Yes, they may be running ads that are pulling in leads or customers. And yes, they may be writing a regular column for their local newspaper so they are perceived as expert in their industry. And yes, they may even be doing a pretty good job of marketing on a regular basis to their prospect list.

So if they are doing all of these things "right," how are they sabotaging their success? Well there are lots of ways. Following are just a few of ways small business owners unknowingly sabotage their own success.

(1) They have not taken time to develop a marketing plan.

A plan focuses your efforts and allows you to make most of your marketing budget. Unfortunately, you can market without a plan. Yes, you read that right. You can do it, and people do market without marketing plans everyday.

But that does not mean you should. To make most of your marketing efforts and budget, make sure you take time each year to create a plan.

(2) They don’t have written goals

Smart business owners have written goals and objectives for what they want to achieve with their business and for each of their marketing activities. I know this sounds b-o-r-i-n-g, but it's a fact.

There is proof that people who put their goals into writing have a higher success rate than those who do not. Plus, how can you develop a plan if you don't have concrete objectives? You need a clear vision and target to aim for. You can't possibly determine what marketing or how much marketing you need if you don't know what you are aiming for.

(3)They have a short-term attitude.

They are reactive in nature, and while on surface it appears they are doing a lot of marketing, they are not doing anything consistently or long enough to make an impact. Running an ad or sending out your newsletter a few times and giving up when you don't get immediate results is worse than doing nothing at all.

How so? Because at least when you do nothing it doesn't cost you any money. Pulling plug too soon costs you money. And statistics show it takes somewhere between three and 10 exposures to a message for average consumer to notice it and take action. So it is quite possible your audience was just beginning to take notice right about time you threw in towel!

(4) They don't know their USP.

Do any of phrases below ring a bell?

See if you can identify which companies each of following taglines belongs to. You'll find answers at end of article. But before you read ahead to get answers, take a few minutes to test power of taglines yourself by naming brand each of these top-ranked taglines belong to.

1) Have it your way

2) Is it in you?

3) The quicker picker-upper

4) Just do it

5) It's everywhere you want to be

6) Drivers wanted

7) When it absolutely, positively has to be there overnight

8) Finger lickin-good

9) Because I'm worth it

10)Let your fingers do walking

So what exactly is a tagline?

When it comes to marketing, one of most powerful tools you can use to build your brand is a tagline or slogan. The two terms are pretty much interchangeable. I tend to use word tagline. Following are definitions for both terms:

Tagline: an often repeated phrase associated with an individual, organization, or commercial product.

Slogan: a phrase expressing aims or nature of an enterprise or organization.

The two most important parts from each of these definitions are:

1) an often repeated phrase

2) expressing aims or nature of an enterprise

The power of a great tagline

Think about taglines you know and remember. They communicate something unique, valuable and memorable about brand they represent. And they are always included in any communication about that brand. You see logo and there's tagline right there with it. They are often catchy. Easy to remember. Descriptive. Clever. Fun. Short and sweet.

Best of all, they help you remember a brand and ONE thing that company wants you to remember about that brand. And that is power of a great tagline.

Taglines make you top-of-mind