1. Do: send press releases every month.  
I don't care to whom, or where. Unless, of course, you have all the business you can stand and I mean you're running three shifts. If you can use more business, press releases are no longer a luxury or sent on a whim. In these days of tight marketing, schedule them as any other marketing function gets scheduled. Put them on the calendar for mailings on a regular basis, like every month.

2. Do: use personal letters as sales tools. Right from your computer, you can wage the cheapest, most effective sales campaign ever. A letter is an incredible sales weapon. More effective than any ad, and lower in cost than any other sales campaign, bar none. A whole campaign can be waged without ever having to pick up the phone. The most effective campaign I have ever written was a series of personal letters.

3. Don't: send one letter and call it a marketing campaign. A campaign is not a single effort of anything. Think of it this way - that long, boring three-page letter you have been sending would make three excellent, vibrant one-page letters in a three-letter sales campaign.

Write a short series of letters and send them to your best prospects over a selected time frame in a program that takes your best prospects more seriously than just sending one letter.

4. Don't: mail 25 letters to inquiries from an ad, then when you get only one response say, "I tried direct mail and it didn't work for us."  Direct mail is a game of numbers. One response in 25 is 4% - not a bad draw in the direct mail domain. I wish some of my low percentage clients' mailings did this - we'd all be rich! Well, now mail 100, get 4 more sales. Now mail 1,000 - get 40 sales. By the way, to test a new list, the industry standard is to mail 5,000 pieces.

5. Do: have open business discussions with consultants or your peers.  As broad as your vision may be, you can only see your business from your own singular perspective. Ask open-ended questions, then listen. For example, "What would you do to advance my business? What do you think I should change? What is our company's greatest opportunity? Our gravest weakness? Where are we missing the boat? How can we be more profitable? How can we move forward? Where can we save money?"

6. Don't: forget to put money in a growth fund. Don't paint yourself into a non-profit business or a non-growth corner. How many times have I seen clients who have no potential to grow, even though they want to?

If you make a comfortable living and that's all you want, fine. But if you want to grow, you need to know how - and have the money earmarked as a growth fund. Every business peaks out at a certain level - if your level is high enough, you can be pretty comfortable. But if not, you need a plan to break through that level and into the next phase, and chances are you're going to need money to do it. Assign a certain percent of your income to a growth account.

7. Do: learn to delegate. You can't do everything yourself; this is a given. In order to grow, you're going to need to assign tasks and functions to others, and figure out if they are doing their jobs effectively. Learn benchmarking. Let others know how you are going to judge their success, so they will have overall goals. Be quick with rewards, slow but fair with discipline. Learn early how to lead and inspire - so people will want to do their best for you (and your company). No one likes a dictator for a boss, although some put up with it. Learn to motivate the people who work with you, and their 110% effort will help ensure your success - and theirs too. There are plenty of great books on leadership in the library.

8. Do: have clear goals. Know what you want and what you expect from your business. These goals should be set for both immediate rewards and future expectations. So if you say, "I'd like to produce this product for one year, perhaps without making any money," you then need to say, "The next year, I'll take out some cash, and in five years I'll grow to a firm this size."  This puts things in perspective, and lets you know what it will take to get where you'd like to go. Once you know where you're going, the roads to get there become more self-evident.

9. Don't: proceed without a realistic time frame. Know in advance how long each step will take and how much time you will allow for it. I know, I know, it's easier said than done. But if you don't start roughing in the time element now, how will you know when things have taken too long, when to celebrate because you finished early, or when your time is up?

10. Don't: forget to go to the library every month or so. If you need new information more frequently, go more often. Use the library as a reference source for your business. To the dismay of my college professors, I'm pretty much all self-taught. When I couldn't afford books at a bookstore, I read them at the library. I've never been to the library without knowing, when I left, how valuable the time I spent there was, how much information I received, and how much it helped me.

11. Don't: forget to create Plan B. While success is nice, and necessary to stay in business, you should have a contingent plan in case what you are doing isn't working. What happens if...is a scenario you should deal with up front, before it happens. Even if there is no Plan B, you should know that in the beginning. I'll give you an example.  When I started Merion Station Mail Order, I mortgaged my house to the hilt and jumped into business. My older and wiser brother asked what would happen if the initial mailings didn't work. "Well," I coughed reluctantly, "I'll refinance what's left on the house, and try new offers and new mailing packages." That was Plan B. What happened if that didn't work? The options at that time all looked worse. "Fail" was one of them. But you know, I'd rather have tried and failed, than never have had the courage to try.

12. Do: have an exit plan. No one likes to call it quits, but you should decide up front how much time you'll devote to a project that isn't living up to your expectations. An exit plan is one of the hardest strategies to write; no one likes to think there is even a chance of failure. To complicate issues, failure may not be so clear-cut. Your successes may only be partial. How long do you settle for second best to your dreams? If you're not at your maximum potential, know when to call it a day, and where to go from there - and how.

Jeffrey Warren Dobkin © 1998

Jeffrey Dobkin, author of two excellent books on marketing: How To Market A Product For Under $500!, and Uncommon Marketing Techniques (from where these tips were taken) is a specialist in direct response.  He writes sizzling, response-driven web content, sales letters, persuasive catalog copy, and exceptionally responsive direct mail packages for his clients. He also analyzes web site copy, marketing packages, ads, catalogs, and campaigns. To place an order or speak with him directly call 610-642-1000. Fax to 610-642-6832. Or write to the Danielle Adams Publishing Company, Box 100, Merion Station, PA 19066.  www.dobkin.com.