As self-employed professionals, we are often looking for a brilliant marketing strategy to implement ... searching for the remarkable tactic that results in tremendous returns ... the latest and the greatest of these that give us all the business we can handle. Well, you can stop! There are no brilliant, remarkable, or even new strategies and tactics that will keep a steady stream of clients flocking to your door.

Yes, I know, search engine optimization and marketing are relatively new. Social networking is still in its infancy. Mobile marketing is just starting to gain traction. But none of these is going to get you the clients you need or the profits you want -- not these or anything else -- not now, not ever. So right about now you're thinking that I lost my mind, don't know what I am talking about, or am simply making no sense. You may have an argument for the first two, but I assure you, I am making sense.

You see, SEO/SEM, social networking, mobile marketing, and anything else that is new and exciting in the way of marketing are nothing more than latest avenues and vehicles. They are a means of marketing, just like TV commercials, billboards, direct mail, and telemarketing. As far as marketing is concerned, they are merely new technologies. Granted they may offer us the ability to reach a larger target audience at lower costs. But even then, that does not mean you are going to get greater results.

So if it's not the new vehicles, how can we better market our services? How can we more effectively and more efficiently tell our profitable target audiences how we benefit them? What's this sure-fire secret? Well, the answer is not a secret. In fact, it has been around for as long as marketing has been a recognized discipline. Yet too many of us choose to overlook it -- wanting to make marketing into more than it needs to be. Perhaps this is because we read about the success a few companies have with this or that new marketing tactic. Or maybe it's that we think marketing is so mysterious that the answer cannot be such a simple one. No matter why we want the solution to be something more elaborate, it always comes back to this.

Before I tell you the one sure-fire way to attract more clients and make more profits, let me review the definition of effective marketing ... at least the definition that I use. Effective marketing is delivering a relevant message, using the appropriate marketing vehicles, to inform your profitable target audience how you benefit them in ways others do not. Seems simple enough, doesn't it? And it is. But I left out one word -- the word that makes all the difference -- the word that makes your marketing successful. That word is consistently, as in effective marketing is consistently delivering a relevant message, etc. Being consistent keeps you in front of your profitable target audience. This is known as being top of mind. Being top of mind gives you a better chance of making a sale or getting a referral -- now or in the future. Being consistent also means that you are staying active, and being active is essential when it comes to discovering new opportunities.

I so strongly believe that consistency is the key to effective and profitable marketing that I would rather see you market consistently to your profitable target audience with a less effective message than to market occasionally, using more effective tactics. Why? For a couple of reasons. One is the fact that I believe consistency is a choice. Choosing to be consistent allows you to measure your results. It gives you answers where inconsistency requires you to guess or assume. The other is that without consistent marketing, the chances of your success are greatly reduced. Sure, you may get some momentum, but you are bound to lose it when you stop marketing. Then once again, you have to do all the work that is required to get the momentum back. This simply is not a wise nor effective use of your resources. Conversely, it takes little effort to keep a rolling ball rolling, so why not be consistent and keep it moving?

The marketing that provides you with the greatest return on your investment is marketing that combines consistency with the proper message, the appropriate vehicles, and your profitable target audience. So when you select your marketing tactics, be less concerned with the latest and greatest or what others are doing. Select tactics that you can and will consistently implement. You may not end up with the flashiest marketing around, but you have a much greater chance of achieving your goals.