Many small businesses grow organically, that is the size and direction (and often speed) of their growth is mostly shaped by trying to meet all the needs of all their customers.

While it is fun and encouraging to see your business grow, this sort of growth is rarely good for your business in the long run.In fact it can be a major reason for there not being any "long run" but rather a swift and painful dive into insolvency.

A small business marketing strategy will help you avoid many pitfalls that might otherwise derail your small business.Lets look at just three ways that having a small business marketing strategy can help you. These pointers deal with ensuring that you attract the right sort of customers.

Firstly, no business, let alone a small business, can be all things to all customers.Your marketing strategy will help you determine what your business is good at, and that will define more accurately for you the segment of the market you seek to attract.

Secondly, not all customers are equal. Some are a pain in the butt and take up a lot of your time but rarely buy anything. Others don't pay on time or just don't pay at all. Others are a pleasure to do business with. Your marketing strategy will aim to attract only those customers that you want to do business with.

Thirdly, having defined what segment of the market you can competently service and the type of customers you would be willing to do business with, your small business marketing strategy should determine where you can find these customers and how you can reach them with your message!

These are just three advantages you will have if you take the time to work out a marketing strategy for your small business.There are countless other marketing considerations in your business that would also benefit from you investing in a well thought out and practical marketing strategy.