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7 Essentials for business success

By Jim Connolly | June 1, 2023

marketing, usp, different

In just a few weeks time, we will be half way through the year. So, how’s things? Are you on track to hit or smash your 2023 goals?

If you would like a little help, you’ll find this useful. It’s something I’ve shared with thousands of fellow small business owners over the years. It’s 7 essentials we need to regularly remind ourselves of, if we want to build a successful business.

  1. Don’t wait for permission. You don’t need it, so you’re free to get started.
  2. Don’t wait for inspiration to appear. Command it to appear.
  3. Don’t wait for the right opening. Create it.
  4. Don’t wait for someone to pick you. Pick yourself.
  5. Don’t wait for the perfect time. The time is never perfect.
  6. Don’t wait for the initiative. Take it.
  7. Don’t wait for opportunity to knock. Go and build a door.

All 7 of those essentials can be compressed into 1. It’s simply this: Don’t wait for things to happen. Decide what you want to achieve, then get moving.

That’s the only way to take control of your results and get from where your business is right now, to where you want it to be.

The question is, what exactly are you waiting for?

That isn’t a rhetorical question. If you’re not enjoying the level of success you want, there is definitely something that’s blocking you. This is guaranteed to help you find it. And fast!

There’s a world of opportunity out there, which is yours (yes yours) for the taking. So get moving.

When was the last time you…

By Jim Connolly | May 30, 2023

when was the last time

When was the last time you tested different pricing models?

When was the last time you were contacted by a media outlet, for your professional opinion?

When was the last time you tested a new marketing tactic or strategy?

When was the last time you did something radically different from your competitors?

When was the last time you undertook detailed competitor research, so that you know what you’re actually competing against?

When was the last time you received a great referral from one of your customers?

When was the last time you updated your marketing materials?

When was the last time you took the lead in your industry?

When was the last time you took an idea that’s common and successful in a different industry, and applied it to your business?

When was the last time you seriously challenged one of your long-held business beliefs?

When was the last time you partnered with another business on a project?

When was the last time you updated your business goals and targets?

When was the last time you added a new product or service to your portfolio?

When was the last time you looked for new ways to solve problems, for your customers and prospective customers?

When was the last time you seriously asked yourself, if your business is growing as fast and as profitably as it could be?

When was the last time you saw a significant, sustained increase in profits, and what did you learn from it?

When it’s been too long

If it has been too long since you last did, or experienced, some of the above, now would be a great time to put that right.

Make a list. Then work your way through it. Some of these will be more challenging than others, but all of them are important enough to invest the effort required.

Marketing 101: Do free offers work?

By Jim Connolly | May 23, 2023

marketing, free offers, freebies, lead gen

A lot of people ask me about the marketing effectiveness of free offers or freebies. So today, I have a few ideas and a story to share, to help you make better use of them.

There’s a famous saying, which assures us that when it comes to business, “There’s no such thing as a free lunch”. We’ve been trained to believe that a freebie is seldom really free.

Why should this matter to you?

Allow me to explain.

Is it a free offer or a mutual exchange?

I remember visiting a new coffee shop in my local town. They had signs everywhere offering free WiFi. The guy next to me called one of the staff over. He explained that he wasn’t able to access their free WiFi. He was told that in order to access it, he would need to set up a free account, giving his name, his email address and his postal address. The customer replied, “No way! I thought you said it was free? I already get more than enough spam”.

An awkward conversation followed, with the owner trying to defend their position and the customer saying the free WiFi offer was deliberately misleading. And of course, all this happened in front of the other customers. That negative exchange will have totally changed the customer’s experience.

The impact of a fake free offer will vary from person to person and from situation to situation. But it will be there. And you need to be aware of it, if you refer to mutual exchanges as free offers.

Full disclosure is a must

There is a way to largely mitigate the negative impact of the kind of free offer used by the coffee shop. It’s all about providing full disclosure. If you want people to take some kind of action in return for the offer, make it clear. If you ask for contact details, let people know why, right there, in the same space where you make the free offer.

People respond a lot better, when you’re being open and honest with them. For example, if you ask for their details, tell them what you intend to do with that information. If you don’t plan to sell their information, or send them ads from 3rd parties, tell them. Tell them that you respect their privacy.

Note: This also applies to online lead generation (or lead gen), where people are asked for their personal details in return for some kind of freebie. Also, be aware that there are regulations governing the way you request, capture and store data, etc. These vary from country to country.

A genuinely free offer

If you make a genuinely free offer, (like the one below) with no strings attached, nothing concealed, it creates a much better impression than the previous examples. It also sets you apart from the masses. People will look for the usual disclaimer, but it won’t be there, because there isn’t anythig for you to disclaim. They’ll quickly see that you’re being totally honest with them.

It will instantly improve how they feel about you, your business and the services you provide. It will help you earn their trust. And it will directly, dramatically improve the story they tell their friends.

A great free offer template: The deli counter

If you want a template for the best kind of commercial free offer, look no further than the free samples on a deli counter. It’s simple. And as long as the food is delicious, it’s highly effective. The prospective customer tastes the food ahead of buying it. If they like it enough, they’ll buy it.

In short, you need to be strategic in your use of free offers. Do the research first, based on what your goals are for the offer. And remember that disclosure is extremely important on many levels.

A lesson in goal setting from Michelangelo

By Jim Connolly | May 21, 2023

michaelangelo, goal setting, goals

How are your business goals coming along?

As you consider your answer to that question, I’d like you to think about the following. It’s from the genius of Michelangelo.

“The greater danger for most of us lies not in setting our aim too high and falling short; but in setting our aim too low, and achieving our mark.’

Michelangelo.

Puny goals fail to inspire us. And as Michelangelo suggested, even if we achieve them, we’re in danger of achieving nothing of any importance.

When a genius gives that kind of advice, we do well to take heed. Thankfully, Michelangelo provided us with the best way forward. We’re advised that it’s a lot less dangerous to aim high.

This includes.

  • Setting goals that excite you.
  • Setting goals that cause you to grow.
  • Setting goals that are worthy of you.
  • Setting goals that will lead to a meaningful improvement in your quality of life.
  • Setting goals that motivate the people around you.

That’s the kind of goal setting, which fuels you with the passion, energy, direction and inspiration you need. That’s the kind of goal setting, which can lead to outstanding results.

That’s also the kind of goal setting, which is used by the most effective people in business. Because it works.

It’s okay. Even Superman struggled with kryptonite

By Jim Connolly | May 20, 2023

marketing superman

Image: Esteban Lopez

Every business owner has weaknesses.

Including you and me.

But that’s okay.

After all, even Superman has kryptonite to contend with. He knows that this mysterious substance weakens or eliminates his super powers. So, he does everything he can to avoid the problems kryptonite causes, and comes out winning.

Business owners differ in 1 important way

Business owners are also aware of their weaker areas. But unlike Superman, they’re often unaware of the serious damage caused.

For example.

  • The business owner who starts too many sales presentations with an apology for being just a little late, may think it doesn’t matter. They’re unaware that every prospective client who values punctuality will feel very differently about it. The business owner will wonder why their presentation failed, and write the prospect off as a time waster. So the problem persists.
  • The business owner who avoids making big decisions until the last moment, may think it doesn’t matter. They’re unaware that leaving things until the last minute means they have fewer options open to them. They lose valuable time, end up making worse decisions, and blame the outcome on bad luck. So the problem persists.
  • The business owner who thinks it’s okay to develop their business as if it was a Do It Yourself hobby, may think it doesn’t matter. They’re unaware that their DIY approach to planning, systems, marketing, legals and financials etc., is making it impossible for them to succeed. The business owner thinks they’re being smart and saving money, when they’re doing the opposite and missing out on a fortune. So the problem persists.
  • The business owner who does pretty-much what they’re paid for and very little extra, may think it doesn’t matter. They’re unaware that the extra is what makes all the difference. It keeps customers returning and motivates them to recommend you. The business owner who ignores the extra, assumes that their customers just aren’t the kind of people who give referrals. So the problem persists.

And these persistent problems lose them money… persistently.

I recall Jim Rohn telling us that the reason business failure is so common, is that it’s incredibly subtle. The vast majority of businesses tend not to fail overnight, the result of a single, cataclysmic event. It’s the repeated, smaller errors in judgment, which rob them of the success they want.

That’s why it’s critically important to pay attention to what you do and how you do it. Especially in the weaker areas of your business.

This tip can improve your whole business

By Jim Connolly | May 13, 2023

motivation, persistence, courage

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, energized or anything else. I would immediately feel 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 highly-valuable 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. Make it appear, by giving it away.

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

In case it doesn’t go without saying, I am not a mental health professional. This is simply based on what’s worked for my clients and myself.

Your customer, and your business, are one

By Jim Connolly | May 10, 2023

customer focus, focused on customer, us and us

What I am about to share with you is pure gold. And if you take a moment to read it, it can radically improve the success of your business.

It starts with this very simple idea.

You cannot develop greater value for your customer or deliver higher levels of service to your customer, without benefiting from it equally. Your customer, and your business, are one.

Now I’ll explain why.

There’s only us and us

In business, when it comes to the vendor and the customer, there’s no us and them. There’s only us and us. You already know that customers are an essential part of your business. Logically, when you make things better for them, you make them better for your business, too. Your customer, and your business, are one.

A common objection I get when explaining this to business owners, is a version of the following.

But Jim, if I go to that extra effort and expense for my customers, it will cost me in time and money. The customer will benefit, but I’ll lose out.

Here’s where the confusion occurs.

Business owners will look at their current numbers, subtract any extra time or financial investment, and it doesn’t add up. What they’re missing is that their current numbers are a fraction as high, and a fraction as profitable, as they would be with the improved model.

Invest in your customers

How do you switch to the improved model? You do it by developing your business, so that it’s transparently designed to be of massive value to your customers and prospects. (I provide lots of useful information in that link).

Here’s what we see from those rare business owners, already embracing this customer-focused attitude.

  • They attract the best customers.
  • They thrive in every economy.
  • They retain existing customers for massively longer.
  • They never need to sell based on price.
  • They attract high-value opportunities, from brands who want to collaborate with them.
  • They are far more productive.
  • They generate a buzz around their products or services, simply by doing what they do.
  • They enjoy a hugely valuable profile in their marketplace.
  • They attract endless word-of-mouth referrals.

All that (and more) can be yours, when you fully embrace the idea that your customer, and your business, are one. You’re then free to grow a high-profit business, doing your best work, for the best customers.

Do this correctly and you’ll be amazed at how quickly, and how dramatically, things improve for you.

Stop focusing on more sales leads. Really. Just stop

By Jim Connolly | May 7, 2023

get more sales leads, client enquiries

What do you think is the most common problem that business owners ask me to help them with?

It’s a version of this: “Hi Jim. I need to get more sales leads (or client enquiries)”.

However, in over 25 years of working with business owners, I have never met or spoken to one whose actual problem was a lack of leads.

Their core (or root) problem is always a lot more obvious and a lot more direct. It’s THAT core problem, which needs their attention.

Not more sales leads

Their core problem will be a need for bigger revenues and profits, or a need for more high-value sales, or perhaps a need for more high-quality clients. That’s their actual problem. Instead, they are looking for answers to their “more leads” question. And it causes them all kinds of frustrating challenges.

Their incorrect focus points them in multiple, fruitless directions. It also confines their thinking around one, solitary aspect of marketing. And it misses their core problem completely.

When I explain this to business groups, I use the following scenario.

  • Imagine someone owns a car and notices the smell of rubber whenever they’re driving.
  • Their core problem is not the unpleasant smell of burning rubber.
  • Their core problem is that something in their vehicle is either burning or drastically overheating.
  • However, they focus on getting rid of the burning rubber smell.
  • They decide to drive with the windows open, but that doesn’t work.
  • They decide to buy an air-freshener, but that doesn’t work. They then buy a few more and none of them work, either.
  • They decide to have the vehicle completely cleaned inside and outside. That doesn’t work.
  • They then decide to plug their nose. This gets rid of the smell, but they can taste the rubber in their mouth.
  • Finally, their smelly car refuses to start. Its electronics have burned out. And their vehicle is trashed.

Focus on your core problem

Then look for effective ways to overcome it.

Just to get you started, here are some useful questions to help you redirect your thinking to successfully resolving your core problem. Use them as a starting point and add your own great questions.

  • What adjustments can I make to my product or service, which will open it up to a new, massively profitable marketplace?
  • Who has already achieved what I need to achieve, and how can I get them to show me the way forward?
  • How can I increase my average customer spend by x%, starting next week?
  • What new, high value services can I provide to my existing clients?
  • How many ways can I think of, to increase my referral rate by XYZ%?
  • How can I motivate customers to buy from me more frequently?
  • What 5 money-making lessons can I learn from (insert name of a successful company outside your industry)?
  • What are the best ways I can find to radically improve my client or customer retention rate?
  • Who are the people that my marketplace already trusts, and what’s the best way to get to know these trusted people?

I hope that helps provide you with some additional clarity, as you plan to smash your business targets.

12 Quick tips and ideas to help your business thrive

By Jim Connolly | May 4, 2023

get started, marketing

In no particular order.

  1. Be stingy with your time, but not with your ideas.
  2. Your past does not equal your future. Next level results are yours, when you take next level actions.
  3. All business is personal.
  4. Either do what you love or learn to love what you do. Both approaches work extremely well.
  5. To develop a new service, you do not need to reinvent the wheel. A relatively small improvement to an existing way of doing business, can open up a whole new marketplace for you.
  6. Outsmarting your competitors works best, when you’re outcaring them, too.
  7. Optimism is highly contagious. And never more so than in times of uncertainty.
  8. To be in greater demand, provide greater value. Whether a business serves the top end of the market or the bottom end, its customers always want value.
  9. A business can only be as successful as the weakest link in its leadership.
  10. Opportunities come with a use-by date. If something looks like it has potential, do the research and if it stacks up, get moving.
  11. Be eager to take responsibility. Step forward. Especially when others step back.
  12. Whenever possible, be kind. And it’s always possible.
  13. Strive to give others more than they expect from you. That little extra has a big impact.

Decisions: How to get your timing right

By Jim Connolly | April 28, 2023

right time, perfect time, now

The right time, and the perfect time, are not the same time.

But many small business owners are totally unaware of it.

And it screws up everything.

The right time

The right time to take action on improving your business is the moment you know there’s a problem. It’s an easy to identify moment. And it makes zero sense to allow a problem to persist; it only gets bigger, and costs you more in time and money to fix.

This means the right time is always, always, blindingly obvious.

However, even really smart business owners totally miss it.

Why?

Because they’re not actually looking for the right time. No. They’re looking for, and waiting for, the perfect time.

The perfect time is an expensive illusion

It’s an illusion, because it exists in an impossible to identify moment.

Think about it.

  • If things are going great for your business, they might get even better. Now is not the perfect time.
  • If things are ‘okay’ or even if things suck, then maybe they’ll pick-up. Now is not the perfect time.

So, when is the perfect time to improve your business?

You missed it. Because we can only ever know the perfect time, after it has passed. We identify it on reflection. It’s rear view mirror stuff.

That’s why the most successful businesspeople focus on the right time. It’s clear. It’s existential. We experience it. It’s in front of us.

In short, if you have an ongoing business problem, the right time to do something about it has passed. The next best time to do something about it is right now.

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Hi! I'm Jim Connolly and I help small business owners to increase sales, boost their profits and build amazing businesses. Read more here.

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Recent posts

  • 7 Essentials for business success June 1, 2023
  • When was the last time you… May 30, 2023
  • Jim, why have my sales numbers dropped? May 29, 2023
  • Your future. Your choice. Own it! May 24, 2023
  • Marketing 101: Do free offers work? May 23, 2023
  • 3 Essential things you must tell your prospects May 22, 2023
  • A lesson in goal setting from Michelangelo May 21, 2023
  • It’s okay. Even Superman struggled with kryptonite May 20, 2023
  • Average regularly beats outstanding May 18, 2023
  • Your future is as bright as you think it is May 16, 2023
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