that I will talk about in this manual will fall under one or more of these growth categories.   I believe small businesses focus too much of their efforts on number 1 and number 4. You may disagree with me, but if a small business is receiving 40% of its new business from referrals, it may be an indication that they are not spending enough time on attracting new customers from the marketplace.   Dont get me wrong. Referrals are the best kind of customers. But if you spend the majority of your time and money trying to get them you may be neglecting a whole slew of new customers that are waiting to buy from you.   In the same vein, if a small business spends all its time marketing to new customers and ignoring existing customers, you may be missing out on a lot of low-hanging fruit.   As I mentioned, there are many ways to leverage your marketing efforts in these four categories. Here are just a few ways to improve each of your areas of growth:   Attract more new customers   Select a niche market that you can easily contact and dominate it.   Develop an Education-Based Marketing program that compels your prospects to contact you to learn more about how you can help them.   Establish a proactive referral program with centers of influence that can open new channels of growth for you and your business.     Increase the average sales amount   Up-sell your customers to high quality products and services. Suggest accessories and add-on items and services that compliment your customers purchase.   Combine several items into a package that would cost less if sold separately.     Make your customers buy from you more often   Establish ongoing communications that present compelling offers that cant be turned down.   Follow up with your customers to see how theyre enjoying the benefits of the new product or service you sold them, and suggest products or services that would increase their satisfaction.   Track your customers usage and buying patterns to suggest purchases right before they actually need them (this also helps keep the competition away).