To focus marketing efforts, through individual or practice initiatives, or the use of specialist consultants or permanent staff, it is important to understand the specialisations involved and how they work in order to focus marketing efforts and hence reduce wastage in briefing the consultant and spending on initiatives.

IN BUILDING a portfolio of clients, small businesses such as financial planners, lawyers, accountants, and architects are often told to "market" themselves. However, the barrage of terms such as marketing, business development, sales, and advertising associated with growing the business are confusing and if misunderstood, may waste valuable resources and not achieve desired outcomes.
      With the plethora of specialist advisers available in these areas, critical questions arise. Why the need for these specialisations and how can a small business effectively utilise these for desired outcomes to attract or retain clients, without embarking on an expensive, complex programme?
      To focus marketing efforts, through individual or practice initiatives, or the use of specialist consultants or permanent staff, it is important to understand the specialisations involved and how they work in order to focus marketing efforts and hence reduce wastage in briefing the consultant and spending on initiatives.
•  Marketing can be defined as devising and utilising a range of tactics that will assist in selling services to specific target groups. Marketing tactics can be founded on the promotion of services within the context of provision of solutions to problems faced by organisations--these solutions may result in brochure ware, sales spiels, credentials statements, presentations or seminars.
•  Business development is about understanding clients and targets in a systematic manner and devising strategies to meet these external needs. Business development is designed to maintain clients and recurring revenues and understand generation of new revenues from existing clients or selected targets. 
•  Communications can broadly be divided into two categories: externally focused (to the marketplace) or internal (to staff).
•  External communication include media and public relations, production of brochures, capability statements, speeches and presentations, Internet or E-mail, and direct marketing activities to increase knowledge of your business name and reputation to clients and targets. 
•  Internal communication involves internal messaging and use of staff meetings, notice boards, intranet, E-mail, publications, voice-mails or posters. Internal communication is imtant. It ensures that messages conveyed to the external marketplace are known and reinforced by all staff.
•  Sales create introductions to prospects with a view to turning them into clients. 
•  Advertising provides information about the organisation, its business and involves different types of media: print based advertising, catalogues, flyers, inserts in publications or handouts, commercials on radio, Web sites, billboards, and posters. For small business, advertising can be used to generate and reinforce brand recognition and be as simple as placing advertisements in directories or guides read by clients.
      How these specialisations work is shown in Figure 1.
      For small business, all these elements are important in growing and maintaining an existing client base. The key to utilising specialist marketing consultants is first to understand the business need and assess the desired outcome for attracting or retaining clients. From this base, small business can then effectively match the outcome with the skills required and hence maximise their marketing expenditure.

Louise Robinson is a national director of business development and marketing with professional services experience in large Australian legal and global accounting firms.
Daryll Cahill is a senior lecturer in the School of Accounting and Law, RMIT University, Melbourne.