As a business owner, your most important job is to be a “marketer” of your business…after all, if you have no customers…you have no business.

And as a “marketer” you have “tools”…tools that facilitate the job of bringing in business like clockwork. But as a business owner you also have to fill many other rolls and can get so overwhelmed that you can easily forget about some of your best “tools.”

I have three references for my marketing “tools”…these references help prioritize and organize my “tools” so I can be sure to keep them handy and accessible. I call them my “tool belt”, my “tool box” and my “tool shed”.

Your Tool Belt…Everyday Access

Your “tool belt” is something you “wear” daily…the staples of your marketing systems. They should be things that are always working for you around the clock to bring in business and keep your cash flowing. The tools in your “tool belt” should be things like your web site, a Consumer Awareness Guide, Free Recorded Messages, “5–arounds”, a Free Room of Cleaning, email, texting, confirmation calls, flyer deliveries, direct mail campaigns, “Thank You” calls, and Carpet Audits™.

These are different “tools” from your “Before, During, and After Unit” that you need and use frequently. My clients that consistently use these tools are the most successful companies in their market place.

But it’s also important you don’t overlook the tools in your “tool box”…

Your Tool Box…Frequent Access

Don’t let the importance of these tools “slip through the cracks.” I’ve had clients report as high as 45% of their monthly business coming from repeats and referrals by simply making sure they regularly used the tools in their “tool box”.

Make sure you are implementing your monthly client newsletter, blog posts, updating testimonials/reviews both online and offline, Facebook/Twitter/Social Media marketing, a “reminder” program, an “I Miss You” campaign, and a “referral rewards” program.

By regularly using the tools in your “tool box”, you will see massive and consistent growth in your business.

And never underestimate the value of the tools in your “tool shed”…

Your Tool Shed…Not As Frequent But Just As Valuable

These are the tools you may only need to use maybe one time per year…but when you bring them out and use them…you will see huge payoffs.

“Tools” like the Client Appreciation Dinner, an annual referral contest with prizes, and getting free publicity through magazines, newspapers and/or television. These tools are not things you access daily or even monthly, but they are definitely worth pulling out of “storage” and implementing.

For example, one of my clients recently reported bringing in over $47,000.00 this past year from the “Client Appreciation Dinner” alone.

Organizing Your “Tools” Prevents Overwhelm

If you were to just throw all your literal tools into a big pile in the garage, how often would you dig through that heap to find what you need?

It could be so daunting to try to find something as simple as a hammer that you might just forget about it and use the heel of your shoe to hammer the nail instead. The point is…if you don’t have a spot for each of your tools (literal or not) …if you don’t have some semblance of organization….your “tools” are not going to be used. By the simple act of prioritizing and organizing your marketing tools, you will make them so much more accessible to you. (After all no tool works unless you actually use it.)

If you have to fight overwhelm (who doesn’t these days) then simply take a few minutes to “organize” your “tools” today. When they are organized and prioritized you can be sure you are using all of your tools that bring in money every day of the year.

Keep it E.L.F.™!

Best,

JOE

Note: For more tips on prioritizing, listen to Episode 47 “the one about your annual marketing calendar” and Episode 50 “the one to start the year off” at www.ilovemarketing.com for free today.

The Piranha Team is going without shoes today…

Why?

Well a few days ago Joe had an incredible conversation with Blake Mycoskie, the founder of a company called TOMS Shoes.

After traveling to Argentina and discovering that the children there do not have shoes to protect their feet, Blake created a company called TOMS Shoes. What separates TOMS Shoes from other shoe companies is that for every pair of shoes purchased, TOMS Shoes gives a pair of shoes to a child in need.

Some children walk several miles on a daily basis for food and water, while having cuts and sores on their feet. Going without shoes can lead to serious infections and diseases. Last April, over 250,000 people from all over the world (including celebrities like Demi Moore, The Jonas Brother, Olivia Wilde and more) went without shoes for one day to raise awareness.

You can watch a short video about this incredible movement and listen to the conversation Joe had with Blake by going here: www.ILoveMarketing.com.

Today, TOMS Shoes is doing it again and the Piranha Team is doing their part to help raise awareness for this amazing cause. TOMS is proof that using marketing in the RIGHT way can bring financial rewards while making the world a much better place.

We invite you to listen to Joe’s conversation with Blake by going to www.ILoveMarketing.com because it could change the way you look at social entrepreneurship forever…

Hope you check it out and watch the video below from the Barefoot Piranha Marketing Team

It’s interesting how some people think you can be heavy-handed and “bully” a sale out of a prospect.

“Hello, nice to meet you…
…now GIVE ME YOUR MONEY!”

There’s a process of rapport building needed to make a sale so it is a win/win. And one without buyer’s remorse.

Dating actually is a pretty spot-on analogy here – take a look:

The sales process from suspicious stranger to lifetime client is following this path => know you, like you, trust you.

I’d love to hear what you see as things companies do to make you want to “date” them, get to know them better, and then commit to be a regular client of theirs for life.

Best,
JOE

P.S. Want to get to know my company better? Sign up for my *free* “I Love Marketing” podcasts, and you’ll get to know me and Dean Jackson better, and make a lot more cash in the process.

www.ILoveMarketing.com