I grew up working in our family grocery store. On a daily basis we had local farmers who brought in fresh produce. I was always amazed at the business strategy that went into farming. In the grocery business, when we wanted to get more clients we could make a last minute decision to run a sale. Farmers don’t have the luxury of last minute decisions.

Don’t think that all a farmer has to do is wait until fall and then harvest truckloads of delicious tomatoes or corn or squash. That farmer has worked hard all year long to prepare for that week or two of reward.

He prepared the ground following last year’s harvest.

He planted seeds in the spring.

He watered and fertilized and protected his fragile crops from pests and drought and poor weather.

And finally, after months of work, he enjoys the results.

To get more clients in your business you should take a page from the farmer’s playbook!

Preparing the Ground

This is your brand, your voice, your very presence in your market. If you’re just starting out—like that farmer after his harvest—you’ll spend your time simply becoming known.

Hang out with other experts in your niche. Join forums where your ideal clients spend their time.

Build a website and start your mailing list. This is the prep work that will form the foundation of a solid business in the future.

Planting the Seeds

Your seeds are your content and products. With each blog post you write, every product you create, you’re planting a seed you can harvest later. But unlike the farmer, your seeds will produce over and over again, endlessly.

In fact, you’ll likely find that blog posts you wrote years ago will continue to bring in new clients year after year, with no further help from you. Products can be sold over and over again, or reworked into new offers. Podcasts, videos, ebooks and more all continue to work for you, month after month, year after year.

When you think about it that way, it’s easy to see that planting seeds is a critical part of every business.

Nurturing Your Crop

Wouldn’t it be nice if you could just “set it and forget it”? Unfortunately, that style of business rarely works.

Instead, you must spend time nurturing:

• Stay in touch with your email list
• Update old blog posts with new ideas
• Study your stats to improve your traffic and conversions
• Improve your products

It doesn’t take much effort to update your blog posts or tweak your products, and the rewards can be fantastic.

Of course, being a farmer is a long-term investment. The work you do today may not pay off for weeks or months to come. But with a strong history of consistent “farming” in your business, you’ll soon see those long-term rewards are paying off consistently as well.

Now it is time for you to take action. Click here to check out The Decisive Business Planner if you are feeling stuck or confused about what action you should be taking next.