When I drive with my sons and sing along to the radio, it really annoys them. It’s not only because they think I’m a bad singer (although I am). The reason is that I know the words to some of the new songs.
No, I don’t spend all day driving or listening to the radio. I know the words because so many of the songs are remakes or they in
clude samples from old songs. I think that falls under the category of “everything old is new again.”
The same applies to your business. There really aren’t any new ideas out there…just new ways to put ideas into action.
Your business may be growing faster than you thought it would and if so, there’s probably no reason to change what you’re doing. On the other hand, you may have reached a point in your business where you have fewer clients than you did a year ago and you want to kick your business up a few notches.
So how do you move forward? Start by taking a look back at what worked before and then do it again.
When I started my first business, Everything’s Organized, I gave free speeches to every business club that would listen to me. I found most of my clients through my seminars, so my consulting business took off quickly.
Eventually I phased out the home-organizing part of my business, focused on the home office market and created my second company, Home Office Life.
At first I was busy because my previous home-organizing clients needed help with their home offices. But then my business dropped off. Because I was so busy consulting with clients one-on-one, I didn’t have time for free or even paid speeches and stopped writing for magazines and Web sites.
When I finally realized that my hourly consulting fee wasn’t worth turning down seminars and writing assignments, I took a look back. I contacted old seminar clients and editors and soon my business was back on track.
Think back to your early years in business. What marketing strategies did you use then, that you could modify and use now? If you’re just starting out in business, what strategies did you use in your old job that you could apply to your new business?
As a business owner, you want to keep moving your business forward. To get to where you want to be, though, you may need to take a look back.
