In today’s marketplace, we have been trained by (unscrupulous) marketers to want fast, exciting results: “Lose 20 pounds in a week.” While great initial results are exciting, they often don’t work in the long run. It’s not much good to lose 20 pounds this week if you gain all of it and more back over the next week. While it is less exciting, it is a lot more satisfying to find something that is going to continue to work over time. The same can be true in marketing. A lot of companies offer something that sounds new and exciting (although you may not even get good initial results). The reality is that finding something you can build on is often the best way to start something new. That is how we typically work with new clients. We help them find one thing that will help them get more leads each month, even if it is small to start. For the initial campaign, we often recommend a newsletter. It helps service-focused businesses build trust and rapport with people who have already shown interest in working with them. You have a lot of expertise and knowledge that can benefit your clients and prospects. And we make it easy for you to create one (your ideas, our writing). Plus, it is inexpensive to create and send. In most industries, a newsletter also makes any additional marketing efforts work more effectively because you have more than one chance to turn someone into a client. Once you have the initial marketing campaign working, then it is time to look for the next campaign to layer on top. It could be search engine advertising, Facebook advertising, direct mail, LinkedIn or one of many other options. You build and test it to see what kind of results you can generate. And not every campaign is going to work. Some don’t work right out of the gate, and need refinement to be cost effective. Others never work. That is why it is so important to test and measure results. One of the worst things you can do is bet too big on one campaign. If a single campaign “has to work” or you are out of business, you are just gambling. You want to test campaigns that you can afford to have not work. And once you get one that works for you, build on that success. Instead of gambling, you are investing. If you are looking to start building a consistent flow of leads for your business, it’s a good idea to start small and build on your successes over time. While it is exciting to launch a big, cool marketing campaign, it’s a lot more satisfying to consistently generate leads that help your business grow over time.