List building is an important key to your future business success. Why is list building important? A major reason is that people, future customers, current customers, seldom jump at your first hello or knock on their door. Statistics tell us that it takes 6 to 8 times making overtures to prospects before they hear you knocking.

Obviously, every business has different numbers but we know that everyone is not a first call customer. Think about your own business or your employer actions to generate new customers. Does it take in-person contact with high sales expense, a car, hotel rooms, meals out, etc. Many companies use various data sources to plan out their contact systems using a full arsenal of tactics to get attention in the marketplace.

Email, direct mail, phone calls, in-person sales, samples, testing services, etc. Careless marketing is an extremely costly and wasteful process. Somebody, usually the Sales Manager and/or Marketing Manager, needs to be focused on each step necessary to get the attention of future prospects/buyers. In small firms this is probably the owner of the business or should be in our opinion.

What's your competition? Can you prove that your product is superior to the competition? Sometimes in the manufacturing arena you may have to run tests vs competitor products to prove the quality of your product as well as your pricing structure, discounts, etc.

Sales are the backbone of your success in the marketplace. No sales means trouble for your company. Few things are more valuable to a company's success than a unique, one of a kind, product. We see this in the drug manufacturing companies with long-term protections against competitors because of research costs. Just as soon as the protections run their course we immediately see generic drugs hit the market at lower costs.

How do you stay in touch with your customer as well as potential new customers? Keeping your contacts up to date, names, company names, addresses, phone numbers, email addresses must be SOP [Standard Operating Procedure] if you expect to stay in business long-term.

In prior articles we have written about the value of autoresponders and automating your procedures as much as possible. Never waste time with mundane tasks that can be automated. However, be aware that oversight of the process is imperative. Computers are awesome but input errors are rampant and can cost you customers as well as potential new customers.

Spelling of contact names, company names, etc. must be verified. Once entered incorrectly your data will remain incorrect forever. Data entry requires competent employees who take their job seriously. Be sure you have someone verify every entry entered into your computer system. Don't assume that every data entry person is competent in their work. Verify, verify everything!

Your list of customers and prospective customers is your gold standard to keep under lock and key, secure, protected from your competitors and available only to those inside your company who need to know.

Your own Plan B can give you financial security and added income streams. Remember, you are your own security, not your boss or the company where you work. Protecting your family is key to success. Lots of things you can learn about Internet Marketing for the asking on our team.