Jim Connolly

What exactly are you waiting for?

January 18, 2021 by Jim Connolly

It’s midway through January, in one of the most challenging years ever for business owners.

The opportunities ahead of you are huge. However, you need to get your plans into action in order to navigate the coming months and come out on top.

These evergreen essentials for business success will help.

Don’t wait for permission. You don’t need it.
Don’t wait for the perfect time. The time is never perfect.
Don’t wait for inspiration to appear. Command it to appear.
Don’t wait for the right opening. Create it.
Don’t wait for someone to pick you. Pick yourself.
Don’t wait for the initiative. Take it.

In short: If opportunity doesn’t knock… quit waiting and build a door.

Switch off the autopilot and take control

January 14, 2021 by Jim Connolly

Not long ago, these brands thought they’d arrived.

They were kings of the hill.

MySpace totally dominated social networking.
Blockbuster video owned home video entertainment.
Nokia was the world’s leading mobile phone brand.
And Internet Explorer had 94% of the web browser market.

Here’s what this means to you and your business, as you navigate the coming year.

Business success is a journey

Small and medium-sized businesses are at even greater risk of this threat.

It happens when a business grows to the point where the owner gets comfortable, stops steering wisely and starts to coast. Decisions are made on autopilot.

The hunger for success, when replaced with contentment, causes a business to plateau. And a business that plateaus soon becomes irrelevant, as their marketplace continues to move forward. The business becomes a dot in the rear view mirror. Growth is sluggish and unpredictable. They work hard, yet spin their wheels.

Here’s how to avoid this happening to you.

The art of steering your business successfully

The art of steering a business successfully, begins with accepting that you’re on a journey. And that your task is to navigate your business through the opportunities and threats ahead.

Remember: Even if you want your revenues and profits to remain the same, you still have to develop your business to account for lost clients / customers or new competitors eating into your market share, etc.

Here are a couple of suggestions.

Learn to identify the danger signs. This might include: Too many months or quarters of weak growth. Too long a gap since you last introduced a new product or service to your portfolio. Too few referrals. Too little awareness of new competitors or new trends.

Learn to spot genuine opportunities. This might include: Identifying gaps in your market. Finding ways to increase the value of your service. The introduction of new products for your existing clients. Seeking out new markets for your existing products. Improving your overall marketing strategy.

My first business mentor used to say that the reason so many businesses fail, is that failure is incredibly subtle. It’s seldom the result of one cataclysmic event or decision, but lots of small, daily errors repeated.

The way to avoid this is to grab the wheel of your business and embrace the art of steering. Fire your autopilot and take control.

Marketing 101: From what to what?

January 13, 2021 by Jim Connolly

marketing tips 2021

One of the many ideas I gave to a new client on yesterday’s Marketing Mentor Session was so well received, he suggested I share it with you. He’s a long-time reader, so I took his advice.

The following is a shortened version if the idea, edited to make it of wider relevance then his specific situation.

It starts like this

Every business provides a product or a service.

That product or service solves a problem for the customer.

It creates a change. The customer changes from (something) to (something).

For example.

From board to entertained.
From confused to clear.
From worried to confident.
From struggling to succeeding.
From discomfort to comfort.
From vulnerable to safe.
From lonely to connected.
From loss to gain.
From ignorant to informed.
From broke to wealthy.
From stressed to relaxed.
From lost to guided.

You need to figure out the change your prospective customers are looking for. Their ‘from what’ and their ‘to what’.

Warning: The biggest danger here is believing the answer is obvious.

It usually isn’t!

Seriously.

For instance, the best coffee shops don’t take you from thirsty to quenched.

They change you by creating an attractive atmosphere. An atmosphere, where you can go from stressed to relaxed, or from tired to restored, or from lonely to connected, from stuck to creative or from bored to entertained.

The world’s top coffee shops know this. It’s what their marketing focuses on. It’s why we see very little emphasis placed on the coffee beans used, yet huge emphasis placed on the welcoming, positive atmosphere. The improvement this makes is impossible to overstate.

The world’s most expensive restaurants understand this. They don’t focus on taking you from hungry to full. You can go down the street and get the same number of calories from a burger joint for pennies. Instead, these restaurants focus on their exclusivity. They take you (and your guest) from feeling normal to feeling like a star.

How this relates to your product or service

Determine what change or changes your prospective customer is truly looking for. On the client session, we worked this out together. All I can do here, is ask you to use the coffee shop / restaurant examples as a guide.

Next.

Focus on the ‘from what’ part. Your marketing message needs to meet them right there. It needs to talk to their current situation. It needs to address the discomfort they’re feeling. This means your message will be on the very same wavelength that they’re on. This dramatically and profoundly increases the sales impact of your marketing.
Then focus on the ‘to what’ part. Your marketing needs to illustrate how your product or service transitions them to their end point. To the very thing they desire.

I’m not sure how useful that will be, without the conversations and answers around it from yesterday’s client session. However, I believe there’s enough there to at least get you thinking more effectively about the focus of your marketing.

Exposed: The biggest lie in marketing

January 11, 2021 by Jim Connolly

The biggest lie in marketing is almost certainly not what you’re expecting.

Here it is.

If you ask the average, struggling business owner about marketing they will tell you the following: “I don’t have enough time for marketing”.

That’s a lie.

And here are 30 examples to prove it

Whether these business owners know it or not, they are marketing their business all day every day. That’s because everything in business is marketing.

Here are 30 examples.

The eagerness you demonstrate for helping your clients or customers.
The cleanliness and age of your company vehicles.
The way you speak: From the words you use to the warmth of your welcome.
The experience you give your clients or customers, which they share with their friends.
The way you handle phone calls.
The causes that you or your business publicly support.
The prices or fees you charge.
The type of offers you use to attract new clients.
The range of services you provide, especially in relation to how similar they are to what your competitors offer.
The confidence you inspire in others when you connect with them.
The way you respond to email enquiries, both in the speed and tone of your response.
The content you use on your website.
The places you choose to advertise.
The type of advertising messages you use.
The groups your business belongs to.
The energy you have for your business.
The way you connect with people on social networks.
The time it takes you to make a decision.
The quality of the photos and other graphics you use.
The type of clients or customers you choose to work with.
The type of clients or customers you choose not to work with.
The leadership you demonstrate.
The guarantees you offer.
The flexibility you show, when a client or customer has a unique challenge.
The professionalism of your marketing copy.
The working atmosphere you provide.
The way you communicate with your clients or customers.
The way you handle problems, both internally and external (client) problems.
The regularity with which you achieve deadlines.
The way you and your team dress.

It’s all marketing

Everything your business does (or fails to do) is marketing.

That’s to say, it’s giving people a story about your business. It’s setting their expectations. It’s building confidence in your services or creating doubt. It’s telling the world what your priorities are.

In short, if you run a business, you are already engaged in marketing. And you’re doing it all day, every day.

So the question is never if you market your business or not.

The question my friend, is whether you’re doing it effectively or not.

A valuable business lesson from Starbucks and Instagram

January 7, 2021 by Jim Connolly

Marketing blogs, thrive

In today’s post, I’m going to share a strategy with you that’s used by the world’s most successful businesses. I’ll also show how I use it and explain why you should too.

I’m referring to operating your business with a focused and agile mindset. Those words almost sound like opposites. But they’re not. And in business they work together beautifully. Here’s how focus and agility work together.

You need to know what it is you want to achieve from your business and stay focused on it.
However, you also need to adopt an agile approach regarding how it happens. Then, as new feedback and opportunities come along, you can adjust your strategy accordingly. This is always sound advice, but in 2021 it’s essential.

In short, you remain both focused and agile.

Here are a couple of well-known examples, along with how I use the same strategy.

You couldn’t buy a cup of coffee from Starbucks

It’s hard to believe today. But it’s true. Starbucks had been in business for several years (and had already opened its first 5 outlets), before they sold a cup of coffee to anyone. Prior to this, Starbucks sold coffee beans. Agile thinking allowed them to identify a new opportunity, when they noticed how customers enjoyed sampling their coffee beans in-store.

Starbucks’ focus remained the same: to build a successful coffee business. However, their approach changed.

Instagram used to be a check-in app

Instagram started life in 2010 as a check-in app called Burbn. The developers decided their app was too similar to Foursquare, so they pivoted. All their efforts were switched to the photo-sharing component of the Burbn app. Instagram was born.

Their agile thinking allowed them to identify an opportunity for a filter based photo-sharing app. They ran with it. And just 2 years later, the app was acquired by Facebook for approximately $1 billion in a combination of cash and shares.

The founder’s focus remained the same: to build a successful app. However, their approach changed.

I could have used examples from Suzuki, which used to manufacture weaving looms. Or Nintendo, which has previously sold instant rice, vacuum cleaners and even offered a taxi service. And I could have mentioned how Twitter was born from the ashes of a podcast sharing app called Odeo.

But that almost misses the point.

The point is that it’s not only billion dollar companies that use a focused and agile approach. There are businesses of all sizes, achieving breakthrough results from the exact same strategy.

Including mine.

How I use focus and agility

I started my business working as a marketing consultant, who visited clients at their premises or at my offices in London. When I relocated to a tiny village in the countryside in 2002, I quickly decided I didn’t want to waste hours every day travelling. So, I switched to working remotely. Initially I used phones, then switched to VoIP and now video.

Not only did this mean zero time wasted on travel, it also cut my overhead by around 98%! Plus, it opened up the whole world to my services. For the past 19 years I’ve worked globally, in over 40 countries, (as well as every state in the United States).

My focus remained the same: to build a successful marketing business. However, my approach changed.

Whatever line of work you are in, there are massive gains to be made by embracing a focused, agile approach to the development of your business.

It’s also worth remembering that the world is changing at an ever increasing pace, accelerated by the pandemic. An agile and focused approach is now absolutely essential. Not just to thrive, but to survive.

Stay safe.

Stay focused.

Stay agile.

Your biggest ever marketing barrier

January 6, 2021 by Jim Connolly

How’s your marketing looking, from the perspective of your marketplace?

For example.

That special offer you’re about to launch. Is it special to you or the people you’re offering it to?
That important email you’re planning to send. Is it important to you or the person you’re sending it to?
That innovative service you’re going to offer. Is it innovative to you or the people you’re offering it to?
That exciting announcement you’re about to make. Is it exciting to you or the people you’re announcing it to?
And that amazing opportunity you keep talking about. Is it amazing to you or the people you’re talking to?

Your biggest ever marketing barrier

Your marketplace is living through a global epidemic and is preoccupied with a horrific news cycle. Some are worried they’ll go broke. Others are worried about their loved ones and their own health.

Your marketing has never encountered that kind of barrier or level of resistance before.

So if you want their attention, you’re going to need to earn it. Really, really earn it. I’m not talking about cranking things up a few notches. I’m talking about dramatically, profoundly, measurably increasing the effectiveness of your marketing.

Pestering people with special, important, innovative, exciting and amazing things, which aren’t, may have worked a little before. We can’t expect that kind of pre-epidemic focus to work for us in 2021.

Because it can’t.

Effective, professional marketing has always been based around the wants and needs of the marketplace. The average small business owner should quickly switch focus to what the experts do. This is the wrong time to dabble.