Jim Connolly Marketing

Are you doing it often enough?

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Recently, I have had a lot of people asking me how I come up with fresh ideas for new posts.  So, here’s what works for me and hopefully, will be just as useful for you!

The short answer is that the more you write, the easier it gets.  For example, I used to publish blog posts 5 or 6 times a month and had to think long and hard, before finding a topic.  The posts would then often take me an hour to write.  Today, after publishing over 70 posts in the past 70 days, I have another 100 or so post ideas, just waiting to be written.

The more you do it, the easier it gets

It seems counter intuitive, as you would imagine that the more ideas you write about, the fewer you would be left with.  However, it appears that the process of getting ideas fleshed out, written down and commented on, actually produces lots of new, fresh topics for future posts.  So, I publish a post and usually get ideas for several more.

I have read many experts over the years, who agree that we can all massively increase our levels of creativity in a particular area (like blogging), by deliberately using our creative skills in that area, on a regular basis.  In other words, just as a muscle becomes stronger the more it gets exercised, our creativity becomes stronger the more it is exercised too.  That is exactly what my experience has been.

I have also discovered that it is important (for me anyway), to set a specific time aside each day, to write the posts.  So, although I capture ideas for blog posts all day long, I have found that the ideal time for me to write blog posts, is early morning.  This means my posts are written before my working day begins.

As a result, not only does blogging not get in the way of my work flow – It actually stimulates my creativity, for my work with clients during the day.

Business blogging at the weekends: Is it worth it?

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Have you ever wondered about the value of posting content to a business focused blog, like this one, during the weekend?  If you have, you might find my experience interesting.

Blogging on a Saturday

Reader numbers here drop like a stone on Saturdays.  I get around 50% of my weekday average, sometimes even fewer.  Yes, there are exceptions to this, but typically I see around half as many readers show up.  Even yesterday, when I published 2 blog posts, I saw only a very slight increase in numbers.

Blogging on a Sunday

Sundays are very different! Reader numbers on a Sunday are the same as a regular weekday.  In fact, I have had some of the busiest days ever here on a Sunday.

Based on my experience, if you write a business blog and you are thinking of publishing content on one day over the weekend, I would recommend a Sunday.  Not only are reader numbers higher on a Sunday, I typically see a greater level of reader engagement  too.  That is to say, a higher percentage of readers will comment here or email me.  Page view numbers (per reader) are also higher on Sundays than on Saturdays.

Do you publish posts at the weekend? Let us know your experience!

In order to make this post as valuable as possible, I would like to know what your experience is, of publishing weekend blog posts – in relation to reader numbers.  Are my experiences typical? Please share your feedback!

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

What do your links say about you?

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What do the links on your website or blog tell prospective clients and customers about the kind of person you are?

One of the reasons that Google has become the dominant player in the search engine market, is that so much of what it does, reflects the way humans think.  If Google’s algorithm spots that your website is linking to what it calls a “bad neighborhood” it will penalise the site with a worse ranking in Google’s search results. 

I wrote recently about link exchanges and how they can hurt your site’s reputation.

In exactly the same way, if a prospective client or customer visits your website / blog and sees that you are linking to something that they believe is dubious, you will drop in their regard.  This can have a massive negative impact on their decision to contact you.

Just as our parents told us to be careful about the kids we hung around with when we were young, today, as businesspeople, we need to be careful not to associate our name and reputation with the wrong crowd.  Many people see a link as an endorsement.  After all, we certainly wouldn’t link from our site, to a site that we thought was dubious, right?

I think it’s a good idea from time to time, to review the people and companies we link to and the kind of message, which these links give to people when they visit our site.

If you were checking out a potential service provider, what kind of links would put you off?

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

Bad company?

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I had a great conversation yesterday, with the owner of a New York based SEO (Search Engine Optimisation) business.  We were talking about the way that Google penalises websites, if that site links to what Google calls a “bad neighborhood.”  Here’s a brief clip from the Google Webmaster Guidelines;

“…avoid links to web spammers or “bad neighborhoods” on the web, as your own ranking may be affected adversely by those links.”

I find this extremely interesting!

What Google is doing there, is exactly the same as you and I do, when we see that a person, business or brand is associating with something that we believe to be negative.  If Google believes we are linking to something dubious, it assigns less credibility to us.  If we, as people, see that a person or brand is linking to something dubious, we do exactly the same.

Just about every book on personal or professional development, advises us to be very careful about the kind of people we associate with.  I still recall getting into bad company as a kid, and then being accused of things I never did; simply because I was associating with the kids that were responsible for 99% of the mischief in our area.  By linking with these kids, I was making it easy for people to think that I was “like” they were.

There are a number of good reasons for this sage advice.  For example, if we associate with negative people, it’s all too easy for us too, to become primarily negative in our outlook.  Conversely, if we associate with people, who are goal orientated and positive in their outlook, it’s a lot easier for us to remain primarily positive.

Be extremely selective who you align your name, reputation or online presence with.

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

Are your competitors being marketed professionally? Here are 5 clues!

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Here are 5 tell-tale signs that your competitors are not marketing their services professionally:

  1. Their marketing contradicts itself.  For example, they will have a website that was clearly “built on the cheap” – Yet their cheap looking website will tell you that they focus on quality.  Clearly they do not!  This kind of fractured message immediately turns people away.
  2. When describing what they do, they use the word “solutions” instead of the word “services”.  For example; “we provide a range of small business solutions”.  This use of the word solutions totally fails as a marketing term and really irritates a lot of people.
  3. They have a section on their website called “news” that has not been updated in 6 months.
  4. Their written marketing is dull, filled with generic promises and far too wordy.
  5. When you ask them why their sales numbers are down, they blame the economy – NEVER themselves! This is despite the fact they have competitors; selling the same offering, to the same people, in the same marketplace, with great success.

So, what would you add to that list?

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

Get to the point!

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One of the fastest ways to improve the effectiveness of your marketing messages, is to get to the point as soon as possible, in as few words as possible.

For example, I recently helped a new client increase the conversion rate of a page on his website by 450%, after reducing the number of words on that page by 75%.  I have also seen response rates from email marketing soar by over 700%, when rambling copy was changed into a shorter, compelling and more powerful message.

Most of the written marketing I see is at least 50% too long.  This is because amateur copy writers feel they have to include everything in every marketing message they write.  They feel compelled to tell the reader about every benefit of what they do.  They don’t want to miss a thing, so they go into way too much detail.  Thus, what needed to be a brief, focused message with impact, becomes a meandering, diluted message instead.

If you are disappointed by the conversion rates of your written marketing, it might be time to focus more on brevity.  Concentrate on delivering your most powerful points and do it with impact!

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