For many businesses, sales are getting harder and harder to come by. The economy is slowing, consumers are more cautious, and businesses are cutting back. A period of drooping sales can throw a roadblock in front of your plans to earn a profit.

Fortunately, there are some tried-and-true strategies to focus your business and get profits flowing again. Here are three things you can do today to almost certainly get sales jumping.

Write down your USP and promote it.

Your USP is your Unique Selling Position. It's the one thing you have that your competitors don't. When you promote your USP you get more customers. It makes your business easy to remember. You stand out from all the others.

Your USP could be a product or service that people want but the others don't sell. It could be something a bit more intangible like friendly service.

One search engine promotion firm I worked with NEVER answered email. Another always replies within hours. There is never any question which will get my business.

Put your Unique Selling Position on your business card, in your newspaper ads, and front and center on your web site.

If everybody in your business keeps their prices a big secret, publish yours right out in the open where anyone can examine them (you might be surprised how many of us won't buy if we aren't given the price without having to ask).

If all the others have the same products, point out how your products are original, one of a kind, first to market.

Flaunt those customer comments!

Nothing sells products and services like good comments from past customers. Prospects believe the word of a customer long before they'll buy into even the best written ad or most lavish TV commercial.

But how do you get good testimonials, especially if your business is new?

1. Nobody says YOU can't provide the testimonial. If you have personally used the product you are selling and truly believe it's the best thing since sliced bread--put that in a testimonial. Put your own words in quotations.

2. Get someone who is a recognized name in your field to say something good about what you sell. Let them mention their own interest in the testimonial. This is why blurbs on book covers go, "Best book I've ever read," Joe Blow, author of How to Get Rich. Joe lends his good opinion as a way to get a mention for HIS book.

3. Put up a comments form on your web site. Clearly mention that some comments may be selected for display on your site or in your promotional literature. Some people will say good things (which I sure they mean sincerely) just to get their name in print.

4. Always include the person's first and last name along with the city they live in or the business they work for. Otherwise, people will think you made up the testimonial.

Let your Order Form also sell.

Many times the order form or order page is the drabbest part of the sales package. A brochure will feature color photos and imaginative copy, yet the order form will be plain black on white. The same goes for web sites where lively web pages lead to a legalistic shopping cart with hard-to-understand instructions.

This is a mistake.

Most customers have very busy lives and don't always remember what they did and where. When I worked in radio, we were often stunned to learn people often couldn't remember which station they won a prize from.

The same goes for customers. People may buy from you, then forget who they bought from just a few weeks later. That is a real problem if you are depending on word of mouth (which you should!).

Put your logo bright and bold on every one of your order forms. Make sure your name is stamped onto your customer's memory at the time of the sale.

Some smart business people turn their order form into a brochure. They include an ad and a full list of their products and services. The order form is on the final page. The brochure also gives you space to include a coupon for the next purchase.

Be sure to include customer testimonials on your order form. Most prospects need an extra bit of encouragement just before they commit their money to a purchase.

Kevin Nunley provides marketing advice and copy writing, including web copy, sales letters, press releases, and ads. See his free 10,000 marketing ideas at http://DrNunley.com Reach Kevin at mailto:kevin@drnunley.com or 801-328-9006.