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Those who own small businesses sometimes believe that, if they are good at what they do, their businesses will naturally expand through word-of-mouth marketing. They are correct. However, they may be overlooking the fact that all businesses owners know the power of word-of-mouth advertising, and many may be better mobilizing it for their own benefit.

Now you need a good marketing consultant. Small businesses need the help of marketing professionals most of all, because advertising is so expensive and ineffective for most small businesses. A marketing consultant knows that word-of-mouth won't spread unless the message is catchy, concise, and easy to pass on and can help business owners create such messages.

In small business marketing, the basic introductory message is the most important. Business owners often have dreams bigger than they can pull off, and they tend to talk on and on at length about their work. A neutral third party can edit the owner's first draft into a concise, memorable message.

Another impediment? Small businesses are almost never good at simplifying, clarifying, and diversifying the services that they provide. For example, a professional speaker may offer a motivational speaking seminar and have some success on his own. A marketing consultant will take that one offering, and hone it so that the speaker now offers one motivational seminar for salespeople, another for managers, and another for business owners. By offering specialized products to smaller groups, the message has more focus, and becomes easier to spread by word-of-mouth.

Finally, it is essential to know how to attract customers. After the intro message, where does a customer go? Your web site? Your phone number? Be aware of the path your customers must follow to learn more about your company. A marketing consultant can be of service by studying what companies outside of the market are doing, what your competitors are doing, and what can be learned from your customers' demographics. The customer must be able to find a path from the word-of-mouth introduction, so the consultant will examine the company's web address, phone number, and name.

Finally, the small business is usually better served by smart, inexpensive marketing techniques than by advertising. Most business owners are not professional marketers, however, so it is important to recognize when the business should enlist the aid of a marketing consultant. This move can prevent them from wasting money on advertising. After a marketing message has been written, the advertising can wait a while, and will be fare more successful once it's used.