In our previous installment, we discussed how marketing to get new customers can be expensive and time-consuming.

How can you compete?

How can you get customers into your business?

Well, here’s something that’s worked for me.

Despite the rise of the Internet, direct mail advertising is still not only viable, it is incredibly effective.

Just look in your mailbox if you don’t agree.

It’s filled with postcards and letters enticing you to open them and read them.

It must be working, or businesses wouldn’t continue using this time-tested marketing method.

True, there are some steps involved.

You’ll have to

• develop a campaign (or pay someone else to do it),
• design and print the ads (or pay someone else to do it),
• buy and/or maintain your list and mail it (or pay someone else to do it), and finally
• measure the results (or pay someone else to do it).

As an entrepreneur or small business owner, how do you compete?

Perhaps with a printed customer newsletter!

Now let’s look at the next thing:

How can you get more customers so you can increase your profits?

Whatever marketing method or methods you use, it takes a lot of time, energy, and resources.

Maybe you’ve got sales representatives pounding the pavement and touting your products or services.

If so, you know the expenses involved:

• commissions
• benefits
• mileage reports
• quotas
• training
• and the list goes on.

Even if you opt for networking to spread the message about your company, you’ve still got to make a time investment.

As an entrepreneur, you know that time really is money.

Even if you’ve got the best marketing campaign in place and the most successful sales staff, you’ve got to track every effort to determine what’s working and what’s not.

Failing to measure results is one of the quickest roads to business failure.

How can you possibly know where to invest your efforts and resources without knowing what’s working and what’s not?

If you’re guessing, you might as well throw your hard-earned money into the wind and hope for the best.

There’s no question about it – getting new customers has always been tough business – but there’s hope.

Is there perhaps a better way to grow your business that will work for you?

I’m glad you asked.

Watch this space as I will reveal it next time.