Jim Connolly Marketing

Show them what you know and who you are!

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Someone just emailed me, to ask what were the commercial benefits of writing a blog. He wanted to know why I spend so many working hours giving useful information away, for free.

I want to quickly share part of my answer with you, because it’s extremely valuable. It’s based on a blog post I wrote a few years ago. I recalled a reader asking a blogger if he was in as high demand before he started blogging, as he is today.

Here’s the gold dust!

In one sentence, the answer sums up one of the most valuable reasons for business blogging. It went something like this:

“No one gave a rats ass about me, until they could see what was inside my head.”

Share what’s in your head

Your business blog gives you the opportunity to demonstrate what you know, what you stand for and who you are. It’s a way for people to check you out and determine for themselves, if you “get it” or not.

If you really know your subject and have the desire to share what you know with prospective clients or customers, there is no better way to showcase your talent than blogging.

PS: If you’re still not convinced, here are 25 reasons to write a business blog.

A 60 second check, to help you improve your business results

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Do you want more from your business in 2011 than you had in 2010?  If you do, then I have a quick test for you, which will set you on the right track!

On a scale of 1 to 10, where 10 is the highest, I want you to score the following people, who supply your business with your key services:

  1. Your accountant.
  2. Your marketing advisor.
  3. Your lawyer.
  4. Your IT consultant (hardware/software or Internet.).
  5. Your bank manager.

The cost of average advice

If your scores were 7 or below in any of those areas, you need to ask yourself why you are wasting your time, taking advice that is average or little better than average.  Just as you can tell a lot about a person, by looking at the kind of people they hang out with, you can also predict how successful a business will be, based on the quality of the people it calls upon for advice.  Unless you want an “average” business (and you don’t, otherwise you wouldn’t be reading this blog), you must avoid taking average advice.

Surrounding your business with average providers is never a good idea, but as we progress through the worst economy in living memory, it’s a recipe for trouble!

The value of great advice

Interestingly, you do not always have to pay more, to find a better quality advisor or provider.  Some low quality providers charge too much for their services and others seem to undervalue just how great they are.  So, why not spend some time reviewing the people you rely on for advice, support and guidance.

Look particularly for new people in the areas where your business is weakest, as those advising you currently in that area, are clearly failing you!

This relatively straight forward process can help you massively improve your business results very quickly!

The secret to becoming a prolific blogger!

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Do you find it a little challenging, writing regular content for your blog or newsletter?  If you do, here are a few ideas to help you increase the quality and volume of your creative written output.

Is the 15 minute blog post a lie?

Most of the prolific bloggers I read, state that it takes them around 15 or 20 minutes to write a blog post.  When I was writing half a dozen posts a month, I found those claims a little hard to believe.  Today, I write posts every day and tend to get posts written in around 20 minutes myself, sometimes half that.  This glass half full post from Monday took less than 10 minutes to write up.

So, what’s the secret behind prolific bloggers?

It’s simply this: The more you write, the easier it becomes!

Getting ideas for blog posts

As blogging became a regular part of my life, I started getting ideas for blog posts more and more frequently.  It’s a little like when you buy a new red car and suddenly start seeing new red cars everywhere.  The cars were always there, it’s just that you never noticed them before.  When you start blogging regularly, you begin to notice ideas for blog posts that would have passed you by, before you had an outlet for them.  Currently, I have over 200 ideas waiting to be turned into posts.  I capture these ideas using a digital voice recorder.  It’s faster and a lot more practical than using a pen and pad, as I tend to get my best ideas when I am out walking or cycling etc.

Turning your ideas into blog posts

Here’s how I do it.  I tend to write early in the mornings, before my wife and son wake up.  I start by listening to the audio notes I have and find a topic that feels right.  Then, I begin writing.  My posts tend to start by asking you a question, occasionally they begin with a statement.  I then write the core points that I want to share with you.  Next, I flesh them out a little and then place them into order.  I usually end a post with either a question or a suggestion.

Like many people, I have found that the actual writing process speeds up, the more often I write.  I didn’t try to write faster.  It just happened naturally, as I wrote more and more often.  I’m not talking about my typing speed, that’s always been pretty fast.  I’m talking about the time it takes to get an idea out of my head and into readable text.

The mechanics of blogging

I tend to keep things really simple.  I use the WordPress blogging platform and find that it is extremely easy to work with.  This means that once I have a post written, it usually takes just a minute or two, to get it formatted and ready to publish.  I write posts in advance and then use WordPress to schedule when they are published.  This post was written on 11th November.

It’s a fact: Some people are better writers than others.  In my opinion, your task should always be to become the best writer or blogger or content provider that YOU can be.  By studying the craft, practising it regularly and seeking to improve all the time, you can make amazing progress.

The unhappy 2%!

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I was recently reading a post over on Seth Godin’s blog, where he talks about the 2% of people who will complain or disagree whenever you do anything that gets their attention. Now, I’m not sure that number is 2%, in my experience it’s a lot lower than that, but Seth’s point is correct.  Whenever you make any change, even a vast improvement, there will be people who complain and these people are usually noisier than the other 98%.

As a small business owner, it’s important not to make the mistake of allowing the noisy 2% to stop you making decisions and taking action. You see, as soon as you make that 2% happy, the changes you made to appease them, will often cause a different 2% of people to complain!

Even those well known brands, which you LOVE and tell all your friends about, will have people who vocally dislike those same things that you think are great.

By perfecting what you do, you may get that 2% down to 1%, but there will always be people who disagree with whatever it is you do.  If you introduce a new service and 2% of people tell you it’s stupid, but 98% love it, go with the 98%!  Even if that 2% is vocal, and it often is, listen to what they are saying, learn from it, but allow it to influence your decision making by just 2%.

As Jim Rohn used to say; “Don’t major on minor things!”

The bottom line: You can’t please everyone, every time, with everything.  Don’t allow the noisy 2% to stop you making progress.

Let’s work together and grow your business. To find out more click here!

Internet Marketing for Smart People

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Very rarely, something comes along that I absolutely have to share with you.  I’m delighted to say that today is one of those days!

Internet Marketing for Smart People Radio

brian clark, copyblogger, radio showToday, I want to recommend you go and check out Brian Clark and Robert Bruce’s new Internet radio show: Internet Marketing for Smart People.  The show is just 2 editions old and the content is, as you would expect from these guys, marketing gold dust.

If you click the link above, there’s information on how to subscribe to the show on iTunes and also a link, so you can download the mp3.

When you’ve done that, I strongly suggest you take a look around the rest of the site!

Brian Clark & Copyblogger

In case some of you don’t know who Brian Clark is, Brian is one of the best in the business at what he does: Content marketing.  Brian’s blog, copyblogger.com, is best in class, in my opinion and contains regular posts from the extremely talented Sonia Simone, as well as a variety of guest contributors.

I have been a Copyblogger subscriber for years and strongly recommend both the blog and the new radio show.  It’s essential information for anyone interested in marketing, copywriting and how the two work together to create results.

Let’s work together and grow your business. To find out more click here!

A new look at Jim’s Marketing Blog!

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As part of my ongoing effort to make this site as easy to read and navigate around as possible, I have made some subtle changes to the overall look and feel.

The main content area is slightly wider than before.  The light blues have been replaced with less distracting shades of grey, to make it easier on the eyes for those who read lots of content here.

As is always the case with design, some will like the changes and others will not.  The focus for me is to ensure the site is easy to read, easy to navigate around and fast to load.  From the testing I have done over the past 2 weeks, it seems that the new design helps with the first two, whilst the recent investment in a super fast dedicated server helps with the third.

I’ve actually invested thousands of pounds in the hosting and development of this “free” blog over the past 12 months alone, and I will continue to invest whatever is required, to help you and your business with practical, effective marketing and business development ideas and advice.

Thanks for your continued support, your comments, emails and for sharing what you find here with your friends and helping me grow our community.