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Can I have your opinion please?

By Jim Connolly | May 10, 2011

I would really value your opinion on this!

As long time readers will know, I don’t really review things here.  The closest I come, is with the occasional mention of a blog I like.

Increasingly though, people are emailing me; asking if there are business blogs, books, products or services, which I use and can recommend to them.  Until now, I have always replied to these emails, via email.

I’m wondering if these recommendations may be of value or interest to you?

I have no intention of writing long, boring reviews.  Reviewing is actually a highly skilled area of writing, which is why blogger reviews are often so dull. Instead, I’m talking about a brief heads up, where I share the most valuable and interesting resources I know, with you.

I am currently reading a fantastic book by Laurie Young, called; The Marketer’s Handbook.  It’s all about how traditional marketing techniques and ideas work (or not) in today’s marketplace.  Books like this deserve your attention, yet the only people who know I highly recommend it, are those who have emailed me recently asking for marketing book recommendations.  Equally, there are software programs, services and hardware that are essential to my business, which I know would be of direct benefit to many of you.

Please let me know what you think!

Let’s work together and grow your business. To find out more click here!

Disconnected

By Jim Connolly | May 10, 2011

Many years ago, I discovered that the person you should trust the least, is usually the person who keeps telling you, you should trust them.  In almost every case, those I have come into contact with in business, who keep talking about the importance of trust, have proven to be untrustworthy.

Similarly, whenever I have heard someone on a radio phone-in, start a sentence with the words; “I’m not a racist, but…” they always go on to say something that’s racist.

I even had a comment once from someone, who said that content scraping sucked.  I then saw he had scraped a dozen of my posts and used them on his blog, listing himself as the author!

Right now, I’m receiving a string of sales emails from a blogger, who frequently writes about the importance of NOT pushing sales messages on people.  Again, a 180 degree  disconnect, between what the person says and what the person does.

The bottom line: Be extremely cautious when dealing with anyone in business, who feels compelled to make a big point of telling everyone, how opposed they are to something that’s negative.  It’s not always an indicator that they are full of crap, but in my experience, it’s accurate far more often than not.

This is just TOO MUCH information!

By Jim Connolly | May 9, 2011

Too much really is too much.

  • If you get too many inquiries in too short a timespan, you can’t respond to them effectively or as swiftly as you should.
  • If you attract too much traffic to your website, your servers will go down.
  • If you take on too many new clients, too closely together, the quality of the service they receive from you will dip.
  • If you have too much “spare time” you are 100% definitely neglecting something important.

Aim for balanced growth

Success in business means developing the correct balance.  As soon as we introduce too much of anything, the balance is altered and other areas suffer a negative imbalance.

Focus your efforts on growing your business in a balanced way.  Check your resources.  Ensure you have the capacity in place for when it’s needed.

Why the hostility? I don’t understand it!

By Jim Connolly | May 8, 2011

Why are people so hostile, to bloggers who write books, which include subjects covered in their blog posts?  That’s not a rhetorical question, I am genuinely looking for an answer and would appreciate your feedback.

The typical complaint I hear, is that some bloggers books contain a lot of the material, which is freely available on the author’s blog.

Here’s how I see it

A blog with hundreds or maybe thousands of posts, can take someone many hours, before they search through all the content to find the key parts they are interested in.  Time is money. On this blog, I offer a categories section, a month by month archive and a search box and even I find it hard to quickly locate particular posts!

A site like copyblogger, which has no archives, no dates on any posts and where posts are not fully categorised, would take someone days to mine for all the key information they need. That said, those guys sell inexpensive information products based on much of their cornerstone content, which is an effective solution, in my opinion.

Of course, even after someone trawled their way through hundreds or thousands of posts, it’s probable they will miss key content out, if they haven’t already gone blind from eye strain!  Then they need somewhere to put that information, so it can be indexed and easily read.

Now, given that all of the blogger books I have seen, retail at below the hourly income of their intended readership, are they really so wrong to charge for it?  It’s also worth mentioning that with a few well-known exceptions, these books offer a lot of new material and fresh insights, not simply rehashes of the authors blog posts.

I would love to know what you think about this, so please share your thoughts.

Build a hugely valuable client list with this 1 simple idea

By Jim Connolly | May 7, 2011

email marketing

Can you imagine trying to run your business without email?

It would be possible, but a lot more awkward. You would need to use snail mail more often, which is slow and expensive.  Many of the people you know have Facebook accounts, so you could ask them to “friend” you, allowing you to send them messages quickly.  Of course, some of these people don’t use Facebook much when they are at work and other business contacts of yours hardly use it at all.  (You can join me on Facebook here!)

So, whilst there are ways to lessen the impact of having no email, it would cause a lot of disruption and your business would be far worse off for the lack of email access.

THAT is how you need your clients to feel, about losing you as a service provider!

The service you provide should be solving a significant problem for your clients and their business AND be extremely hard to replace.  Offering that kind of uniquely valuable service, means it makes no sense for your clients to leave you.

The question you need to ask and answer on a regular basis is:

How hard would it be right now, for my clients to replace me?

If they could get a similar service for a similar fee elsewhere; you need to work on developing unique value as soon as possible.  This means using your creativity to differentiate yourself, based on value – Not just being different for the sake of it.

Never let a week go by, without thinking at least once about ways to pump as much value into your services as possible.

A great opportunity for coaches and trainers!

By Jim Connolly | May 6, 2011

Do you work as a coach or trainer?

Are you interested in attracting more high quality clients and inquiries?

If you just answered yes to both of those questions, I have a great opportunity for you!

As of today, there are a small number of places being made available on my content marketing program, but only for those of you working as coaches or trainers.

To find out how the Content Marketing Program can help you and your business, read this post.

I look forward to hearing from you!

Let’s work together and grow your business. To find out more click here!

Build a great business with these powerful, creative ideas

By Jim Connolly | May 5, 2011

Today’s post will show you how to tap into the most valuable resource in your business.  Your brain!

I want to start with a quick question.  How good are you at creatively solving problems?  I ask this, because marketing and business development is a largely creative process.  We need to constantly, creatively look for ways to:

  • Improve our products and services.
  • Make our marketing messages more compelling.
  • Improve the customer or client experience with better customer service.
  • Reduce our attrition rate (that’s the rate at which we lose clients.)
  • Increase the reach of our marketing.
  • The list goes on and on and on.

Creative thinking in action

I recently learned of a creative solution to a pressing problem, which demonstrates the power and value of creative thinking.  It’s a great little story with a wonderfully simple lesson!

An elderly couple from a small town in the UK were being bothered late at night, every night, by a group of loud, often drunk teenagers who had started congregating on the corner of their street.  Although the old folk suffered worse, as the commotion was close to their front door, the noise, which would often go on until 3am, impacted around 20 homes.  Initially they tried reasoning with the kids, but it didn’t work.  Then they tried calling the police, but the kids just came back when the cops went.

One day, the residents got together at a local hall, to see if they could find a way to resolve the problem.  They were about an hour into their meeting, when a taxi driver arrived to pick up one of the group to take him home.  He asked what the problem was and they told him.  Instantly, he announced to the group:

I know how to solve that, it’s easy!

The group listened intently to hear what the taxi driver had to say.

The reason those kids meet there, is because the place where they used to congregate (which was out of the way) has grass that’s 4 feet high and it’s being used as an illegal place to dump rubbish/garbage.  Your corner has a lovely clean plot, with railings that they can sit on.  So, you need to make their old meeting place appealing again and make your corner less appealing.  I suggest you start, by feeding the birds at those railings on your street!

Feeding the birds?  Are you crazy?

Those kids spend a lot of money on their clothing.  They will not want to sit on the railings at the corner of your street, in the dark, if the birds have been dumping all over it!  I’d get started today feeding the birds and then get some people together to clean up their old congregating place.  The kids need somewhere to go and you have to give them an alternative, or you are simply moving the problem onto another local street.

It took almost a month, but it worked.  The kids went back to their old, out of the way spot; where generations of local teens had hung out.  As soon as the kids went, the area on the street corner was cleaned and the residents were able to sleep again.

We are all creative

In my experience, businesspeople often see creative thinking as something that an elite minority are blessed with.  The reality is the polar opposite!  We are all creative.

Even those who don’t regard themselves as being creative, use their creativity every day.  For example, they see a traffic jam on the way to work, so they think of a way around it.  They get home from work hungry.  They go to the kitchen and realise they forgot to get their groceries, so there is a limited number of ingredients; however, they come up with a meal by creatively designing a dinner, based on maximizing their limited resources.  All day, every day, you are creatively solving problems.

Tapping into your creativity

Just like the traffic jam and dinner problems I mentioned a moment ago, you need to focus your creativity on a problem, from a mindset that there IS an answer.  Here are some questions to ask yourself, just to get your creative juices flowing:

  • Which 10 influential people would I like to know, who could help me with my business?
  • How can I attract the attention and interest of these people?
  • What new product or service can I offer to my existing clients? (This is the single fastest way to increase your profits.)
  • And here are 32 more GREAT questions, to get your business moving forward.

I hope you found these ideas, examples and questions useful.

If you did, I would really appreciate it if you would share this post with your friends on Twitter, Facebook or Linkedin.  Thanks!

Bread for the head

By Jim Connolly | May 4, 2011

My mentor, Jim Rohn, used to call knowledge; “bread for the head.”  I love that phrase.

Jim’s message was to invest the money required, to gather the knowledge you need; to feed your mind and become MORE.

  • Read the books.
  • Listen to the audio programs.
  • Attend the seminars.
  • Watch the DVDs.

Why?  Because whenever you look at the people who fail to invest in their education, you find that they are not doing so good.  They are out there right now, wondering when their luck will change.  They are living where they don’t want to live.  They are getting through life, without getting much from life.

How I fed my head

I started out with a few books my older brother gave me.  He took pity on me.  I was broke and living in a violent, slum.  I had no job.  I was sick of being broke and going nowhere.  So, I decided to read the books he gave me.

8 years later, I found myself financially secure for life, aged just 29.  I was married to my beautiful wife and running my own marketing business.  I was waking up each day, just happy to be alive.

To get from broke age 21 to secure for life age 29, I invested thousands in my personal and professional development. I have invested a lot more since then.

Don’t do like Joe & Josephine average

Joe happily invests hundreds on the latest phone each year, but wouldn’t dream of spending the same amount on developing his mind.

Josephine happily invests in her daily skinny latte, during her lunch break from the job she hates, but wouldn’t spend the same amount on feeding her mind so she could get a job she loves.

Feed your mind with the knowledge you need and watch what happens to you in every area of your life.  I’m telling you, the results can be, as in my own case, life changing.

Seth Godin interview: The power of presence

By Jim Connolly | May 4, 2011

I just listened to something, which I have to share with you.  It is an interview with Seth Godin, however, it’s not the subject matter of the interview that I want to bring to your attention.

It’s something far, far more valuable.  It’s a lesson in presence and leadership that everyone should listen to!

The power of presence

Seth was speaking with the guys at RadioLitopia about his thoughts on the future of publishing.  Throughout the interview, Seth generously shared what he knew.  He listened intently when his interviewers were speaking.  At no point did he attempt to dominate the conversation, score points of his interviewers or brag about his achievements, however, his presence was enormous.

As a teenager, I met with Arnold Schwarzenegger at Bob Page’s Gym in South East London.  Arnold filled the room.  It wasn’t just his size, it was his entire persona, his presence.  In this interview, Seth filled the conversation like Arnold filled the room.  If you had no idea who Seth Godin was, you would realise in minutes that he is a person of influence; a leader.

Personally, I learned more from listening to the way Seth conducted himself during that interview, than I have learned from entire books on professional development.

Even if you have zero interest in publishing, listen to that interview and hear how a genuine leader magnetically attracts your attention, then earns your respect.

Thanks for an unexpected learning opportunity, Seth!

Update

After I wrote the post, I mentioned it to Seth.  He then told me that the reason the interview went so well, was because of the other guy’s interviewing skills.  I think Seth and I can agree to disagree on this one ;)

Let’s work together and grow your business. To find out more click here!

Photo credit: Seth Godin

Don’t major in minor things

By Jim Connolly | May 3, 2011

One of the most common attributes of every successful person I know, is that they focus their energy and time intelligently.

They don’t waste major time on minor things.

The Pareto principle famously said that 80% of our results come from 20% of our efforts.  In reality, it could be that 80% of our results come from 10% or 30% of our efforts, however, the concept behind it is sound.  Our job then, is twofold.

  1. We need to discover what the key activities are that produce the highest return for us.
  2. We need to ensure that whatever happens, these activities get done before we start on lower value tasks.

Failing to invest your time correctly, means you run the risk of mistaking movement for progress.  I know many small business owners, who work hard and often long hours too, but they achieve very little.  They are like the guy rowing his boat with all his strength in the wrong direction.  The harder he rows, the more lost he becomes.

We have to be wiser than that.

We have to examine what we want to achieve and then determine what the key activities are, to get us from where we are to where we want to be.  Once you know what these activities are, you need to ask yourself the following question throughout the day:

Is this the best use of my time right now?

If the answer is yes, then carry on.  If the answer is no, then go and get to work on a more worthy use of your valuable time.

How come I do it so often?

By Jim Connolly | May 2, 2011

content marketing

It seems that some readers have noticed that many of their favourite blogs didn’t publish anything, over the recent public holidays.  I’ve had a few people on Twitter and several emails, asking why I thought it was, that many of the bloggers who say they schedule weeks worth of content in advance, always seem to miss the days when they are away from the office.

I can only guess why they didn’t publish on those days.  Maybe they simply didn’t have anything finished in advance and were spending some time away from work.  Good for them! Others may have had some posts pre written and ready to go, but maybe wanted to save them for higher traffic days.  Lots of business bloggers have told me they see no value posting on public holidays.  They find they get little engagement with so many people away from the office, so it makes more sense for them to hold onto their posts for regular work days.

Those are just educated guesses.  I can, however, explain how come I was able to post each day.

Here’s how I do it

It’s actually extremely simple:  I prepare my posts well in advance.  I write 3 or 4 blog posts, twice a week.  Plus, I occasionally dedicate a whole day to writing posts.  This means I am always at least a month ahead of myself with content.

These posts are about 95% written, so once a week I grab a handful of them and complete them, before scheduling them to be published.  It works.  It means I can show up here without having to write during the holidays.  It means I only need to write a couple of times a week, so it never gets in the way of my family time or my fee-paying work.  It also means I don’t have to rely on “guest” bloggers to provide me with content, as I always have far more content than I actually need.

Sometimes, like over the past few weeks, I publish something every day; occasionally, like today, I publish twice in a day.  For example, the post I published this morning was written weeks ago, then I decided to write and publish this post today, because of the time sensitive nature of it. (Today is a public holiday in the UK.)  So, if it’s a time sensitive post, I will often publish the post the same day it’s written, otherwise it’s a scheduled post.

From a content marketing perspective, there’s no real need for me to publish as often as I do.  I’m driven to share ideas with you here on the blog, because I know many people find these posts as enjoyable to read, as I do to write them.  A genuine win-win!

I’d like to know what you think about blogging on a regular basis.

Do you enjoy reading certain blogs regularly?  Do you find it challenging to produce posts as often as you would like?  Do you think it’s better for bloggers to write less often?  Please take a moment to share your feedback!

Exposed: Dirtbags and superstars!

By Jim Connolly | May 2, 2011

One of the amazing things about business today, is that so much of what we do is visible.

  • If a web designer claims to be able to build great websites, you can see for yourself by checking out their website and portfolio online.  It’s visible!
  • If a marketing professional claims to be able to help you attract great new clients, you can see for yourself how effectively they are attracting your attention. It’s visible!
  • If a copywriter claims to be able to write compelling, inspiring copy for his or her clients, you can read their work online.  It’s visible!
  • If a PR expert claims to be able to get you noticed for all the right reasons, you can check how well they are handling their own PR online.  It’s visible!
  • If an accountant, business advisor, bank manager, restaurateur,  IT technician, stationer, mechanic, hotelier etc tells you they offer a great service, you can check them out via Google and see what people are saying about them.  It’s visible!

The way it was

For years, low quality service providers were able to throw money at marketing and PR and give the impression they were offering great value.  They were able to let their clients or customers down and still win more business, because their clients and customers didn’t have much of a voice in most cases.

The business owners who offered great customer service were often left frustrated.  Their commitment to service excellence was often largely unnoticed by non clients, because their clients and customers didn’t have much of a voice in most cases.

The way it is

Thankfully, the marketplace today has the opportunity to see a lot more, as the business of business becomes increasingly visible.  Yes, there is a lot of misinformation out there, but there is also a lot of genuine organic feedback too.

This is great news for those business owners, who offer the finest quality of service they possibly can.  At last, your commitment to service excellence has the potential to massively and speedily spread throughout your marketplace.

Make it as easy as possible for people to visibly show their appreciation and they will.  Moreover, their endorsement of you and your business is FAR more powerful than your own marketing messages, when handled correctly.

PS: This is one of the many opportunities I cover on my new Content Marketing Program.

Blogging, giving and receiving!

By Jim Connolly | May 1, 2011

I wrote last week about the power of giving.  In that post, I said; By helping other people, we begin the process of giving and open the channel for receiving.

One of the ways this manifests itself to me, is through the feedback I get from readers here on the blog.

As well as the comments you see, I also receive emails almost every day, from people who want to thank me for something I have shared here, which has helped them.  These range from a quick “thank you,” to detailed information on how they used an idea from one of my posts, to achieve a business breakthrough.  I love to receive them.

Readers also send me gifts to show their thanks for the fee information I provide here.  These are usually business books, which is great as I am a ferocious reader.  I get 1 or 2 books sent to me every week.

However, I also get gifts from readers, which are completely unrelated to business.  For example, Irene Koehler from almostsavvy.com sent me a Winnie The Pooh storybook, all the way from California.  She did that after reading a post, where I mentioned how I love reading with my young son.

I’ve also been sent cards, flowers, balloons and fruit baskets etc – An extremely diverse range, from great people who simply wanted to show their thanks.

Picture this

I was prompted to write this post today, after Robin Dickinson from Sydney, Australia sent me the amazing charcoal picture you see in this post.  As well as being a gifted artist, Robin is also a business consultant and trainer.  The picture is Robin’s interpretation of my new Twitter avatar image.

What makes this picture even more amazing, is that Robin has managed to produce a very close likeness, working from just a low quality photo I shot with my camera phone.  I believe Robin’s picture is actually closer to the “real” me than the original photo!

Thank you!

Many people only see the blogger giving away his or her expertise, however, that’s just half the story! By working hard to help as many people as possible with this blog, I am repaid every day for what I do and in many different ways.

To everyone who has contributed to this blog in any way, either through; sharing the posts on their social networks, commenting, emailing or sending tokens of appreciation, I’m extremely thankful.

Picture: Robin Dickinson

The simple secret to increasing your income

By Jim Connolly | April 30, 2011

I heard a guy on the radio earlier.  He wasn’t happy at all.

He was complaining that his boss did not pay him enough for the number of hours he works.  I wish the host of the show had explained to the caller, that he’s NOT getting paid for the number of hours he works.

If he was only getting paid for his time, he could just send his clock to work!

As my mentor used to say:

We don’t get paid for the hour.  We get paid for the value we bring to the hour.

To earn more, we must first become more.  The great news here, is that we can start the process of becoming more commercially valuable, whenever we wish.

We can get started, with a commitment to:

  • Read the books
  • Take the courses
  • Question the status quo
  • Associate with the right people
  • Listen to the experts
  • Refine our philosophy

Whilst it takes time to see our income increase, the process of positive change starts immediately; the instant we make the commitment and take the first step.

Show them who YOU are and what YOU stand for

By Jim Connolly | April 29, 2011

In business, do you lead or follow?

Leadership is one of the most used words in business, yet it is one of the least practised disciplines. It seems the massive majority of business owners prefer to blend into the background.  Ironically, this includes many of those who refer to themselves as leaders.

This presents those business owners with the courage to confidently be themselves, with an opportunity to gain the visibility essential for commercial success. If you can fully appreciate the value of what I am saying here and then act on it, you can gain a huge commercial advantage in your marketplace.

The marketing power of being yourself

It was my late mother, who explained to me the importance of standing up for myself and what I believed in. It’s a lesson that has served me very well and one that paradoxically, has made my progress through business (and life in general) a lot easier.

By having the courage to be myself and the confidence to share my own thoughts, I have developed a unique, very visible position in the marketplace. This has helped me build a very successful business and attract amazing clients for my services.

I want you to enjoy the same results, hence this post.

The world of the invisible sheep

Amazingly, even in my own profession many people get it wrong. They copy what each other are doing like sheep, and become camouflaged. As a result, they constantly struggle to attract clients.  That’s why you see marketing people attending networking events, frantically handing out business cards to strangers. It’s why you see marketing (and PR) people on social networks, ass-kissing those they think may pass them traffic or leads. It’s hard to look both competent and needy!

Camouflage is self-sabotage

In an overcrowded marketplace, sheep-like business owners will always struggle. Whilst it may feel comfortable to be part of a flock, that same camouflage will make you invisible. Taking what seems like the easy route, will simply sabotage your chances of success.

Camouflage is useful if you are a chameleon, seeking to avoid being eaten by a predator, but it’s a stupid move for the business owner, seeking to be discoverable.

Here’s an alternative approach, for the courageous business owner:

  • Be yourself. You are just as good as that guru, author or social media rock star!
  • Share your own ideas. This is what makes you unique.
  • Stand up for yourself and what you believe.
  • Don’t suck up. Suck-ups lose the respect of everyone, especially those they suck-up to.

Show your marketplace who YOU are and what YOU stand for!

Increase your fees and profits with these simple ideas

By Jim Connolly | April 28, 2011

Today’s post is about how to set your fees correctly, so that you attract more clients and are well rewarded for providing a great service.

Let’s go!

Fee setting: The golden rule

The starting point, is always to ensure that your fee makes mathematical sense.  For example:

Barbara is a web designer, who wants to earn £100,000 a year.  She plans on working  8 hours a day, 48 weeks of the year.  If she charges £50 an hour for her time, she isn’t going to be able to reach her income target.  Even if every single hour of her working week, every week, was spent on billable work, she would still be £6,000 below her income requirement.

In short, if you exchange your time for money, make sure the numbers add up.

Fee setting: Finding the sweet-spot

The marketplace will always let you know if you are offering good value for money.

If you explain what your service is, for example, then quote your fee, your prospective client has a simple value / cost equation to do.  If the service sounded appealing, but they thought it was overpriced, they won’t hire you.  If the fee seemed to represent good value, there’s a good chance they will hire you.

Interestingly, you can lose business by quoting a fee or price, which is too low.  If they think your fee is too low, they will wonder why.  The marketplace is not stupid.  People know that if a provider promises them a diamond quality service, for a bargain basement fee, something is wrong.  They will think that either the service is not as good as you say, or that you will find hidden ways to increase the fee you quoted.  I refer to this gap between the fee and the promise as a fee fracture.

To set your fee, so that it offers the perfect balance of value for the client and value for you, you need to start with a fee, which you believe to be good value for both parties.  Then, measure your feedback.  I very strongly recommend you check out what your competitors are charging, so you know what you are competing against.

If prospective clients eagerly hire you very quickly and without negotiating, it could be a sign that you have tipped the deal too much in their favour.  Conversely, if they hear your fee and very few elect to hire you, it’s possible you have tipped the deal too much in your favour.

Fee setting: Add more value rather than lowering your fee

The temptation, when people tell you that your fee is too high, is to lower your fee.  Whilst this may be the solution, it is very certainly NOT the first thing to do!

You should always seek to pump as much value into your service as you can, thereby increasing what it’s worth.  For example, consider offering something extra, which has a high perceived value, but a low delivery cost to you.  This approach is a far better way to increase the sale of your services, than undercutting people, in a fee “race to the bottom.”

Fee setting is a huge subject, far too big to cover in a blog post.  However, I hope these few ideas and tips help you to earn what you deserve and avoid underselling yourself.

Reliable?

By Jim Connolly | April 27, 2011

How reliable do your prospective clients think you are?

  • If you use social networking sites, can they rely on you to show up regularly and contribute?
  • If you write a newsletter, can they rely on you to get each edition out on time?
  • If you write a blog, can they rely on you to publish posts on a regular basis?

Until they have the opportunity to work with you and discover how wonderful you are, prospective clients only have your marketplace facing activities, like those I just mentioned, with which to assess how reliable you are.

Building a reputation for reliability is extremely valuable, as it helps you earn the confidence of your marketplace.  Use your most visible marketing efforts, to show them that no matter how busy you are, you can be relied upon to show up.

Revealed: The marketing idea that changed my life!

By Jim Connolly | April 26, 2011

Almost 25 years ago, I discovered a marketing idea which changed my life.  It allowed me to go from being broke at the age of 21, to financially secure for life in around 8 years.

Today, I am going to share it with you!

Marketing and me: 1987 style

When I started out in marketing, one of the many marketing experts I studied was Jay Abraham.  Unlike most of today’s top marketing authors, who tend to focus on sharing interesting concepts, Jay focused on making money.  Jay would give you a nugget of information, which you could pick up and use there and then, to start making more sales.

Ironically, although Jay was working in content marketing a decade or more, before today’s Internet marketing gurus appeared, he hasn’t embraced social media and many of you will never have heard of him.  It was one of Jay’s real world marketing ideas, which started me off in content marketing:  Though back in 1987 we called it consultative selling.

The idea behind consultative selling was simple:

  • You operated as a consultant – Not as a salesperson.
  • You shared knowledge – You didn’t sell.

I focused on building a reputation as a knowledgeable expert, by sharing valuable information or content.  I did radio interviews.  I wrote articles for business magazines.  I spoke to groups of business people.  Remember, this was pre Internet.  It’s a lot easier today!

Pretty soon, I had influential decision makers calling me, because they automatically associated me with whatever industry I was working in at the time.  I was able to meet with people that the sales guys couldn’t get near.  I was also able to build a huge referral network, because people were always happy to refer me to their contacts; knowing I didn’t push anything on anyone.

By the age of just 29, I had made so much money that I was able to leave a highly paid job, to set up my marketing business.  Of course, 16 years on we now have; blogs, newsletters, webinars, podcasts and social networks to share knowledge and consultative selling has been rebranded as content marketing.

I can honestly tell you that since the day I started this business, have never had to actually sell anything to anyone or spend a penny on advertising.  I have always attracted 100% of my clients via content marketing and today, I show business owners like yourself how to do the same.  It’s a great way to build a highly successful business.

The name may have changed from consultative selling, to content marketing, but the results have remained consistently amazing.

Attract more business inquiries than ever before with these 6 powerful marketing tips!

By Jim Connolly | April 25, 2011

Do you want more client inquiries from your marketing?  Would you like to make your marketing more compelling, so it encourages more people to take action when they read it?  If you would, then read on!

Most marketing content is written to capture the attention of, and then inform, a targeted group of people.  Great marketers add a 3rd element.  They capture.  They inform.  They compel!

Compelling marketing

Average marketing leaves people thinking, “so what?”

Compelling marketing encourages people to take action.

Compelling marketing is focused on “them” not you. It’s about their needs and solving their problems and making their experience of you and your business as good as possible.  Them, them, them.

Compelling marketing messages

One of the reasons small business owners find their written marketing far less effective than they want, is that it fails to inspire the reader enough, to motivate them to take the desired action.  Here’s an example of compelling copy, which I wrote for a marketing company that had been really struggling to get enough people to subscribe to their newsletter.

Boost your sales and profits starting today, with a free subscription to our marketing newsletter.  Subscribe now and I’ll send you a FREE…..

Previously, they were doing what 99.9% of newsletter providers do; simply asking people to:

Subscribe to our marketing newsletter and receive a copy of our marketing check-list

The new message, which out-performed the old one by over 850%, was all about the reader and giving value.  It starts with a promise, to help them make more sales and increase their profits.  It then gives them a direct request to take action now.  If you want people to take action at all, ask them to take action NOW! It then finishes with the promise that if they take action now, as well as all that valuable newsletter information, they will also receive more great value, in the form of a marketing check-list.

Compelling marketing: 6 quick tips to motivate your prospective clients to take action

Here are some ideas to make your written marketing more compelling:

1  Scarcity: Whenever possible, give people a reason to take action now rather than later.  This comes from the principle of scarcity.  The fear of losing out on something is an extremely compelling reason for people to get moving!

2. Study your target market: The more you know about what’s important to them, the easier it is for you to understand what’s most likely to motivate them.

3. Avoid the use of generic terms: Generic terms simply wash over people.  The most overused word in this category is the word “solutions.”  It’s OK to use the word in context within a longer message (such as a blog post.)  However, using it on your “about” page, social media bio or profile will hurt your response rates.

Telling people something like; “we provide solutions to the XYZ industry” means nothing and is not compelling in any way.  If you build websites, which make companies look fantastic online and helps them attract throngs of eager clients – TELL THEM!  Don’t say you “offer integrated website solutions.”

4. Headlines matter most: This one is simple.  No matter how amazing your marketing message is, if no one reads it, it can’t convert.  The headline or title of your marketing is what compels people to read it.

Why do you click certain links on Twitter, Facebook or Linkedin etc?  It’s because the title makes the link sound compelling enough to check out.  The title sells the link.  Why do you open certain emails and not others? Again, the title or subject line compels you to open it.  I recently blogged about how to attract more traffic from Twitter using attractive headlines.  That post has some useful headline writing tips.

Tip: Keep a list of the next 50 links you click via social networks and study them to see what compelled you to take action.

5. Add to your marketing vocabulary: Having a limited vocabulary and trying to inspire people with your messages, is like having half the ingredients missing from a recipe and trying to make the meal taste right.  Business owners always seem to assume that they have a great vocabulary.  The reality, as you see every day for yourself, is the exact opposite.  Most small business content and general marketing is written using an extremely limited palette of uninspiring words.

6.  Embrace brevity: The fewer words in your marketing message, the more impact you can create.  Most of the marketing copy I see is at least 50% too long; often 75% or more.  A targeted, information rich message that is packed with value, will out-perform a long winded, meandering message that drags on, which few people even finish reading!  In today’s marketplace, where people have more to do than ever before, short marketing messages have more impact than ever.

The bottom line

If you want people to call you, email you, buy from you, subscribe to your blog or newsletter etc – YOU need to motivate them to do so. If you get it right, the potential to attract more inquiries, clients and sales is enormous!

The simple secret to attracting all the help you will ever need

By Jim Connolly | April 23, 2011

How good are you at attracting the help, goodwill and cooperation of others?  If you think there may be room for improvement, this post is just what you need!

Today’s post is about one of the cornerstones of business success, something called reciprocity.  Here’s a very, very basic explanation of how reciprocity works in business and life generally:

By helping other people, we begin the process of giving and open the channel for receiving.  This giving, starts a positive cycle where we not only make more friends and feel better about ourselves, but ALSO encourage others, without asking, to want to help us too; (to reciprocate.)

Reciprocity in action

Over the past 48 hours, I have experienced reciprocity in action here on the blog.  I have had people from all over the world, help me get the word out about my new content marketing service.  Without asking anyone, they just decided to repay me for the free help I provide here on the blog, by sharing my new service with their friends and contacts.

Of course, their kindness has not gone unnoticed.  I remember those who help me, just like you remember those who help you.  This is one of the wonderful things about helping others.  Every time we do, we plant a seed that has the opportunity to blossom into something magical.

The reciprocity mindset is NOT just about personal or professional gain and if you think it is, you are totally missing the point!

It’s simply an amazing way to proceed through business and life.  It’s the attitude of contribution.  It’s about building relationships with great people, by instigating the process of giving.

It’s beautiful.

It’s simple.

It costs nothing.

It’s also a wonderful way to build a rewarding life and a fantastic business!

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Hi! I'm Jim Connolly and I help small business owners to increase sales, boost their profits and build amazing businesses. Read more here.

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