When preparing to design your marketing campaign, define the fundamental focus of your marketing strategy by determining why you market. Beyond basic numbers alone, define the goals you want your marketing efforts to achieve. Have a clear understanding of why businesses market and establish a criteria for your own campaigns. Focus #1: To acquire new customers. This is something you should always strive to do. It is important to sell your product or service to a continually new base of people who are most qualified to need and want your product. Each and every marketing effort you undertake should also focus on acquiring new customers. Why? Because your existing customers will eventually cease to exist. And naturally, businesses do not grow on existing customers alone. Here are some basic rules: * Make sure you can replenish customers that fall by the wayside and be webdesign come unproductive. * Make sure you are always prospecting for new business. * Design your marketing efforts to explore new markets and aggressively attract new customers. Focus #2: To market to existing customers. Your goal is to sell more of the same or another product to people who have purchased from you before. It is easier and cheaper to market to your existing customers than it is to acquire new ones. Example: If you are using direct mail, it is cheaper to market to your existing customers because you already own the mailing list. If you are looking for new customers, you will have to buy or rent a list elsewhere. The customers who are already in your database are the gems who will build your business. Grow them and nurture them, and your business will grow as well. Always keep your customers informed, active, and passionately interested in your product.