One day I realized,  that although I love what I do, and feel blessed that I own my own business that I enjoy,  it dawned on me that  without my customers it would just be an expensive hobby.

My clients are what keeps my business up and running. If they aren’t happy and don’t want to keep doing business with me, I’d have no business.

I’m always  saddened when I go to a restaurant or store and the employees have a poor attitude because  I know how much this is going to hurt the owner’s business. I’m not blaming the employees by the way. Often, they are mimicking their employer, and if they aren’t  treated well, it trickles down to the customers. But sometimes people just have a bad attitude.

Don’t underestimate the importance of good customer service. It’s one of the most important parts of marketing.  When people are happy, receive good service and feel appreciated, they come back and they’ll tell their friends. A poor reputation is  like gaining weight. It’s much easier to put it on and it takes way longer to get rid of it.  It reminds me of the old adage, ” You don’t get a second chance at a first impression.

I was sitting in a waiting room at a busy medical office yesterday. I was waiting to get an X-ray taken along with many other  impatient people. I watched people, one at a time go up to the counter to check on their status. The women who was the clerk, had the most magnificent smile and charismatic positive energy I have ever seen. She brightly smiled at each person and as a result, they all were kind and  not one person complained to her. It was phenomenal really. I hope she was  really well paid.

Here are a few things you can do to beef up your customer service and believe me, it will go a long way!

1. Offer something complimentary or free. People love free samples and it feels very giving.  It’s great marketing and it allows a client to get a taste of what you offer.

2. Send a thank-you card or postcard with a big, “Thank you for being my customer,”  statement.

3. Ask people what they need,  and try to meet that request if you can. Looks for ways to say, “yes.”

Remember that your clients are the most important people on your team. Keep them happy and your business will flourish!

Do you want three strategies that you can always count on to never fail?  You’ve come to the right place. If you follow-through and stay committed, these three strategies will keep on working over and over and your business will grow and flourish.

All successful business have a system. Many entrepreneurs never achieve the goals and success they want in their business, simply because they’re not following a consistent system that works.   Here are my top three strategies that continue to help me.

1. Develop a crystal clear vision of where you are going. Keep your eye on that focus no matter what happens. It’s all about clarity of focus. That old saying, ” What you see is what  you get,” is true. If you see a fuzzy, confused picture, the first problem you have will throw you off track. But if your picture is detailed and clear, the problems will just be challenges to overcome.

2. Find a mentor who is successful, positive and  is committed to helping you to overcome those challenges. Someone outside of your business will provide objectivity that is essential. When you’re stuck, your emotions can come in and confuse you, but your mentor can provide that important reality check to help you to stay on track.

3. Be  an actor, not a reactor. Develop goals with a clear time line attached.  The goals are part of an overall plan which  comes from your vision. Without a plan and goals to get your there, your business will be like a ship with no rudder in a storm and you will end up spending all of  your time reacting to situations. When you have a plan, you are in control and your actions are part of  your bigger picture.

If you follow these three strategies you will be on the road to reaching the success you want.

Entrepreneurs are often a quirky lot; independent minded souls who like to do things your own way and in your own time. You’re risk takers and initiators. All those are wonderful traits that can support your success, but like any qualities they also have challenging sides.

You might be so used to going for it, and making decisions yourself, that when you’re faced with a larger challenge you just step on the gas and do more of what you’ve already been doing. More isn’t always better, and in fact,  it can sometimes be worse.

Let’s say you’ve spent a wad of money on advertising and get no results, so you decide to spend another wad and then another. Still no results. You begin to get a clue that there’s a problem. By now you’ve spent way too much money, so you’re also feeling a bit stressed and worried.

Is this a time to get help? Yes, but it would have been even better to get help before you spent the second wad of dough. However the very best time would have been at the beginning.  With the right support you could have analyzed your business and developed a marketing plan based on  logic with a system that works.

Why do entrepreneurs not get help at the beginning? They’re independent types and think they can do it themselves. The truth is that:

1. Most successful business owners ask for help.

2. Someone you trust will get you to think past your own limiting thoughts.

3. Operating from a plan is way better than throwing darts.

4. Every obstacle has a solution.

5. The most successful entrepreneurs will do whatever it takes!

I’ve made the assumption that you want to be successful in  your business and be able to see more clients, make more money and know you are helping people. How to do this is is a really big question.

No two web designers, bookkeepers coaches have the same business plan. There’s many ways to go; a lot of choices in products, programs and types of clientele to name a few.

All these decisions effect your marketing decisions. Vision and marketing are symbiotic in a way and without knowing your vision,  you can’t make an intelligent decision around how to market yourself. My clients ask me how Twitter or Facebook will help their business.  It can seem like a big waste of time, but in fact, it could be excellent if you know what  you are wanting to accomplish. Once you know that, you will know how to use these tools  as marketing tools.

They are only tools and like any tool it can be a waste of time if you don’t have a clear focus of what you want to accomplish. So the first thing is to get crystal clear about how you want to grow your business, and then from that place look at the tools that can support your success and the best way to use them.

7 Steps for Building an Impeccable Marketing Plan

These days when you’re looking for help or you need to hire someone you simply “Google” someone when you want to know more about them.

In order to market yourself and your business,  it’s important to own as much of the Google real estate that pops up under you name.

All the social media sites give you profiles that help in this regard but Google introduced a new tool recently called Google  Profiles . You can now have your photo show up as well as your name.

Here’s my profile so you can see how it works works. http://www.google.com/profiles/kayasinger1

As soon as I did it my profile showed up at the bottom of the page for my name. Try it. Goggle, Kaya Singer and you will see my profile at the bottom of page one. Google Me.

7 Steps for Building an Impeccable Marketing Plan

Go to  www.google.com/profiles to do your own.