Blogging Archives | Jim's Marketing Blog

I feel like I already know you

August 1, 2018 by Jim Connolly

I’d like to share a short, easy to understand, yet extremely valuable idea with you today. It’s all about attracting high quality leads on a very regular basis.

I was prompted to write this, after some emails I received this morning. As usual, a number of them contained a version of the following statement: I feel like I already know you. These emails were from people I’ve never met. In each case, they were referring to knowing me via the ideas I share, either on my blog or the email version of the blog.

Why am I telling you this?

What this means for you and your business

Now imagine that instead of me receiving those highly targeted, premium quality leads, it was YOU.

You received them. With more tomorrow, the next day and the next. More leads than you need. And all from people who feel like they know you. People who know your work. People whose attention you have. People who already trust you. (Think about that for a moment).

This opportunity is open to you. Wide open. It requires a couple of things.

You’ll need to generously, regularly share valuable information. Information so useful, that people will eagerly want to receive it and share it.
You’ll need to accept that no matter how great your information is, very few people will take notice at the beginning. Which is fine. Because all you need are your first 10 people. They’ll share your stuff with 10 like-minded friends. Now you’re at 100, which becomes 1000 or 10000 or 100000. If you stick with it.

That second part is where most people fail.

They invest time and effort for weeks, sometimes months, and see little audience growth. They get demotivated. Then quit. Largely because they have been given incorrect expectations of how growing an audience actually works. Despite what many content marketing gurus say, building a valuable audience takes time. It requires patience and commitment.

Focus on the 10

The key is to focus ONLY on earning the attention and trust of those first 10 people. Turn up regularly and give them your best ideas (not sales pitches or advertisements). As long as the information you share is useful enough and you turn up regularly enough, your audience will grow. And the growth accelerates as more people subscribe. When I started my blog, it took me an age to get my first 100 readers. Today, I can get that many in 24 hours. So, stick with it.

I hope you found this information useful. But more importantly, I hope it inspires you to build an extremely valuable community.

Agile Thinking: A new mindset for a new landscape

July 26, 2018 by Jim Connolly

Business is changing. Moreover, business is changing fast. This is great news for agile thinking business owners, who embrace the opportunities. However, it’s not such great news for business owners who are working in 2018’s rapidly changing environment, with an outdated approach to business.

Today, I’m going to share some ideas on how you can benefit from the exciting opportunities that are all around you.

First, I’d like to demonstrate how things have improved and why we need to apply a new mindset, to the new landscape.

A new mindset for a new landscape

Many of the world’s most influential businesses were unknown 20 years ago. Some, such as Facebook and Twitter, weren’t founded until the mid 2000’s.

That kind of global growth was previously unthinkable.

What’s more, billion dollar companies that lead their industries have been started by relative unknowns, in very untraditional ways.

Here’s a great example. Writing in Techcrunch, Tom Goodwin summed up the new age of agile business:

“Uber, the world’s largest taxi company, owns no vehicles. Facebook, the world’s most popular media owner, creates no content. Alibaba, the most valuable retailer, has no inventory. And Airbnb, the world’s largest accommodation provider, owns no real estate. Something interesting is happening.”

Tom is right. Something interesting is happening. None of those achievements or business models were possible until very recently. The game has changed. And it has changed for ever.

The age of agile business

When I look at small businesses, they tend to fall into one of the following 2 broad categories: They are either dinosaurs or agile operators. That’s to say their approach to the agile business landscape means they are facing extinction or facing unparalleled success.

Armed with a laptop and an idea, there’s very little an agile business cannot achieve.

The new business landscape allows an agile small business owner to have an idea in the morning, and put that idea into play before the end of business that same day.
Using social networks, we can listen to what our marketplace wants and provide that want. No more guess work. No more focus-groups. You can get it right every time. And in a fraction of the time.
Instant access to data, means research that took weeks or months can now be done in days. And at a fraction of the price.
With a great marketing email and some email software, a struggling business can generate a fortune in sales… and fast!
With the correct strategy, anyone can develop their own community. I reach thousands of people every day, many of whom are prospective clients, without spending a penny on advertising. You can too.
If you have a great business idea, you no longer need a bank loan. Today, you can use crowdfunding to get the investment you need. People are doing this all day, every day.

Make no mistake, this is the golden age of business, which people have dreamed about for decades.

Yet, in spite of all this potential, almost all small business owners operate their businesses with a 2000’s mindset. They lack agility. This places them at a huge disadvantage.

For example:

They still take just as long to make a decision, even though they can get the feedback they need in a fraction of the time. As a result, their agile competitors have already eaten their lunch.
They use social networks to follow the crowd, rather than lead their marketplace.
They have a website that’s almost an online brochure, when it should be and could be, a lead-generating machine for their business. If you didn’t start work today with leads from your website waiting for you, you should have. Fix it. You’re leaving money on the table.
They waste money advertising, when they should be building their own platform.
They waste time, money and energy attending networking groups, like people did in the 1970’s, rather than build their own community.

No matter what industry you are in. No matter where you are. Your potential right now is limited only by your willingness, or otherwise, to embrace the mindset required for business success in 2018.

What an opportunity. Grasp it with both hands.

How to get the best free marketing advice

July 20, 2018 by Jim Connolly

There’s a lot of free marketing advice available online. Some is good. Sadly, most is ineffective. Today, I want to help you identify the best marketing advice and show you how to avoid the worst.

A new client with a familiar problem

I was prompted to write this, after my initial session with a new client. I went through some questions with her, as I do with all my new clients. I quickly noticed that she was making a number of serious marketing mistakes. During our session, I asked her where she got those marketing ideas from and she named several marketing sites.

I soon figured out what had happened. Today, I want to help you avoid making the same, costly mistake. I want to start by drawing your attention to 2 types of marketing blogger.

1. The marketing blogger, who doesn’t have a business

Many marketing blogs are written by people who are career employees, paid to produce lots of content. Others are employees, who were previously entrepreneurs, but they failed to build their own business and are now paid to produce “content” for their employers.

Think about that for a moment: On sites like these, you’re taking marketing advice from someone, who has either never marketed their own business or whose business failed.

2. Guest bloggers on popular marketing blogs

Many of the top marketing blogs rely very heavily on unpaid, guest bloggers. Guest bloggers are people who write for free, in return for access to a popular blog’s readership.

None of the guest bloggers I checked on the sites my client mentioned, had the assets you’d expect from a competent marketer. In other words, they were unable to market their own brand.

Think about that for a moment: Their readers are taking marketing advice from bloggers, who feel forced to work for free. Bloggers who still haven’t figured out how to grow their own valuable readership, community or tribe. Bloggers who still have no idea how to market their own brand, other than by guest blogging.

Check the source

No, not every employee who writes about marketing is clueless. Some will be knowledgeable. No, not every guest blogger lacks a valuable blog or tribe of their own.

My point is simply this: Always check the credentials of those offering free marketing advice, before you act on what they tell you.

They should have an about page on their site, (like this one). See if they’ve achieved what you need to achieve. See if they have a proven track record at the highest level. If not, then find a better source.

Well-written and sincere

Lots of bloggers write extremely well and make a compelling point, when what they’re telling you is incorrect. They may be sincere, but that doesn’t mean what they’re telling you is right. It’s possible to be sincerely wrong.

I estimate my new client has lost at least 5 years worth of business growth. And probably hundreds of thousands of dollars in lost revenues. All because she followed the same ineffective marketing advice as thousands of other small business owners.

Don’t let it happen to you. Before you invest your time or money on marketing, check the source. Always, always check the source.

How to attract great clients or customers. No selling required!

July 3, 2018 by Jim Connolly

I’m going to share a powerful marketing idea with you today. It’s all about how to attract high quality prospective clients (or customers). With no selling required.

These sales leads will come from people who already know you, who already value your work AND who really want to work with you.

Let’s go.

I need to start by asking you a question: How much valuable, free information have you given to your prospective clients this year?

I’m specifically referring to things like newsletter articles, blog posts, videos, podcasts etc., which offer useful, valuable information (rather than thinly-disguised sales pitches).

No selling required. None. Nada!

If you want an endless stream of high quality clients or customers, you need to be front of mind when they have a requirement. You need them to be thinking about you. This means you need to regularly give them something, which they will value. Something useful. Something that makes them interested in what you have to say.

Most small business owners waste their time, trying to get their marketplace excited, using sales messages and special offers. They haven’t figured out yet, that they need to develop a relationship with their marketplace, if they want to attract the best enquiries.

Notice I said attract enquiries? That’s right. When you stop selling and start helping, your prospective clients come to you.

Engage and educate: Don’t just sell

The secret to attracting high quality inbound sales leads, is to focus on engaging your marketplace. Educate them. Inform them. Inspire them. Help with their problems. In short, become a valuable resource.

By engaging in this way, you’ll quickly begin to build relationships and credibility with the people who pay for the exact kind of service you offer. And if you tailor the information you provide, so that it’s directly relevant to your IDEAL prospective clients, that’s who you’ll attract enquiries from. (Note the word attract again?)

Through the distribution of valuable, free information, you position yourself as an authority in your field. You also build a relationship with your prospective clients, where they naturally think of you as the source of the help they need. This makes you a safe pair of hands.

It also makes hiring you or buying from you way less risky when they need a new provider.

Make no mistake, if you embrace this marketing idea and do it correctly, the results can be breathtaking. And with no selling required.

The most incredible article about headlines you’ll ever read

June 3, 2018 by Jim Connolly

Here are some ideas, which you can use to dramatically improve the results of all your written marketing.

It’s all about the marketing power of headlines.

Your headline has to capture the reader’s attention

Headlines are important. Really important.

You see, it doesn’t matter how great your message is, if too few people read it. That’s where your headline (or title or subject line) comes in. The headline’s primary job is to attract attention, gain interest and then motivate the reader to carry on reading.

Think about it:

The headline is what inspires prospective clients to open your marketing email.
It’s what motivates them to read your blog post or article, when someone shares it on a social network.
It’s what compels them to listen to your podcast or watch your video.
It’s also what grabs their attention and interest when they see one of your advertisements.

Advertising legend David Ogilvy was in no doubt regarding the importance of headlines. He famously said:

“When you have written your headline, you have spent 80 cents out of your dollar.”

Treat your headlines with the importance they deserve. Give yourself plenty of time to craft the best headline possible. The following tips and examples will help you get the balance right.

Your headline should accurately reflect your content

Because headlines play such a huge role in getting your content noticed, it’s tempting to over exaggerate them. (Yes, the headline of this post is a tongue-in-cheek example of what I mean).

Sometimes called clickbait, these attention-grabbing headlines are proven to generate traffic. The reason I strongly recommend most people reading this not to adopt that headline strategy, is this:

Your headlines make a promise, which your content MUST deliver on.

Make your headlines as compelling as you can. Use words that will compel people to read what you have to say. But make darn sure that your content backs up the promise of the headline. You may be able to fool someone once or twice with clickbait. But unless your content delivers on the promise of the headline, people will quickly learn to ignore you.

Your headline needs to be written for your target market

Your marketing message is intended to connect with a very specific group of people: Your prospective clients or customers. The headlines you use should do the same. This means speaking their language and addressing their concerns and opportunities.

Here’s why this matters:

By focusing your headlines around the interests of your target market, you help your marketing message to attract the attention of the right people.
Conversely, by using headlines that attract the attention of a wider group of people, you cease to be directly relevant to your target market.

In other words, use headlines that are directly relevant to your prospective clients.

Your headlines should match your medium

If you’re writing a headline that’s intended for a print magazine, newspaper or flyer, you have certain freedoms, which you don’t have when writing for the internet.

For example, if you want your internet article’s headline to be fully displayed in search results, you need to use around 60 / 65 characters or fewer. Going beyond that will see your headline cut short.

If your headline is intended for email marketing, you need to take other things into consideration. For example, if you include exclamation marks!! in your subject line, along with a number and maybe a word that’s in ALL CAPS, it’s highly likely to end up in a lot of spam or junk filters. Email software looks for certain common factors used by spammers and if it sees them in the email headlines you use, it could wrongly treat your marketing as spam.

In short, you need to adapt depending on the medium you’re using.

The only 2 types of headline that matter

There is a lot of debate among marketing professionals, regarding the correct way to use headlines.

They take entrenched stances, each insisting that their approach is the only strategy that’s professional or effective. In almost every case I have seen, they totally miss the point!

When it comes to the headlines you use in your marketing, there are just 2 broad categories worthy of your attention.

Headlines that work for you and your business goals.
Headlines that are failing you and your business goals.

You need to find the correct balance for what you want to achieve. And it will differ depending on your brand, your industry and your business model.

For example, BuzzFeed has grown into a very successful media business, initially relying heavily on a controversial, yet powerful headline formula. Many labelled their approach as being linkbait or clickbait. And they were wrong. That’s because the quality of the BuzzFeed’s content was consistently compelling, so their readers returned. In fact, they returned and re-shared, which helped the readership grow even faster.

In summary

Experiment until you find what works best for you. Test and measure your headlines, titles and email subject lines. Just make sure that your content delivers on the promise they make.

Get this balance right and you can dramatically and measurably improve your marketing results.