1. Be known for delivering great products and services. Now, more than ever, this oft repeated maxim is true. Your products and services are a reflection of you, are the frontline calling card for your business, and are the number one way to make your customers happy to refer others to you.

2. Stand out by providing your customers with outstanding customer service unique in your industry. Make sure your employees offer a friendly smile while asking the customer what else they can do for them. Follow up with the customer to see if all went well and that they are satisfied. If they have a complaint work with them to resolve it. Go that extra mile in providing service and your business will get noticed.

3. Add value, not price. Continuously adding value to your products and services makes you look rich and attractive to your customers and prospects.

4. Cultivate business with customers who have similar beliefs and interests.

5. Connect to give; don't connect to get. Cultivate mutually beneficial win-win relationships with emphasis on the "give" part. Ask not what your customer can do for you but what you can do for your customer. Then deliver.

6. Meet your sales goals, provide your own growth incentives, and keep abreast of the markets so you can remain on the cutting edge, rather than waiting for someone else to do these things for you.

7. If business last year was slow, then learn from your mistakes and make this year a better one. Use the experience you gained to make your business all the more successful.