The following routine is designed for B2B business marketing, but a slight variation on the theme will work for B2C, as well.

Monday: Find 10 ideal businesses that you want to serve. You can do this either from home or at your library. I log into the library system from home and use the Gale Databases Business and Company Resource Center, a resource of company profiles, brand information, rankings, investment reports, company histories, chronologies and periodicals. Write down the key executive(s) name(s), title(s), company name, address, and telephone number (e-mail, if available). Also, read whatever is available to become familiar with each company, including their web site.

Another resource you may find of value is Reference USA: Telephone directories for 12 million U.S. businesses with business news links, 120 million U.S. residents, 1.3 million Canadian businesses, 12 million Canadian residents, and 835,000 Physicians and Dentists. If your library doesn't have a business resource center, you might want to subscribe to Hoovers or Dun & Bradstreet, although they are a bit pricey.

Tuesday: Customize the first paragraph of your sales letter template based on what you learned from your Monday research. (You do have a sales letter, don't you?) The customization will address a specific need of each of the 10 companies you researched by matching that need to one of your solutions. Be specific about why you are the right business for the job.

Wednesday: Address and mail the letters along with an article or a blog post you wrote that shares information the company cares about, such as marketing tips to grow your business, sure-fire sales techniques, using software to gather customer information, etc. Use first-class postage, print each address on the envelope (no labels), and use printed envelopes and letterhead containing your logo, tag line, and contact information.

Thursday: Work on your monthly newsletter or white paper. I send out a monthly one-page white paper to a distribution list made up of contacts I have made on LinkedIn, Plaxo Pulse and local chambers. Be sure these are folks you are connected to and who can use your information. I use Vertical Response to create and distribute my paper, because their templates comply with the CAN SPAM Act in terms of what must be included (easy unsubscribe, sender's address, sender's e-mail, etc.) I distribute the white paper on a Thursday at 5 p.m. so it arrives after hours, when busy executives often read their e-Mail,, and at the end of the week, when the bosses are less hurried.

Friday: Build your reputation as an expert. I use LinkedIn, where I answer questions posted by other professionals. I try to answer two to three questions, with as much good advice as I can muster. I also spend time reviewing my blog postings for that week to see what worked and what didn't, using daily readership counts, comments and links to the post as criteria.

Saturday: When time permits, I write a post for MarketingProfs Daily Fix. Being a contributing writer helps me grow brand and name recognition and has created wonderful contacts with other professionals that have led to opportunities for them and for me.

What do you think? What do you do daily to grow your business?