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True success: It’s never about the money

October 20, 2017 by Jim Connolly

It’s an interesting fact that very few of the world’s most successful businesspeople, set out with money or success as their primary target.

They aimed to be valuable.
They aimed to make the world or the marketplace a better place.
They aimed to make a difference.

However, money or success was not their primary focus.

Here’s how they did it!

Steve Jobs famously said:

“I was worth over $1,000,000 when I was 23, and over $10,000,000 when I was 24, and over $100,000,000 when I was 25, and it wasn’t that important because I never did it for the money”.

If Jobs was focused primarily on the money or success, he’d have been able to cash in when he was in his 20’s — super rich and exceptionally successful.

When Einstein said, “Strive not to be a success, but rather to be of value”, he showed where his focus was. Again, it was about the value. Einstein carried on working until his death, even though he could have quit decades earlier with his reputation set in history forever.

To understand how the most successful and wealthy business owners achieved their success, we need to look at why most business owners struggle.

In it just for the money

You can usually tell pretty quick, when you encounter someone who is primarily in it for the money. It’s extremely unattractive. And this makes it very hard for them to succeed.

Here are some examples we see all the time, which you will recognise instantly:

They are the salespeople, whose eyes light up like a wolf when they spot a potential sales victim.
They are the ill-informed marketing gurus who STILL say the money is in the list, because they haven’t figured out the value is in the community.
They are the affiliate marketers, who leave spammy links and comments on blogs and Facebook.
They are the pests, who send us unwanted spam email.
They are the pushy business owners, who corner us at events. The ones who pretend they want to know about our business, when we know it’s that old, cringe-worthy networking tactic.
They are the struggling restaurant owners, who use slightly lower quality ingredients and hire slightly lower quality chefs, and end up with a low quality restaurant that no one recommends.
They are the kind of business owners you thought of, as you were reading those examples.

Clearly, there is nothing wrong with being wealthy or successful. I want you to become both. My point, is that it’s very hard to be wealthy or successful, if they are your primary focus.

Here’s how to succeed without focusing primarily on the money

Consider for a moment the businesses out there, who struggle. They set financial targets and then push average products and average services to average clients who pay them average prices. These business owners then think people just won’t pay higher fees. This is factually 100% incorrect! People won’t pay above average fees for an average, commodity service. They happily pay above average fees and prices for premium, high value products and services.

Now consider the businesses who earn a fortune and succeed. They offer products or services, which are meaningfully different. Their products and services attract the attention of people looking for that special value. They set growth targets, based on a foundation of delivering excellence and delighting their customers or clients. I wrote about this here.

They end up selling valuable products and valuable services to valuable clients, who pay them extremely well.

The way forward for smart business owners

Focus on value. Create products or services that are meaningfully different from the competition. Solve better problems. Create work you are proud of. And delight your customers at every opportunity.

Persistently create value and use marketing to make it visible. People are extremely attracted to value and they pay a premium for it too. Just ask the owner of any high priced Apple product, the owner of a luxury car or the client of any leading service provider.

Get this right my friend, and the money and success will follow.

The wrong way round?

October 18, 2017 by Jim Connolly

Did you know, the massive majority of small businesses are built the wrong way round?

It looks like this:

The business owner decides the type of service they’re going to offer.
They then try to find clients for their service.

That’s nuts!

It can’t work in any meaningful way.

Why? Because it’s literally (yes literally, not figuratively) the wrong way round.

The most effective business owners do the exact opposite.

It looks like this:

They decide the kind of clients they want to work with. For example, clients who are the most interesting, clients who are happy to pay a premium fee for a premium service, etc.
Then, and only then, they decide what services to offer. The service is based around the things, which their ideal profile of client will value and desire.
They then market this service exclusively to these high value clients. They shun everyone else.

If you struggle to attract the right kind of clients, consider reviewing your current strategy.

Focus on the kind of clients you most want to work with. Then, build services, which those ideal clients will find extremely attractive. Delight these ideal clients and they’ll tell their friends.

It’s way more effective, than trying to sell people a service that:

Wasn’t specifically built for their needs.
Isn’t quite what they’re looking for.

How to grow your business by 200% with a very simple idea

October 16, 2017 by Jim Connolly

Here’s something for you to consider if you want your business to grow massively, in 2018 and beyond.

It’s based on an idea I shared with a friend, which saw him increase his profits and turnover by more than 200% in just 12 months.

Meaningful improvements lead to meaningful progress

Here’s what we know: The only way to grow your business next year, in a meaningful way, is to make meaningful improvements. It’s simply not enough for you to do what you did this year, only a little better. At best, that strategy may allow you to tread water. To spin your wheels. To waste another year.

However, it certainly won’t lead you to anything worthwhile.

Add some zeros

My friend Harry saw a 200% increase in his revenues over the last 12 months, with an even greater increase in his profits. How did he achieve this?

Instead of focusing on how to grow his business by 25%, I suggested last September, that he should add a zero to his target. He then sat down and set himself an inspiring challenge: How can I increase my turnover and profits over the next 12 months, by 250%?

Harry explained that by focusing on a target of 25% growth, his thinking was limited. A pretty small target required pretty small thinking. Puny targets also lack any real pull – yes, a 25% increase is nice, but it wasn’t going to change his life in a meaningful way.

However, by setting himself a huge growth target, one that was 10 times bigger than ever before, he had to blow the lid off his thinking. He had to think at a totally different level. It inspired him to set his full potential to work on the challenge. Plus, because growing his business by 250% would massively improve his family’s quality of life, he found it spectacularly motivating.

In short, he’d set himself a compelling target that inspired him to think big AND he was feeling more motivated than ever before.

However… He missed his target!

Instead of growing his business by 250%, he only managed just over 200%. His business is 3 times bigger and over 3 times more profitable! He’s also pretty sure he can hit that 250% number by April 2018.

I believe him too.

How you can succeed on a totally different level

Steve Jobs famously said that when you’re working on something exciting, the vision pulls you. I’m paraphrasing there, but the message is both powerful and accurate.

Most small business owners stay small, because they set themselves targets or goals that fail to inspire them. Puny goals restrict your thinking. They also rob you of the energy, which only comes when you’re being pulled by a compelling vision.

So, why not do what Harry did?

If you want massively better results (and lots more motivation), add some zeros my friend!

It’s yours for the taking

October 12, 2017 by Jim Connolly

There’s a remarkable opportunity right in front of you. And it’s yours for the taking.

For the taking?

Yes!

Think about it: No one gives you the initiative. You take the initiative.

This means you’re free.

Free to encourage those around you.
Free to offer the best customer service in your industry.
Free to build a business that offers you the lifestyle you want.
Free to have your name used as a byword for excellence.
Free to become the best possible version of you.

Of course, you’re also free not to. And that’s perfectly fine. So long as you’re clear that it’s a choice. Your choice.

Because the initiative is taken, not given.

A powerful business lesson from an absolute genius!

October 10, 2017 by Jim Connolly

Today, I’d like to share with you, one of the most valuable lessons in business. It comes from an unusual source: Andy Warhol. And it starts with a quick look at the story behind his masterpiece, Campbell’s Soup Cans!

Here’s the story!

When Warhol’s collection was first exhibited in 1962, very few people attended. The exhibit was arranged by West Coast art dealer, Irving Blum. It was Warhol’s first solo exhibition.

Those who attended the exhibition at the Ferus Gallery either made fun of the art, dismissed it or ignored it. Very little art was sold. It was a huge failure.

Blum decided to buy the Campbell’s Soup Cans canvasses. He paid Warhol $100 a month for 10 months. Just $1000. Though many believed it was $1000 more than they were worth.

Of course, despite his disastrous, first solo exhibition, Warhol refused to quit. He kept on creating his art. He also kept on hustling (getting his art in front of people), believing that if the right people saw it, they’d see it for what it was. Art that would change the landscape for ever.

Here’s what happened.

Warhol hustled

He worked hard. Damn hard.

Instead of working from a studio like every other artist, he worked from what he called The Factory. This was a very deliberate strategy. He created as much art as he could and took every opportunity to showcase his work.

As you know, his belief and hustling finally paid off. Warhol became one of the most important names in art of the 20th century and his work is even more valued today.

Irving Blum’s $1000 investment in the Campbell’s Soup Cans, which people laughed at, was sold to New York’s Museum of Modern Art in 1996 for $15MILLION.

This was seen partly as a gift from Irving Blum, as the art is valued at well over $100MILLION.

Warhol without the hustle?

Without hustling, there would have been no Andy Warhol. Certainly not the internationally respected artistic genius we know today.

Had Warhol decided to quit after his initial, disastrous exhibitions, a genius would never have flourished. At that time, he was being rejected by his peers and his work was being insulted.
Had Warhol created the same great art, but refused to work hard promoting it, both he and his art would have remained undiscovered.

Instead, Warhol hustled. Creating and promoting great art.

Business without the hustle

How many great business owners have worked hard without recognition, because they failed to promote their work correctly? How many business owners reading this post, are struggling because too few people know how amazing their products or services are? How many business owners are not putting their ideas into action, because they allow fear of failure or ridicule to stop them?

I honestly don’t know.

What I do know is that some amazing people, providing great products and services, fail to get the rewards they deserve. Why? Because unlike Warhol (Steve Jobs, Henry Ford, Walt Disney and every successful business owner in your area), they resist the hustle.

Instead of doing 100% of what’s required, they do 100% of the things they’re comfortable with.

They fear the idea of marketing their work correctly. So, in one of the fastest-changing economies in living memory, they dabble. They refuse to do what’s required, opting instead to stay in their comfort zone and do what’s familiar – even though it’s failing them. I find that fascinating.

There’s a proven, better way.

Embrace the work. ALL the work!

The alternative is simple. By simple, I mean everyone reading this can do it. Anyone reading this can turn an average business into a successful business or turn a successful business into an even more successful one.

So long as… you embrace all the work required in order to succeed.

This means changing things. You can’t improve without change. It means giving your business 100%. It means working hard and working smart. It also means doing work worthy of you and hustling the value you bring, so people get to know how amazing you and your business are.

You can do it. How do I know? Because I see my clients doing it every day. And it’s easier and massively more rewarding, than suffering with the stress and frustration of an under-performing business.

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Could logic be hurting your business? Yes it could. Here’s why!

October 6, 2017 by Jim Connolly

Why do some prospective clients choose an inferior provider, even after you’ve demonstrated that you offer a far better service?

I was thinking about this earlier. A friend of mine bought a new vehicle, which carries 7 people. He’s married. They have one child and no pets. I asked him why he chose to buy a vehicle with so many seats.

He said, “I don’t know, Jim. I don’t need all those seats. I just really like it”.

The problem with logic

Here’s the thing: Most of the purchasing decisions we make seem to defy logic.

Instead, we hire someone or buy something, based on the way we feel about them / it.

So, here’s a quick tip.

If you find you’re losing prospective clients to competitors, even after you’ve clearly explained why you’re the best choice, try focusing less on logic. This means fewer graphs. Fewer numbers. Fewer facts.

Instead, tell them a better story. A story that’s consistent with the way they need to feel, in order to hire you or buy from you. When they feel comfortable with you, when they feel like you’re the right option… you become the obvious choice.

This will help you get it right: Why storytelling is the cornerstone of successful marketing.

Here’s how they did it!

In it just for the money

Here’s how to succeed without focusing primarily on the money

The way forward for smart business owners

It looks like this:

It looks like this:

Meaningful improvements lead to meaningful progress

Add some zeros

How you can succeed on a totally different level

Warhol hustled

Warhol without the hustle?

Business without the hustle

Embrace the work. ALL the work!

The problem with logic

Let’s grow your business!