Do you ever get stuck in your business? Not sure what the next thing is, what the next service is you want to offer, what the next product or products need to be, or when the next marketing sequence needs to go out?

It happens to all of us. Here’s the thing to think about. The answers to those questions are typically in your numbers. Measuring and business numbers are typically things most small business owners and entrepreneurs don’t like and don’t really want to deal with. Do you feel that way?

Measuring, measuring, measuring…knowing your numbers - it’s critical and here’s why.

If you have a question and you aren’t really sure whether you should send another piece, go back and market a product, do another launch, or maybe you’re wondering if it’s time to do host your own live event. Whatever your questions are about your business, if you go back and critically analyze your numbers you’ll get your answers because your numbers will give your answers to you.

Was that campaign successful? If you look at the time you spent to get it going, is the time value and the ratio of time you spent to the money you made, does it make sense to do it again?

Everything is in the numbers and so many people don’t want to hear about the numbers. One of the best definitions I ever heard for marketing is that marketing is psychology plus math. Psychology to understand how people think and how to talk to people, how to relate to people, communicate with people, and how to put copy and the words to use, and math so you know what the next things are, so you know that numbers make sense.

You don’t want to go out and run a campaign for a second or third time if it didn’t work the first time, because you don’t want to get more of that same result. You might run the campaign again if you change certain things, like maybe the headline or something else. Maybe the campaign wasn’t the success you wanted it to be because the copy was weak or ineffective, maybe it was due to the media you used, or whatever, but you really want to look at it so you can determine the cause.

And, if you have a question in your business or you’re stuck and not sure where to go next, take a look at your numbers. Most of the time, looking at your numbers will point you in the right direction, so you can go after the things that are going to make you the most money, in the least amount of time, with the smallest amount of effort.

So take a look at those things in your business, and the numbers will typically lead you down the right path.

Author's Bio: 

Diane Conklin is an internationally known author, entrepreneur, coach, consultant, event planner, speaker and copywriter. Diane is a direct response marketing expert who specializes in showing small business owners how to integrate their online and offline marketing strategies, media and methods, to get maximum results from their marketing dollars. As a marketing and business strategist, Diane shows entrepreneurs and small business owners how to outperform their competition by measuring their marketing, and strategically use multi-media campaigns to stand alone in their marketplace as the go-to provider for their products and services.

She is the President and founder of Complete Marketing Systems where, for more than 14 years, she has been showing small business owners how to start, build and grow businesses where they take knowledge they already possess and turn it into passive, ongoing, leveraged profits.