Jim's Marketing Blog

Marketing tips & ideas to help you grow your business, by Jim Connolly

Page 11 of 172

4 Common marketing mistakes AND how to avoid them

marketing mistakes

Here are 4 extremely common marketing errors, which are needlessly hurting small businesses.

This is really important, so let’s get started!

1. You’re not doing enough, to get word of mouth referrals

You need to give your business a story, which is interesting enough for people to talk about.

Please allow me to explain: Think of every business or brand, which you just had to tell your friends about… what motivated you to spread the word? It was something remarkable. Something so interesting that you wanted to share it.

You need to give YOUR business a compelling story, which people will embrace and share. I’ve seen amazing results with my clients when we worked this into their business. I suggest you do the same.

2. You only market your services when business is worryingly quiet

Marketing needs to be an ongoing conversation with your prospective clients. This helps you earn the awareness and trust of your marketplace. It’s what makes prospective clients think of you when they need a new provider.

However, if you only market your services now and then, your marketing has no momentum. You start from zero each time. The marketplace sees you as a stranger. You lack the ongoing connection with your prospective clients, which you need if you want to win their business.

I don’t care what excuse you tell yourself for not marketing your business on an ongoing basis, but lose the excuse.

You haven’t got time? Then find the time.

You can’t afford it? Then you’re already paying the price for prioritizing everything else, above your marketing. I can’t think of a better motivation for you to start taking your marketing seriously.

3. Your website isn’t providing you with regular sales or high quality client leads

This. Is. Crazy. Just about every small business website or blog I see, is massively under performing. This is an area I work on at the very beginning with my new clients, because huge gains can be achieved very quickly.

Your website should be a business generating machine. It should be working for your business all day, while you’re busy delighting your clients.

If it isn’t, you’re leaving money on the table every day. You’re needlessly losing out on regular sales leads. No business can afford that.

Give your website what it needs and it will give you what you need. Treat it as an afterthought and it will perform accordingly.

4. Your service sounds too similar to other providers in your industry

Unless you get this right, you will always struggle. This is maybe the single most dangerous small business marketing mistake. With the vast majority of small business owners making this mistake, it almost certainly applies to your business too.

If you provide a service where there is a lot of competition, you need to show why YOUR service is worth hiring and not the other providers.

It’s not enough to say you try harder or that you go the extra mile or that you offer great customer service… everyone says that! You need a meaningful, genuine difference. Otherwise, you will find yourself competing for clients based on your prices or fees.

Why?

Because when there’s no meaningful difference in value between providers, prospective clients use your fee as a way to measure value. Conversely, when you are clearly offering enough unique value, you stand out.

  • You attract the best clients.
  • You attract inquiries from people, eager to work with you.
  • You attract clients who value your time.
  • You will also be doing what the most successful people in every industry do!

Here’s an example from my own business: I have positioned myself so differently from what were traditionally my competitors, that I now have zero competition. In fact, I even have a page on Jim’s Marketing Blog, which provides free advice to my so-called competitors, on how to build a successful marketing blog. Yes I’m serious. Here it is!

Stop competing. Build something that’s truly yours. Look to the future with excitement, not apprehension. Plan ahead with confidence.

Some very good news

The massive majority of your competitors are not professionally marketing their business. They are making most if not all of the above mistakes.

This leaves a HUGE opportunity for you, if you decide to take your marketing seriously. If you’d like me to show you exactly what to do, check this out and get in touch.

November 7, 2013 /

How to make your business more human and far more successful too

Human business, focused marketing message

Whether you sell B2B or B2C you’re ALWAYS selling P2P (person to person).

It’s extremely important to remember that.

Why?

Because people will only listen to you, if you have something valuable to share with them, which matters to them. And no… a vague, poorly targeted marketing message is not going to work.

Here’s what we know

The more focused your marketing 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 (viewer or listener), in a language they understand. It connects with them at a far deeper level than a poorly targeted message.
  • A focused marketing message makes the reader feel as if you knew exactly what they needed. This makes you relevant to them, which is extremely powerful.
  • A focused marketing message captures the reader’s attention. This is of huge value to you today, when people’s attention has never been so scattered.
  • A focused marketing message has the power to motivate people to take action… to buy from you, call you, email you or visit you.

In short, a focused marketing message has the power to inspire and compel people in a way that vague messages can’t.

Review your written marketing

Look for opportunities to make it more focused, so that it’s only relevant to your ideal profile of client. Be less inclusive. Talk directly to them.

Business is all about people and people really notice, when you’re speaking directly to them, in their language, about what matters to them!

PS: Here’s some advice on how to build a successful business, using a more human approach.

November 6, 2013 /

Let’s look at your confidence

Confidence in business

I have an important question for you today: How confident are you, when you speak or write about your business?

The reason this is so important, is that there is a direct connection between how confident you sound regarding your business and how confident people feel about your business.

Here’s why this matters so much… people tend not to do business with those they lack confidence in!

Confidence and competence

When we speak or write with confidence, we make it easy for people to trust us. We make it easy for them to believe that we know what we are talking about. That’s because people associate confidence with competence.

Of course, the opposite is also true.

When someone speaks or writes with a lack of confidence, they give the impression that they don’t really know what they are talking about. Their lack of confidence is projected onto the people who hear or read what they have to say, which generates doubt and uncertainty.

Even experienced experts can look like blabbering fools, if they get this wrong. This is why I work on this with my clients and help them gain the confidence they need, to grow their business.

Try this simple exercise

Take a look at the last few marketing messages you wrote; (marketing emails, ads, mail shots, blog posts, newsletters etc). Think also about the last few business conversations you had with potential clients and existing clients or customers.

Next, ask yourself the following few questions:

  • Do I speak with conviction and calm assurance?
  • Do I write from a positive, confident perspective; explaining the amazing benefits of my service?
  • Do I accept compliments from people with a “thank you” or feel compelled to respond with a joke or quip?
  • Do I attract regular word of mouth referrals from people, who confidently recommend me?

My mentor used to say; “Have something worth saying and say it well.”

You know how amazing your business is and all the tremendous value you bring. That’s something worth saying. Just make sure that you say it well too.

Let your confidence inspire those around you.

November 5, 2013 /

Show them what you know and who you are!

blogging for business

Someone just emailed me, to ask what were the commercial benefits of writing a blog. He wanted to know why I spend so many working hours giving useful information away, for free.

I want to quickly share part of my answer with you, because it’s extremely valuable. It’s based on a blog post I wrote a few years ago. I recalled a reader asking a blogger if he was in as high demand before he started blogging, as he is today.

Here’s the gold dust!

In one sentence, the answer sums up one of the most valuable reasons for business blogging. It went something like this:

“No one gave a rats ass about me, until they could see what was inside my head.”

Share what’s in your head

Your business blog gives you the opportunity to demonstrate what you know, what you stand for and who you are. It’s a way for people to check you out and determine for themselves, if you “get it” or not.

If you really know your subject and have the desire to share what you know with prospective clients or customers, there is no better way to showcase your talent than blogging.

PS: If you’re still not convinced, here are 25 reasons to write a business blog.

November 5, 2013 /

Choose: A business can’t improve AND stay the same!

change progress

It constantly amazes me, how many small business owners refuse to make the changes required, for their business to succeed.

Instead, here’s what we see:

  • They will happily carry on attending the same ineffective networking groups — because it’s familiar.
  • They will relentlessly waste money on the same ineffective advertising — because it’s familiar.
  • They will persistently send the same under performing, DIY mail shots out — because it’s familiar.
  • They will merrily waste hours every week on social networks, getting no bankable results for their business — because it’s familiar.

The challenge comes, when they have to hold their hands up and admit they’re going nowhere… and that they desperately need to change course. Their desire to stick with what’s familiar is stronger than their desire to do what their business desperately needs.

Successful small business owners do the polar opposite

Compare that fear based approach, to what the most successful small business owners do. These people actively seek out new ways to develop their businesses. They understand that progress is only possible, when we improve what we do and how we do it.

No change = No progress

Why? Because the process of improvement, by default, is a process of change. Your situation can’t both improve AND stay the same. It’s one or the other.

Thankfully, you get to choose.

You can choose today, right now, to start planning so that 2014 is the year you exceed all past results. You can choose to switch from lowering your lifestyle to meet your under performing business, to building a business that gives you and those you love, the lifestyle you really want.

No, you can’t achieve it all today… but you can make the decision to change course right now!

November 3, 2013 /

Marketing 101: Stop pushing people for attention

stop pushing marketing

Here’s a quick piece of advice, to help you massively improve your marketing results.

Drum roll please…

Stop pushing people to get their attention!

If you are walking down the street and a stranger deliberately pushes you, they WILL get your attention. Of course, the attention you are giving them is 100% negative, because people don’t like being pushed.

If your marketing is based on pushing people, you can expect the same negative attention from the marketplace. Yes, prospective clients or customers will notice you, but for all the wrong reasons.

Common types of pushy marketing include:

  • Adding you, without your permission, to their newsletter list.
  • Sending you unwanted email offers, which you never asked for.
  • Cold calling you, because they don’t give a crap how busy you are.
  • Pestering you to follow them on social networks.

Effective marketing is about attracting targeted sales and inquiries from interested people. Pushing causes the exact opposite to happen. It looks needy too!

Your industry is filled with people offering the same type of service, making the same kind of promises, for the same kind of fees… to the same prospective customers. Little wonder then, that they have to battle to get people’s attention.

Here’s what we know works

Give people a story about your product or service, which they will want to share. {My story gets shared daily, by people who think that the way I deliver my service is unique enough to talk about}.

Each of the initial people who feel compelled to talk about your business, will spread the word. If your story is interesting enough, those new people will also share it too. Soon, everyone in your marketplace is talking about you.

Here’s what doesn’t work

Relentlessly pushing a predictable product or service, which fails to inspire people… hoping to pester your way to their hearts.

In short: If we have to keep pushing our message, because too few people are sharing it, it’s time to make what we’re doing more attractive – not make our marketing more annoying.

November 2, 2013 /

Marketing 101: Why you have to choose

Coffee shop marketing, coffeeshop marketing

I’d like to share a personal experience with you today, which shows the commercial importance of choosing your customers.

The coffee shop that failed to choose

Most weekends, my family and I go for a walk along the local riverbank. At the end of the walk, there’s an independent coffee shop, which we often go into for some lunch. The place is very small, with seating for around 20 people. It’s mainly used by people with young families, who have been walking and older people who meet there for lunch and a chat.

2 weeks ago, my wife our young son and myself were enjoying our lunch when members of a cycling club arrived. They had obviously been cycling very vigorously, as they were dripping with sweat. The 10 of them came in, took their muddy shoes off (not pleasant) and walked to their seats leaving 10 sets of sweaty footprints. Not an ideal atmosphere when you’re eating!

Within a few minutes, an older couple who are regulars, cancelled their order and left. A younger couple with 2 small children came in and walked straight out again — the sweaty smell and noise was not what they expected.

We quickly finished our lunch and left. As we paid, the proprietor asked if everything was OK. I explained that it wasn’t and she immediately knew what I was referring to. She went on to explain that unlike the other local coffee shops who have banned cycling clubs, she hasn’t.

She said; “I can’t afford to turn them away!”

I replied; “Who? The cyclists or the regular customers you’ve just lost?”

Unbelievably, the proprietor then told me that the cycle club were rude and that one of them had insulted her waitress. Yet, she still believes she can’t afford to lose their very occasional custom! They mainly want to use the toilets, have one drink and have a 30 minute break.

The problem created with an intermittent issue like that, is that they flood the coffee shop just often enough to make it not worth risking a wasted trip. So, we shall not be using the place in future. It seems we are not alone…

The next time our family went for a riverside walk, we decided to use another local coffee shop. As we walked in, we saw several of the people who we usually see at the other coffee shop. They each said the same thing, that the atmosphere was ruined for them and they won’t risk going back and having that happen to them again.

The marketing lesson here?

It’s not about being short-sighted, at least not directly. The learning from this situation is that the business owner failed to chose. By trying to attract everyone’s custom, she failed on both counts.

The business owner failed her regular customers, by allowing the place to be taken over by the cycling club members. One of the regulars we met, who left after we did, told us that within 15 minutes of the cycling club arriving, the place was empty of regular customers. Others came in and walked back out again.

The business owner also failed the local cycle clubs. Other independent coffee shops in the local area have a sign outside, saying No Cycling Clubs. Now, had the coffee shop owner built a cycle club-friendly experience, with somewhere safe to put their expensive bicycles and a BIG Cycle Clubs Are Welcome sign on the door, she’d attract more than that one cycling club. People like me, who cycle regularly but are not part of a club, would also appreciate a safe place to store our bikes when we stop for a coffee.

By contacting all the local cycling clubs and telling them that she welcomes them, she could carve out a very nice weekend trade.

She did neither.

By refusing to choose, the coffee shop owner has lost a number of her regulars and will fail to attract enough cycling clubs to cover the losses.

The cost of dodging the decision

All business owners face similar choices, with many doing exactly as the coffee shop owner did and failing to choose. Most importantly, by failing to choose, you miss a great opportunity to offer exceptional service to your chosen market.

Of course, the paradox here is that the decision not to choose is a choice itself. It’s the default. The let it slide option. The fast track to average.

And if you think making the decision is hard, wait until you see the cost of dodging the decision.

PS – You may find this useful. It’s all about choosing your customers.

October 31, 2013 /

How to predict your 2014 business results

With 2013 now drawing to a close, many business owners are wondering what the coming year holds for them. If you’re one of them, you may find today’s post useful.

It’s about the three different types of business owner and why some will do so much better next year, than others.

1. For most, next year will be a lot like this year

They will keep doing what they have always done and keep getting what they have always got. Incredibly, this applies most to those small business owners whose businesses are stagnating or contracting. Those who most need to change are also those least likely to change.

It’s their resistance to change that creates their business problems and then allows their problems to persist.

2. For some, next year will be an opportunity to build on past success

These successful business owners will keep doing what they have always done and keep getting what they have always got. Every year, they decide what they want to achieve and then make the changes required. Even though they are doing extremely well by most people’s standards, they want to do better.

They rightly look to 2014 with a mixture of confidence and excitement.

3. For a tiny percentage, next year will be a transformation

These wonderful, rare people will take the opportunity of the New Year to learn from past failings and turn their fortunes around. They will STOP doing what they have always done and START getting what they have always WANTED. I have massive admiration for people in this group. It takes courage to change course — to invest in progress.

Question: Which group do you think is most likely to contact me for help?

You’d think that most of the people who email me to inquire about hiring me, would be in that second or third group. And you’d be wrong!

Although all my clients come from people in the second and third group, the vast majority of inquiries I get, are from people in that first group. They know they need to improve things, so they get in touch with me. However, the people from that first group never respond to my reply. They email me explaining how desperate their situation is, yet when I email them back to arrange a call, they disappear. They know they need to change, but the pain of change is just too much for them. So, they complain… and stay the same.

You and your business and 2014

I have no idea which of those three groups you find yourself in. What I do know is that if you want things to improve, then you need to improve — to leave your comfort zone.

A pound of action is worth more than a ton of intentions.

October 29, 2013 /

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