What does good financial planning and successfully marketing your business have in common? Much more than you'd ever think. Financial planning is all about setting up the right strategies to build long-term wealth for your future and relies heavily on the concept of compound interest. If you're not sure what it is, compound interest is the continual addition of interest to a principal sum of money, and as a result of reinvesting rather than cashing in, compounds over time to build a much larger sum. A financial planner would never (we'd hope) tell you to invest your money in lotto in the hope of a quick and colossal payout, but sadly that's the financial strategy many people have. Successfully marketing your business is the same. Informed and strategic decisions and investment in the right tools and tactics, over time, will result in more people engaging in what you do and result in better returns. There's no silver bullet, but sadly again, many people look for the quick fix they hope will bring them instant riches. We see it all the time, businesses falling for the spammy emails promising more website traffic, or growth obsessed killer internet market gurus promoting a 50 per cent (and more) increase in sales. And when it doesn't work, which is most of the time, they become cynical and go back to the strategies they used to use, which probably weren't that bad, they just didn't have the patience to build on them and watch them grow. Like good financial planning, good marketing takes persistence and time, just like compound interest. Add some strategic and creative advice to ensure you stand out from the crowd and you'll be on the path to success. There is no substitute.