What's more, the act of promotion is a constantly evolving entity - it's not something you should do once and then forget about. If you drop the ball even for a week or two, you'll soon notice the effect it has on your sales and bottom line, which we all know equates to your profits.

Most people recognise the connection between how much they promote their wares and how much money they make as a result. But what about the methods they use? Ask yourself this question - are you stuck in a rut with your advertising?

It's a fact that most people develop promotional methods and sources they are happy with, and then stick to them. After all, why change what is already working?

That's a fair point, but we shouldn't become complacent. You should always try out new ways of advertising, and new places to advertise in. For example, it's fairly usual to plan a huge advertising blitz every time you launch a new product.

But does that blitz include writing and sending out press releases?

If it doesn't you could be missing out on a huge untapped audience who might be interested enough in your product to buy it. The beauty of press releases is that they only cost you the time it takes to write them. You can invest in the services of a company who will distribute it for you, but this can be done by you if you can spare the time.

Similarly, you might always advertise your products by using classified adverts available on a certain number of websites. Now while these websites might always produce good results for you, why not add a few others to the mix? You can still use the ones you've come to rely on, but by expanding your vision you could pull in even more customers.

We all have our favourite forms of promotion, but it does pay to think big and not stay with the same old places we've come to rely on over time. This is where an investment of time can pay huge dividends. Spend an hour or two surfing the net in search of other good sources of advertising - especially free advertising, which does have its place even if you have a large promotional budget - and add a few possibles to your list of advertising sources.

And don't forget your business acquaintances - they probably know of sources of advertising that have worked well for them, and may be willing to share them with you.

In the end, a crucial part of growing your business lies in developing your promotional efforts. The online world is forever changing, and your favourite advertising places today may not exist tomorrow. That is the key reason why you constantly need to be looking at new places to promote yourself and your business.

It's all about protecting your current and future sales - and therefore your livelihood.