to buy it. Its the best work Ive done to date.” But as I pondered his comment for a moment, I realized that I had fallen into the age-old deadly small business mistake that most entrepreneurs fall prey to: forgetting the principle objective of my business.   My marketing friend subtly reminded me that my principal occupation is NOT marketing consulting; its the MARKETING of consulting services.   “Any Fool Can Make Soap, It Takes a Clever Man to Sell It”   There is an old advertising quote that says, “Any fool can make soap, it takes a clever man to sell it.” This is as true today as when it was first uttered many years ago. Any Tom, Dick, and Harry can make a bar of soap. In fact, Harry might make a soap so advanced that it is even self-rinsing! (By the way, there is a self-rinsing soap called the “Hand Sanitizer”, made by Purell Its fantastic)   Even if its the most advanced soap on the planet, it wont matter if no one buys it. I hate to think of my masterful marketing course as just another piece of soap, but thats exactly what it is. There are a thousand great marketing courses out there   but it takes a clever man (or woman) to sell them!   Failing to understand (or accept) this principle is so poisonous that it can kill any small business fast. You see, to make a small business successful you need cash flow. To get cash flow you need customers. To get customers you must sell your product or service.   You might be a plumbing wizard or a crack electrician, but so are the fifty other plumbers and electricians whose ads sit right next to yours in the Yellow Pages. No matter how great your technical skills are or how innovative your product is, your business will whither away and die - like 80% of all small businesses - if you cant sell them. “How Would You Do Things Differently If ”   Lets suppose for a moment that you truly did internalize this critical principle. Suppose that you sincerely believed that your most important function was the marketing of your products and services. What would you do differently tomorrow morning?   Would the contents of your daily to-do list change? Would you allocate and prioritize your time differently? Would you consider changing your role in the organization? Would you change the criteria and process with which you screen new employees? Would your personal training agenda and employee training change?

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