What is the secret to marketing your business better? Get ready to be surprised because you already know the secret. Odds are, you’ve already used it to get your spouse, fiance, or current romantic interest. The real secret to marketing your business, increasing profits, and really making your business work is relationship building and following a proven set of principles.

Here are those principles and the tie-in to  dating. Being that I’m a guy, I’ll write it from a guy’s perspective.

Step 1: Get out there and meet people / Increase the visibility of your business

When you’re single and want to get a girlfriend, you have to get out of the house. You can’t sit at home waiting for your phone to ring. You have to go to places where single people are. You have to mingle. This is not always fun, or easy. For some of us, this is the toughest part. But it’s necessary to meet enough people to find the right one.

In business, this means making sure people know you’re in business and open. Just having a website online is equivalent to sitting at home alone on a Saturday night wondering why you’re sitting home alone on a Saturday night. Just “existing” isn’t going to get you anywhere.

Step 2:  Ask for names and phone numbers / Get more leads in your business

When you’re out at the club (or the library!) and you see that cute girl standing there, you know you can’t approach her and ask her to marry you, right? That’s just not the way things work. Instead, you need to go in, make a little small talk, and go for the lead. In this case, the lead is usually her phone number and maybe an email.

And that’s it. That’s your goal. Because trying to steal her away from her friends right now is really tough. We all know that pretty girls travel in packs and if they came together they leave together.

But the truth is that the same principle applies in your business. Too many business owners try to “pitch” their potential clients into an order right away. They come across too strong and scare away sales. This is just like asking for  marriage right when you meet someone. Never good.

Instead, focus on getting the lead and living to fight another day. Online, this is really easy. You can setup a page that gives away free information about your product or service. Sometimes in the industry we call these “White Papers”. Very original, eh? Anyway, you want to get the person’s name, email, phone, etc.

Get all you can without lowering the number of people who give you their information. This is all a numbers game, just like dating. You may get rejected by 3 girls before one of them gives you their phone number. You may have only 1 in 4 clients give you their lead information. But that’s ok…because once you have their contact information, it’s on to step number 3.

Step 3: Build The Relationship Through Frequent Contact / Build The Relationship Through Frequent Contact

This step is cool because it applies perfectly to both situations. So, you’ve got a woman’s phone number, what do you do? You use it. In today’s world, that usually means texting. You drop her a line and wait for a response. You setup something…usually called a date.

In your business you can send emails, text messages, and even make phone calls. You whole goal is to build the relationship with your potential customer. In both cases, you have one goal now. You’ve got to get your prospect (or date) to know, like, and trust you.

You’ll never make a girlfriend out of a woman if she doesn’t like you. (unless you have a LOT of money…just kidding). Same with your business. You should be sending out more information, holding webinars and teleseminars, and so on. It’s all about spending time together. The more time you spend with your future customer, the more they will like you, know you, and trust you.

This is called relationship marketing and it’s vital to business today.

When you’re on your date, you’re basically conducting an interview with your potential partner. Jerry Seinfield said it like this:

Dating is pressure and tension. What is a date, really, but a job interview that lasts all night? The only difference between a date and a job interview is that in not many job interviews is there a chance you’ll end up naked at the end of it. – Jerry Seinfield

So, just like before there are “rules” we all follow. Don’t bring up marriage, if you want kids, and on and on it goes. These are things we do because we don’t want to scare away the other person. You could almost say we are “branding” ourselves and safe, responsible, and trustworthy.

These are the same precautions you should take as you grow your relationship with your customers. And if you do that, you’ll make it to step 4.

Step 4: The First Kiss / The First Sale

There might not be anything as exciting, exhilarating, and nerve wracking as going in for that first kiss. A million thoughts race through your mind. Is this the right time? Am I reading the signals right? Does she want this? Do I ask? No, I just go for it….KISS!

It’s a risk we all must take to advance to the next level in a relationship. It has to happen. And the best part is that we can tell a lot about our chemistry with another person from that first kiss. It’s where we find out for sure if we have the “spark”.

So it is with the first sale our customer makes. They’ve had a nice time getting to know us. They think we’re what they’re looking for. But they’re anxious, nervous, a little unsure. Busting out the credit card and making a purchase can be a little scary sometimes. Is this the right product? Is the price fair? Am I being ripped off? Should I wait? Do I want this? Is there a guarantee? Oh, Just go for it…BUY!

Every customer relationship begins with a sale. Before that point, they aren’t customers…they’re prospects. And that first sale is exciting for them. Haven’t you ever bought something and you just couldn’t wait till it got to your house. You’d come home everyday looking for that package to be on your doorstep. Oh the excitement!

Let’s Recap What We’ve Learned About Marketing Your Business

To make the first sale with your customer isn’t that hard. As long as you’ve done your work previously. You brought your customer on a series of “dates” by giving them valuable information about you and your product. You made sure they like, know, and trust you. And then you went in for the sale.

You presented your offer and made it irresistible. And they took you up on it. And don’t be fooled. That first sale has all the power and spark of the first kiss. Now it’s up to you to continue adding value to your customer so you can keep them coming back for more. Just like dating, the first kiss could also be the last kiss.

You’ve got to keep on building the relationship and going deeper with the person. You’ve got to create more shared experiences. Get to know more about each other.

And the more you do that, the more successful and profitable your business will be.