Jim's Marketing Blog

Marketing tips and ideas to help you grow your business

1 Essential word your marketing needs. Plus 1 you absolutely MUST avoid

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business growing, how to

Here’s a very quick tip, to help you improve the sales effectiveness of your marketing. It’s all about a word you use regularly, which is negatively impacting how people feel about your business.

That word is change!

People are hard-wired to fear change.

We know that change, good or bad, is a source of stress. Even something as positive as the change that comes from getting married, buying a new home or setting off for a week in the sun, is a cause of stress. In short, change is a trigger word, which places the prospective client or customer in a suboptimal state.

Because of the negative way people feel when confronted with change, it makes sense to remove the word from your marketing. Don’t worry, I am going to give you a massively more powerful, motivating alternative!

Improve, rather than change

Whenever possible, use the word improve, rather than change. Improve, is a positive word. It’s an attractive word too, because we are always looking for something better.

For example, look how the phrase below becomes far more powerful, when change is replaced with improve.

“This copywriting tip will change your marketing results.” (It could make them worse)

“This copywriting tip will improve your marketing results.” (It will make them better)

Your prospective clients or customers fear change, but want things to improve. So, stop offering them what they fear and give them what they want.

Business development seldom exceeds professional development

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content marketing

I was just going through some notes I took, following a talk I gave to a group of entrepreneurs. I spotted something, which they found extremely useful on the day. So, I thought I’d share it with you.

It’s based on my answer to a great question. Someone wanted to know why over a thousand articles on my blog are tagged as professional development, when it’s a marketing blog.

Here’s a shortened version of my reply.

The reason I focus so heavily on professional development, is that without it, NONE of the information a business owner receives is of any value to them. I then shared one of the foundations of all business success:

Business development seldom exceeds professional development.

In other words, we can’t give our business something, which we don’t have. Here are a few of the examples I used.

  • We can’t avoid mistakes if we fail to see them coming.
  • We can’t benefit from opportunities if we’re blind to them.
  • We can’t enjoy a bumper crop if we harvest too soon.

I then explained how that’s only 50% of the problem caused by a lack of professional development.

Here’s the other half. And it’s a biggie!

Even if you give a business owner the exact answers they need, if they lack professional development… they’ll ignore it. That’s because when you lack professional development, REAL improvement always, always sounds scary.

It looks like this.

  • Improvement = change.
  • Change = risk.
  • Risk = fear.

Every business starts to grow after it launches. Then, the business reaches a certain point and hits a plateau. Some plateau in the first 12 months. Others don’t plateau for a decade.

And it doesn’t matter! Because it’s what happens when they reach that plateau that makes all the difference.

Business owners tend to fall into one of the following two, broad groups.

Group one

Business owners in this group need additional professional development. They are deliberately targeted by marketers, who exploit the business owners eagerness to grow their business. They entice them with webinars, Facebook Lives, growth-hacking secrets, and countless online training products; all promising “too good to be true” results.

That kind of advice sells. It’s all gain, with no real effort. And those testimonials are always so inspirational. It’s easy money too, because there’s an endless stream of business owners… hoping that THIS motivating promise, MAY finally be the one that works.

Of course, it fails.

It has to fail.

Why?

Because as we know, in business, meaningful improvement only comes after making meaningful improvements (meaningful changes). If you do what you’ve always done, you’ll get what you’ve always got. Business, like everything else in life, works on the law of cause and effect.

Now for some great news.

Group two

Every business owner in this group, (including me), started in group one. Then, at some point, they figured out they were wasting a lot of time and making very little progress. So they jumped ship into group two.

They now insist on expert advice from proven professionals. Professionals who will look at their unique situation and provide the unique roadmap or solutions they need. It’s why business owners in group two thrive.

Think about it. There’s a really good reason why:

  • Literally every successful business owner makes important decisions based on trusted, informed, targeted advice.
  • Literally none of them make important decisions, like how to grow their business, based on the toxic junk that business owners in group one rely on.

That’s why I focus so much of my content on professional development. I try and educate business owners, so they avoid the stress and wheel-spinning of being in group one. I strive to inform business owners who are trying to get the help they need, but looking in the worst possible places.

I hope you found this useful. Moreover, I hope you do something with it.

I have some news for you

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It’s the 12th anniversary of Jim’s Marketing Blog.

But this one is very different from the others.

Previously, I’ve had to think whether to commit my time and money for another year. It’s a big commitment. The time I spend each week creating free content for my readers, significantly reduces the hours I have available for fee-paying clients. And with thousands of pages of content online, the blog would still attract more client enquiries than I need.

However, this year, the decision to carry on was easy.

How easy?

I’d forgotten about the annual renewal decision until literally 20 minutes ago!

The impact of the coronavirus on small and medium-sized business owners, has motivated me more than ever to try and help. I’m working on ideas all the time. My goal is to be as useful as possible, to as many people as possible. The best way I know to do this, is through the free information I provide on the blog and email version of the blog.

So, I plan to be here for at least another year.

By the way, if you want to say hi or just see what I’m up to, you can catch me on Twitter @JimConnolly. Look for the verified tick to ensure it’s me.

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

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marketing multiply

Photo: Shutterstock.

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.

Stop marketing. Replace it with something better

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better than marketing

Photo: Shutterstock.

If you dislike marketing or simply find it a frustrating waste of time and money, today’s post is especially for you.

Just how frustrating is marketing?

The vast majority of small business owners I’ve spoken to over the past 25 years, work hard. They put a lot of hours in, too. Yet they feel compelled to tell me that when it comes to marketing their products or services, they’re lazy.

And it’s just not true.

So, why do they think they’re being lazy about their marketing?

They regard marketing as being dull (which it is) and pushy (which it is) and irritating (which it is). So they quite understandably try to avoid it.

They see that avoidance as being lazy. However, it’s completely natural to want to avoid things that are dull and irritating. We avoid crap and marketing is a constant source of dull, irritating crap.

Let’s remember.

  • Marketing is responsible for the junk mail and spam that clogs up our inbox.
  • Marketing is behind those unsolicited telemarketing calls that interrupt us at home with our family.
  • Marketing is the reason strangers pester us in the street with flyers.
  • Marketing is responsible for the sales spam that floods social media.
  • Marketing is also responsible for pushy connection requests from salespeople on Linkedin.
  • Marketing is the cause of all those repetitive commercials that ruin every piece of media we consume.

This begs the question: How do you grow your business without marketing?

Drop marketing. Replace it with something better

If you dislike marketing and are not happy with the way your business is growing, it’s time to replace it with something better.

Something that will instinctively feel right.

Something you won’t want to avoid.

Something that’s just a natural extension of the work you do.

Allow me to explain, along with a few examples.

Better than marketing

Imagine you’re walking in the park on a scorching hot day. You didn’t bring enough water and now you’re feeling really, really thirsty. It’s getting warmer. You notice your throat is now dry. Thankfully, you finally spot a sign for ice-cold drinks with an arrow pointing to a small hut. You walk over, buy a bottle of water and eagerly gulp it down. You then buy another bottle for you to enjoy on your journey home. You thank the vendor and head back.

That sign with the arrow, saying ‘ice-cold drinks’ didn’t feel like marketing.

It didn’t pester you, it didn’t bore you, it wasn’t dull and it certainly was not an unwanted interruption. It was exactly what you were looking for. And the vendor just sold a couple of bottles of water to a very happy customer.

Everyone’s happy.

Also better than marketing

I recall walking into the study to ask my wife, (Sharon) if she wanted a coffee. I quickly noticed that she was listening to an interview with a musician, whose work she loves. He was talking about his new album and the inspiration behind some of the tracks. Like thousands of other listeners, Sharon was buying the album as he spoke.

That radio interview sure didn’t feel like marketing.

Sharon had been looking forward to the interview all morning. She was listening intently and enthusiastically as the musician spoke. He wasn’t being dull and she was delighted after enjoying his interview and ordering the new album. The musician was happy having had a great interview and probably selling tons of albums. The radio show had just provided a great 30 minutes of entertainment.

Everyone’s happy.

And this is better than marketing

Just after the passing of Apple CEO Steve Jobs, a pundit made a point that I’d never noticed before. She said that almost every time the public saw him, Steve Jobs was selling us something. I found that interesting, partly because it had never crossed my mind before, despite watching all his Apple presentations. And partly because I’ve spent thousands (and thousands) of dollars on Apple technology.

Those presentations certainly didn’t feel like marketing.

I loved listening to Jobs, so he was never an unwelcome interruption. I found his passion and showmanship infectious. His delivery of information was like a master-class in communications. I’d regarded his presentations as entertaining, must-see ‘events’. I bought Apple products that I’ve enjoyed using and never regretted. Jobs and Apple made a fortune in sales every time he spoke. Apple are now one of the biggest corporations in history.

Everyone’s happy.

Far better than marketing

People like myself, who share our knowledge in a newsletter or blog don’t need to market what we do. People hire us, knowing in advance what to expect. We simply make it easy to contact us and we keep being useful. It’s a joy to share useful ideas. Our audience gets some useful advice. Everyone’s happy.

Talking about joy…

What about those wonderful business owners who bake joy into the very process of doing business with them? They attract customers like moths to a flame. They also retain their customers for longer. These are the happiest business owners and their customers are happy too. Everyone’s happy.

Business doesn’t have to be dull and uninspiring. It’s a choice. A really bad choice, but a choice nonetheless.

With this in mind, there’s an obvious way forward.

Follow your heart and your head

Follow your heart: If you dislike the prescriptive marketing bullshit that’s based around pestering, interrupting and irritating people, please stop. You won’t be very good at it and it will make you miserable.

Follow your head: If you want to thrive, you’ll need to replace bullshit marketing with something better.

The examples I’ve shared are all things that have been baked into the way a business, or person, does business. Natural consequences of their day-to-day workflow. And by default, these are non-prescriptive. I know from the work I do on this with clients every day, that your specific mix must be developed around you, the kind of business you want and your unique personality.

That’s how to grow your business in a way that feels natural and authentic. And it’s how you create a business that thrives for you on every possible level.

When the vision pulls you, you don’t have to be pushed

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when vision pulls, don't need pushed, Steve Jobs vision

One of the most common questions people ask me, is in relation to blogging. Specifically, they want to know how I manage to push myself, to write and publish content as often as I do.

Here’s the answer.

Push or pull?

This quote from the late Steve Jobs answers that question beautifully:

If you are working on something exciting that you really care about, you don’t have to be pushed. The vision pulls you.

– Steve Jobs.

If your vision of blogging is that it’s a necessary evil, you will fail on every metric.

  • You will fail to write as well as you can, because when you work through gritted teeth, it shows.
  • You will fail to show up with new information, often enough.
  • You will fail to engage people.

My blogging vision was different

I saw it as a professional and personal development opportunity. I knew that in order for me to share useful information regularly, I needed to feed my mind with useful information regularly. I quickly found another massive benefit to blogging, which is that writing regularly makes you a better communicator. That’s a huge asset for anyone.

So, even if I failed to attract a commercially valuable reader community, I’d still benefit. Firstly, I’d become far more informed. Secondly, I’d be better able to communicate my ideas than I would have been, had I not written all that content. This made it impossible for me to fail.

If you’re struggling to publish content regularly enough, don’t carry on working through gritted teeth. Change your vision. And then let that vision pull you.

Thankfully, Jobs’ concept works in every area of your life and isn’t limited to content creation.

Tip: If you found this useful, you can get my latest ideas delivered direct to your inbox, for free, right here.

Build your ideal business. No selling required. None. Zilch!

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marketing, no selling

Photo: Shutterstock.

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

These 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: Over the past 6 months, how much valuable, free information have you given to your prospective clients?

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

Here’s why that question is critically important to building your ideal business.

No selling required

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, in advance, if they want to attract the very best enquiries.

Notice I said ‘attract‘ enquiries?

That’s right.

When you stop selling and start helping, your prospective clients come to you. I haven’t sold my services to anyone in over 20 years. But people hire me all the time. And the difference this makes is huge.

Engage and inform: 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. And do this before they even need you.

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 or products 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 that 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. You can build your ideal business, working with great clients who value you.

And with no selling required.

How to get the best, free marketing advice

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marketing research

Photo: Shutterstock.

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 around half a dozen marketing sites.

I soon figured out what had happened.

Today, I want to help you avoid making the same, expensive mistake. I need 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 own business failed.

2. Guest bloggers on popular marketing blogs

The vast majority of 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. Taking advice from them lost my new client a fortune.

Check the source

No, not every employee / guest blogger who writes about marketing is clueless. Some will be knowledgeable. At least a little.

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 or ineffective. They may be sincere, but it’s possible to be sincerely wrong.

I estimate my new client has lost at least 5 years worth of business growth. And probably missed out on hundreds of thousands of dollars in 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.

You’ve been lied to for years

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marketing style

Photo: Shutterstock.

The following statement will sound counter-intuitive. That’s because you’ve been lied to for years. Okay. Here goes.

In marketing, there’s a case for style over substance.

It’s a strong case, too.

Just think about this for a moment:

  • The top political commentators get paid a ton of money, to deliver their take on the news for major networks.
  • The also-ran commentators get paid peanuts, to deliver their take on the news, for small, local networks.

Here’s the thing. In both cases, the news (substance) they comment on is the same. Here’s why one of them is earning 10 times or 50 times more than the other. It’s their style. The style with which they work.

For example:

  • Their courage, when choosing to take (or avoid) a controversial stance.
  • Their vocabulary.
  • Their energy.
  • Their ability to communicate with confidence.
  • Their effectiveness when injecting their personality (style) into their work, so that it’s truly theirs.

Here’s my point. When it comes to business, the substance should be there by default. Every qualified consultant, coach, lawyer, whatever… knows what their service (substance) is and how it works. It’s their style that makes all the difference. It’s their style that sets them apart from the crowd.

Style over substance in marketing

The newsletters, blogs, vlogs, podcasts, Facebook groups, Medium publishers, etc., that people take notice of, all have their own style. The same is true of the most successful email marketing, advertising, marketing campaigns and copywriting.

And the ones that fail to grow, fail to get noticed, fail to make an impact… well… they don’t.

Instead, they follow the cookie-cutter approach to marketing. They bought into the lie. The lie that says, “Just do things this way and it works. Follow the steps. 1-2-3”.

That’s bullshit.

It doesn’t work. In fact, it can’t possibly work. Because your style can’t be found in a book.

You can certainly learn substance that way. However, your style, the very thing that gets you noticed, by default, can’t possibly be learned from a marketing seminar, a course, a book or any other generalized form of information.

Why?

Because your style is all about you.

Where are you right now?

Okay, I already know that you totally understand your subject. So the substance is there. It’s taken care of. That’s covered. You’re good.

But what about the style?

When it comes to your marketing, when it comes to the story behind your service, are you telling it from your perspective? Are you sharing the substance of your knowledge, using your voice, your stories and your experiences? Because it’s your style that people connect with.

  • It’s your style that sets you apart.
  • It’s your style that causes people to return for more.
  • It’s your style that makes you approachable.
  • It’s your style that gives you a voice.
  • It’s your style that inspires people to share your message.
  • It’s your style that gives value to your substance.
  • It’s your style that motivates people to hire you or buy from you specifically, rather than a cheaper alternative.

And none of that can be robotized. Or automated. Because it’s you. It’s your authentic experience. It’s your greatest marketing asset. In fact, with so many competitors out there, with so many people trying to get the attention of your prospective clients, your style is the most powerful tool in your arsenal.

So, give your style the oxygen it needs.

Be stingy with your time, but not your ideas

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Photo: Shutterstock.

Laura emailed me with a great question. She wanted to know why I give so many ideas away for free.

I’ve chosen to share my answer with you, because I believe it contains a really useful idea.

The contribution mindset

I see it like this:

  • If you own 3 bags of gold and you give 1 of them away, you are left with 2 pieces of gold. Give all 3 bags of gold away and you’re left with nothing.
  • However, if you give someone an idea, you still have just as many ideas as you had before. Plus, you have just enriched the other person. Even better, you may have just made a new friend too.

Scaling generosity

The key is to find a way to share your ideas, which scales. In other words, a way to be generous with your ideas that doesn’t leave you with too little time to do the things that you need to do.

  • If you give an hour of your time away to 10 individual people every day, you have just lost 10 hours of your time. It doesn’t scale. It’s unsustainable. You’ll soon end up broke.
  • However, if you give an hour of your time to your community every day, in a way that reaches 10 people or 10,000 people you have still only invested 1 hour. Blogging, newsletters, vlogging and podcasts are just some of the ways you can achieve this.

We must be stingy with our time

It’s important to remind ourselves that the clock is ticking. We only have a limited supply of time each day. But when it comes to helping people, by adopting the right strategy we can choose to be generous. We can choose to contribute to the success and happiness of others.

Being generous with our ideas is always important. But especially so in times like these, when so many others really need our help.