2007 is your year! Up until today you have been breaking ground or trying to stay afloat. You founded your business with a sound business plan and stocked the shelves. Now you're ready to tell the world what you have to offer. You may have even begun to sing the praises of your offering, but no one is listening; at least that's what your bottom line tells you.

So how do you make 2007 different than the previous year? Where should you start? The very first thing you need to do is take a look at what you did in 2006 that brought you any business. Figure out what worked and repeat the process. Did you participate in a vendor fair that brought you sales either immediately or afterwards? When you donated your time or product did you at least get a sponsor ad?

Now that you have an idea of what worked and what didn't where do you go from here? Take a look once again at your list. After each successful event did you follow-up? Right about now you are probably thinking, "I know I should be doing follow-ups. I have heard that said a million times before. That's nothing new!" Maybe so, but do you DO IT? If not, I highly recommend that you make it a habit in 2007. If there is one thing that separates the successful entrepreneur from the struggling one it is FOLLOW-UP! Let's look at some terrific and simple follow-up ideas that are sure to get results.

Hopefully at your event you made a note of the people who attended. If you don't know their contact information ask the host or hostess of your event. They should be more than happy to assist you. Realize that those that were in attendance were at least mildly interested or they wouldn't have been there. Don't let this knowledge slip by unnoticed or unused. Write them a quick thank you for attending email - or better yet, if you can get their mailing address send them a card or postcard. With all the junk mail we receive today the timely postal piece makes a substantial impact on your eager audience.

Another idea that I don't want you to miss is to include a 'thank-you' gift in your correspondence. You will be pleasantly surprised how beneficial a discount or bonus is in getting an interested shopper off the proverbial fence. All of the most successful companies use some form or another of this technique and you should too!

Yet another helpful piece of advice I would like to impart is to share your knowledge. This can be done by offering a number of different resources. Begin with a blog, articles, books, and perhaps even ezines. All of these will help you in thee ways. One, it will keep your name in front of your interested consumer; two it will multiply the number of unreciprocated links to your business website as your articles and links are picked up and forwarded. When search engines find these links they increase your ranking. Unreciprocated links are given more weight than reciprocal links. When search engine bots find numerous unreciprocated links they see you as an expert and that gives you even better ranking in the search listings. Speaking of expert, this is the third benefit; you are perceived by not only the bots but by people as an expert!

The reality is YOU determine when you are the "guru". Every expert I have ever talked to claims this to be true. When they started believing they were an expert and started calling themselves one is when others started believing they were too. This is not a title you earn; it is one you must CLAIM!

While you are doing all of this writing don't forget this tip, build your client base by creating a subscriber opt-in list. Don't miss the boat here. This is a very easy way to differentiate the interested browser from the non-interested ones. Two words of advice here, FREEBEEs and EVERY page! OK, so that was three. To increase the chance your visitor will opt-in, offer something of value to them and make it easy for them to sign-up.

If you only have your sign-up form on one page you lessen the chance that when your visitor is ready to register for your newsletter that they will find their way back to do so. In today's immediate gratification society you must be there when and where they need you. By simply putting your opt-in form on every page of your website you increase your chances of gaining a new contact for your business. So put your sign-up form on ALL your web pages; yes, even your blog!

One final tip is NEVER GIVE UP! Stay focused on your goal. It is when you jump from one thing to the next and don't give your best effort, or you quit because it is too hard, that you fail. Take a tip from the Olympic athletes. They don't win the gold by entering multiple competitions. The gymnast doesn't train for both gymnastics and skating, and the skater doesn't train also for skiing. Although these sports may seem similar to you the Olympic athlete knows that to win the gold they must focus on one and only one goal. Then they focus all their energy, learning and practicing on a daily basis. Did you catch that one? Do something for your business DAILY!

Be careful here. I am not saying you shouldn't diversify. What I am saying is wait to diversify until you have conquered the one business that you want to see succeed. How well I remember in my hair transplant business, years ago, that when I jumped off into another business venture before I should have my main business suffered. Luckily I saw the error and closed the second venture until my bread winning business could stand on its own.

Make 2007 YOUR year to WIN! Decide what you want and go for it. Reach for the stars. If you only make it to the moon you are a lot better off than if you had not tried at all.

© Copyright 2006 Ginger Marks