Jim's Marketing Blog

Marketing tips and ideas to help you grow your business

  • Home
  • About
    • About Jim Connolly
    • My top marketing tips for 2025. Yours now, for free!
    • Privacy Policy
    • How I use cookies
    • Contact
    • Disclosure
  • Hire me
    • Let’s Grow Your Business
    • Pick My Brain for the results you need!

This is the biggest lie in business. Don’t fall for it

By Jim Connolly | September 11, 2024

marketing, biggest lie business

Are you tired of prospective clients or customers, who don’t get back to you when they say they will? If you are, here’s something you may find extremely useful. It’s all about the biggest lie in business.

Here’s the thing. Whenever a prospective client tells you they didn’t have the time to email you, return your call or consider your offer… they’re lying. 

They had the time

And you already knew this.

You already knew full well that:

  • They had the time to do all the business tasks, which they considered urgent or important.
  • They also had the time to do stuff that interested them. Like checking the news, texting a friend or sharing a funny TikTok video.
  • Oh, and they definitely had enough time to check their social media accounts. Over and over again.

What they lacked wasn’t time.

No.

What they lacked was motivation.

Specifically, they lacked the motivation to do whatever you requested. They just didn’t want to tell you. They thought they were being nice. The truth is that as far as they were concerned, your proposal, offer or whatever, just didn’t seem compelling enough to them. So, they didn’t consider it a priority. And that’s why it didn’t get done.

Okay Jim, how do I stop this from happening, and massively improve my results?

That’s a great question!

And here’s a pretty nifty answer.

Motivation, attraction and deadlines

To motivate your prospective clients and customers to take action, you need to do the following.

Make your offer as attractive as possible. Start by looking at what you’re asking your prospects to do and make it sound more captivating. More interesting. More inspiring. More compelling. Remember, motivation comes from the words Motive and Action. When the motive is high enough, the action follows. So, use all your creativity to make whatever you’re offering sound as compelling as possible.

Then, give them a deadline. Deadlines focus the mind. They create urgency, which is exactly what you need in order to motivate prospects to take action!

Note: Here’s an example of how to use deadlines.

Make no mistake, the most powerful way to motivate your prospective clients to take action, is to provide them with a highly compelling offer, which is attached to a deadline. Get it right and you’ll find the marketplace will make time for you.

You’ll also enjoy a dramatic improvement in your sales and marketing results.

The small business owners I work with enjoy far more sales, attract better clients and grow amazing businesses. If you want the same, here’s exactly how it happens.

FREE marketing tips & advice

Get my best marketing tips, advice and ideas delivered direct to your inbox. Just add your email below.
I respect your privacy.

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

Featured by

marketing advice, marketing help

Site sponsor

packaging consultancy

Categories

  • Blogging (406)
  • Business development (477)
  • Copywriting (303)
  • Email marketing & mail shots (186)
  • General marketing (1,665)
  • Professional development (534)
  • Social media marketing (355)

Hosting provider

20i hosting

Search

Recent posts

  • Marketing gold: The follow-up May 10, 2025
  • How to make more sales, in uncertain times May 8, 2025
  • 17 Tips to help you grow a stronger business May 6, 2025
  • How to increase your prices May 2, 2025
  • Your economy April 27, 2025
  • From rags to riches? April 26, 2025
  • Tiny tweaks. Huge wins April 21, 2025
  • Working in. Working on April 15, 2025
  • How to own your competitors. It’s easier than you think April 12, 2025
  • Four questions that helped a subscriber boost sales by 68% April 8, 2025
  • Ignore the uninterested April 7, 2025
  • Does your business pass the coffee shop test? April 6, 2025
  • It’s back to normal for you and your business April 5, 2025
  • Marketing 101: Vigorous, written marketing April 2, 2025
  • The horrible truth about marketing April 1, 2025
  • I have no clients. Seriously. Not even one! March 26, 2025
  • Finish strong March 20, 2025
  • Read this and improve your advertising results, fast March 16, 2025
  • Marketing 101: Get your prospects to buy now March 13, 2025
  • The persuasion gap March 6, 2025
Privacy & Cookies: This site uses cookies. By continuing to use this website, you agree to their use.
To find out more, including how to control cookies, see here: Cookie Policy
  • Home
  • About
  • Hire me

Copyright © 2025 Jim Connolly