| Are you new to marketing IT to prospective | | | | to Ignore. If you don't learn early on which |
| small business clients ... and not quite sure where | | | | businesses to target and which ones to ignore as |
| to start? | | | | potential client candidates, your business will suffer. |
| Many professionals that own their own small | | | | You need to know where to find the best target |
| business IT services firm don't really know which | | | | businesses and know when to say "no" to |
| kinds of business owners they should be targeting. | | | | businesses that come your way that don't fit with |
| A lot of this confusion happens because of the | | | | your goals and plans. |
| failure to create a well-defined business and | | | | 4. The Best Clients Bring You Career Satisfaction |
| marketing plan. And if you don't understand your | | | | and Profit. Once you figure out the process of |
| own business, or have a clear plan for the scope | | | | marketing IT to the right kinds of future |
| of services you will offer, how can you possibly | | | | prospective clients, you will have a much more |
| expect to figure out a consistent profile for what | | | | professionally gratifying experience. You will get a |
| makes a great client? | | | | lot of career satisfaction working with clients that |
| Consider the following 5 marketing IT tips that | | | | truly benefit from your specific IT solutions. This |
| attract great small business clients that best fit | | | | satisfaction is probably a huge reason you decided |
| your services and your company's growth plans. | | | | to start your own business instead of sticking |
| | | | with a more traditional corporate IT career. Great |
| 1. Look for Clients That Support Your Own | | | | clients will also prove to be more lucrative for |
| Business Goals. If you really want to make a | | | | your business long term. All small businesses are |
| decent living and build a successful, viable IT | | | | not created equal, and you want to focus on |
| business, you must know which characteristics | | | | those that will be a stable source of recurring |
| define your ideal small business clients. In most | | | | service revenue. You are not running a charitable |
| cases, this means narrowing down your focus and | | | | organization, so you need to focus on delivering |
| developing a keen intuition for spotting the best | | | | services profitably. |
| small business accounts. | | | | 5. Balance Small Business IT Needs with Your |
| 2. Know the Size of the Overall Small Business | | | | Own Best Interests. You certainly need to have |
| Market. While there may be thousands -- or at | | | | empathy for the customers and clients that you |
| least hundreds -- of small businesses in your local | | | | support and do a great job for them. But you |
| geographic area, not all of these will be ideal client | | | | also have to look out for your own business |
| candidates. But many will. In order to come up | | | | interests to make sure your company will survive |
| with a reasonable market share goal, you need to | | | | and thrive, so you can continue taking care of |
| pinpoint just how many prospective future clients | | | | your clients' needs for the duration. |
| should be on your radar screen when marketing | | | | In this article, we talked about finding small |
| IT. | | | | business clients that will fit in with your business |
| 3. Learn Which Businesses to Target and Which | | | | goals. |