Jim's Marketing Blog

Marketing tips and ideas to help you grow your business

Taste your words before you spit them out

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taste words spit out, Marketing words power,

Photo: Shutterstock.

One of the best pieces of advice I ever received, was taste your words before you spit them out. The idea is that we should pause and think before we say something to someone, especially if we don’t know them well. It’s easy to be misunderstood otherwise.

The same idea applies to the information we share via the written word. And I’m going to share 2 quick examples with you. One was embarrassing and the other expensive.

After you

Very recently on Twitter, a service provider was forced to rethink the snappy, 2 word profile he created. The profile simply read: After you!

  • His intention with those words, was to suggest that he’s the kind of person who puts others first.
  • He then figured out that people were misunderstanding it to mean he was after them… in pursuit of them or pestering them. That’s not a good look.

There was no real harm done as he had just started the account and had very few followers. So, he switched the profile to something clearer and laughed about it as he told me.

Crushing defeat

The second example is regarding a seminar that had to be cancelled, largely because of the seminar’s title. The crushing defeat seminar was all about how to crush defeat and come out winning. It seems when people saw marketing for the seminar, the title was misunderstood to mean the event was all about defeat that crushes you. A place to feel sorry for yourself. Obviously, that was the exact opposite of the desired impact.

In both of these examples, the problem could have been completely avoided had a little more thought been applied. The first example didn’t cause any real issues. But the second example had been advertised for a week, before he figured out what was happening. Even if the trainer had shown the seminar’s title to some people and asked what it said to them, he’d have been aware of the problem.

Tip

Those examples may seem obvious. But sometimes the errors we make are more subtle and harder for us to spot. That’s why if you’re not an experienced marketer or copywriter, it’s important to think hard and also get some feedback, before you publish a title (The crushing defeat seminar) or strap-line (After you). The same is true of the calls to action you use, the wording on the buttons or tabs on your website, your newsletter title and the name you give to your services, etc.

A great place to start is with marketing you have, which isn’t generating the response rates you need. Sometimes a better name, title or strap-line can make a massive improvement to your results.

Marketing 101: Stop selling to yourself

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marketing, selling to yourself

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Are you selling to yourself?

That may seem like an odd question, yet it’s one of the most important questions in marketing.

Why?

Because small business owners almost always market their services, as if they were selling to themselves. Or selling to someone in their own industry, to be more precise.

Sounds weird, right?

Well, here are a couple of industry examples. Though it applies to literally (not figuratively) every industry.

Read the marketing of most web designers and it’s filled with jargon and buzzwords. They talk about things like; HTML5, CSS and standards compliance. These are things designers know are important. However, those terms mean nothing to their prospective clients. Their prospective clients want a professional looking site. They want to know how a new website will help them make more sales and attract more enquiries. They want to know they can trust the designer to do a great job. And they want it explained with clarity.

Read the marketing of most accountants and you will find graphs, statistics and logos from the bodies they’re a member of. This is what accountants think is important, but it’s not what their prospective clients are looking for. The prospective client wants to know why they should hire this accountant (and not an equally qualified competitor). They want the story behind the numbers in their business. They want to know how the accountant will help them build a better business. And they want it explained with clarity.

Every business owner using that self-selling approach is leaving money on the table every day. Don’t let it happen to you.

What next?

Take a look at your marketing messages from your prospective client’s vantage point.

  • Make sure you’re using their language and not yours.
  • Lose as many industry terms and buzzwords as possible.
  • Focus on the results your product or service delivers.

And remember to highlight why they’d be nuts not to hire you or buy from you.

The success multiplier effect: A super powerful way to grow your business

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marketing multiply

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Around 25 years ago, in Greenwich, London, I was introduced to a marketing tactic known (back then) as the success multiplier effect. It’s spectacularly powerful and there are several ways you can benefit from it.

Here’s how it works.

The core idea is extremely simple. If you want a business that grows quickly, design it so that when someone uses your services, they get more value from it if their contacts also use your services.

This was how Facebook grew. Early users asked their friends and family to join, so they could connect. It’s how every hit TV show becomes a hit. The first viewers tell their friends about it, so they can chat about the show with them or share in-jokes, which only fellow viewers would understand, etc.

But what if you already have a business and it doesn’t have the success multiplier effect built in? After all, the vast majority of business owners are in this position. Including me!

One option is to retrofit a success multiplier effect to your business. Retrofitting is tricky and takes creativity, but it’s possible.

However, there’s an easier and extremely popular alternative. It’s also the option I chose.

The success multiplier effect for your business

A second option is to add it to your marketing, rather than your service.

An example of this is the email version of my blog. Someone within a company will subscribe. Then, they forward one of my emails to some of their colleagues, because it’s about an idea the company is interested in. It’s easier for them to get their colleagues on board with an idea I shared, if they’re able to read it too. A subset of those who had the email forward to them will subscribe and do the same. Rinse repeat. This is how I attracted many of my largest clients.

In short, you can bake the success multiplier effect into a new product or service. You can retrofit it to an existing product or service. And you can do as I do, and create marketing with the success multiplier effect built in.

Whichever route you choose, if you get it right the impact it can have on your results is amazing.

How to predict your future clients and attract the very best

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work begets work

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I’d like to share an idea, to help you build a fantastic commercial future… starting today.

I’ll also show you how I helped one of my clients build the business of her dreams, using this idea.

It begins with a simple 3 word phrase.

Work begets work

You may have heard that work begets work before. However, the phrase is usually used with very little mention of its wider meaning. On a surface level, it’s true to say that by working on something, we’re likely to attract more work. More likely, than if we wait around for the phone to ring. For example, I hired a guy to do some work on my house, after seeing the work he did for one of my friends. His work for my friend led to work from me.

That’s just the surface.

You see there’s a word missing from that 3 word phrase. And it’s what makes all the difference.

Work not only begets work, work begets similar work. In other words, the work we’re doing today, will have a massive influence on the type of work we’re doing tomorrow, the clients we work with tomorrow and the fees we’re earning tomorrow.

In short, if you want to take your business to the next-level (and beyond), you need to start doing next-level work today.

Think about it. The alternative approach is nuts

The alternative is to wait and hope.

  • Wait for an amazing stranger to see (or hear about) our current-level work.
  • Then hope they magically decide, with zero evidence, that we’re capable of next-level work.
  • Oh, then hope that for some insane reason, they’ll also be keen to risk their money hiring us.

Sure, we can wait for opportunity to knock.

Like in the movies.

Or we can get off our ass and build a door.

That’s what Sue did.

How this worked for a former client of mine

Sue (not her real name) is a graphic designer, with a focus on lettering. I worked with her on my work begets similar work idea and she’s never looked back. Previously, Sue struggled, working as a freelance designer for agencies and doing sub-contract work. They said what they wanted. She did it. This was soul destroying. And whilst she was busy, the money was crap. She had very few direct clients. Her work had no signature. And she’d wasted 9 years, going nowhere.

After I shared the work begets similar work idea with her, Sue did a rebrand on her own business, demonstrating the kind of next-level work she’s capable of. We decided to reach out to some environmental charities, who she thought were in need of rebranding. The environment is something Sue’s passionate about.

Anyhow, one of them jumped on board.

Sue then threw 100% of her creativity and passion into the project. The end product was visually stunning. It was very clearly on a totally different level to the soul-destroying work she’d been doing. The charity loved it. More importantly, they used it.

And it was extremely effective.

A while after the charity’s rebrand project, the CMO of a toy company saw it and asked the charity for Sue’s details. He reached out to her and asked if she’d be interested in designing the lettering for their new, environmentally friendly line of garden furniture. That project led to the next. And that project led to the next…

Sue’s next-level work begot similar work. Work she’s passionate about. Work that is massively more emotionally and financially rewarding. She’s now well-established in a niche she loves, working direct with international brands.

Yes, it works in your industry too

What if you provide a service that isn’t as visual as Sue’s?

So long as you have the desire to crank the quality of your work to a higher level than you currently do, you can absolutely show it to your prospective, next-level clients. Blogging, newsletters, podcasts, Youtube and social networks give you all the tools you need, to showcase your next-level approach, thinking and ideas. The enquiries you attract will be from people, who’ll see you’re clearly capable of delivering the level of service (or results) they want.

This is a great time to put your next-level work out there. So, show those high quality clients you’d love to work with, just what you’re capable of.

The unexpected cause of time wasters. And how to fix it

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Photo: Shutterstock.

Your time is easily the most valuable asset you have. So in today’s post I’m going to show you an effective way to eliminate time wasters and replace them with high quality, eager prospective clients. The root cause probably isn’t what you’re expecting.

To begin, I’d like you to think for a moment about how similar salt and sugar look. They’re almost indistinguishable to the human eye. Even close up.

So, why don’t people regularly add salt to their coffee by mistake? Sure, at home people know where they keep the salt and the sugar. But when they’re out? Why don’t we constantly see people in coffee shops and restaurants, having salt and sugar related accidents?

Here’s the thing

A salt shaker looks very different from a sugar bowl. That’s why we never pick up a sugar bowl and assume it contains salt. Or vice-versa.

  • The container (packaging) gives us powerful clues about what’s inside.
  • These clues send us a direct message regarding what to expect.
  • They also guide the action we decide to take.

People use clues like this all the time. And that includes your prospective clients. When they need a new provider, they’re looking for guidance that confirms you offer exactly what they need.

So, what kind of decision making clues are in your marketing?

For example.

  • Do your clues set the right expectations regarding your fees – or do they attract fee-sensitive enquiries?
  • Do your clues motivate people to want to purchase now – or do they attract early stage researchers, who’re not ready to buy?
  • Do your clues clearly demonstrate what’s great about you – or do they make you seem similar to your lower quality competitors?

If you’re attracting the wrong kind of client enquiries (or too few of them), check your clues. Look at them through the eyes of a stranger; someone who doesn’t already know how outstanding your business is. Then, make sure the picture they paint clearly positions you in the correct way.

You may find it useful to review the marketing of non competing brands that successfully attract the same profile of client that you want to work with. Look for the clues they leave. Then consider how you can adapt their clues, so they work for you and your business.

We’ll find a way

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There’s something exceptionally powerful in the 4 word phrase, ‘We’ll find a way’.

It’s quite literally transformative. Just consider the impact it has in each of the following scenarios. Then we’ll look at opportunities for you to apply it directly into your business.

  • We’ll find a way: It’s a springboard to growth and development.
  • We’ll find a way: It’s a mindset to make your meetings ultra productive.
  • We’ll find a way: It’s a sign of your commitment.
  • We’ll find a way: It’s the starting point of every great discovery.
  • We’ll find a way: It’s a mindset for removing barriers.
  • We’ll find a way: It’s a message that demonstrates your willingness.
  • We’ll find a way: It’s the answer to feelings of hopelessness.
  • We’ll find a way: It’s a preface to collaborations and partnerships.

There are many, many other examples of the powerful impact this phrase can have.

We’ll find a way in your business

With this in mind, here’s something I’d like you to give some consideration to.

I wonder how it might improve your business, when you look for opportunities to include ‘we’ll find a way’ thinking; in your conversations, client meetings, website copy, newsletters, planning sessions, staff training, internal and external emails, mission statement and project meetings.

A useful jumping on point is to intentionally apply we’ll find a way thinking to your upcoming workflow and decision making. Especially, though not exclusively, when it comes to challenges and tricky situations. Consider it another tool in your arsenal. Another option. A way to remove blocks that were holding you back.

We’ll find a way on a wider scale?

I’m considering this a lot right now.

I’m firmly of the belief that a wider focus on ‘we’ll find a way’ could be transformational. It could help our communities come together, our economies rebuild and our mutual flourishing increase.

If you find this concept as compelling as I do, introduce the idea to your friends and colleagues. Tell them what you think. Show them how to apply it.

Because when it comes to improving our business or having a positive impact on the wider world, it all begins with us.