Jim Connolly Marketing

Marketing tips and ideas to help you grow your business

How to create marketing that works

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Marketing that sells

I have a very effective marketing idea to share with you today. I’m going to show you how to create marketing, which people will value and that’s powerful enough to inspire them to hire you or buy from you. It’s based on the work I do with some of my clients and includes a brief case study, which you can learn from.

So, let’s get started.

Receiving attention or paying attention?

It starts with understanding that there’s a huge difference between someone receiving your message and someone paying attention to it.

For example, TV viewers are sent targeted marketing messages (commercials) during TV shows. What do most of us do? We fast forward through them or if watching the show in real-time, we go and make a coffee. Just because they send their messages, doesn’t mean we are paying attention.

For your marketing to work, you need to get a great message in front of the right people. In order to get this correct, here’s the key question we need to ask ourselves:

If I stopped my email marketing campaign or I stopped publishing my blog posts, newsletter etc, would people really MISS them?

As a quick look at the marketing you receive every day confirms, for most people the honest answer to that question is NO! We get bombarded with dull, uninspiring sales messages all day and see them as an intrusion, rather than something of value.

Of course, for that tiny minority of small businesses who DO produce marketing, which people genuinely value and would miss if it were to stop, the sky is the limit.

I’m going to share the process required to make this work for your business later in this post.

First, we need to understand why there’s so much dull and ineffective marketing out there.

Dull is cheap. Dull is fast. Dull is easy!

It’s cheap, fast and easy to create a dull marketing message and push it to a lot of people. As a result, there’s no barrier to entry today.

Things were very different 15 years ago. Back then, if a small business owner wanted to send a mail shot to 50,000 people, she’d have to spend some serious money.

  • She’d have to cover the cost of the mailing list.
  • Then she would need to pay for all that paper and the printing.
  • Next she would need to pay a company to get the letters folded and inserted into the 50,000 envelopes.
  • Then there’s the huge postage costs for those 50,000 pieces of mail.

All in all, it would cost many thousands. She would need to think long and hard about the value of what she put into those envelopes. Get it wrong and she would pay a hefty price.

Today, everything has changed

That same business owner today, can hit 50,000 people using cheap email software and her laptop. It costs just a little of her time. If it fails, maybe tomorrow’s one will work.

In short, it’s never been cheaper or easier to push dull, uninspired, poorly thought out, selfish marketing out the door.

So, that’s exactly what millions of people are doing. This is why there’s so much junk in your email inbox and on your social networking accounts.

How to get it right

There is an alternative approach I want to share with you, so people welcome your marketing, share it and hire you or buy from you. It requires that you take the exact opposite approach, to 99% of the marketing you see out there. 

It’s about shifting the focus of your marketing, so that it’s primarily of benefit to the people who receive it and secondarily of benefit to you.

It’s about producing content (audio, video, articles, blog posts, newsletters, social networking updates etc), which provide independent value to those who receive it. This means they get genuinely valuable or useful information from it, independent of them needing to spend a penny with you.

An example of how this works, based on one of my clients

Imagine you are a dog owner and after a trip to the vet, you subscribe to their dog owner’s newsletter. It gives you useful tips and ideas, to help you keep your dog healthy, fit and happy. At the bottom of each email are their contact details, so you can call them when you need a vet.

You find this free information so valuable and interesting, that you send it to 10 of your dog-owning friends.

  • They subscribe and then do the same.
  • Then these new subscribers share it too, and on and on it goes.
  • The amazingly valuable, highly-targeted readership just keeps on growing!

Soon, that vet (a former client of mine) was talking to thousands of local dog owners and positioned themselves in their marketplace, as THE place to take your dog for all its veterinary needs.

Their newsletter was eagerly anticipated by it’s readers. Yes, people wanted to hear from them and valued what they had to share.

Compare that vet’s approach to the typical marketing messages we see.

  • That vet doesn’t need to run expensive radio ads.
  • They have no need to waste time on Facebook. They own the communication channel with their prospective clients (by using email)!
  • They have no need to buy mailing lists.
  • They don’t need to waste valuable hours at networking events.
  • They certainly don’t need to pester people on social networks or ask strangers for recommendations on Linkedin.
  • They don’t need to invest in anything, other than the creativity required to produce a genuinely valuable newsletter, with useful content.

That example shows how a business can grow a massively powerful marketing asset, by sharing real value, rather than pushing unwanted messages. If you want to thrive in today’s exceptionally volatile economy, this is the kind of marketing you need.

The kind of marketing that increases in value every day.

The kind of marketing that requires zero advertising spend.

The kind of marketing that connects you with prospects in a way they actually look forward to and share with their friends.

In fact, the exact kind of marketing I have been creating for my clients, since the mid 1990’s. It works. And it works in every economy.

Using an asterisk can ruin your sales results

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asterisk, small print, marketing copywriting, copy writing

You’re reading about a product or service.

It sounds amazing.

Then you spot it!

You spot the dreaded *asterisk. And your heart sinks.

You know you’re about to be disappointed. You’re about to discover the exclusions, restrictions and conditions, which means that offer isn’t as good as they said it was.

They could have told you the truth without hiding it behind the asterisk. However, they deliberately chose not to. They intentionally concealed it from you. And in a split second, they’ve totally changed how you feel about them.

You wonder what else they’re hiding from you.

Your guard is up.

You’ve switched from eager buyer to sceptic.

Eliminate the asterisk risk

If a business owner feels they need to hide something behind an asterisk, there are always better alternatives.

The most effective alternative, is to make the product or service as good as you said. This eliminates the need for an asterisk. Plus, it simultaneously pumps more value into your offering, making it more attractive and giving you a huge competitive advantage.

Another powerful alternative is to state, in honest and clear language, exactly what you’re offering. And include whatever would have been behind the asterisk, out in the open.

For example.

Imagine it’s an introductory deal, offering your service at a reduced price for the first 3 months. Rather than quote the introductory price (and hide the fact it increases after 3 months, behind an asterisk), tell them up front. Let people know that you’re so confident they’ll love your service, you’re offering it at a super-low discount, so they can discover for themselves, why it’s outstanding value at the regular price.

Social networks give your prospects a powerful voice. That voice can either be used to tell everyone how great you are, or how disappointed they are. Thankfully, you get to choose the kind of experience that’s being shared.

That’s why the smartest brands aim for honesty and transparency at every opportunity. It’s also why they refuse to hide the truth behind an asterisk.

I made a mistake. And I’m sorry

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im sorry, mistake, responsibility

Mistakes. We all make them.

Much has been said about the need to learn from our mistakes. It’s extremely important. After all, it’s how we improve. It’s how we build better relationships and stronger businesses.

There’s something else about mistakes, which every business owner needs to understand. I’m referring to the importance of taking responsibility for our mistakes and then apologizing. The sooner the better.

Because…

  • By taking responsibility, you demonstrate leadership. As a business owner, there’s a direct link between your ability to lead and your commercial success.
  • By saying sorry, you switch the situation from confrontational to conciliatory. Instead of blaming one another, both sides can now focus exclusively on putting things right.

Learn from the mistake. Take responsibility. Say sorry. And then work on the resolution.

P.S. Read this » 10 leadership habits of highly successful business owners.

When you’ve run out of options

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… you haven’t.

There’s always an answer. A way forward. A way to turn things around.

  • Often, the answer you need is already within you, but you need to dig deeper to find it. So, go for a long walk, meditate, or ask yourself a better version of the question.
  • Sometimes, someone else has the answer you need. So talk to people. Especially those who you know are resourceful. Your answer could be (literally) one conversation away. So, get talking.
  • Other times, the answer you need is in a book, a newsletter or article. So, get reading.

Once you’ve accepted that there is an answer, you’re now free to focus 100% on finding it.

Think.

Talk.

Read.

You’ll soon find exactly what you need.

Target the unhappy, not the uninterested

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marketing unhappy, not uninterested

I want to share one of the foundations of effective marketing with you today. It’s something that can help you dramatically (and quickly) increase your sales or client acquisition figures. It can also help you save time, money and focus your marketing far more effectively. 

It starts with understanding the following.

People who are happy with the products or service they get from one of your competitors, are not looking for whatever your business is offering.

Satisfied people are exactly that. They’re satisfied. They value their current provider. And like you, they ignore marketing messages when they’re not interested in a new (whatever).

This remains true even when:

  • You’re providing amazing value.
  • You are less expensive.
  • You are faster or more reliable.

Despite this, most marketing from small and medium-sized businesses tries to be relevant to as wide an audience of prospects as possible.

Yes, it’s certainly true that you can change someone’s worldview or mindset. But it takes time. Lots and lots of time. It also takes a great amount of effort. Even then, the conversion rate is low.

That’s why I recommend you adopt a more effective approach.

Focus on the unhappy. Avoid the uninterested

Yes, it’s important to build an awareness of how great your product or service is. You need people to know where to go, when they’re looking for whatever you provide.

But what if you need to quickly increase your sales figures or attract new clients? Then my friend, it’s time to adjust the focus of your marketing. If you want to have the full attention of the most motivated buyers, (people ready to make a purchasing decision right now), focus on the unhappy, not the uninterested.

The ‘unhappy’ are actively looking for what you offer.

  • They’re eager and ready to proceed.
  • They already have a budget allocated.
  • They’re highly motivated to take action right now, and buy from you or hire you.

To profoundly increase your sales numbers or client acquisition rate, your marketing needs to talk directly and exclusively to these red hot prospects. And as a bonus, you’ll also attract very few, if any, time wasters. 

Targeting the right prospects makes sense at any time. But in today’s economy it’s absolutely essential.

21 Business habits of highly successful people

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Success habits, business owners

Over the years, I’m blessed to have worked with many exceptionally successful business owners. Here are some of the success habits I see repeated over and over again, which you may find useful.

In no particular order.

  1. They personalize the way their business operates, so that it’s uniquely theirs. This is true no matter what industry they’re in. Why? Because it helps them get noticed. It helps them get talked about for all the right reasons. And it’s a proven way to become as close to irreplaceable as possible.
  2. They strive to achieve something compelling with their business. This forces them to think bigger, and as actions are preceded by thoughts, they get further, faster.
  3. They know success is about more than money. At some point they figured out that if you’re rich and unhappy, you’re still broke.
  4. They show people, rather than tell people.
  5. They out-care their competitors.
  6. They out-smart their competitors too.
  7. They do all the work required, rather than the 95% of things that every business owner does. That extra 5% is worth an absolute fortune.
  8. They set extremely high, self-imposed standards. Then they achieve them. This process runs like an endless loop throughout their business.
  9. They throw away the manual and write their own rules. This is also an essential part of the previous point.
  10. They focus on what they want rather than what they fear. Sounds obvious. However, it’s the total opposite of what the vast majority of business owners do.
  11. They learn how to be great decision makers. They get the information required, study it, request advice if needed, then decide. They know that if they fail to make their own decisions, time will make their decisions for them. This is one of the master skills of success.
  12. They avoid those expensive detours, which come dressed-up as short cuts, business hacks and “scaling”. Warren Buffett often says a key reason for his amazing results, is his commitment to get rich slowly.
  13. They regularly take time to relax. If you work smart during work time, you can relax when it’s family and friends time.
  14. They seldom watch TV.
  15. They are very selective regarding who they associate with. As a mentor once told me, “If you hang around enough people who’re going nowhere, one day, everything they have will be yours”.
  16. They lead. They’ve worked out that the world already has more than enough followers. And that those followers are eagerly looking for leaders.
  17. They manage their time extremely well.
  18. They intentionally build a valuable network of contacts, long before they need them.
  19. They help those less fortunate than themselves. This is a key factor in point 3.
  20. They choose to stand out.
  21. They summon the strength to do what’s required, rather than what’s comfortable.
  22. They do more than expected. They know that it’s the additional, unexpected ‘extra’ that people remember.