acquire more customers
2. Persuade each customer to buy more products
3. Persuade each customer to buy more expensive products or up selling each customer
4. Persuade each customer to buy more profitable products

These four basic tasks only serve to increase your company's revenue and profit. Of the four, it is recommended that the first-- acquiring more customers- should be the focus of any small business. More customers only mean a larger customer base, and having a larger customer base translates to a higher potential revenue.

So for this week, ask yourself: How can I acquire more customers? In your case, you can even be as specific as possible: How can I get more people to know about, and actually get to try our products and services?

There are several ways you can achieve this. Just to rattle off a few low-cost suggestions:

• Harness the power of the internet, social media and social networking tools. Facebook, Twitter, Multiply are all effective marketing tools when used correctly.
• Have a website. Update it regularly and keep it relevant for your target market.
• Even better: have a blog, and allow your target market a means to interact with you.
• Look within your personal network. Know someone who writes for a newspaper? Or works for a radio station? Find out how you can get free plugging, in exchange for a few modest media values.
• Join conventions, trade shows, workshops and seminars. Scope out potential customers here and get your calling cards, flyers and other handouts passed around.
• Collaborate with other small businesses that hit your target market. Remember that there's power in synergy.
• Tap into communities and organizations that would find your services relevant. You can find them online, or among the people in your neighborhood.

All you need is a little imagination really, and the will to follow your plan through. Be creative, be diligent and be efficient. Give yourself challenging yet realistic and achievable goals-- I will bring in ten new customers this week, or I will join three new communities this month and spread the word about the company. Hold yourself accountable, and you can see your business grow slowly, but steadily.

The best part is, you just grew your business without a huge marketing budget-- by working hard and working smart- and you did it all by yourself.

Special thanks to Laura Lake of About.com for inspiring this blog post.

Cheers, everyone.