Get All Access for $5/mo

How a Little Marketing Push Can Equal a Big Revenue Bump Do you know where your customers are?

By Wendy Keller

Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

My CPA's office overcharged me for my tax preparations last month. When I brought it to his attention, we realized it was a juxtaposition of the numbers. Simple to solve. He had it handled immediately.

To thank him, I went on Yelp and wrote a great review — their first one ever. Their business, founded in the 1970s, relies very much on local people coming in, but it was still "unclaimed" on Yelp. The founder's grown son said, "Yeah, every year I plan to see if I can figure out how to build our presence on social media, but so many other things...."

I work with authors to sell their book manuscripts to top publishers. Most are businesspeople who want to get published to build their core business or get more paid speaking, coaching or consulting engagements. To my astonishment, very few have taken even the first steps toward marketing themselves, just like my CPA firm. They do "OK" and then just hang on for dear life, living off their current revenues and customer base. But without at least some marketing, their book will not sell. That means no agent can sell it, which means their book cannot magically increase their revenues.

Related: Entrepreneurial Leadership, Good Eats: How Independent Restaurant Operators Are Showing Their Strength

Like the CPA firm, like so many hopeful authors, the growth that comes from good marketing starts with very small things done right, just like so much of life's success.

Here are a few questions to help you decide if there's a wee bit more you could do to move your company toward growth:

1. When is the last time you, your company, your services, your employees or your customers were featured in any media? Newspapers, magazines (trade or general), radio, TV...think of all those potential customers who don't even know you exist yet! Since they have never even heard of you, how can they seek you out?

[NOTE: Advertising is media you pay for. I'm talking about publicity, when the media features you for free.

2. Other than narcissistic announcements and pitches about your new products or services, does your social media strategy include general interest content, features about your best or most interesting clients, sharing information from other sources that will help your customers work with you or attract new ones, offer insight into your employees, etc.? If not, you are blasting, not connecting. Connections get calls.

3. Do you know where your customers are? Do you have a plan to make allies in your industry who will endorse/recommend you? Do you have a plan for building a good reputation in a pleasant, consistent way — and subtly broadcasting it? Examples include appearing helpful on podcasts that serve your customers, offering free guides on your website and using the publicity you get to endorse your excellence.

If you're running a small business, you likely know that you'd like to scale up, increase your revenues and maybe bring on more people. But how do you do that until you have more revenues? How do you build your marketing while serving your clients, trying to keep every pot boiling and handling what's already coming in (the good and the bad)? The secret is to use clever systems to simplify or maybe even delegate things like your overall media strategy. Even one step in the right direction counts.

Related: How to Get Noticed in a Noisy World

Doing more outreach brings in more customers. More customers bring in more money. More money means you can hire more people to serve your customers. That's how businesses grow. Getting knowledgeable about even one sliver of publicity and marketing can bring in revenues you cannot even predict until you try.

Wendy Keller is an entrepreneur, the author of The Ultimate Guide to Platform Building and the content strategist behind StrategicVisibilityMarketing.com, which gives small businesses access to wise, inexpensive, successful marketing and growth strategies.

Wendy Keller

CEO and Founder of Keller Media, Inc.

Wendy Keller is an award-winning former journalist, a respected literary agent, an author, speaker, acclaimed book marketing consultant, and branding expert. She is the author of Ultimate Guide to Platform Building (Entrepreneur Press®, 2016) and got her first job as a newspaper reporter as a 16-year-old college freshman. Since then, Wendy worked for PR Newswire; the Knight-Ridder newspaper chain; as managing editor of Dateline magazine; and as associate publisher of Los Angeles’ then-second-largest Spanish language weekly, La Gaceta. She works with authors, speakers and business experts to help them build and promote their brands. She founded Keller Media, Inc. in 1989.

Want to be an Entrepreneur Leadership Network contributor? Apply now to join.

Editor's Pick

Leadership

Should I Stay or Should I Go? 8 Key Points to Navigate the Founder's Dilemma

Here are eight key signs that help founders determine whether to persevere or let go.

Growing a Business

How Connecting With the Right Audience Drives Long-Term Business Success

Here's how targeted lead generation can help you unlock higher conversions, stronger brand loyalty and scalable growth.

Starting a Business

They Bought an Ice Cream Truck Off eBay for $5,000. Now Their Company Has 70 Shops and Sells Treats in Over 12,000 Stores.

For the episode of "The Founder CEO," the co-founder and CEO of Van Leeuwen Ice Cream explains how one ice cream truck grew into a successful nationwide brand.

Marketing

Your Most Powerful Marketing Weapon Is Hiding in the Finance Department — Here's Why

Transform your marketing leadership by turning finance from a barrier into a strategic ally. Learn how aligning with your finance team can drive unprecedented growth and innovation.

Business News

'You Own Nothing Here on Social': Meta Outage, Looming TikTok Ban Has Creators Questioning How Much of Their Business They Really Control

With repeated tech outages and a possible TikTok ban on the horizon, creators are looking for new ways to influence. Turns out, one old-school way still reigns supreme.

Business News

Meta Makes $1 Million Dollar Donation to Donald Trump's Inaugural Fund

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg also reportedly gave Trump a pair of Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses.