If you go fishing with the kind of bait that is likely to catch whiting or bream, would you expect to catch a marlin?

Of course not.

But that's exactly what we as business owners do all the time, isn't it?

We complain about the type of customers we get despite the fact we're getting exactly what we've asked for based on the bait we've cast.

For instance, if you are a printing company looking to attract large companies, then you would be crazy to run advertisements in your local newspaper.

Instead, you would be wiser to:

a) Build a list targeting the top 500 or so companies you see as your ideal target market

b) Think of what that list wants to know that your competition may not be delivering on. Perhaps it could be a report on how to use direct mail to grow your product and service and featuring topics such as:

Direct mail versus email marketing: effectiveness versus efficiency

Case studies of companies who use direct marketing to get new customers

5 ways you can use direct marketing to grow your business (new customers, get back existing customers, customer only sales, relationship development with top 20% of customers, etc)

c) Send a 2 page letter to that list offering a copy of the report.

d) Send the report out to anybody who requests it and follow it up with a telephone call.

Yes, getting the 'ideal' customer is often a lot more work and significantly more expensive than just 'hanging out your hat' and accepting anyone who comes your way.

And often it's not as easy as cold calling or running an advertisement and hoping for the best. Big fish require big bait and more preparation.

But the results are well worth it because one "right" customer can be worth 10, 20, 50 or even 100 so-so customers.

But if you're not willing to put in the yards to get the clients you really want, don't complain about only having "whiting" and "bream" nibbling on your line.