And, possibly most importantly, how do you do it at a price that you can afford?



It's not easy, unless you toss away the blinders of traditional marketing and embrace what have come to be known as Guerrilla Marketing techniques, as first described in Jay Conrad Levinson's now-classic 1984 book, Guerrilla Marketing.

Let's begin your conversion to Guerrilla Marketing by asking 11 key questions about your business.

1. How would you describe your business?

If you cannot adequately describe your business in 25 words or less then you need to begin by focusing your business and its goals.

2. What are the key strengths of your business?

You want a straightforward and very honest assessment of your business' strong points. If you can't think of any strong points then that may be an area that needs attention.

3. What are the weaknesses or challenges of your business?

Take a step back from your business and look at it as if you were an outsider being asked to invest in your business. What would be some of your concerns?

4. What is unique about your business? Why would customers buy from you rather than from your competitor?

This is a vital question. If you can't come up with a good, solid answer, then your customers may not be able to either.

5. Where would you like to see your business in the next 6 months? In one year? In five years?

In other words, do you have any kind of a marketing plan and are you following it?

6. What obstacles could be getting in the way of achieving your 6-month goals?

Don't settle for obvious answers. Play Devil's advocate and try to anticipate anything that could derail your efforts, and then try to find solutions.

7. What might be getting in the way of converting more prospects into customers?

Don't be afraid to ask for the opinions of others when trying to answer this question; and, above all, demand honesty in your own answers as well as the answers of others.

8. What are you most passionate about and are these passions part of your business?

Does your passion come through in everything you do? If not, it will show in everything you do and eventually it will destroy your business. If you're not passionate about this business, reflect back to why you went into business and rediscover that passion.

9. What marketing strategies are you using right now?

List everything you can think of; once you begin actively using Guerrilla Marketing techniques your list will skyrocket.

10. What is the most profitable part of your business and what is the least profitable?

Here's where you need to break your business down into its basic components -- something you may not have consciously done before -- and then you must honestly compare the income and profitability of each component.

11. Do you have a strategy for following-up with prospects?

Follow-up is one of the cornerstones of making almost any small business really profitable. If you don't have a workable strategy for follow-up, then you're potentially leaving a lot of profit lying on the table.

How did you do?

If you answered all 11 questions about your business honestly and feel good about each answer, your business is probably setting on a strong foundation.

If you have concerns about any of these 11 vital points, it's time for to seek the help and advice of experts who can help you put your business house in order. Your business success depends on it.