Jim Connolly Marketing

Marketing tips and ideas to help you grow your business

Stop looking for it: You don’t need it. You definitely don’t want it!

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wrong questions

Small business owners come to me regularly, asking for something they don’t want and they don’t need. I’m sharing this with you, because it’s a symptom of a problem. A serious problem that loses business owners a fortune.

Here it is. Plus how you can avoid it.

First, here are some examples of dangerously misleading statements. I see these pretty-much every day from small business owners.

  • I need more leads for our sales team.
  • I need more enquiries from my website.
  • I need more social media followers.
  • I need more traffic to my website.

They’re wrong!

One hundred percent, provably wrong.

More sales leads, additional client enquiries, bigger social networks and more website traffic are not their desired outcomes. That’s because they’re not end results. What they actually need, is more customers, higher profits, bigger contracts, higher revenues or more sales, etc.

The challenge with searching for the wrong thing, is that it will lead you down the wrong path. You’ll ask the wrong questions, get the wrong answers and end up with the wrong outcomes.

Think about it.

  • If fewer sales leads, BUT from high spending, profitable customers is exactly what’s required, you’ll never find it by asking the wrong questions.
  • If you can quickly (and massively) improve your profits / revenues, by developing new products for your existing customers, you’ll never find it by asking the wrong questions.
  • If you want to escape from the feast and famine cycle, by developing a reliable source of profitable new clients, you’ll never find it by asking the wrong questions.

Here’s how to stop this from happening to you and your business.

Get specific

Start with the end in mind.

This means you need to decide what your desired outcome is. In other words, determine exactly what you need your business to achieve. The end point, rather than a particular process or marketing strategy.

Then, focus on that end point like a laser. This will help you get your marketing on the right track and ensure you’re aiming for the correct targets.

Sorry, you’re too expensive

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That’s what prospective customers or clients often say, when you ask why they didn’t buy from you. 

And it could be true. However, it usually isn’t.

Allow me to explain.

You’re not too expensive

Let’s start with a small sample of far more likely reasons for their decision.

Jim Connolly marketing
  • You could be marketing to the wrong people.
  • Your marketing could be failing to clearly demonstrate enough value, making your price seem higher than they expected.
  • You could be asking people to make a decision before they have all the information they need.
  • Your marketing promises could be too similar to those offered by your lower priced competitors.
  • Your branding could be positioning you (in the mind of your marketplace) as a lower priced provider than you actually are. This is really common.
  • You could be contacting them at the lowest part of their cash flow cycle.
  • Your payment terms may not be flexible enough for them.
  • You could be responding to enquiries too slowly (or too quickly).
  • Your marketing could be suffering from Toxic Complexity. This is dangerous and extremely common.
  • They could be a time waster.

And there are tons of other reasons. None of which have anything whatsoever to do with your prices or fees, and everything to do with your marketing and how you sell your products or services.

It’s a trap!

Lowering your prices can be tempting. It’s a quick and extremely easy way to make your products or services seem better value. But it’s a trap. A trap you need to avoid.

How?

A far better alternative is to find out what’s actually causing people to think you’re too expensive. And to then focus on improving your marketing in those key areas.

If you’re not sure where to start looking for answers, the brief list above is a useful place to begin. Try to look at each item on that list from the perspective of a potential client. For example, research your competitors to see how your; services, marketing, payment terms, promises, guarantees, branding and response times, etc., stack up against theirs.

Remember, in many cases, your prospects will have done some research before contacting you. Others will do some research after contacting you. You need to know what you’re competing against.

And make lowering your prices the very last thing you consider.

The upside down business model

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Did you know, the massive majority of small businesses are built on an ineffective, upside down model?

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!

upside down, jim connolly marketing

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 appreciate quality, clients who are happy to pay a premium fee for a premium service, clients with the right mindset, 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. And it works like a magnet!
  • They then market this service exclusively to these high value clients. They shun everyone else.
  • And it works spectacularly well.

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, consider rebuilding your services so that those ideal clients will find it extremely attractive. Delight these ideal clients and not only will they hire you, they’ll tell their friends.

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

  1. Wasn’t specifically built around their needs.
  2. Is similar to what your competitors are already offering them.

On a personal note, I built my own business on this model. As a result I work with fantastic clients every day. And in 2021, ninety six percent of my clients came from client referrals.

Use shorter sentences in your marketing content. Here’s why

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Here’s a quick copywriting tip, to help you improve your marketing results.

Your prospective clients prefer to read short sentences. This is especially true when explaining detailed information. For example, how your service works.

I’m not suggesting you use fewer words than required. Far from it! Use as many words per sentence as you need. Don’t remove a necessary word. Just don’t use more words than you need.

Why is that, Jim?

Over-long sentences lack impact and clarity. Those are essential for effective marketing. Most amateur writers tend to write over-long. Learning how to write shorter, helps you avoid that mistake.

Tip: One way to shorten sentences without losing anything important, is to remove extraneous words. Look at the 2 examples below.

Jim Connolly marketing, write short
  • People should exercise on a regular basis.
  • People should exercise regularly.
  • We have no news at this point in time.
  • We currently have no news.

A whole story in 6 words

It’s amazing what can be achieved using fewer words. Ernest Hemingway once wrote a story in just 6 words. It’s a powerful story, too.

“For sale. Baby shoes. Never worn”.

Inspired by Hemingway’s brevity, look for opportunities to keep your sentences as short as required. Aim for clarity. Remove the fluff. And keep sentences confined to one thought.

It’s not as simple as it sounds. But if done correctly, your results will reflect the additional effort.

How to go viral. In a very special way

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Pay it forward, contribution

One of the absolute basics of commerce is this: Business is all about people and the relationships we have with one another. This means there’s a clear marketing argument to be made for investing in people.

Investing in people is easy, too. And as you’ll see, it also sets a process into play that helps everyone. Yes, including you (and your business).

Here are some powerful examples of investing in people, which require very little effort.

  • We can connect people, who can assist one another or do business together.
  • We can share resources with people. This can be something as simple as forwarding a useful article or newsletter to them.
  • We can inspire people, by setting an example with our deeds.
  • We can give people recognition. A simple thank you or sending a thank you note, can have a significant positive impact on someone.
  • We can help people to develop or grow, by sharing ideas with them.
  • We can encourage people. The world already has enough pessimists. People who encourage others are always in short supply.

Investing in the success of others is one of the most rewarding and enjoyable things you can do. It gives you a tremendous sense of contribution.

But that’s not all.

Something wonderful happens

When you invest in others you set a highly positive cycle in place. It’s amazing. Really amazing.

What happens is that a hefty subset of those you invest in, will be motivated to invest in others. And yes, many will reciprocate to you directly. Make no mistake, the act of contribution is viral and highly valued.

Where does the cycle start? It starts with you, my friend.

When does the cycle start? It starts today. If you want it to.

Write tight. Keep it short. Be understood

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write tight, write short

People’s attention span has never been shorter. This includes your prospective clients or customers.

As you’ll know if you’ve followed my work for a while, I’m an advocate of learning how to write short. Not for everything you write. Just for those times when space is limited or you want to get an extremely focused message across.

Here are some marketing specific examples.

  • Email subject lines.
  • Tweets.
  • Event hand-outs.
  • Store signs.
  • Messaging on products / packaging.
  • Political slogans.
  • Headlines.
  • Banners.
  • Advertising copy.
  • Social media profiles.
  • Flyers.
  • Vehicle signage.
  • Website buttons.
  • Calls to action.

That kind of thing.

So, what’s the problem?

By default, most business owners write long and see no reason to write short. And it’s perfectly understandable why this happens.

Think about it.

The internet provides you with endless writing space. You can add an unlimited number of pages to a website, with an unlimited number of words on each page. Your newsletter or marketing emails can be as long as you wish. In other words, you have far more space than you need.

So on the face of it, you have very little motivation to write short.

Except you really have.

The rewards are huge.

That’s why I strongly recommend you learn to write short. It’s a great way to improve your email open rates, get better advertising results, improve your click through rates, get prospects to take action and lots, lots more.

To get you started, here’s some tips on how to write short, from the best writers in the world.