If you are a self employed entrepreneur or SOHO, chances are you don’t have the type of business that attracts financial backers or entails teams of employees or contractors working for you. It’s just you and your wallet and the sweat of your own brow. That’s okay. You can work with that and still achieve business growth.

Your main challenge is likely to be sales and marketing. Maybe you hate networking and don’t have much time to spend going out to meet potential clients. Maybe you don’t feel comfortable in those situations, or maybe you have some other life challenges that makes it difficult to get out and attend networking events. That’s okay. There is more than one way to market your business, and for the financially challenged, ways that cost very little.

These ideas won’t suit every business type, but think outside the box and ask yourself how you could adapt the ideas to suit your line of work. For starters, do you have a corporate client or contact? Leave some business cards with them and ask them if they’d mind mentioning your company to their contacts/clients. You can also leave your business cards on the counters of other local businesses, such as the local vet. Be creative!

Is your business the type that you can invite some clients together in one place, perhaps offering them a free seminar or an informational meet and greet occasion? If so, do it and encourage them to bring a friend. If your business is “virtual” – suggest an e-group situation in which they can openly share and discuss issues relevant to their business and again, allow them to invite friends. In this way you introduce your business to potential customers, while servicing existing clients.
Ask your existing clients or contacts for referrals. Encourage their participation by offering them something in exchange, like an incentive scheme. This could be discounts for your products or services, free samples, or gift vouchers. If you don’t like to ask outright, design a “Referral Form” and include it with your invoices, but don’t send it with the first invoice! Prove yourself first. Ask them if they have any leads for you to follow up, and to really make this an offer they can’t refuse, suggest you may be able to put business their way too, using the same methods.
Affiliate yourself with other companies/entrepreneurs who can put business your way in exchange for you offering referrals for them. A kind of you scratch my back and I’ll scratch yours situation. Even appropriate links on websites can be useful, but make sure you are linking to a professional site to safeguard your reputation.
Whether or not you have a referral program, when you do get a new client from a referral, always thank the referrer. Send a thank you note and a small token of your appreciation – it might be a gift voucher or even a lottery ticket. If you haven’t got a referral program in place, whenever you gain a new client from a referral, remember to send a thank you and a small gift to the “referrer” – even a lottery ticket! They won’t mind sending you referrals!
Consider joint ventures. For example, if you are a hair dresser, find a beauty salon or other related business who would be willing to market you to their customers in exchange for you marketing their business to yours. You can offer each others clients special deals and prices that only your and their clientele can get. Find ways to add value to each other’s customers and you will both benefit.

Use the press. Align yourself with a local charity dear to your heart and the next time you do something that benefits them, invite the local journalists or send a press release yourself to your local papers.

Use social media. It may not be the promised answer to everyone’s marketing prayers but at the very least it gets your company name out there and known!

There are as many strategies for promoting business growth as there are types of business. Think outside the box, keep your eyes open for opportunities, experiment and be creative!

It’s important that you begin to take a look at higher priced products or services that create value for your clients, that you can add onto. This is the best way to serve your clients on a better and bigger level and to make a lot more money while creating a lot less sales. Enjoy the process. It works.

One loan program that I’m familiar with is the SBA Loan Queue. What is that? It’s money that President Obama signed in, I believe it was September of 2010. It’s the Small Business Jobs Act – and so there’s money there with the Small Business Administration helping to finance small businesses.

The second one that I know about is 7(a) Loan Program. That’s financial help for your business, and it does have some very specific requirements.

The third loan is one that has been around forever; it’s called the CDC/504 Loan Program. What is that? It’s long-term financing, and it’s to develop the economic growth within a community. Lots and lots of my clients and people that I have coached over the last 30 years have gone in that direction.

Then the fourth is a microloan. If you don’t know what a microloan is, it’s a smaller, short-term loan to a business that certain businesses can qualify for.

Again, I want you to go to http://www.sba.gov and check these out. I just want to familiarize you with the options for small business loans. These are four very, very available for you, and you ought to check them out, get some information and see if having a loan is right for you.

What I recommend you do is go for referrals. Go off of personal referrals, business referrals of other people who have used attorneys that they’re pleased with. You may also get referrals from your local or state chamber of commerce, and if you belong to any organizations or associations with your particular industry, that’s another good place to get referrals.

And finally, if you belong to any networking groups, I would ask the other business owners for folks they’re satisfied with. When choosing an attorney, choose someone whose personality also matches the kind of person that you want to work with. Hope those tips are helpful.

It’s okay if you can’t answer those questions positively, because there’s so many other things you can do. It’s much better when you match your expertise with your passion in an industry where you have credibility. It makes it easy and effortless to grow your business. Right now, do a check in. Are you an expert in the field or do you have expertise in the field, where is your passion, and do you have people that you know in the field that you can contact.

Before you go hiring someone, I want you to think about all the tasks that you need them to do, everything. Make a list. Some people even use them for personal tasks, so be really clear on what they’re going to do. That way, you can see what their skills are.

Not only do you interview them based on experience, but I recommend that they spend a day with you in your office, an entire day shadowing you. That way, you not only get a feel for their sense of detail and organization, but you can get a sense for their personality. Is this someone you’re going to like to be around day in and day out, or is this someone who gets under your skin?

These are important things to notice. Take time in hiring an assistant. Don’t hire the first one that shows up. This person is critical to the success of your business.

I suggest that you set up bookkeeping systems, and that you make sure that there’s double systems so that errors are minimized. I also suggest you make sure to carefully review the books. You can begin to look at what expenses you can eliminate. You should be looking at bank statements and profit and loss statements, and you should also be studying the numbers for trends.

You should also be very careful about buying equipment or buying items outright. Quite often it is a better for you to lease things or to take out loans so that cash flow can be better managed.

One last tip! If you offer cash discounts to your clients and customers, patients, whoever you’re serving, that can actually increase your cash flow quite a bit. And I’d like to see you with more cash in your pocketbook.

First of all, don’t panic. It’s not the end of the world. It’s just something normal and natural that a business owner goes through.

What can you do to prevent burnout? Set some small goals is a great idea. Set these goals, even if it’s a tiny objective of getting a few things done. Spend some time visioning, really juicing yourself up and amping yourself up about what you got excited about in your business to begin with. Go out and reward yourself. Reward yourself for things that you’ve done in your business that you’re proud of and happy about.

And finally, spend some time with your customers. They’ll remind you of how valuable your business is to them. Accept the fact that burnout is normal. You’re human. We all go through this, and we just need to re-light the fire and get our inspiration back. Don’t panic, burnout is something that you can rekindle.

GE says that number one, to be a successful company, you must manage your processes, not people. I couldn’t agree more. You must make sure, as a business owner, that you are constantly managing processes, because we can’t manage people; we can only coach people.

The second thing that GE says that I also agree with is to use a technique like continuous improvement. A third technique is to look at incremental gains. I always teach, “What is working?” Look at your company every day to be successful and ask what it working, and ask that of your employees.

Number four, General Electric says, has to do with measuring performance and customer satisfaction. I am 100 percent in favor of constantly asking your customers, “How are we doing?”

Number five, GE says you need to introduce products faster, and I agree. You have to beat out the competition.

GE also says, as number six, that you should be designing new products that really are efficient to manufacture. So I say, create new products or new services that you can provide in a very quick, easy, effortless, economical way.

GE, for number seven, says that you should treat suppliers and customers as partners. I carry that a bit further: I treat them as extended family members, my suppliers, my vendors and every single one of my valued clients.

Finally, GE says to manage your inventory in a superior fashion. I say to manage everything in a superior fashion, including yourself, including the way that you do business, including your personal life. So take these tips from one of the most successful companies and your business success strategist that’s here to help you. And while we’re on the subject, be sure to try out my Business Growth Site for only $1! What do you have to lose?

I have decided to make my event FREE. That’s right, you can learn my tested and proven business strategies at no cost.

I decided to do this because I am so extremely passionate about teaching small business owners and entrepreneurs, like you, how to be successful. I wanted to take away and doubts or uncertainty that this event isn’t perfect for you! And you still have the opportunity to help a young girl in need! All donations will go to help Danielle, a 17 year old girl suffering from RSD.

My hope is that by making my event free, you will have no reason to not attend! Disciplines of Thriving Entrepreneurs is an event that will help you understand what differentiates the 5% of successful entrepreneurs from the 95% that fail! You can’t afford to miss it!

Don’t hesitate to sign up

Disciplines of Thriving Entrepreneurs
Friday February 25, 2011, 10:00-5:00pm – venue is Plymouth Meeting, PA.

Click here to register and to learn more: http://www.terrilevine.com/event/