Everything you do - or don't do sends a message and marketing is about sending messages. You can market well or you can market poorly, but you cannot - not market!

What message are you sending with your dress, stationery, phone message and printed materials? Is it the message you intend to send? Your prospects don't listen only to the message you want to send - they observe and interpret your unintended messages as well. You brag about quality but your letters are full of typos. You claim speedy service yet it takes days for you to return phone calls. You boast that business is good then you drive up in a rust bucket. Shame on you. The unintended messages you send can kill your business.

Marketing should be part of everything you do. If you love what you do - we can tell. That is the best marketing you can do. Show every client, prospect, and colleague how much you love your business and how confident you are in what you provide.

Define your mission in business; what sets you apart, why should clients buy from you. Then check all your messages to test for the consistency of your messages. Inform your staff that they're all in marketing. Make sure they know the message you want to send and help them send that message. Equip them with the tools they need.

Marketing is not just the ads you place - it goes much beyond that.