Entrepreneurs and small business owners know they need to market their business to make more money and attract more customers, but they often don't know how to go about it. That's why my FOCUS Marketing™ Method is such a powerful tool. It gives you specific techniques to make your marketing efforts pay off.

"F" is for Filtered. Concentrate on targeting people in a specific niche market to attract your ideal clients—those people who you serve well and who you are most alike. Think about what types of people you best identify with and what life experiences, interests, hobbies, and roles you might share with them. Then consider whether they are people you'll want to work with in the long term.

Once you have an idea who your "ideal clients" are, you can attract them with your pricing, packaging, and branding—the image you project on your website and in your marketing materials. You'll want to filter out people who are not a good fit for your business, such as those who can't afford your prices, or those who you'll struggle to get access to, and attract only those people who are most likely to purchase the products and services you offer—the ideal clients for your business.

"O" is for Organize. Once you've determined who your ideal clients are, you can create strategies for marketing to them on a regular basis. This means planning in advance what actions you'll take during any given week or month, such as publishing an ezine, or doing a speaking engagement, or issuing a press release to promote special events and stimulate sales.

I suggest using a large wall calendar that shows month-by-month when to launch new products, have a holiday sale, or offer special discounts to regular customers. By planning strategies in advance, you'll stay focused on the specific marketing tasks necessary to achieve your objectives efficiently and effectively.

"C" is for Convert. Your organized marketing tasks will attract your ideal clients' attention and then you can start building a relationship with them. You want to do this so prospects can get to know and trust you, either by subscribing to your ezine, or attending one of your workshops or speaking events, or getting your "freebie" that you give away when they provide you with their contact information.

Essentially, you want to capture their names and addresses (or e-mail address) so you can keep in touch with them on a regular basis. By establishing a connection with these prospects, you 1) more easily convert them into paying customers, and 2) create a bond with your "best" customers who are those people that will give you repeat business, referrals, positive word of mouth advertising, and valuable feedback on your products and services.

"U" is for Utilize. The next step is to utilize a number of marketing theories that will actually help you take your business to the next level. One is the SWOT analysis, which means examining your Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats in the marketplace. This requires complete honesty, so you can see what areas you might need to work on personally, what tasks you should be delegating, and what barriers and opportunities might exist—facets of your business or industry that have a direct impact on your earning ability.

Another commonly used theory is the marketing funnel, which simply means offering a variety of products and price points to appeal to customers at different ready-to-buy levels. Some people will move quickly through the funnel to your high-end products (at the bottom of the funnel) while some people will remain at the top for the duration of your relationship.

Another theory is the 3Ps of marketing: promotions, pricing and packaging. You'll want to review the promotions you're doing, the pricing of your products and what type of customer that attracts, and the product packaging itself. Many small business owners hesitate to pay for graphic design and other professional touches that can make a huge difference in your income level. Your goal is to attract your ideal clients so your packaging—including what your website looks like and the appeal of your product's graphics—needs to be designed to attract the ideal customer for your business.

"S" is for Systematic. To achieve the highest level of success, you need to use proven systems to run your business at maximum efficiency. This means: 1) automating certain functions, such as using autoresponders to keep in touch with your prospects, doing article marketing to drive traffic to your website, and adding a shopping cart to your website; and 2) creating a natural cycle that allows you to repeatedly and consistently market to your ideal customers so you can close on sales and resell and upsell to your higher-priced products and services.

FOCUSing will allow you to stay on track and generate new leads on a continuous basis. Let’s face it, your goal is to build an online business with a strong foundation and the FOCUS Marketing Method allows you to do just that.