Jim's Marketing Blog

Marketing tips and ideas to help you grow your business

How to turn a ‘no’ into a ‘yes’!

By |

marketing tip, make prospect say yes,

When a prospective client or customer decides not to hire us or buy from us, how can we turn their no into a yes? And how can we do this, even when they’ve had their objections or concerns fully answered and they still say ‘no’?

Faced with that kind of rejection, there are 3 broad ways we can choose to respond.

  1. We could just leave it. They’ve made their decision. End of story.
  2. We could reply and let them know why they’re wrong and make sure they know they’ve made a big mistake. If we know the competitor who won, we could also include all the bad stuff we know about the lousy dirt-bag.
  3. Or we could contact them and be more genial, positive and helpful to them, than if we had won the contract!

Yes, it’s number 3 I’m going to focus on. Because it’s exceptionally effective.

Turning a prospect’s no into a yes

Imagine how the following might work, as a massively more effective way to respond to a prospect’s ‘no’.

  • You contact the prospect and thank them for the time they spent with you or with your proposal.
  • You also let them know, up-front, that you respect their decision. This is important. It shows you’re not doubting their ability as a decision maker.
  • You add that as a result of their decision, you’re working to improve your proposal or presentation.
  • You then find something generous to say about the competitor who won, so long as it’s true. Nothing sarcastic or tongue-in-cheek, but truly gracious.
  • And finally, you let them know that if they ever need anything, you’re there for them and happy to help.

Here’s what we know for absolute certain. Very, very few people respond with that type of good-natured, yet professional strategy. But when they do, they get remembered for the very best of reasons. It’s exceptionally powerful and I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve seen it work.

Here’s what can happen

Here are just some of the outcomes this can generate for people, who were originally rejected.

In many cases, the prospect who rejected them suddenly wonders if they made the wrong decision, in choosing the other provider. I’ve personally seen this result in immediate about-turns, with the rejected provider winning the deal. 

Much more commonly, I’ve seen the rejected provider given the contract, as soon as the winning provider screws up!

It’s as if the prospect is unconsciously looking for their original choice to fail, after becoming fully aware what a wonderful provider they rejected. By respecting the prospect’s decision and leaving the door wide open to them, the rejected provider makes it extremely easy for the prospect to contact them. 

But that’s not all!

Ask anyone who uses this approach and they’ll confirm that it also results in a number of referrals, from the prospects who didn’t change their mind about hiring the rejected provider.

I’ve used this strategy for years and seen amazing results. My clients have, too. So give it a try. You literally have nothing to lose and everything to gain.

Higher Fees, Zero Competition, Maximum Profit. Includes 10 Examples!

By |

less competition, higher fees, better clients

Small businesses often struggle to attract high-quality prospects. They also attract too many price-sensitive enquiries. Are either of those happening to you? If so, it’s a relatively easy issue to fix.

Easy to fix?

Yes. We know exactly why it happens and how to fix it.

Here’s what you need to know, along with 10 examples to get you started.

Let’s go!

Here’s why the problem happens

When competing products or services seem similar, price becomes the obvious way to determine value. As such, there’s little, if any, motivation for someone to pay more. In this common scenario, the lowest price looks like the best deal.

Sure, they ‘may’ go for the 2nd or 3rd lowest price, hoping to insulate themselves from scammers or low quality goods or services. The key thing is that at this point, they’re price shopping. And you’re now competing on price.

Here’s how to fix it. Including 10 examples

A proven way to totally overcome this problem, is through developing something I call meaningful value.

Meaningful value is when you take what your industry normally delivers and improve it so dramatically that comparison becomes impossible.

By default, any product or service with meaningful value has to be radically different from what’s expected. That’s what gives it meaning and elevates it from being average. This automatically places you in a unique position.

A position, where everyone is talking about your products or services.

A position where a growing number of people know the name of your business and what your business stands for.

A position, where you’re no longer competing on price, because what you provide has no serious competition!

Here are 10 examples to get you started.

  1. A service that comes with a 125% money-back guarantee.
  2. A product that’s provably safer than anything in its category.
  3. A product that’s 50% lighter than the industry leader.
  4. A service that’s designed from the ground up, around the unique needs of each client.
  5. A product that’s the only one in its class, to be made from 100% renewable sources.
  6. A product that’s part of a numbered, limited edition.
  7. A service that’s 3 times faster than the industry leader.
  8. A product that’s far longer lasting than anything in its niche.
  9. A service that’s massively more extensive than anything else available to your marketplace.
  10. A product that’s clearly the most energy efficient in its class.

Those ideas are just food for thought. They’re examples to demonstrate the ‘base line’ required, for your products or services to stand out as being of meaningfully more value, than your marketplace expects.

So, invest the time required to create something special. Marginal improvements have marginal impact. They won’t improve your offering to the point where you have no real competition.

Go big. Aim for maximum impact. Make comparison impossible.

Photo by Robert Katzki on Unsplash

Tiny tweaks. Huge wins

By |

small business, marketing tips, business development,

One of the quickest ways to improve your results, is to spot and fix the tiny things that can make a big difference to your business.

Here are some ideas to quickly get you started.

Sham spam

In 2024, I almost lost two, high-quality enquiries from people who became new clients. It was down to what I call sham spam.

Here’s what it is and how to avoid it.

Yes, I know you check your spam email folder. I’m specifically referring to the anti-spam folder on your website, designed to filter spammy messages from reaching you. Genuine business contact form enquiries are sometimes wrongly filtered as spam and you never see them. I learned this one the hard way! It doesn’t happen often, but often enough to justify checking occasionally.

Why not check your spam folder after you’ve finished reading this? It takes very little time.

Customer connections

Regularly make time to connect with at least one of your clients. This incudes former clients. Not to sell them something. Simply to ask how they’re doing and catch up with them. Business relationships become stronger, when they’re based on more than just selling.

Ongoing communication with your clients also helps you to better understand their challenges, their needs and their wants. This understanding makes it easier and less risky, for you to successfully create new services or products.

Pathway planning

If you don’t know where you’re going, every path will take you there. That’s unproductive. It scatters your focus. It leads to dead ends. It’s also why I recommend you plan your days, your weeks and your months in advance.

After all, how can you know if things are going according to plan, if you don’t have a plan?

Flakey forms

This idea takes no time and might stop you from losing important sales enquiries. Go to your website and make sure your contact forms and subscriber forms are working. Often, a form will look perfect when it’s not functioning correctly. So, test your forms by filling-in the required information and make sure everything is okay. It only takes a few minutes, but it could help you avoid missing-out on valuable leads or new subscribers. This is especially the case, whenever you update the software on your website or have any work done on it. 

I hope you found these ideas useful. If you did, remember to share them with your friends.

10 Reasons your business isn’t growing (And how to fix each one)

By |

why business isnt growing, fix it

If you’re wondering, “Why isn’t my business growing?” this information packed article is written just for you. I’m going to share 10 extremely common reasons why your business is not growing that limit or stop the growth of a business, PLUS how to quickly turn things around.

Let’s get started.

Your business isn’t growing, because you stopped growing

Your business is a reflection of the decisions you make and your decisions are based on what you know. So, for your business to grow, you need to grow. After all, you can’t give your business the benefit of knowledge, which you don’t have.

How to fix it

Read the books. Study those who’ve achieved what you want to achieve. Seek expert advice. Grow. Then watch your business grow too.

Your business is not growing because you’re selling based on price

This only works if you’re the lowest priced alternative, and you’re not. Your prospective clients can go to Google and find a lower priced alternative in seconds. Only one provider can be the lowest priced and it changes daily, sometimes hourly, as desperate business owners price-drop in an effort to attract sales.

It takes a huge amount of planning and a watertight strategy, to sell based on being lowest priced and still make a worthwhile profit. Some big brands manage to succeed on wafer thin margins, but it’s a very precarious approach.

Usually, small businesses only market based on being low priced, because it’s easy to lower prices or fees. It takes very little effort and zero creativity, to simply undercut your competitors. We call this the race to the bottom. It’s a race you don’t want to win, as you end up working for peanuts and attracting the lowest value clients.

Clients you attract through low fees are the easiest to attract and the easiest to lose, when a competitor decides to undercut you.

How to fix it

Instead of selling based on being the lowest priced, look for opportunities to add more value to what you do. Not only will this make your business more profitable, it will allow you to compete for better clients… those who value you and what you do.

You’re starving your business of the marketing it needs

No matter how great your business is, unless you market it correctly, no one will know. Sadly, it’s a fact that an average business that’s marketed correctly, will always outperform a wonderful business that has ineffective marketing. This is why some lousy businesses make a fortune, whilst some great little businesses struggle.

By starving your business of professional marketing, by default, you’re relying on amateur marketing. This makes no sense, as it is both more expensive, and vastly less effective, than getting expert help.

How to fix it

In a nutshell: If you want great marketing results, invest in great marketing.

Your business is not growing because your branding doesn’t work

Yes, if people knew how great you were, they’d hire you. But when they connect with you for the first time, all they have to form their decision on, is what they see. That’s why your image matters so much.

Here’s a question for you to ponder: How do you look, when a prospective client encounters your business branding / image for the first time?

Most small business owners operate behind naff logos, poorly designed websites and amateur looking social medis accounts. If you want prospective clients to consider you a professional, you need to look the part. No matter what promises you make, what testimonials you offer or what guarantees you provide, no one will take any notice, if your image looks like a DIY project.

How to fix it

So, at least invest in a professional logo for your business and some decent photography for your social networking accounts. An amateur (or dated) logo and photograph dents your credibility and will lose you a fortune. The same is true of an unprofessional looking or dated website.

Give your business the impact it deserves. And attract the clients your business deserves.

Your business isn’t growing because you’ve camouflaged yourself

This is one of the most common mistakes made by small business owners. Very, very few small businesses stand out. Perhaps 1 in every 10,000. Instead, they opt for the fake safety of being just like their competitors.

This is why we find that when we look at the providers in any industry, they seem so similar. You could swap them around and no one would notice.

They offer a similar range of services. They make similar promises. They charge similar fees. In effect, they become invisible. Almost impossible to tell apart. They have camouflaged themselves within the masses.

How to fix it

If you want to stand out, do something outstanding. Something remarkable. Something uniquely valuable. Find a new service, which your competitors don’t provide. Develop a new pricing model.

Just don’t be like all the others, if you want to get noticed.

You’re associating with the wrong people

There’s a direct link between how we think, and the people we habitually associate with.

  • If we associate with people who inspire us, we feel inspired.
  • If we associate with people who encourage us and motivate us to stretch, we grow.

That’s why it pays to be selective regarding the people we associate with. For example, when we associate with people who are doing better than we are, the natural inclination is for us to rise to their level. Of course, the opposite is also true. When we associate with people who are doing as well as us, or less well, we find ourselves spinning our wheels.

As Jim Rohn used to say about potential: “You are the average of the five people you spend the most time with”.

How to fix it

So, choose wisely. Associate with people who will inspire you to be better. People who will encourage you and motivate you to be the best you can be.

You’re networking with the wrong people

In business, it’s extremely important to build great connections with influential people. This is the exact opposite of what the typical small business owner does. They go for numbers instead and look in the worst possible places.

Think about it: We’ve all met business owners who struggle to find new clients, even though they’re members of a networking group and have hundreds, maybe thousands of Linkedin contacts.

That should be impossible.

Right?

Surely, with so many contacts, these struggling business owners would be able to reach out with a message and quickly attract more client enquiries than they need. However, this never happens. Why? Because they are connected to business owners who lack the influence and contacts, to be able to make a difference!

How to fix it

The most successful business owners use the exact opposite approach. I recommend you do the same. It looks like this: They deliberately target the most influential people in their marketplace and put a strategy together, to connect with them. They do this months before they ask anything from them.

And no, you will not find the most influential people in networking clubs, asking struggling business owners for introductions. You’ll have to do a little research. But that’s fine. You’re aiming for quality, not numbers.

Your business isn’t growing, because you’ve become comfortable

Small business owners usually start off with great plans, but somewhere along the way they settle. Instead of focusing on building their business, so it provides them with the rewards they want, they switch.

They switch to lowering their lifestyle expectations, so it meets the limitations of their under performing business.

How to fix it

It’s up to you to switch things back the way they should be! This means leaving your comfort zone, setting exciting goals and then making the commitment to take the action required.

You’re getting too few referrals, so your business isn’t growing

Business owners who get too few referrals have to quickly figure out why their clients and associates are not referring them. This is a tough challenge to face. It means accepting there’s a serious problem and then being willing to fix things.

Yes, it’s serious, extremely serious, if you get too few referrals.

Not only are you missing out on a regular supply of valuable leads, your clients and associates, for whatever reason, do not want to recommend you. And there’s always a reason.

How to fix it

A customer survey may help you find out why. However, honest conversations with those whose opinions you trust are often extremely useful too.

Just as importantly, when you get the feedback you need, make sure you do something with it. It’s hard sometimes to accept you have areas of your business, which you need to improve. I’ve seen business owners ignore really valuable feedback, believing they’re already offering an amazing service.

Don’t make that mistake. Listen to what the feedback is telling you. Then take appropriate action.

You’re not failing often enough

Many small business owners let their fear of failure stop them from putting their ideas into action. The challenge with that mindset, is that without trying fresh ideas, you stagnate by default.

When a business is new it’s easy to risk everything. After all, unless you start out with a ton of money behind you, (like Sir Richard Branson and Seth Godin), you have nothing to lose.

However, once your business is established the penalty for failing seems bigger.

Here’s why:

  • Business owners tend to over estimate the price of failure. They imagine all kinds of unrealistic worst case scenarios.
  • To make things worse, they also tend to under estimate the potential rewards. They seem unaware that just one good idea can improve their business beyond recognition.

The fear of failure is the biggest hurdle to your success. It robs you of opportunity. It causes you to play it safe, which is the riskiest thing a business owner can do.

How to fix it

Interestingly, the most successful business owners see failure very differently.

It looks like this:

  • If they try something and it doesn’t work, they learn from it. They then invest the lesson in their next idea. This makes them far more likely to succeed the next time. So, they win.
  • If they try something and it works, they learn from it and earn from it. So, they win.

That mindset regarding failure is what I recommend you work on. It was an area of my own development that needed a lot of improvement. But when you learn the commercial value of failure, everything starts to fall into place. It’s like removing a blockage that’s been a barrier to your success. You will never look back.

Now what?

If your business isn’t growing the way you want it to, it’s likely that several or more of those 10 reasons require your attention. Put them right and you’ll enjoy the rewards. So, take some time today to focus on just one of those points. The sooner you get started, the sooner you’ll achieve the results you know you deserve.

Photo: Shutterstock.

Attract new clients: It works better than advertising

By |

attract clients, marketing, small business

Typically, business owners buy advertising in order to get the attention of prospects. I’m proposing you consider an alternative. Instead of buying attention with ads, I’m going to suggest you attract new clients with zero money spent on ads.

I’ll include some examples of how you can attract new clients, and I’ll explain some of the huge advantages it has, over buying attention with ads.

Let’s go.

Here’s what we know about small business owners who want to be seen.

  • Some of them pay for ads on Google, Linkedin, X and Facebook, etc.
  • Others pay to be listed in directories.
  • Then there are those who buy ad space in targeted publications.
  • And some buy radio ads or pay to sponsor podcasts, etc.
  • Or they do a combination of the above.

In those examples, the business owner is connecting with strangers and paying a fee every time. That’s a flawed combination! Why? Buying attention though ads leaves you exposed to the threat of a better funded competitor who will outspend you.

I often hear from small business owners who have been priced out of online advertising, including Google Ads, because better funded competitors are outbidding them for the most important placements, words and phrases. And that half page ad you run in a publication, becomes vastly less effective when a competitor decides to invest in a double-page spread for the next 6-months.

If you’re tired of paying ever-increasing fees to interrupt strangers or you want to avoid being vulnerable to a better funded competitor, it’s time to consider a different approach.

Attract new clients from eager prospects

Some business owners attract new clients organically. They build their own community and nurture their own long-term relationships with prospects. This leads to sustainable growth for the business owner, with increasing, not diminishing, returns. With zero ad spend required!

Can you give me some examples, Jim?

Yes.

Here are a few ways businesses attract new clients that came to mind immediately.

  • I’m thinking of that wonderful example, where a small business that ‘doesn’t do social media’ is a social marketing star in their target marketplace area. Read it here: This creative marketing idea costs nothing and is super effective.
  • I’m also thinking about the local accountancy firm, which provides a free, Zoom class every 6-weeks to help new business owners avoid common mistakes.
  • And the art supplies store, which hosts crafting evenings or talks from local artists.
  • Then, there’s the author who speaks at events, which compliment the author’s genre. They not only sell lots of books on the day, they also add lots of newsletter subscribers. This further builds their community. Win win.
  • Naturally, I’m also thinking of people like myself, who freely publish useful ideas to the market they serve.

Attracting new clients in action

In those examples, the business owner is growing a community of prospective new clients or customers. They’re building their very own marketing asset and it increases in value all the time. Their community organically spreads the word, telling friends, colleagues and contacts. This can be massively boosted, if you provide a newsletter for your community. You’ll then have a direct line of connection with them, and they’ll share your newsletter.

And this connection to your community doesn’t belong to an advertiser or a social network. No. It belongs to YOU!

Just think about it: you’ll be building your very own, extremely valuable community. And that community will be helping you reach others. These are people who will get to know you, who will trust you, who will recommend you, who will hire you or buy from you.

How do I know for absolute certain that this works amazingly well?

Simple. I know because I’ve used this exact approach to regularly attract new clients for 30-years! And you can do the same.

Here’s how the best paid service providers earn the highest fees

By |

marketing, service providers

If you’re a service provider, your income is based on just 2 things.

1. The value you bring. This is what determines how much your clients pay you. Between the best paid and the lowest paid, there can be a factor of hundreds and hundreds of percent. Here’s an example I have used many times. My friend hired a photographer for a product shoot in London. The person he hired charged £17,000 for the shoot. The lowest quote for the same shoot, on the same date, with the same remit, was just over £900.

2. How well you market the value you bring. This is what attracts the attention of your prospective clients. It’s what communicates your value in a way that motivates people to hire you.

Each of those areas can be improved. And by focusing on both areas, they leverage one another. When this happens, it radically improves everything for you.

Compounded for spectacular results

That’s right. You get the financial reward of charging 5x, 10x or whatever. Plus, you’re also attracting more clients. These combine and compound. The results are transformational.

The best part (other than the massive financial rewards)? All of this is possible, by focusing your attention and activity on just 2 things.

Business owners who work on those areas correctly, don’t just improve their results. They dramatically improve everything about their business and their financial future. This isn’t marginal gains I’m talking about. It’s life-changing. You know what always amazes me? Most service providers reading this will find it compelling, or at least very interesting. And they will do nothing.

Consider this for a moment.

Think about how amazing things would be for you at the end of 2025, if you decided now to do something, so you can correctly apply those 2 ideas.

You can do it.

How do I know?

Because I’ve literally lost count of how many people I have seen go from charging average and below average fees, to charging vastly more and enjoying all the benefits that brings.

12 Quick tips that are great for your business

By |

marketing good for business

It’s good for your business…

When you feed your mind with rich mental protein and take care of your body.

When you make short-term decisions that are consistent with your long-term plans.

When you hire amazing people and pay them what they’re worth.

When you build a reputation as a trusted source of value.

When you connect with the right kind of people.

When you pause to reflect before saying, publishing or sending anything important.

When you start each morning thinking about the things you’re grateful for.

When you start your working day, writing a list of things you want to achieve. And close each day, with a review of the things you’ve learned.

When you build your primary marketing channel on a platform you control, such as your website or newsletter. Social media platforms change their rules and algorithms, which can have a devastating impact on your business.

When you treat different clients differently, according to their unique needs.

When you make promises to your clients and deliver on them.

When you learn to absolutely LOVE what you do. Because work becomes joy and this improves literally everything.

Photo by Dylan Gillis on Unsplash

The power of empathy

By |

marketing, feelings, empathy, marketing tips

How interested are you, regarding the challenges facing your prospective clients or customers? That may seem like an odd question, but your answer is spectacularly important.

Why?

Because the most effective marketing, and strongest business relationships, are all built on a foundation of empathy, aka ‘the feels’: The ability to understand and share in the feelings of another person. 

Think about it for a moment.

  • The vendors you are most loyal to, are those you feel have a connection with you.
  • The vendors you tell your friends about, are those you feel confident recommending.
  • The vendors you feel closest to, are those who understand your wants and needs, because they took time to find out.
  • And the vendors you appreciate the most, are those you feel you actually ‘know’.

Conversely, the vendors you have no interest in are those who have a mostly transactional relationship with you. These are the vendors that don’t really give a rat’s ass about you or what matters to you. Their focus is cold and based on how to maximize their yield from you.

Show your empathy through your marketing

Despite the value of demonstrating empathy and the damage caused by a transactional focus, most marketing lacks feeling. Instead we’re hit with needy messages transparently designed to milk us like a cash cow; sales pitches, killer deals, special offers and marketing gimmicks. It’s stripped of empathy, yet that human connection is the most valuable part.

Here’s the thing

Business is all about people. And marketing is about how those people feel.

That’s because our feelings are what drive the decisions we make and the actions we take. Feelings are what cause people to hire you, buy from you, recommend you and remain a loyal customer. Without those feelings there’s no connection.

And without that connection, you and your business lose.

You know that you care about your customers and the community you serve. So, don’t keep it a secret. Instead, make empathy a visible part of the way you do business and the way you market your business.

Look for empathy opportunities

Proactively look for ways to demonstrate empathy.

Yes, demonstrate!

Words have amazing power. But when you show someone, it has massively greater impact, than when you merely tell them.

Here’s a suggestion. Do a review of the way you communicate with your customers and prospective customers. Are you creating empathy? Are you building them-focused relationships? If not, put it right.

Because when you do, it will radically improve the way they feel about you. And those feelings are what drive their decisions and actions.

Give it away

By |

give to receive, jim connolly marketing

Here’s a very quick tip, which can dramatically improve things across your entire business.

As someone who has mentored thousands of people over the years, I’ve found that the reason a business isn’t doing great, is often because the business owner isn’t feeling great. Perhaps they don’t feel as motivated, confident or inspired as they would like to be. 

The reason this matters is that our feelings guide our decisions, and our decisions guide our actions. These actions are what determine our results and therefore the success of our business. 

I’ve discovered that the fastest way to genuinely become motivated, confident, inspired (or experience any positive feeling), is for you to give these feelings to others.

Allow me to explain.

My epiphany

I noticed that whenever a client or friend came to me because they were, for example, lacking motivation, and I started to build up their motivation, it always left me feeling massively more motivated.

Then I noticed the exact same thing happened when I helped people feel more confident, inspired, courageous, resourceful, optimistic, fired up or anything else. I would immediately feel radically stronger in whatever area I’d helped them with.

I shared this idea with others and found they had identical, or very similar experiences to mine. 

Here’s what makes this so powerful.

When you give these amazing feelings to others, you become a source of the very thing you give. And it’s an endless source. Because as long as you keep giving, you’ll keep receiving.

It’s a simple technique, which can strengthen the core of everything you do. And you can access it as often as you want to. I use it daily.

Interestingly, this process works regardless of how you do it; face-to-face, Zoom, phone, email, one-to-one / a group of people, social media, podcast, blog post, a handwritten note or any other form of communication.

The next time you want to think more productively and make better business decisions, identify the key feeling or feelings you’re lacking in. Then give others those same feelings.

Don’t wait for motivation, energy, confidence, creativity, calmness or anything else to arrive. Give it away and make it appear.

It’s a wonderful way to enrich yourself, and by extension, enrich others.

The false assumptions that destroy your results

By |

Marketing tip, advice, ideas

Your sales numbers aren’t adding up. You know you should be attracting more clients. But something’s clearly not working. The culprit? A good place to look is false assumptions.

When marketing campaigns fall flat or client acquisition stalls, we naturally look for tactical fixes. But the real problem often runs deeper. It’s not that your execution is wrong. It’s that your entire approach is built on faulty premises.

I’ve seen this pattern countless times. A business owner pours energy into strategies that feel logical, but rely on assumptions that simply aren’t correct.The numbers can’t add up when the foundation is flawed.

Let me show you exactly what I mean, with a common example that might sound familiar.

Failing to check the source

Small business owners are often poorly advised. If they wrongly assume the advice is correct when it’s false, and then follow the advice, they’ll lose money, waste time and miss opportunities.

The golden rule here is to always check the source of advice, before you act on it.

For example, if a sincere friend or contact gives you marketing advice, make sure they have the marketing background required. As Jim Rohn used to tell us, ‘sincerity is not a test of truth. It’s possible to be sincerely wrong!’.

Equally, before you pay for advice from a marketing provider, check them out. As you may have already discovered, there are plenty of ineffective marketing providers out there.

The easiest way to check a marketing provider out is to look at how they market their own business.

  • Effective marketing providers attract clients via referral and reputation; so people already know us and our work long before they hire us.
  • Ineffective marketing providers are unable to attract enough clients or get enough referrals. You find them at networking events hunting for clients or on Linkedin pestering people for leads. That’s a huge red flag.

Here’s another cause of false assumptions.

You don’t need more leads

Imagine the following scenario.

A small business owner urgently needs more sales or more new clients. However, they make a false assumption. They wrongly assume they need more sales leads or client leads.

Their focus is now on lead acquisition tactics, when it should be on sales acquisition tactics or client acquisition tactics. As a result, they get leads, maybe lots of leads, but too few additional sales or new clients. In short, they got what they went for, leads, but they went for the wrong thing.

For those who don’t know, in almost every case, you will attract clients or customers massively faster without spending time or money on lead acquisition or advertising. Only after direct, faster, highly profitable options have been deployed would I ever consider lead generation.

What next?

When it comes to marketing your business, make it a habit to never assume anything. Check your sources. Ask relevant questions. If you do, you will dramatically increase your chances of finally getting the results you deserve.

Hard work isn’t enough (here’s what is)

By |

marketing, hardworking, momentum

One component of successful marketing, is knowing what needs to be done.

A second component of successful marketing, is to put that knowledge into action.

And an essential third component of successful marketing, is to keep on doing what’s required. Once things start moving, they need to keep on moving. Lasting success requires an ongoing effort. Continuous forward movement. 

Marketing momentum: the mover of mountains that’s easy to lose

Marketing momentum is where your intelligent activity (doing the right things, correctly) combines, to attract the results you want. For example, an increasing number of; sales leads, sales conversions, client enquiries, new clients, proposal requests, bid requests, client referrals, new subscribers, media requests… exciting times for sure. 

Here’s the reason I’m sharing this with you: once you’ve created marketing momentum, that momentum must be maintained and sustained.

  • You need to keep actioning your ideas.
  • You need to carry on looking for great opportunities.
  • You need to turn up again and again and again.
  • You need to consistently review and increase your targets or goals, as old ones are achieved.
  • You need to remain dedicated to improving how your business operates.
  • You need to keep working your plans.
  • You need to carry on delighting your clients.
  • You need to stay on the lookout for people who can improve your business.
  • You need to repeatedly make big, exciting promises and then deliver.

Doing all of the above is easy at the start, especially if you have an existential need for more clients or more customers.

But when all the important marketing numbers are moving in the right direction and things are going great, finding the motivation to keep your marketing momentum moving forward can become harder. And momentum soon fizzles out when left unattended.

This is something I work on regularly with new clients. Interestingly, very few ever think it will be a problem for them. This is largely because when people hire me, they do so when they’re looking for fast, massive increases in sales and financial results. They’re in the ideal mindset for creating momentum.

But.

As things start to improve, with exciting results moving all their important numbers in the right direction, almost every client I’ve ever had unconsciously thinks they’ve now arrived. That this new level of success is a destination. Irreversible, so long as they work hard. 

They forget they were already working hard before hiring me… and hard work didn’t produce the results they wanted.

Hard work by itself is not enough for ongoing success. So, ride the wave of momentum and keep moving forward.

Rapid, massive business growth: With MBRs

By |

marketing tip, MBR, Mutually beneficial relationships

This is massive.

I’d like to introduce you to one of the most powerful ideas in marketing. It’s an absolute marketing essential, known as mutually beneficial relationships or MBRs.

Here’s how it works, starting with a simple question.

Who already serves your prospective clients or customers, with a service or product that doesn’t conflict with your own?

This is why that question is worth so much to you. Those non-conflicting providers already have the attention and trust of your prospects. An introduction to your prospects, from one of those providers, someone they already trust, can make you a fortune.

Here’s how

MBRs are a cornerstone of success. The effectiveness of the strategy is behind the explosive growth of many of the world’s fastest growing businesses. In my own experience, many of my biggest commercial successes have come from MBRs. And some of these relationships have been producing high-profit income for well over a decade.

That’s because once you’ve built the relationships, they carry on working for you.

With one very important warning.

Mutually means mutually!

Mutually beneficial relationships need to be exactly that.. mutually beneficial. Failing to understand this and get the balance right is the only thing that can stop you. The relationship must benefit the other person in a rewarding way. Just like any relationship, for it to work both parties need to be valued. 

So, determine what you can offer these non-conflicting providers, which will motivate them to help you.

How do you get the motivation right?

You need to fully understand the risk you’re asking a potential partner to take. That person or company will be concerned that they risk damaging their relationship with their clients, if you fail to deliver. Remember, they don’t know you yet.

However, as long as the relationship you propose is beneficial enough for them, and you can convince them of your reputation, you’ll massively lower their perceived risk and increase the odds that they’ll want to proceed.

The potential for you and your business is huge.

How huge?

This huge!

  • When I help my clients build MBRs, I can usually find a couple of dozen industries that are non-conflicting with theirs, yet serve the same people or companies.
  • And each of these industries can have dozens, hundreds or thousands of potential, mutually beneficial partners.
  • And each of these partners can have dozens, hundreds or thousands of customers.

That’s thousands, times thousands of potential new customers, who are already feeling positive about buying from you. Just think about that for a moment. And let it sink in. Then, why not decide to build an MBR.

Decades of experience assures me that you’ll be very, very glad you did.

For next-level success, swap your fears. Here’s how!

By |

success mindset, winning mindset

The most successful investors buy, while the crowd is selling.

The most successful leaders speak out, while the crowd stays silent.

The most successful CEO’s make decisions, while the crowd makes excuses.

I could list dozens of examples like those above. But you already know the pattern well. We all do. Including those who choose to follow the crowd. So, what causes people to follow the crowd, knowing it will damage their business, and how can you avoid it?

I’m glad you asked.

The power of fear

The reason small business owners choose to follow the crowd, is fear. They fear stepping out of the crowd, more than they fear limiting the success of their business. Fear is, after all, an exceptionally powerful motivator. Even when the fear is working against them and their business.

Can someone overcome that kind of irrational fear?

Yes. Absolutely.

Here’s one technique that works extremely well.

Swapping fears

What you do is swap your fears, so fear motivation is propelling you forward, rather than pushing you back. It’s about using fear the way it’s intended, to protect you and help you.

For example, you decide to attach massive fear to wasting your life in an underperforming business. That’s a very real and fully-rational fear to have. Such businesses are always dangerously close to failing, as they lack the financial clout and robustness of a successful business.

Does that work for everyone?

No, not everyone.

Some small business owners have become too comfortable with just getting by. It’s unintentional. They start off in their business with big plans and dreams of a better life. But over time, their plans and dreams slowly fade. They begin to settle for less than they want. They lower their lifestyle choices to offset their underperforming business. It’s heartbreaking and it’s 100% avoidable. They know it’s avoidable too, which creates additional stress.

However, for those interested enough to summon the courage — interested enough to leave the crowd and show the world what they’re truly capable of, it can produce life-changing improvements.

Photo: Olena Bohovyk on Pexels.com

Grab. Focus. Urgency: How to vastly increase your sales

By |

marketing motivation, deadlines, sales

When it comes to making sales or getting clients, deadlines are extremely effective. That’s because deadlines tap into one of the strongest motivators in business. The principle of scarcity.

Here’s what makes deadlines such a powerful marketing tool.

  • They grab attention.
  • They focus the mind.
  • They create urgency.

Attention grabbing

It’s no wonder deadlines grab our attention. People hate to miss out. The fear of missing out, or FOMO, is activated the moment we see a deadline attached to something we have an interest in. FOMO grabs a prospect’s attention in a way that isn’t possible, when you don’t attach a deadline to your offer.

Focused

Our mind is then immediately focused on the actual date or time of the deadline. We start to work out the amount of time between now, and the cut-off point. Within reason, the shorter the deadline, the greater the motivation. However, too short a deadline will actually result in fewer sales/enquiries. There’s a balance required. For example, when marketing an event, 1 month is usually too short. But for a flash sale, 48 hours is often too long.

Urgent

The deadline presents us with a limited amount of time to make our decision. This sense of urgency will immediately inspire some people to take rapid action. Others will find the urgency grow and grow as the deadline approaches. Either way, the deadline creates a level of urgency that just isn’t there, when the prospect thinks they have all the time in the world.

So, look for opportunities to add a deadline date or time to your marketing. Then see how all that increased attention, focus and urgency improves your response rates.

Photo by Justin Veenema

Attract. Don’t sell

By |

attract marketing, marketing tips

It turns out that everybody in your marketplace has at least 2 things in common.

  1. They hate being sold to.
  2. They hate having problems.

Think about it, your business exists in order to solve a problem or a number of problems. Every business does. Therefore, business owners should be approaching prospective clients as a problem solver.

Not as an accountant, courier, retailer, IFA, designer, trainer or whatever. But as someone who can make the prospect’s life easier, less stressful, or both, by solving at least one problem for them.

This means talking to them, instead of pitching to them. It means focusing on their needs, so we get a clear understanding of their problems. Then, explaining how we can help them.

When your marketplace sees you as a source of answers, they’ll regard you as a useful asset. And that changes the whole dynamic of how you do business. You become a vastly more attractive proposition.

Why? Because we’re drawn to those who can help us. Those who can make things better for us. Those who can reduce our stress.

In short, doors that were closed to you when you were trying to sell stuff, will fly open when you approach them as a problem solver. And you’ll find people start hiring you or buying from you, without you having to sell anything.

How to make more sales, in uncertain times

By |

marketing, make more sales,

As I promised recently, here are some more ideas to help you and your business through the uncertainty of the current economy.

As things change, we need to adjust our marketing to the new wants and needs of our customers or clients. That’s what I’m focusing on today.

Plan with flexibility

Typical marketing plans run for a year and make the mistake of assuming conditions will remain roughly the same. As a result, these plans fall to pieces when faced with a period of rapid change. That’s why your marketing plan needs to have flexibility built in.

I recommend creating 90-day marketing plans, to run alongside your overall business plan. These need to be regularly reviewed and adjusted, based on real-time feedback. What’s working better than before? What are your prospects suddenly asking for? What’s no longer working as well as it used to? You get the idea.

Pay extra close attention to your customers

One of the best pieces of business advice I’ve ever received is this.

‘Your customers will show you where your market is going’.

Customers do this through their actions and their words. Here are some questions to ask yourself, so you can see where your market is going.

  • Have your customer enquiries changed recently?
  • Have your customers’ buying habits or preferences changed recently?
  • Are customers mentioning any new concerns during the sales process?
  • Is there a meaningful increase or fall in customer spending?
  • Have you noticed customers becoming more price-sensitive?
  • Are customers engaging with you differently online, perhaps interacting more through social media, direct messages, or emails?
  • Have your customers started recommending (or requesting) new products, services, or features you previously hadn’t considered?
  • Is there a noticeable increase in customers asking you for personalised or customised offerings?
  • Are there specific fears or uncertainties customers are expressing more often?
  • Have customer priorities recently changed?

Now ask yourself, are there new opportunities emerging, or new concerns emerging, which I need to take action on?

Focus on your new opportunities. Think positive

Rapidly changing conditions often cause stress or anxiety for small business owners. We need to be aware of this, and turn it around. A positive, proactive mindset helps us adapt quickly, confidently, and effectively. That’s exactly what we need right now.

So, focus on opportunities rather than obstacles.

Also, encourage yourself, and your team if you have one, to innovate. Innovating puts you in control. It immediately gives you a lift and causes you to think far more positively.

And remind yourself regularly of the challenges you’ve overcome in the past. You’ll overcome future challenges too, if you use the right approach. In fact, you may well come out of this wiser and wealthier than you were before. I saw this with 100% of my clients during the pandemic.

I hope you found this useful. If you did, share it with your friends.

17 Tips to help you grow a stronger business

By |

marketing tips, build strong business

Here are 17 tips to help you grow a stronger business. In no particular order.

Lead with outcomes
People are buying what life looks like after doing business with you. Don’t sell the process. Sell the improvement.

Simplify the next step
Don’t just tell prospects about your product or service. Show them exactly what they need to do next. One clear action. Make it easy for them to move forward.

Your brand is always doing something
If you haven’t built your brand with intention, it’s still shaping how people see you. Only negatively.

Fit in and disappear
If your offer looks like your competitors’, you vanish. Be specific. Be different. Be seen.

Don’t build your audience on rented land
Social media platforms regularly change their rules and algorithms. They can disconnect you from your community or massively restrict your reach at any time. And it’s put many people out of business. Build an email list. Own your business’ communication channel.

Turn up consistently
In uncertain times, consistency builds trust. Be the business that turns up, follows through, and keeps its word even when others go quiet.

Stop waiting. Start creating
The perfect time won’t come. Build the opportunity yourself.

People buy for their reasons
Not yours. Always start with what matters to them.

You don’t own your customers (or clients)
You borrow them. They’re free to leave. So, keep increasing your value.

Every touchpoint matters
Buyers check you out quietly, behind the scenes. Especially your online personality. Make sure every part of your presence earns their confidence.

Too many low-quality customers
Low quality customers or clients are the unavoidable result of low-quality marketing.

Everything you do is marketing
Yes, everything… look. The way you answer emails. Your prices. Your contracts. How you follow-up. People notice. And they talk.

Use curiosity in your marketing
Give people just enough information to spark a question. That’s how you generate enquiries. Not by trying to answer everything upfront.

Use fewer words
Most marketing copy I see is 70% too long. Cut to the chase before they lose interest.

Don’t lower your fees
Raise your value. People pay for outcomes, not discounts.

Clarity sells. Confusion repels
Make your message short, clear and easy to act on. Too many options? They won’t pick any.

Earn permission
When someone chooses to hear from you, they’re far more likely to listen.

How to increase your prices

By |

Image represents, How to increase your prices, arrow going up, comic style

Do you need to increase your prices or fees because of the current crisis? Not sure what to do? I’ve put these ideas together, to help you limit resistance to your price increase as much as possible.

Let’s go!

Honesty and openness

Customers are more understanding of a price rise when they hear specifics. For example, tell them your shipping costs have doubled and to maintain the same level of quality/service, you’re increasing prices by (whatever) percent.

Specifics cut to the point. The more real it feels, the fairer it sounds.

Give as much notice as possible

This is important on a number of levels.

  • Short notice price increases give the impression your business is in trouble. This dents customer confidence.
  • Even a couple of weeks’ notice can reduce customer resistance.

You may also find that the advance notice creates a short-term increase in sales. This can provide you with a very welcome improvement to your cash flow!

Reward your most loyal customers

This is the worst possible time to start losing your most valuable customers. Whenever possible, let your best customers keep their current price for a little longer. 

A message like this goes a very long way. 

‘We’re increasing our pricing, but as one of our most valued customers, we’re keeping your rate the same for the next 3-months’.

Being forced to increase your prices is never easy

There’s almost always a degree of pushback. That’s why it’s essential to focus on protecting your customer relationships. Once you know for sure that an increase is inevitable, take action.

It isn’t easy. But the longer you delay, the harder it gets.

On a personal note, I feel for everyone who’s struggling with the current crisis. I want you and your business to come out the other side of this better and stronger. Rest assured, I’m going to try and help you as much as possible.

Your economy

By |

marketing tips, small business

The economy is general. It’s determined by outside factors.

Your economy is specific. It’s determined by you.

Your economy is what matters. That’s because it is always your actions that determine your economy… and your results.

We saw this everywhere at the start of this decade, during the pandemic lockdowns. There would be businesses in the same industry, in the same towns, serving the same marketplace; one would flourish and the other would fail.

Same restrictions.

Same opportunities.

But massively different outcomes.

Your economy and amazing opportunities

Yes, the 2025 economy is fast moving and increasingly hard to predict. However, every business owner who’s doing the right things for the current landscape will thrive. I know because I work with these business owners every day. We’re working on their economy. We’re focused on the things they can control.

It turns out that’s almost 100% of what actually matters, for the success of their businesses.

Also, remind yourself that every time we see economic uncertainty, the number of new opportunities multiply. So, look for the new needs and new wants of your marketplace. Their needs and wants are begging for you to step in. Bring them your new ideas, new products, new services, new product bundles, new payment options and new packages, etc.

In short, there are opportunities all around you. It’s the perfect time to start developing your economy.