Small Business Marketing & Sales Strategy
Every business needs Marketing. Marketing is not sales, but you do need both for any business to survive and thrive. According to Wikipedia, 
marketing is the strategy that underlies sales techniques. I describe marketing as all of the activities that bring qualified buyers to your sales process. If you had an electronics store, your marketing would get qualified buyers to the store. Then your sales staff would explain the product’s features and benefits and close the sale.
Marketing is a System
Marketing is a system that supplies a steady stream of qualified buyers or prospects to your sales process. I recommend using a Contact Relationship Management (CRM) if you’re not using one already. This description applies to sole entrepreneurs and large companies. You may be the same person doing multiple functions, or different departments may carry out this function. Parts or all of the functions may be outsourced. While the marketing function can be outsourced, management must have an intimate knowledge of how the marketing program works.
Marketing Shelf Life
No matter your marketing or how well it performs, its performance can fall off faster than you might think. Markets change, consumers change, and so should your marketing. Don’t make drastic changes without testing, but realize nothing in life is sure except change, and the rate of change will continue to accelerate. Moore’s Law says the number of transistors that can be put into a circuit doubles every two years. These same chips are powering the computers that are changing the business world and marketing.
The Sales Funnel
Improve or create a sales funnel for your company. A sales funnel configured correctly will automate your marketing and help you scale your income automatically. Your sales funnel maps out a customer’s journey when purchasing your goods and services. The model uses the concept of a funnel because a large number of potential customers may come to the top of the funnel, but few end up making a purchase. Having just a few percent purchase your product is typical. The primary stages of a sales funnel are:
Awareness
Interest
Decision
Action
Small Business Marketing Help
Russell Brunson, the author of Traffic Secrets is an expert at building sales funnels without having to be a techie or hire experts. He is a big advocate of funnel hacking to perfect your sales funnel. Constructing a sales funnel is not difficult if you follow the steps. There is a lot of information on the internet that tells you everything you need to know about constructing or improving an existing sales funnel.