11 Ways to Turnaround a Cash-Strapped Business or Practice

This past weekend I received a disturbing message from a dear friend. His business wasn't generating all the income he needed. He's exhausted all savings, started depleting credit card reserves and badly needed money to pay this month's mortgage... Ouch! I wish I knew sooner...

Whether it's pride or just human nature that keeps professionals from asking for help sooner, it's just plain silly to keep "toughing it out" when there are so many strategies for generating new business fast.

You see, there is really no shortage of new business, there is only a shortage of knowledge how to get this business.

So if you are one of those professional folks who could use a few hundred bucks to help out with this month's mortgage, here are a few strategies to get your business buzzing with new customers or clients:

1. Get on the phone! Pick up the phone and call everyone you know. Contact all clients, prospects, friends and family. Make sure they all know what you do, who you are looking for as a client, and how to "give you away."

2. Get out and meet people! Sitting in the office, shuffling paperwork and piddling around with emails will not take you far enough fast enough. You need to be talking to people who can buy your product or service. Set a goal of how many people you want to see in person every day and find ways to meet that goal!

3. Stop competing and start leveraging! Instead of being mad at your competitors for stealing all your business, approach them and offer to help out. At times we all get projects that are too big, too small, or too "whatever" for us to take on.

Contact your competitors and ask if they would be willing to outsource their "too whatever" jobs to you - so that you can both make some dough. (Yeah, I know, it sounds like eating some humble bread ? but hey, I think it beats living under a bridge ;-)

4. Ask for referrals! You should be doing this anyway. Have a conversation with all clients (past and current) and help them think of people they can introduce you to right away. Oh, and don't forget ? just because a prospect says "no", it doesn't mean he or she doesn't know someone who would gladly say "yes".

5. Crank up your follow-up! Do you have a stack of cards from people who turned you down once before? Maybe it's time to resurrect them. Reach out to your "old" prospects - even if you previously gave up on them. Give them a call, send them a postcard or an article, and give them a special reason to say "yes" now!

6. Forgive your ex-clients! Frequently ex-clients realize they made a mistake by getting involved with another vendor ? but they are too embarrassed to admit it. Give them a way to gracefully come back to you and many will do it.

7. Catch a COI! Form an alliance with Centers of Influence who can introduce to a large number of prospects at once and give you instant credibility. Well thought out and carefully executed strategic alliances with COI can infuse your business with all the new sales you can handle.

8. Educate, educate, educate! Regardless of what business you are in you can always find things your clients and prospects would appreciate learning from you. How-to tips, informative case studies, industry reports ? those are all great tools that can easily attract prospects hungry for your "stuff."

9. Start thinking strategically! If you are having trouble attracting enough new business, the marketing tactics above should help you get things hopping, but to achieve a long-term sustainable success you'll need to address your marketing on a strategic level.

Identify or re-evaluate your ideal target market, clearly describe the benefits your product or service provides, create a compelling marketing message, re-evaluate your business model and re-define your methods of delivering your product or service, etc., etc.

10. Stop getting and start giving! When you are in the "how I can GET a client" mode, you are focused on you ? and that doesn't make you very attractive. Shift your thinking to "how I can GIVE clients more VALUE" and you'll become an irresistible client magnet!

11. GET HELP! When you are in the midst of a demanding situation you cannot always have the clarity needed to creating solutions. Collaborate with a successful associate, start your own board of advisors or a mastermind group, or hire a marketing mentor to pull you out of the quicksand. Remember, when time and money count ? you can't afford the expensive "trial and error" learning curve!

Oh, and one final thought ? now that you are done reading - get busy implementing!

(c) 2004 Adam M. Urbanski

The Author, Adam Urbanski, The Marketing Mentor, helps Service Professionals and Small Business Owners attract more clients. For more free tutorial articles, hot how-to tips and a FREE 32-page marketing guide go to http://www.themarketingmentors.com

____________________

Advertisement: Honest Riches - Click Here!

Advertisement: Lost AdWords - Click Here!

Advertisement: Get $1 Million A Month In Google Pay-Per-Click Ads Free! - Click Here!

Advertisement: Who Loves Money? - Click Here!

Advertisement: SEO Elite, the GrandDaddy of SEO Software - Click Here!

In The News:

---

LA reveals unveils new tourism marketing slogan
San Jose Mercury News,  USA - 40 minutes ago
AP LOS ANGELES—The city on Friday unveiled a new marketing campaign built around the slogan "That's So LA" to keep tourists coming despite the nation's ...
New campaign to boost LA tourism abc7.com
all 7 news articles

Reuters
Audi says it will increase US marketing efforts
Chicago Tribune, United States - 3 hours ago
Those marketing dollars have an aim to push Audi US sales to 200000 vehicles by 2018. Schwarzenbauer said the company has a goal to sell 1.5 million Audis ...
Audi plans record US marketing spending Reuters
Audi plans to boost US marketing budget Automotive News
Audi says it will increase US marketing efforts Fox 28
DetNews.comall 15 news articles

Columbus tech firm buys Dayton marketing company
Bizjournals.com, NC - 6 hours ago
Implications International, which specializes in interactive marketing, brand design, and Web development, has offices in Peoria, Ill., Mumbai, India, ...

Wellstar/TMI Begins Marketing Imaging System to Long-Term Care ...
MSNBC - 1 hour ago
TMI's marketing plan includes a program where LTC facilities can lease the equipment necessary to perform skin assessments and store the necessary data ...

Halekulani to get marketing boost from Japanese hotel
Bizjournals.com, NC - 5 hours ago
Effective April 1, Imperial Hotel will start reservations service, sales, marketing and public relations activities within Japan for Halekulani and Waikiki ...

Proton Laboratories Announces New Sales & Marketing Office
MSNBC - 18 hours ago
Proton will start by marketing a variety of enhanced water products that provide health benefits for people and the planet as well as the commercial product ...
Proton Laboratories opens Southern California office Bizjournals.com
all 9 news articles

Zoo honored for marketing campaign
Salt Lake Tribune, United States - 2 hours ago
... different companies around the US The Utah Chapter of the Society for Marketing Professional Services recognizes excellence in marketing communications ...

Boston Globe
FedEx trims '09 marketing budget by 25%
Bizjournals.com, NC - Jan 8, 2009
United Parcel Service Inc. rival FedEx Corp. will cut its marketing budget by more than 25 percent for 2009, the company recently disclosed on its blog. ...
FedEx cuts marketing spend by more than 25 percent Reuters
FedEx cuts marketing budget DM News
FedEx to reduce marketing budgets by 25% Brand Republic
all 45 news articles

Katz Media Launches New Marketing Unit
FMQB, NJ - 9 hours ago
Katz Media Group has launched a new, national marketing unit that will create custom solutions for advertisers and their agencies with the goal of ...
Katz Launches National Marketing Unit, Trims Staff Media Buyer Planner
Katz Media Group forms marketing unit BtoB Magazine
Katz creates unit to handle ads for new radio platforms SmartBrief
all 6 news articles

Examiner.com
Cape May tourism department wins marketing award
Examiner.com - 12 hours ago
by William Sokolic, Jersey Shore Examiner The Hospitality Sales & Marketing Association International will recognize the Cape May County Department of ...

marketing - Google News

Attracting Clients With Incremental Marketing

Do you ask prospective clients to go too far?Must your new clients take a "leap of faith" when they engage you?Or do you gradually draw them closer... Read More

Twelve Places to Buy a Mailing List

©2004 Jeffrey DobkinThere are two types of lists, determined by their origin: compiled lists and response lists.Compiled lists are a common source of names and records that... Read More

Sales Resistance on the Rise

Have you noticed it? More and more marketing campaigns are going over the top. They're trying bolder, more in-your-face tactics. And consumers DON'T like it.There's a growing... Read More

Create A Business Card That Sells and is Effective

Why does your business need a business card?Business card is a powerful piece of card handed out to your clients or given to you by someone which... Read More

SWOT Analysis -- Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats

When conducting strategic planning for any company -- online and/or offline -- it is useful to complete an analysis that takes into account not only your own... Read More

Is Your Marketing Working...

That is the question, you should be asking yourself. Many feel that it is I'm sure. But is it really!Which scenario is better or best for your... Read More

D.A.N.C.E. With Me

Recently, a client asked what he could do to help my business, but I wasn't ready with the answer. A lot of us probably miss these opportunities... Read More

4 Steps To Increase Your Job Sign Marketing

It's no secret that using a job site sign can be an effective way to market your company's services to neighborhood homeowners. But most job sign marketing... Read More

Open Doors by Building Relationships

"You can make more friends in two months by becoming interested in other people than you can in two years by trying to get others interested in... Read More

Put Your Marketing To The So What? Test

Want to get Better at your Marketing today?For many service business owners, marketing can be a real mystery. We don't really know exactly how it works. We're... Read More

What Does Marketing Mean?

You can have the best little business ever with wonderful potential, but if you can't market it, you don't have a business at all.Learn how to market... Read More

Voice Mail Can Be Your Buddy

Voice Mail is a classy name for "answer Machine". Problem is, people at home had answer machines long before most businesses. When the answer machine industry finally... Read More

Build Relationships

Personal marketing makes it easier to sell, by building relationships nurtured on awareness, value and trust. Make your relationships more fruitful by making them personal. Use these... Read More

5 Great Ways to Reach Your Target Market

There are many ways to reach out and find the people you are trying to attract for your business. Here are just a handful of ways to... Read More

More Marketing Dope

Direct marketing can make you very successful, but you've got to understand the basics. Here are some more gems of the industry that can take you from... Read More

The Right Logo

The Logo: a little historyLogotype, commonly know as a logo, is a design, a graphic representation/image/trademark symbolizing one's organization. Designed for instant identification, a logo can appear... Read More

Signage for Mobile Car Wash Vehicles

If you are in the mobile car wash business and you should be. Then you know that your clean work vehicles is your best piece of advertising.... Read More

Have You Captured Me Today?

There are many Web sites I visit every day and will probably never return to again. It's not that I didn't like the site, or that I... Read More

Direct Marketing ? Brand Identity Guru Tips

If your company doesn't have a direct marketing program in place, a direct marketing agency can create one for you. A direct marketing company provides small to... Read More

Peek a Boo - We See You -- 7 Trade Show Tips for Marketing Managers

Peek a Boo - We See YouDoes your company have a description for a full-time job that says "Stand in the booth and hand out brochures."?Doubt it."Working... Read More

URL Everywhere? Offline Marketing For Online Success

Your URL (www) should be everywhere and more.I know many of you are going to think this is common sense, but how many of these are you... Read More

Guerrilla Marketing in Action

Guerrilla Marketing is using time, energy and imagination to market a product, business or person without spending massive amounts of hard earned profit dollars. It also has... Read More

Digital Printing vs. Press Printing ? A Comparison Guide

When it comes time to print your brand identity materials, there's one overarching question for you to consider - whether to print the resulting materials on a... Read More

Marketing is More Than Advertising

Marketing is a business process about which much is written, however is often not completely understood. Many think that "marketing" and "advertising" are interchange-able words. This is... Read More

Break Even On Your Next Direct Mail Campaign...And Still Generate Huge Profits

With direct mail, you can break even and still claim success. The reason for this can be understood only when determining the lifetime value of each customer... Read More

Wooing Women With Packaging

In just one month three California vineyards have introduced new wine product lines specifically targeted to women. The product offerings are intriguing with names such as "White... Read More