Personal touch is also important. Keep in mind that we are all customers but only few can be the one to give service. So think of yourself being in the customer’s shoes all the time and imagine how you would want to be treated. How you provide service to customers would really go a long way.

Delegate, delegate, delegate when possible. Work on detailing your game plan to take you to the next level, don’t get wrapped up on doing every single task to save a buck.

Partnerships are very important, and more often than not, others want to partner with you if you offer a quality brand-able product or service

Work smart, not hard. Don’t reinvent the wheel, instead look for missing gaps and future creativity jumps instead of reinventing the same widget.

Let’s add listening. While the internet is still underutilized as a listening tool (not for music but for customer understanding)there are some examples of how listening to understand the needs and wants of customers can lead to success.

When you do keyword/phrase research, you are listening to what people want.

When you review web analytics data, you are listening to the customers.

When you join the conversation in the social media space, you better listen before talking.

When it comes to successful small business marketing and sales, listen to understand then execute.

I couldn’t agree more that persistance matters most in SEO, which is also the biggest barrier for SEOers.