The biggest mistake you can make is having a marketing budget. You don't want to put a limit on how much you'll spend on marketing.

Marketing is a profit center. If done correctly, every dollar spent on marketing can bring two, three, four or more in return in the form of profit generated through sales.

Having a strict marketing budget is like saying, "I only want 1000 sales this year. No more. That's my limit." Would you ever say that? Would you ever tell a salesperson to only make one sale each day? Of course not!

You need to recalibrate your mindset. You don't need a marketing budget.

So what do you need?

Well, you need a marketing Working Capital. Just like you have a working capital for operations, you need a working capital for marketing.

This is a paradigm shift we discuss in great detail in all our programs. This is the first paradigm shift our premium clients have that transforms their business exponentially.

Honestly, most small business owners fear the term "innovation." The word innovation conjures up all kinds of technical gizmos, apps, coding blocks, and online systems.

And honestly, innovation is far more encompassing than just "tech."

Sure, technology is one sector where you see breakthrough innovations all the time. But innovation doesn't have to be restricted to just technology.

You can have innovative offers. You can have innovative processes. Innovative services. Innovative pricing policies. Innovative guarantees. Innovative advertising. Innovative position. Innovative procedures and policies. Even innovative lead generation campaigns.

And here's the funny part...

You already have most of the pieces of the puzzle.

That's right. You already have most of what it takes to drive innovation. You just aren't communicating it effectively to your audience yet.

Here at Westernston, we pride ourselves in helping our clients identify innovative elements that already exist in their businesses... as well as in helping you implement innovative maneuvers that your competitors just can't keep up with.

One thing is for sure, though...

Innovation Is The Key To Rapid Growth

You can't be just like everyone else and expect to outgrow them. You can't just follow the trends in your industry in your geography and expect to shatter sales records. You need to do things they aren't doing. And you need to innovate faster than they do.

And we'll help you do it well. 

In other words, never fight the forces of nature. Instead, just align your business so that you grow naturally.

No matter how great a swimmer you are... if you swim upstream, it'll be hard for you to get anywhere. Especially if the river has a rapid flow.

In business, there are certain forces of nature that can either help your business, or erode your marketshare rapidly. Whether you are harnessing them or not is up to you. But if you challenge these forces of nature, you will wear yourself out.

Our primary order of business is to avoid fighting these forces of nature. Be it fair or unfair, you need to harness these forces, and we'll help you do it.

 Never price yourself out of your marketplace. There is always a limit to how much you can charge. If your products and services are priced beyond this limit, you'll find it very hard to find any takers.

And yet, this limit is much higher than you think. You don't want to sell commodities at rock bottom prices. You don't want to compete on the basis of price with your competitors. That'll kill your profit margins faster than you can imagine. And you'll end up attracting the price-conscious buyers. Who ironically are only loyal to the cheapest seller of the day.

There is a fine balance between the two. And you need to get it just right.

And it's not just about pricing. It's about many other things.

For instance...

How easy do you make it for a potential buyer to buy from you?

You don't want to make it so difficult for a potential buyer to buy that they just get frustrated and leave. But make it too easy, and they lose interest. Especially if you are not selling commodities (which you shouldn't be). You need balance.

Another example...

What do you do yourself, in-house, and what do you outsource?

The only thing you should be focusing on is whatever you are great at. Outsource everything else that's necessary.

Most small businesses can not afford in-house marketing teams. It doesn't really make sense to hire a team of five decent marketers at $50,000 apiece if your business has an EBITDA of $400,000, right?

But it might make perfect sense to seek one or more of Westernston's marketing packages to help grow your business.

If you are a retailer, it may not make much sense, or it might not be feasible to handle manufacturing in-house. It makes perfect sense to buy from a supplier.

Westernston is the world's #1 marketing partner.

We don't give advice, we actually do the marketing for you. We develop and run campaigns. We test and track performance. We are data driven. And we deliver results.

Does it make more sense to hire a team of relatively inexperienced marketers in-house? Or does it make more sense for you to let Westernston take care of bringing you sales?