I have a very strange question to ask you. Do you believe in dating someone before you get married? My guess is that you’re rolling your eyes and saying, “Of course, you should date before you get married! Are you crazy?”

The reason I’m asking this crazy question is because many small business owners expect their prospects to commit to a serious relationship with them before they even know them. Think about it for a minute.

Most small business owners put up their company website and wait for the prospects to start pouring in the door. If prospects land on the website, that same small business owner expects the customer to simply shell over their hard-earned money instantly.

The problem is that it just doesn’t work like that. Customers want to get to know you before they commit. They need to trust you, like you and understand you. It’s really no different than marriage.

Research suggests that customers need to connect with you an average of seven to twelve times before they are ready to take out their wallet and spend money to do business with you. In all reality, your customer is going to do business with you when they are ready to do business with you.

That means that we need strategies to connect with our prospects in a multiple of different ways. We want to be a constant reminder to our customers that when they are ready to buy, we are there to support them. The only way this can be accomplished is by continuing to build a meaningful relationship with our prospects.

The good news is that this doesn’t need to an overwhelmeing task. In fact, much of the connections with your prospects can be accomplished through the power of automation.

Here’s an example of how I “woo” my prospects and develop a serious relationship with them.

First of all, through my various marketing efforts, they arrive at my landing page. My landing page is designed with one purpose in mind. Mainly, I want my prospect to feel safe, secure and begin the process of “getting to know me.” I’m not expecting a sale on the first encounter.

In addition, I offer my prospects free and valuable information that allows them to get to know me. If my prospect feels comfortable with my landing  page, they supply me with their name and email. This is where the relationship begins and the real automation kicks in.

Once I have a prospect’s information, I connect with them in a number of ways:

•    Email autoresponder messages that are sent out automatically;

•    Videos for my prospect to watch;

•    Podcasts and audio reports to listen to;

•    Special reports that I have written that highlight my industry;

•    A chance to subscribe to my blog and learn more about shoestring marketing;

•    Invitations to special webinars or teleseminars that I host.

Naturally, there are dozens of other ways that you can connect with your prospects and begin to build powerful relationships. Let your imagination be your guide.

Most importantly, you must give your prospects many different ways to connect with you and to begin building that incredibly valuable relationship. Because once they feel a strong connection with you, they usually end up making that commitment.

Last week I was a lucky audience member at an Oprah taping. (And, if you know anything about me, you know that I am a die-hard Oprah fanatic.)

I had purchased the tickets at an auction a few months back and when I called the reservation line, I was given a choice of a few different dates. However, I wasn’t given any information about who would be on the show or what the show was about, so I simply picked the date that fit best with my schedule.

My sister, Alicia, and I drove down to the city, got in line and soon found out that the guest on the show was none other than Adam Lampert. Now, I hate to show my age (and my obvious cluelessness about the world of entertainment), but I really had NO idea who Adam Lampert was.

Of course, the twenty-year old, Adam Lampert groupie standing in line in front of us, was clearly appalled at our lack of education.  Much to her dismay she had to explain to my sister and me that Adam was the Runner-up from the last season of American Idol. She proceeded to show me her T-shirt imprinted with a picture of Adam with his jet-black, wild hair, black eyeliner and unmistaken “glam” look.

Now, I like to think of myself as pretty hip and accepting but, this Adam Lambert was definitely not my style. I think that the black nail polish just threw me for a loop.
Fast forward a few hours later and Oprah calls Adam out to the stage for an interview before he sings his first song.

Well, what can I say? He was absolutely adorable, charming, articulate and incredibly likable. In fact, I really, really LIKED Adam Lambert. Not only that, but when he performed, I was dancing and singing along with the best of the hard-core Adam fans.

After we left the show, my sister and I played his CD on full blast and, I must admit, we’re now big fans. (i.e. if I didn’t have kids, I’d be touring his band.)

The whole, crazy experience made me realize that as much as we avoid “judging a book by its cover,” it happens all the time.

It’s not fair, but prospects are going to make snap judgments the minute they encounter you and your small business. They may judge you on your looks; they may judge you on your gender; they may judge you based on the name of your company.  Your prospects make their judgments based on their own personal interactions with the world, so it’s impossible to determine how each prospect will judge you when they first encounter you. However, you can rest assured that you will be judged.

Malcolm Gladwell, author of Blink states, “Our first impressions are generated by our experiences and our environment, which means that we can change our first impressions . . . by changing the experiences that comprise those impressions.”

The bottom line is that it’s imperative for small business owners to discover a way for prospects to get to know them beyond that first impression. Fortunately, with the vast array of marketing tools available, this isn’t a difficult task to accomplish.

In today’s competitive environment, small business owners who realize that marketing is about cultivating relationships, building trust and remaining transparent are the winners.

If you’re a car sales-person, you’ve certainly run across many individuals who have deep-seeded beliefs about your integrity. As Gladwell suggests, these prospects have developed their impression based on their own experiences and the experiences that they have heard from others.

However, you have the ability to change your prospects’ experiences. It’s within your power to create a brand new, positive experience for your prospect. Obviously, you need to educate, offer value and show your prospects, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that you are a truthful and honest car sales-person. Because, if you can show them a new reality, they will change their minds.

One of your jobs, as a small business owner, is to continually educate your prospects beyond their initial judgments. You need to showcase your personality and your own unique qualities. This doesn’t mean that you have to put together a slick presentation of your tap-dance skills. You simply need to be you.

Too many small business owners are so wrapped up in “professionalism” that they’re afraid to let their prospects know who they really are; this is a huge mistake.  Talk to your prospects; engage them; develop a relationship with them. This is how the new Fortune 500 companies are being built – one relationship at a time.

And remember, as you read this article, I just may be touring with Adam Lampert. He changed my reality – who would have guessed?

If you’re a small business owner, you’re probably aware that social media marketing is all the rage right now. Not only is it popular for personal use, but also for savvy business owners looking for ways to market their businesses efficiently and economically.

But, if find yourself tentative about jumping into the social media marketing scene, you’re not alone. Marketing through social media platforms is an entirely different experience for most business owners. And, of course, “different” always causes hesitation.

Interestingly enough, walking into the social media scene is much like walking into a huge cocktail party. In both instances you are going to meet people of all shapes and sizes.

Here are the ways that I often categorize social media types:

1) Shy and Awkward. This person lurks in the shadows and is afraid to interact with anyone. They stand on the sidelines listening and observing, but are too afraid to step into the party and start meeting people. Unfortunately, by remaining in the background, they will never understand the entire experience.

2) Loud and Obnoxious. You know this one! You can hear their voice booming from miles away. They talk too loud, too much and monopolize the conversations. No one can get a word in edgewise.

3) Life Of the Party. These are the people that make you laugh. They have funny stories to tell, positive comments to make and just make the party more fun. You always look forward to talking with them again. They may get a bit goofy and dance with a lampshade on their head, but you must admit that they always add that extra spice.

4) Know-It-All. You are going to meet at least one person who seems to have all the answers. In addition, they aren’t afraid to tell you what you are doing wrong, how to do it right and why you should listen to them. Always remember that the know-it-all usually doesn’t know-it-all.

5) The Bore. We have all been stuck in the corner, at one time or another, with the person who drones on and on about their “Aunt Mary’s blood pressure medication.”  Since there doesn’t seem to be any easy escape, you end up nodding in agreement at their mind-numbing stories for hours on end.

6) The No-Show. There’s always someone who doesn’t show up. They say that they will be there, but “something always comes up!” They RSVP, have the best of intentions, but just never quite get there.

7) Friendly Interactor. This is what the party is all about. The friendly people who ask questions, make you smile, share fun stories and remind you that coming to the party was worth it after all (even if you did have to suffer through a few obnoxious, boring, know-it-alls in the process)!

So, in my own experience social media mimics the real world. You just need to decide how you want to be perceived, the type of people you want to gather around and, of course, the type of people you want to avoid.

So, get into that party and meet all the different varieties of people. In the end, you’ll be glad that you did.

If there’s one piece of advice that outshines and outperforms time and time again, it’s the idea of offering free materials and resources to your prospective clients and customers.

In my opinion, there is nothing that you can do to catapult your business more quickly to the top.

The first reason is that marketing has changed dramatically in the past few years. People are sick of interruptive ads and hate being sold. The consumer is becoming more immune to the old ways of advertising and is looking for ways to interact with the companies that they do business with.

Today’s marketplace wants to develop relationship with companies before they make a purchase. So, it’s your job to make sure that there are plenty of different ways for the customer to get to know you.

The second reason is that by offering your prospects a free sample of your product or service, it allows them to get a taste for who you are and what you represent.

Your local grocery store has been using this exact concept for years. While you are strolling the aisles, they offer you a free sample of a tasty food item. You probably wouldn’t have purchased that item until you tasted it. Now, you’ve sampled it and you’re hooked!

It’s really no different with your prospects. Once they have sampled your wares, they are much more likely to make a purchase. Especially in today’s overcrowded marketplace, if you aren’t doing anything to separate yourself from your competition, your prospective clients and customers will simply ignore you.

The third reason is that when you offer your prospects free resources, it automatically positions you as an expert in your particular industry. If your free product/resource is high quality (and it must be high quality!) then, your prospects will automatically trust your authority in this particular field.

The best news is that developing free offers and resources doesn’t have to be an overwhelming task.  The most important factor when creating your free resource is to make sure that it’s not a sales pitch. It needs to be educational, informative and essentially solve a problem that your prospects are facing.

If you are able to create an instructional free offer that teaches your prospect something that they didn’t know before, the long-term benefits are priceless.

There are dozens of examples including:

- Downloadable e-books

- Downloadable audio classes

- Articles

- E-Courses

- Ezine or Newsletter Subscriptions

- Special Reports

- Videos

- CD’s

- DVD’s

- Free Webinars/Teleseminars

- Complimentary Coaching Sessions

- Free Local Seminars

Obviously the sky is the limit and creativity helps. If you are able to write or produce the material yourself, that’s wonderful. If you need to hire an inexpensive “ghost-writer” go to: www.guru.com and describe your project in detail. You will soon have dozens of people who will bid on your project for a very reasonable amount.

When clients access free material that you have developed, they will intrinsically view you as an expert in your industry. They will get to know you and your business style and begin to trust you.  Of course, trust is a key component to building a lasting business relationship.

Most small business owners mistakenly think that marketing is synonymous with advertising. They believe that if they put an ad in their local newspaper, run a Google Adwords campaign and stay active on Facebook, that’s all there is to it.

However, marketing is so much more than running various advertising campaigns. Marketing is every single encounter that you have with your prospects, customers and clients.

Marketing is the way that you answer the phone; marketing is the speed at which you answer your customers’ emails; marketing is how cheerfully and quickly you refund your customer’s money.

There is research to suggest that when a customer or client is happy and satisfied with your product or services, they will tell up to 10 of their friends. However, if a customer or client is unhappy with your product or services, they will tell up to 50 friends.

Obviously, you want to do everything humanly possible to make your customer’s day.

Last week, my family took a day-long trip to Lake Geneva, Wisconsin (a small tourist town on a beautiful lake).  The place was packed and it was almost impossible to find a place to park. Once we finally did find a parking place, we had to put twelve quarters into the parking meter.

Well, of course we didn’t have ten quarters handy so I went into the nearest store to see if they would give me change for three dollars. The woman behind the counter huffily answered that she was “not an ATM machine and if I wanted change I needed to purchase something.” She then abruptly turned away with a huff.

Needless to say, I won’t be entering THAT store ever again!

I walked into the next store feeling that it would be the same story. However, to my surprise the woman behind the counter smiled and said that “of course she would give me quarters for the parking meter!”  She cheerfully pulled out twelve quarters as she engaged in a nice conversation with me. She commented that my kids were adorable, how wonderful the weather had been and asked if I wanted a complimentary cup of coffee.

I ended up buying $50 of merchandise from her store. The store was http://www.genevagiftsandfudge.com/

Even if you don’t have a brick and mortar store, the various ways that you interact with your customers and clients will profoundly affect your business.  It could even be the difference between small business success and small business failure.

Shoestring marketers inherently understand that one of the main components in the success of their small business is how to position themselves as unique, remarkable and extraordinary. In today’s vast ocean of millions of competing small businesses, you and your business will quickly drown if you remain ordinary. It is only the exceptional that survive.

However, the word “exceptional” can be incredibly intimidating for the small business owner. It conjures up images of superheroes and non-human strength.  Be that as it may, it’s really not all that difficult to become exceptional in today’s market. One of the most common dictionary definitions of the word exceptional is, “not conforming to a general rule or pattern.” Basically, you don’t want to be like everybody else.

Take a minute and think about the vast majority of businesses that are content to be ordinary.  They don’t answer emails, they keep you on hold forever, they offer unfriendly or inferior customer service.  Obviously, the list could continue, but there’s no doubt that the business that exceeds your expectations is an anomaly.

Since I am the daughter of an orchestra conductor, I have had the distinct pleasure of meeting some of the most famous artists around the world including Yo-Yo Ma, Itzhak Perlman, Kathleen Battle and recently, a classical guitar quartet known as the Romeros (you can learn more about them at www.romeroguitarquartet.com ).

After the concert, there was a dinner party for select guests and donors of the symphony. Obviously, the Romeros were not expected to attend. (In fact, very few artists would take the time to attend an after-hours dinner party)  But, the Romeros are not content to be just like everyone else. They came to the orchestra party afterward, they mingled with the guests, they ate dinner with the symphony donors and, much to our delight, Pepe Romero got out his guitar and played.

That is what I call “exceptional marketing.” The Romeros went above and beyond the call of duty and exceeded our expectations. As a result, there are now dozens of us that are not just devoted listeners, but “raving fans” who are telling everyone we know about the talent and genius of The Romeros.

What are you doing in your own business that exceeds the expectations of your clients, customers and prospects? Remember, this is not about superhuman feats and accomplishments. It could be as simple as answering emails quickly and efficiently, offering incredibly friendly and supportive customer service, or underpromising and overdelivering.

When you take it upon yourself to stand apart from the crowd and refuse to do business like everyone else, you abandon “ordinary” and catapult to the top of your industry. But, best of all, you and your small business can never drown when you are standing on top of a mountain.

There are several steps that you must take to effectively market your business. If your ultimate goal is to be a master marketer and catapult your business to the top, then you must understand, memorize and implement every single one of these important marketing secrets.

1)      You Do Not Need To Spend Money In Order To Make Money.  Nowadays, there are hundreds of places to market your business for zero-cost. In fact, I have utilized over 200 different free marketing platforms. The best news is that many of these free marketing platforms work better than paid marketing platforms. So, take heart in the fact that you can truly market your business for no-cost and reap huge rewards in the process.

2)      Craft A Unique Marketing Message. You and your business need to stand out from the crowd; ultimately, you want to be unforgettable. That being said, it is vital that you create a marketing message that sticks in the minds of your prospects.  Take the time to create a memorable name, tagline, and logo for your business. Then, showcase your “brand” EVERYWHERE including your social networks, emails, reports, press releases, ebooks, signatures, websites, business cards, etc. Whenever you have a chance to showcase your business, seize the opportunity!

3)      Set Up Your Business Foundation. Every business needs a solid foundation before marketing begins. Without question you should have a landing page with an opt-in form, business website, email autoresponder campaign, professional picture of yourself, testimonials and free samples (i.e. a special report, ebook, e-course, audio class, etc). It is vital that all of your marketing efforts point back to a solid business foundation.

4)      Determine Your Niche. If you are going to be highly successful, it is important to find a niche within your industry. For example, “marketing” is a huge industry with intense competition. It would be next to impossible for a new business owner to break into the general marketing industry.  In my case, I found a niche within the marketing industry that was underdeveloped and needed exposure: free marketing. In most cases, the smaller the niche, the more successful you will be.

5)      Declare Your Expertise. No matter what business you are in, you must become an expert within your niche.  Remember that when people make a purchase or request a service from you, they are interested in solving a problem. If you can effectively communicate to your customer or client that you are an expert who can help them solve their problem, they will be much more likely to do business with you and your company. So, flaunt your expertise and show your clients that you truly can help them.

6)      Tap Into 5 Marketing Platforms (at first). When you first launch your marketing campaign, you may be tempted to join dozens of social networking sites, utilize several different free classified sites, and traffic exchanges, while juggling press releases, articles and blogs. Always remember that if you become a “Jack of All Trades, Master of None,” you will be overwhelmed and ineffective. Instead, pick five marketing platforms that resonate with you and become an expert marketer using these. (ie. Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Youtube and Article Marketing.)  As your business (and profits) grows bigger, you can add more. However, rest assured that you can achieve a great deal of success utilizing nothing more than five marketing platforms.

7)      Be Consistent and Patient.  This is the most important piece of advice for anyone launching a marketing campaign.  Good marketing doesn’t happen overnight. In order for marketing to be effective, your prospective customers must see your offer again and again. So, make a promise to yourself that you will be patient and consistent in your marketing efforts. Those that do, realize huge rewards in their business!

Again, all seven steps are crucial to your business success and if you understand and effectively implement these shoestring marketing secrets, your business will quickly rise to the top!

You’ve probably heard time and time again the old marketing adage “the fortune is in your list.” Whether or not you are familiar with this motto, the truth of the matter is that there truly is no better way to build your business.

No matter what small business you operate, you absolutely must take the time to build a targeted list of interested prospects and satisfied customers.  The most effective way to accomplish this is to have a simple opt-in form on the first page of your website that offers your prospect a free and valuable gift in exchange for their name and email address. This gift can be a special report, ezine subscription or downloadable ebook.

Once a prospect has supplied you with their information, you are able to continue to market to them over and over again.  Here are five ways to market to interested prospects who have agreed to receive additional information from you.

1) Keep Your Brand In Front Of Your Prospect

In today’s noisy and chaotic world, your prospect needs to see your offer between seven and twelve times before they even take notice of you. That means that you must keep your brand, company and product or service in front of them as much as possible. Obviously, you don’t want to spam them or aggressively shove your offer down their throat. You simply want to let them know that you are available as a solution to their problem.

This can be accomplished through automated email marketing and/or ezine marketing.  If they receive interestting and informative information from you several times each week, they will undoubtedly begin to take notice of you.

2) Continue The Conversation To Build Your Expertise

It’s vitally important that you continue to market to your list in a variety of ways. If your prospect receives articles, blog posts, podcasts, ezines and press releases from you, it won’t take long before they conclude that you are an expert in your particular field.

Once you are perceived as an expert, your prospect will see you as the “go-to” person once they are ready to make a purchase.  Your goal is to position yourself as the only person that your prospect will approach once they are ready to make a purchase in your particular niche.

3) Invite Your Prospects To Special Events

Once you begin building your list, you should invite your prospects to important events and promotions that highlight your product or service. As an example, once each month, I offer a free webinar to all prospects who are part of my list.
 
Those who decide to attend my webinar receive a valuable training session on a free marketing strategy. This, of course, continues to build my reputation as an expert in my field. At the end of the event, my attendees are given the option to sign up for one of my shoestring products or services.
 
4) Send Out Coupons, Promotions and Special Offers

When you have a list of prospects who are interested in your products or services, you can periodically entice them to do business with you by offering coupons, promotions and other specials. You can extend one-day only discounts, free trials or complimentary consultations.

Oftentimes, it simply takes an enticing offer for those “fence-sitters” to cross over to the other side. Experiment with special promotions and track which ones bring in the most sales.

5) Sell Additional Products And Services

Not only do you want to build a list of prospects, you want to have an additional list of your current customers and/or clients. Research suggests that 20% of your satisfied customers will purchase from you again if they have the opportunity. Since your current customers have already decided to do business with you, they already trust you and they are much more apt to purchase from you again. So, make sure to present them with plenty of opportunities.

Ultimately, it is essential that you take the time to build a list of targeted prospects and current customers. Your list will allow you to increase brand awareness, continue your conversations, position yourself as an expert and offer special incentives to both your prospects and current customers.

It won’t take long before you realize that your fortune does indeed reside in your list.

The other day I walked into a local furniture store and three salespeople almost knocked each other over trying to get to me first.

The lucky winner who did manage to reach me, took my arm and said slickly, “I’m Stan, you just tell me what you’re looking for sweetheart.”

Despite the fact that I’m not a big fan of the “sweetheart” phrase, I smiled, “Oh, I’m just looking…” But, I could tell that Stan would not be shut down so easily. Stan gave my arm a squeeze and winked at me, “Let me show you around the store, honey.”

I immediately stiffened because I hate when people try and “sell me” (and “honey” is not my favorite phrase either). Despite the fact that Stan viewed me as a “honey sweetheart,”  I needed to get out of that store ASAP!

Believe me, I am not the only one who hates to be sold. As humans, we want to feel that we are in control of our choices and of making our own decisions. We don’t like to be “talked into” anything. And we certainly don’t like when we feel that someone is trying to force us to spend our hard-earned money. We want to decide when and what we spend our money on.

However, even though most people hate the idea of selling, something very strange happens to them as soon as they start their own company. They become full-fledged, 100%, tried and true “sales people.” How in the world does this happen? It’s pretty simple. Most people don’t know what to do when they first start their business. So, because of a lack of knowledge and training, they try to “sell” their product, business or service. They tell customers that their product is the greatest product since sliced bread, their company can’t be beat and that their service is truly the best in the universe.

Hopefully, you recognize the problem here. Their prospects feel the exact same way that I did when I was trying to get out of that furniture store. Their customer feels as if they are being sold and they hate it.

So, what does a new business owner do? Again, the answer is simple: they should never, ever “sell”  themselves or their small business. And, since over 90% of our population hates the idea of selling, this  should be a huge relief!

The successful business owner needs to make a paradigm shift in her thinking. Instead of selling, she needs to be teaching. Research suggests that people tend to follow leaders and those who have a powerful knowledge base. (A quick peek back in history supports this notion as well.)

If your desire is huge and unstoppable success, then you must begin the process of teaching your customers rather than selling them.  Again, this doesn’t need to be a daunting thought.  You can accomplish this by offering a free information to your prospects: a report on your website, a short e-book, a 10-day e-course or an ezine subscription. 

If you move into the role of a teacher, you will find that people will flock to your business like never before. Remember, teaching is your key to success. It’s too bad that Stan “the furniture man” didn’t realize this.

A radical change has occurred in the world of marketing.  Just five short years ago, most companies utilized only traditional forms of advertising including: TV ads, radio ads, magazine ads, newspaper ads, etc.
 
As a result, most marketing consisted of advertising that interrupted whatever the consumer was doing. TV commercials are a perfect example of this advertising concept. As you watch your favorite Thursday night program, suddenly a commercial breaks onto the scene and interrupts you. Thus, the term “interruption marketing” was born!
 
Obviously, consumers began to rebel against interruptive advertising, because, let’s face it, no one likes to be rudely interrupted.
 
According to Kirby and Marsden (authors of Connected Marketing), 90% of people who can skip TV ads, do skip TV ads. In addition, 65% of people believe that they are constantly bombarded with too much advertising. So, as a small business owner, the first question that you must ask yourself is: “Am I rudely interrupting my prospects with directive advertising methods?”
 
As consumers pulled away and began to distrust directive forms of marketing, marketers were forced to make a change. No longer could marketers engage in the traditional, forceful ways of old; consumers were just too savvy for that.
 
As a result, interactional marketing was born! Developing relationships with your customers before they do business with you is an integral part of a successful marketing plan. No matter what business you are in, your motto should be: relationships first, sales second.
 
As a marketer what can you do to begin to develop relationships with today’s consumer? Here is a quick list to ensure that you are heading in the right direction:
 
1) Engage Your Prospects Through Real Conversations. Today’s clients desperately want personal relationships with those they choose to do business with. As a business owner this is relatively simple to accomplish through some of the popular social media sites:  Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube, etc. Ask questions, answer questions and provide helpful suggestions to your prospects on a regular basis. Marketing is not a one-way street. Today’s consumer wants to build a relationship with you.
  
2) Focus On Solving Your Prospect’s Problems. As a small business owner, you need to determine what problems your prospect needs solved – then work at providing the solution! Believe it or not, your prospects don’t care how successful, savvy or good-looking YOU are. All they care about is their own problems and how you can provide the solution. You must take the focus off of yourself and instead, convince your prospective clients and customers that you can help them.
 
3) Share Information. Offer your prospects valuable information about yourself and your company. Give them a taste of what they can expect if they develop a business relationship with you. You can accomplish this by giving away free reports, free ebooks, free product samples, etc.
 
4) Use The 80/20 Rule. No matter what platforms you use to interact with your prospects, always follow the 80/20 Rule (better known as the Pareto Principle). You should spend 80% of your time providing useful content, offering helpful suggestions and developing relationships and only 20% of your time promoting your company, blog, websites, etc.
 
5) Treat Your Clients and Customers Like Royalty. Once you start bringing in new clients and customers, make sure to wine and dine them! Your small business will grow ten times faster if you create loyal, lifetime fans of your products and services. Why? Simply because your current clients and customers are 40% more likely to buy from you again and 60% more likely to send you referrals. 
 
Again, today’s consumers are extremely distrustful of interruptive and directive forms of advertising. Instead, they are interested in developing a relationship with their business partners. So, provide your prospective clients with plenty of ways to interact, connect and get to know you. Your business will thank you!