(FORTUNE Small Business) – Cheryl Salvati CEO » DESIGN BY NATURE GARDENS

Salvati's Seattle-Based landscaping firm saw 57% growth in annual revenues last year—to $880,000—after she rethought her advertising budget.

GROWTH THROUGH PRUNING: Ever since she formed the company in 1989, Salvati had advertised in newspapers and supermarkets across the Puget Sound area, but she was receiving only minimal payoff. "I knew I was doing very basic marketing," she says. At the behest of a marketing consultant, Salvati focused her advertising and became a sponsor of the Greater Seattle Business Association, a gay-oriented business owners' group. Becoming a prominent member of the organization "gave us much more visibility and helped that community find us," says Salvati, who was eager to target a demographic with high disposable income and a tendency to spend more for landscaping projects.

FERTILE GROUND: Her new focus on more affluent customers has boosted the budget of Salvati's average job by 45%. And the growth in sales has enabled the company to move to offices that are four times as large and that include a yard for demonstrations. "I can finally showcase our work," Salvati says. —KATRINA B. HUNT