Creativity plays a big part in the development of any successful business.  In fact, your ability to creatively solve problems and spot opportunities will to a large part, determine just how far you and your business will go.

In my experience, one of the best ways to kick-start our creativity, is to ask ourselves questions, which lead us to creatively search for answers and new ideas.  So, here are 32 questions, designed to help you think creatively about the development of your business.  Remember to share them with anyone in your network, who you think might find them useful, using the links below!

1. What additional, valuable products or services can I offer to my existing clients or customers (herein called clients)?  This is the fastest way to generate a massively profitable boost to your revenue and profits.
2. Am I fully utilising technology in my business?  Are there processes that I could streamline, which would give me more time to deal personally with my clients and prospective clients?
3. How can I improve the way I deliver my services?
4. Do I take time out, to thank people as often as I should?
5. What new markets could use my products or services?
6. How can I improve the quality of my products or services, so that they are of even more value to existing and prospective clients?
7. Am I associating with the right kind of people, for what I want to achieve?
8. What three things could I do, which would improve the visibility of my business?
9. How can I reach 500% more prospective clients with my marketing message?
10. How can I make my day-to-day work more fun?  This is really important!
11. What’s the best way for me to encourage more people, to recommend me to their contacts?
12. Is my marketing focused enough?
13. How can I improve my time management?
14. Do I take action on the ideas I generate, so they have a chance to make a real difference?
15. Should I be thinking about doing some kind of joint venture with another, high quality company?
16. Am I limiting the development of my business, by not investing in professional help in the areas where I am weakest?  If so, which area do I need to invest in first?
17. How often do I ask my clients for their feedback, regarding the service they receive from me and what additional services they would like me to offer?
18. When was the last time I sat down and studied my marketing goals?  If you have not got any written, measurable, specific marketing goals, stop reading this and write some down right now!
19. Is it possible that my services look too similar to my competitors?  Most service providers look way too alike, so the marketplace uses their fees as a way to judge their value.
20. If my services do look too similar to my competitors, how can I differentiate myself, so that I have something uniquely valuable to bring to the marketplace?
21. Do I get enough leads and enquiries via my website or blog? If not, how can I increase this, so my site becomes a lead generating machine for my business?
22. When was the last time a client sent me a “thank you” note?  If this has not happened for a while, it might suggest that you have not exceeded their expectations lately!
23. Who would make a good endorsed relationship partner for me?
24. Do I attract enough word of mouth referrals?  If not, what is this telling me?
25. How aware am I, of my client’s problems and challenges?  You need to know what’s happening in your client’s world, if you want to be able to really help them.
26. Do I have a shallow a network, spread over a wide area – Or a deeper, more meaningful one?
27. How many other websites or blogs link to my website or blog?  This is important, as inlinks account for the massive majority of your search engine optimization (SEO)
28. Am I working to a marketing strategy or am I simply doing tactical marketing?
29. Just how good is my customer service?  Remember, you don’t compare yourself to what your competitors offer – But to the finest level of service you can possibly offer.
30. Do I still have the same passion for my business that I used to have?  If the answer to this is yes, get passionate again!
31. How many of the people I network with on Twitter, have I actually spoken to or met?
32. Are my online marketing activities producing bankable results, or just a ton of meaningless, social media numbers?  If you have the friends, followers and fans but not the bankable results, you might want to review your strategy.
33. Do I exceed people’s expectations?

Ok – What would you add to this list?

What would you add to this list, as a question that might help get people thinking creatively about the development of their business?  Please leave your suggestions below!

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In marketing, the more focused your messages are, the more effective they will be and the more business they will generate for you.

A focused marketing message speaks directly to the reader, in a language they understand.  It addresses a challenge or opportunity that’s directly relevant to them. These messages have the power to motivate the reader to take action, to; buy from you, call you, email you or visit you.

Compare that kind of focused approach, to what we see with the typical marketing messages used by small and medium sized businesses.  These messages are fuzzy.  They try to be all things to all people and as a result, they are not directly relevant to anyone.  These less focused messages have no pull.  They don’t compel.  They are impotent.

Take a wile to review your written marketing and check how focused your core marketing messages are.  Do they speak directly to your prospective clients, in a language they will understand, about a challenge or opportunity?

If not, now might be a good time to come up with a more focused, compelling and inspiring message.

Photo: Mike Baird

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I ask you this, because everything that you pay attention to has an influence on you, to a lesser or greater degree.  This is why it’s so important to be selective about the people we connect with.  In business, these “voices” can be the difference between massive success and total commercial failure.

This brief post is about the influence that pessimists and optimists have on us.

Pessimistic voices

Business owners, who listen to enough pessimistic voices, find it hard to remain positive.  That’s because the influence of pessimists, makes it all too easy for us during the winters of our business lives, to think that summer will never arrive.  All of us get disheartened from time to time and when this happens, the last thing we need is someone bringing us down further.  And then, when times are great, the pessimist will tell us that it won’t last – than doom and gloom are around the corner.

Pessimists seldom achieve anything positive, because opportunities have a habit of avoiding them.  It’s not that the opportunities don’t exist for them, but the pessimist mindset is blind to the potential for gain. Little wonder that for pessimists, the future is something that should be faced with apprehension.

We simply can not allow the toxic impact of pessimists to influence our lives, if we want to be happy, healthy or wealthy.

Optimistic voices

Business owners, who listen to enough optimistic voices, find themselves expecting the best.  Now, as we tend to get from life what we expect, it makes sense to expect the best right?

Optimism is like a virus.  It’s infectious.  I tell you, spend 20 minutes speaking with an informed optimist and it’s as refreshing as a good night’s sleep!  Spend that same amount of time listening to a pessimist complaining, and you will feel tense and stressed.

Optimism isn’t about going through life or business without a plan, blindly expecting the best; it’s about believing that whatever happens, there’s a way to turn it around, to make things better.

Optimism breeds confidence; both internally and externally.  It encourages people to see our dreams and believe in them.  An optimist with the right plan can achieve pretty-much anything.  Give that same plan to a pessimist and they won’t even read it.  They will just say; “what’s the point?”

The bottom line: By deliberately listening to the right influences, we can make our business (and our lives) a lot easier, less stressful and more rewarding!

What have your experiences been?  Have you been impacted by listening to the wrong kind of influences?

Photo: Apdk

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Most companies genuinely try hard to make the customer experience as good as possible, but many set their gold standard for service, too low.  This is because they allow the typical customer experience within their industry or profession to determine what counts as either good or average.

However, by treating all customers and prospective customers as if they were the bosses nearest and dearest, a company will find itself cranking the customer service up to a new level!

Word of mouth

As I have said many, many times before, if you want to get people talking about you and spreading all that valuable word of mouth publicity about you, you need to be remarkable (or remark-able).  One of the finest ways to get people talking about you, is via industry leading attention to customer service excellence.

I was prompted to write this post, after speaking with the chairman of one of the UK’s biggest retail companies yesterday afternoon.  He told me about the way his wife had been treated, when she and a friend were visiting one of his high street stores.  Apparently, they had to wait an age to get served and when they were served, the service was pretty average.

When they were paying for their purchase, the store manager recognised the chairman’s wife and went over to introduce himself to her.  He asked what she thought of the service, so she explained it had been worse than she expected.  At this point, the store manager said;
“I’m sorry.  The shop assistant clearly had no idea who you were!”

The chairman’s wife (a former marketing director of the company) replied;
“surely the default position should be that EVERYONE who enters the store, is given the best quality of service possible?”

The marketing power of great customer service

I believe there’s an opportunity right now, to blaze a trail in your niche, by working hard to massively exceed the expectations of your marketplace.  I believe that by reviewing every step of your business, which is visible in any way to your clients or prospective clients, and looking for ways to dramatically improve the service you render in that area, that you can massively increase the amount of referred business you attract.

You can also improve your attrition rate (how long someone remains a client or customer), improve morale within your company and gain a bulletproof reputation for excellence.

What do you think?

Photo: Xtheowl

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Who is Leo Laporte & what can we learn?

Leo is the massively popular guy behind a network of mainly tech-based programs, which can be watched online or downloaded.  Leo started his online broadcasting network after his mainstream TV show was cancelled.

His network is known as TWiT (This Week in Tech.)  Just 5 years later, Leo’s shows are listened to and watched by millions every month and his advertisers and sponsors include the likes of Visa and Ford.

He now employs a dedicated team of professionals and produces and amazing TWENTY PLUS shows a week.  He’s aiming for a full 24-hours a day “CNN for geeks” service and I know he will do it. More info on Leo can be found here.

Learning from Leo Laporte?

I can see 3 BIG lessons from Leo Laporte’s growing success, which we can all learn from.  Here they are:

1. Quality.  Leo focuses on delivering a very high quality product.  From the beginning, Leo insisted on investing in the best quality equipment possible, and then reinvesting, as the business grew.  He has also worked hard to attract the most entertaining, knowledgeable guests he can.  As the success of his network grew and he was able to start employing people, he brought in the best people he could.  At every step, he has focused on quality, rather than speed or “cheap.”

In my experience, quality does not come cheap, but quality costs far less than when we take the cheap route.  For instance, it can often seem like a wise move to go for the cheapest web host, but what about the cost of all that lost business, if our site is down too often or too slow for people to use?  It might seem like a wise move to hire a cheap accountant or CPA, until you find out that by saving a few hundred a year, you have been overpaying thousands each year in taxes.

It’s about getting the best you can afford and then when you become more financially secure, reinvesting in even better quality.

2. Community. Leo Laporte understands the importance of building a community and engaging with that community.  He takes messages from his listeners and viewers during most of his programs and asks them for suggestions / feedback.  He sets up dedicated chat rooms, where the listeners and viewers can chat with each other and contribute to the show.

There’s a real community feel to Leo’s network, something that helps retain his audience and engage them.  Some of his advertisers have been with him for years, because Leo’s community appreciate that the advertisers are who fund his shows and they are vastly more likely to use and recommend their products.  The advertisers and the listeners are thus, part of the same community. It’s amazing to watch!

As I said yesterday, a community is far, far more commercially valuable than a following or an audience that you broadcast too.

3. Work.  Leo has worked extremely hard to build the TWiT network.  Having come from a mainstream media background, Leo was used to big studios and teams of professionals to get his shows on air.  It must have been hard for him in the beginning, to go from that, to being the guy who made the coffee, wrote the scripts, fixed the equipment and booked the guests.  Until relatively recently, Leo fronted all his shows himself; as well as working with his advertisers, booking guests, writing show plans, working the control desk AND doing a daily tech radio show for an FM station too!

The lesson here is as old as commerce itself.  The best plan in the world will not work for us, if we don’t work for it.

Business leaders are often the first people into the office in the morning and the last ones home; at least during the earlier stages of their business.  All too often, we see people who want to get the result, without putting in the work first.  This is why scammers and con artists have always found an endless stream of people to fool out of their savings, with the promise of easy money.

Quality, community and work.  Three simple words, which bring with them a lot of challenges – But also the promise of something amazing.

What do you think?

Photo: Roland

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I have already had several books sent to me this year for review, written by social media experts or gurus.  The most recent arrived this weekend.  One thing all of them have in common, is that they contain a version of the following advice, which is, in my opinion totally incorrect:
Build a following and market to that following.

Here’s what I have found to be better advice:
Don’t build a following. Build a community instead!

This is not just a play on words.

FOLLOWERS are like the audience at a rock concert.  They are set apart from the rock star on stage.  They see the rock star as distant.  They are part of the event, but a very small part.  The rock star might get the crowd to sing the occasional verse, but we all know they are REALLY just broadcasting THEIR VOICE to the crowd! I really don’t see a lot of value in positioning yourself as a rock star, if you actually want to get involved with people.  Ironically, the people I see using this approach all the time, are social media experts!

COMMUNITY members are totally different.  They are like the guests at a really enjoyable party.  The host of the party is not a “star.”  The host is not set up high on a stage with the spotlight on him or her, but on the same level as the rest of us.  The host interacts with the guests – speaking AND listening.

The host at that party will not have had tens of thousands of people attending, like the rock star did.  But here’s the thing: How many of us actually NEED tens of thousands of people around us, that we will never know or connect with in any meaningful way?

Here’s one way of seeing it

Let’s be serious for a moment.  The typical small business owner, using social media to develop new clients or customers and gain feedback, will never need tens of thousands of followers or fans.

• How many of those people can Bob EVER REALLY connect with or know?
• How many will want to use Bob’s services, simply because Bob added them to his too-big-to-connect-with network of people he will never speak to or meet?

How many? FAR fewer, than if Bob had built a targeted, manageable network of people, which he actually connected with.  I know it sounds a little old fashioned, but it really isn’t about the numbers.

Those numbers represent people. Real people. Real people, with real lives, real needs and real dreams.  Business is all about people too.  If we forget that, and just go for the numbers, we place a very low ceiling on our potential.

What do you think?

Photo: Anirudh Koul

Anirudh Koul

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After writing that post, I received a lot of email and comments, from people who had personal experience of copycat marketing going wrong.

Here’s one email, which I would like to share with you and hear your thoughts on.

“Here’s what happened to me, Jim.  Please share it with your readers to avoid them making the same mistake.

I found a local guy last year; with a well ranked, well read blog.  He blogs and teaches people how to make money and generate business from social media.  So, in view of his huge readership and massive following, I decided to copy what he did and apply it to my web design business.  Sure enough, his ideas were interesting, but after wasting months doing what he said, I had still not generated a single, tangible asset. Nothing. Zip.

So last month he emailed me, to ask a favor.  We’d met at a tweet up and we got on real well hes a great guy.  Anyhow, he emailed to ask me if I could loan him a monitor as his was screwed and HE COULDN’T AFFORD TO REPLACE OR REPAIR IT!  I did have a spare, which I dropped off for him.  Over a coffee, this likeable guy confessed that he was unable to monetize what he did and that he didn’t even have a marketing or business plan in place.

Here’s the thing Jim.  This guy has thousands of RSS subscribers and followers and a kick-ass blog plus a whole bunch of very well known buddies.  I was copy cat marketing someone who looked like he was doing great, but wasn’t making a dime. Its set my marketing back like 6 months. Ive been a jerk for sure but want others to avoid making the same dumbass mistake as me so that my experience wasn’t a total waste of time. Check people out. Followers or reader numbers don’t always equal $$”

I’d really like to hear what you think about that.  Please share your thoughts below!

Photo: CarbonNYC

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Have you noticed how some of the people who comment here, do so without using their name?  The reason you are seeing this, is because they are trying to build links back to their websites or blogs, which contain anchor text, that will help their SEO.

From an SEO perspective, this can be effective, however, by commenting with a marketing phrase, which does not include their name at all, it makes the comments seem impersonal.

It’s hard for the readers or myself to build a dialogue or connect with someone in the comments, who calls himself “Cheap PC Spares!”

I like to see commenters here include their name or nickname in the anchor text they use when commenting, not just a SEO friendly phrase. Especially as this blog uses CommentLuv, which will include a contextual hyperlink back to your blog or website, every time you comment here anyway!

In future, if you want a comment published here, please include your name or even a nickname or your company name.  Feel free to include some SEO friendly words if you want to, but let the readers know there’s a real person there too.

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This brief post, contains 10 popular, effective lead generation ideas, which you may want to add to your marketing arsenal.

Why bother?

Many small business owners make the mistake of relying too heavily on just 1 or 2 sources of leads.

The problem with that approach, is that if one of those lead sources slows down or stops delivering, you are in BIG trouble!  It’s far better to develop a wide spread of inbound, sales lead opportunities.

So, let’s get started!

Sales Leads via Word of mouth

If you want to get the marketplace talking about you to their friends, give them something to talk about!

The golden rule of generating leads via word of mouth, is that you need to be remarkable if you want people to remark on you!

Sales Leads via Email marketing

This is easily one of the most powerful forms of lead generation I have ever used.  For very little cost, a professionally copy written email marketing campaign can generate a steady supply of high quality, targeted sales leads for your business.  Don’t do like most small business owners and use amateur marketing copy, but it doesn’t work.

Sales leads via Twitter

I have personally generated well over £100,000 for my business, directly via leads I attracted via Twitter.  Sadly, I have met just a tiny number of people, who use Twitter correctly, as a form of lead / business generation.

Here’s a tip:  Be selective and don’t just follow every person and every “trend” you see!

Sales Leads via Tele Marketing

Whilst I do not recommend you try this yourself, you might want to consider using a professional telemarketing company as a source of lead generation.  This works better in some industries and countries, than others; so look before you leap.  Check out ANY telemarketing company before you consider using them and ask for references.

Sales Leads via Networking

I choose to do all my networking online these days, but whether you choose online or offline networking, the key is to network with the right kind of people.

Form associations with people, who either have a need for your services or access to people, with a need for your services.  Let them know what you do and the kind of people you work with, so they know who to recommend you to.

This will greatly increase the volume and quality of leads you get.

Sales Leads via Mail shots

Mail shots, (sometimes called direct marketing) has become an increasingly powerful way to generate leads.  With more and more marketing moving online, a hand signed letter from a fellow businessperson these days REALLY catches the reader’s attention.

Sales Leads via your Website or blog

Bottom line: Your site should be a lead generating machine for your business.

Look at the rectangular box below this post.  Every day, people read that message and click the link.  This helps produce leads for my business 7 days a week, 365 days a year.  Get your site’s SEO right and get it professionally copy written, so people feel compelled to click YOUR links and get in touch.

Also, make it easy for people to contact you.  Publish your phone number and email address.  If you use a contact form, just ask for their name, email address and message.  You don’t need anything else to begin with and every extra piece of info you ask for, massively LOWERS your conversion rates!

Sales Leads via Joint Ventures and Endorsed Relationships

I have just written posts about each of these.  To find out about Joint Ventures and Endorsed Relationshipsclick the appropriate link!

Sales Leads via Newsletters

Newsletters are a great way to generate leads.  I have found that a well written newsletter, which resonates with your audience, is a very effective way to position yourself as the person with the answers, to their problems.  Then, when they decide to get professional help with their problem, you are already the natural choice.

Just make sure you are approachable and that you let your readers know that you are happy to speak with them.  Tell them that they are under no obligation by contacting you and that you will treat their email or call in total confidence.

Sales Leads via Advertising

The right message, placed in the correct advertising vehicle, can produce fast, measurable results.  The reason so many small business owners claim advertising doesn’t work, is that they use amateur copy and put it in the wrong place.  I assure you, advertising works!  However, an uninspiring message sent to the wrong people, at the wrong time, doesn’t work (how could it?)  If you are thinking of advertising and you have tried before and found it didn’t work, either get a professional in – or leave it!  You can waste a lot of money with ineffective advertising.

Obviously, there are far, far too many proven ways to generate leads, than can be covered in a blog post.  However, I hope those above have got you thinking about investing in some new, lead generating activities.

I’d love to hear what you have tried in the past, either successfully or otherwise.  Please leave a comment and share your feedback.

Photo: Peter Kaminski

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Endorsed relationships: What are they?

An endorsed relationship, in marketing terms, is simply a relationship you form with another person / company / brand, where they endorse (or recommend) you and your services to their clients, customers and contacts.  This can come via literally any form of marketing.

The most powerful form of endorsed relationship comes when someone, who already has the trust of a network of people, personally recommends you and your services to them.  Unlike a testimonial, which is usually placed on YOUR website or in YOUR marketing, an endorsed relationship sees the endorser recommending you to THEIR clients and friends – People they have a strong, existing relationship with.

This is where the real magic is and why this is such a powerful and effective form of marketing!

I have personally used endorsed relationships for over 20 years, to generate millions of pounds and dollars worth of new business, for my clients.  I have OFTEN seen them generate over 50% positive response rates and occasionally, over 80/90%!

Endorsed relationships in action

Here is a quick example:

Bob runs a IT repair business.  He encourages his accountant to endorse him, when the accountant next does a mail shot to his 1,000 locally-based clients.  So, when the accountant sends his next mailing, he includes a powerful endorsement of Bob’s IT services and recommends his clients call Bob, if they have an IT problem.

Because the accountant is a trusted advisor to these 1,000 businesses, the endorsement of Bob’s services is extremely powerful.  With a correctly written letter, Bob could generate more new business from this one, simple exercise, than from 2 years worth of networking or thousands spent on advertising!

Endorsed relationships: Some simple guidelines for marketing success

• Endorsed relationships, like the Joint Ventures I wrote about yesterday, have to be mutually beneficial for them to work.  If you want someone to recommend you and your business to their highly valued clients or customers, there needs to be a good reason for them to do so. People will not “just do it” because it’s going to make you rich!
  • For instance, I once knew a Bank Manager, who recommended me to all his banks clients, because if they worked with me, their businesses grew and so did their need for more and more of the bank’s services.  By recommending me in this way, his clients benefited, he benefited and so did I.
• The relationship between the person endorsing you and their contacts is pivotal to the success of the exercise.  Getting a highly respected professional to recommend you to a group of people, who value and trust that person’s judgement is marketing gold dust.  Last year, one of my clients generated the equivalent of 25% of her annual turnover in just 12 hours, after a successful endorsed relationship exercise, with a highly respected professional!
• If the person endorsing you is regularly recommending people to their contacts, their recommendation will be of far less value, than one from someone who is more discerning.  For example, there are well-known self-help / personal development gurus, who will recommend ANYTHING for a fee.  As such, their recommendation means very little.  So, align yourself with people, whose word is trusted and respected.
• If you are using written marketing for an endorsed relationship, the wording is extremely important.  Because of the potential value to you of the end result, I would STRONGLY recommend you get a copy writer to compose it.  It could be one of the best marketing investments you will ever make.

Think first!

In order for your endorsed relationship to work, you will need to plan it out in advance.  You will need to hand pick the right people, find a motivating way to reward them.  Just as importantly, if you want it to work, you will need to have a process in place, to deal with what is often a massive number of enquiries or leads in a very short period of time.

Although it sounds simple, I strongly recommend you do your homework before diving in.  The vast majority of endorsed relationships conducted by non marketing professionals fail, because of poor planning. I have no doubt that some of the people reading this, will already have experienced what happens, when you pick the wrong partner or they use the wrong message when endorsing you.

So, plan ahead, take your time and do it right!

What have your experiences of endorsed relationships been?

Photo: Richkidsunites

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