It's an unusual small business owner who planned to be in the business he or she finishes up in (and I count myself among them). I ended up in my business in part through a love of writing, and partly through necessity. Few of us genuinely sit down and create a small business marketing plan for the whole adventure as a business from the start though.

They appear to labour under the delusion that because they're good butchers, bakers or candlestick makers they're going to be good at running those businesses.

Unfortunately, this is usually false. And the big problem is not many people realise no matter what business they assume they're in, they're in fact in the marketing of the business they're in. In other words, if you sell widgets, you're not in the "widget business": you are really in the "marketing of a widget business business".

In this article we 'll look at what I've found over the years to be the three most important aspects of any small business marketing.

Yes, I know: I cannot share all I know about small business marketing in one article and 3 tips ... but in real 80/20 style I can give you some strategies which, if you embrace them, will make an enormous difference in your business.

1. Follow up till blue in the face

Successful business owners know the secret to business success is found in following up.

Put another way, you'll sell more if you tell more.

It's a tough job selling anything to anyone on your first meeting, particularly if it's a serious purchase. It takes time. I, myself, frequently get new customers and clients who have been getting my tips and emails literally for years.

2. Buy clients not make sales

The original sale you make to a client is often irrelevant in financial terms because the real value is always going to be in the subsequent sales you make. The lifetime customer value, in other words.

Too many business owners do not comprehend this, and instead fall over themselves in the rush to make each individual sale, without bearing in mind this long-term value.

In my experience, it's often held true I make more money in my relationship with a client in the long term by talking them out of an early and to my mind unsuitable purchase.

3. The Bullseye

Why does your business exist?

Any answer significantly different from "to make a profit" suggests to me you might need to think again about the whole business thing.

I'm not being unprincipled here, because even a non-profit business founded for the most humanitarian and noble of reasons must make a profit to stay in business. No matter how good the ultimate cause, there are still paychecks to be paid out, commitments to be met and bills to be paid.

It follows, then, you really must be selling something.

What's more, this is no way contradicts what I said above about cultivating long-term relationships rather than focusing on immediate sales. Quite the reverse, because, by serving rather than selling, you 'll end up selling more over the long term.

What you're not doing is focusing on any single sale as being especially important.

Yes, you do need sales and you do need customers and clients ... but no single one of them is indispensable. If they are, then your business is in a very dangerous position and you need to do something about, and soon.

Really, it's easier than you think to grow a successful and profitable small business, and if you implement what I've given you in this article, it's going to be a whole lot easier for you.

Author Jon McCulloch is perhaps Europe's top direct response expert. Visit his website and take just three of his 52 FREE small business marketing tips he's giving away today, and actually put them to work for you and you'll be amazed by the results.

They've all produced substantially improved results for businesses just like yours in the last two years. Your tips are here: =>

http://www.small-business-marketing-tips.com/52-small-business-marketing-ideas