palain - 12:15 am on Jul 9, 2007 (gmt 0)

hobby / corporation: I have sold 15000 safety widgets to the British Army in Kuwait and I was by myself - no employees. Requested a wire transfer and it was in the bank 4 days after and 5 weeks later the widgets were delivered.

It doesn't matter these days how big / small you are, as long as you can deliver and inspire confidence.

Maybe your image does not inspire confidence.
Sometimes price can affect an image. A too low price can suggest a home made solution vs a solid trusted product.
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Steady growth is good for business, it enables the business to allocate resources for forseen growth. Fast growth can lead to growing pain such as cash flow, lower profit margin even eventual collapse if not properly managed.
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There are two types of marketting:
- Conventional: Corporation has gobs of money and runs a multi million dollar add.

- Guerilla: Small guy/ corporation with little cash but lots of time to think up of ways to get noticed and generate sales.

I believe you and I fall in the Guerilla category.

Running adds can be effective if well tergetted or futile if it is run for too short a period of time or is poorly targetted. For me at this point running adds would be a sure way to drops bundles of money with little Return On Investment.
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Have you considered a pay per click campaign? It can be measured for effectiveness and does not need to be costly.
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Have you considered posting new products regularely on the lists you speak of? Say, 1 new product / month?
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Feeling like you've made it? You won't feel like you've made it... ever.
I had the blues the other day - it happens when working by myself for extended periods of time and sought advice from an olf friend. He replied, you've got food on the table? The bank is OK, your business is growing? What else do you want?

Self starters and entrepreneurs, seldom sit back and tell themselves they made it. We are making it ... NOW!
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GoTo Company:
You are talking about branding. Every product you make, print your name on it in BIG letters. Think TOMMY HILLFIGURE - The letters are so big, there's little room for a sweater underneath.

I'm not sure if it will comfort you but branding can take 20 years or more. Unless you got gobs of money - Think Apple IPod - 4 years.