Business development Archives - Page 17 of 24

Content creation: Music, coffee and prayer

By Jim Connolly | September 27, 2018

People often ask me if I follow a routine for content creation.

I do. It’s pretty basic. It’s built around music, coffee and prayer.

Music: When I write, I always have music playing in the background. I find lyrics distracting, so I listen to instrumental work. Right now, I’m listening to Kind of Blue by Miles Davis. Other writing companions include John Coltrane, Moby, Bach, Skrillix and Tchaikovsky.
Coffee: Once the music is on, I grab some coffee. (By the way, most of my blog posts are 2 coffees long). I’ve seen various studies regarding how coffee works on the brain. I’m not sure there’s any neurological benefit whatsoever. I drink coffee because I love the taste. As a type 2 diabetic, I don’t add sugar. Just a splash of cream.
Prayer: This is obviously a very personal part of my routine. Before I start, I say a very simple prayer, asking God to inspire me. I used to try and do everything myself and found it a lot harder.

That’s pretty-much it.

Your content creation routine

Obviously, you need to find something that works for you. And one size does not fit all.

For example, many of my friends can’t have music playing when they work, they don’t drink coffee, and most of them are atheist. There are others I know, who have to write from a coffee shop or café, because the atmosphere gets them into a resourceful state.

The key is to experiment. Try different inputs and atmospheres. Keep what works for you. Discard the rest. You’ll be amazed how much easier your content creation becomes, when you have an effective routine.

By the way, a lot of you have told me that you found the 6 Idea Trick extremely useful, for generating content ideas. If you haven’t tried it already (or you read my stuff via Gmail and never saw the post), give it a try.

NOTE: Gmail users typically miss over 40 percent of my posts. Here’s how to stop that from happening to you.

Viral marketing 101

By Jim Connolly | September 24, 2018

Every piece of viral marketing you’ve ever experienced, consisted of 2 things.

It went to you. (You received it).
It went through you. (You shared it with your friends or contacts).

For both of those to happen, your marketing message or story, needs to be easy to share and remarkable in some way.

How easy is it?

The marketing message from Kentucky Fried Chicken is simple. Just 3 words long. Finger lickin’ good. That’s easy to remember and easy to share. Regardless of what you or I may think of their food, they’ve given their most dedicated customers a simple message, which speaks powerfully about the taste of their food.

The marketing message from Apple is even easier to share. When someone is using one of their products in public, there’s a highly visible Apple logo pointing at everyone who can see them. Until recently, the Apple logo on MacBook Pro and MacBook Air models was illuminated on the lid. Today, those logo’s are (like those on their phones) highly polished mirrors.

How remarkable is it?

Remember Jennie? I wrote about her recently. Jennie knows I take lots of handwritten notes. When she discovered a note-taking app that did everything she wanted, and more, she emailed me. She also told all her friends about it. Jennie’s remarkable experience turned her from a customer into a raving advocate.

When Greg recommends my services to his friends, he tells them; “Jim doubled our turnover in 5 months”. Greg’s success was remarkable to him, so he shares it. His experience of my work is what motivates him. And his message is just 7 words long, meaning it’s easy to share.

Why not take some time today, to consider how you can make it easier for your message to go to people and through people. Consider how clear your message is. And how remarkable it is. Then look for ways to improve it as much as you can. It’s impossible to overstate the power of clear, easy to share, remarkable stories.

Capture. Earn. Motivate

By Jim Connolly | September 20, 2018

earn trust, capture attention, motivate them to buy

I discovered today that a local business is about to close down. The owner told me it was due to a lack of trade. This is happening, even though their service is provably better than many of their competitors.

So, why does it happen? Why does an above average business fail, when their lower quality competitors in the same town are thriving?

It happens because there’s an important difference between being the best quality service and the best selling service. This holds true in every industry.

In order for a business to thrive, we need to get strategic. The build it and they will come mantra is a lie. We need to build it, then market it correctly. That’s because being great at what we do, doesn’t mean people will magically notice us, trust us or want to spend their money with us.

We need to capture their attention, earn their trust and motivate them to hire us.

Because the business owner’s balance was wrong, they carried on working hard, wondering why things were not improving.

Once a business is delivering a great service, there’s no reason for it not to thrive. Just be sure to get the balance right: Do great work. But remember to capture attention. Earn trust. And motivate people to hire you or buy from you.

The results you need are only a mile away. Just 1 mile. Yes, really!

By Jim Connolly | September 19, 2018

marketing

There’s a spectacularly powerful marketing idea for you in today’s post. But you’ll need to use your imagination a little, in order to see what it means to you and your business.

Picture this

What if a business owner decided that as from today, they’d take the following radical action:

To eagerly go the extra mile for their clients, as standard.

By liberating themselves in this way, the business owner would be free. Free to pay greater attention to the needs of each client. They would also be free to care for each client as an individual and not simply as a client… one of a group.

The business owner would find themselves building stronger relationships with their clients. And because business is all about people, this would massively improve the culture of their business; for clients and staff alike.

They’d retain their clients for longer.
They’d retain their best staff members too.
They’d attract the top talent, because people would want to work in that amazing culture.

Plus, their existing clients would tell all their friends about the remarkable service they receive. Here’s why!

There’s a very strong business case for going the extra mile. Especially in an age where your competitors are looking to automate, scale and cut corners.

I recommend you let your competitors carry on with their race to the bottom. While you, my friend, rise to the top.

How to lower your marketing spend… the right way!

By Jim Connolly | September 18, 2018

There are lots of ways a business owner can lower their overheads. Some will make the business more profitable. Others can be extremely expensive mistakes.

What does this have to do with marketing?

Everything!

Small business owners regularly come to me with serious marketing problems, caused by making cost-cutting decisions, which were supposed to improve their profitability.

Here are a few obvious, marketing-related examples. Just to give you an idea of what I mean.

Some will have outsourced their inbound phone calls to a call handling company. It’s cheaper than hiring someone. Right?
Some will have their signature pre-printed on their letterheads. It’s cheaper than spending 10 seconds to personally sign their letters. Right?
Some will have designed their own company logo. It’s cheaper than hiring a professional designer, who knows what she’s doing. Right?

It’s a GREAT idea to regularly look for ways to reduce your overhead. The smartest business owners regularly review everything. However, they make their decisions based on the medium and longer-term. Not just the immediate, lower expenditure.

Here’s what their thinking might be, based on the above examples.

Before outsourcing their inbound calls

They look at the longer game. How many existing clients could they lose, because the outsourced call-handler is winging it, rather than building rapport? How many potential, new clients could be lost, because the outsourced call-handler was reading from a screen, rather than truly understanding the prospective client’s needs?

There’s a huge cost attached to lower client retention and fewer new clients. This means they may only consider outsourcing to the very best call handling providers available. At which point the expenditure gap between hiring someone and outsourcing, even in the short-term, is way narrower. And that’s factored into their decision.

Before pre-printing their signature on their letterheads

They look at the longer game. They consider what the medium to longer-term cost will be, of failing to offer clients the personal touch. It’s very unlikely that this one cut-back would lead to a significant issue. But they may ponder where that lack of personal attention could lead to, if it penetrates other areas of their service. Cheaper coffee for their clients at the next meeting, maybe? An online ticket system for client enquiries?

Before designing their own company logo

They look at the longer game. They consider what the medium to longer-term cost will be to their reputation, with a DIY logo representing what their business stands for. They may also look at the negative feelings they have, when they see an amateur logo, and not want their business to be seen in such a negative way. And some will remember being told what branding actually means, because they seem to recall it’s about much more than just a logo.

Then. And only then. Will they make a decision.

Balance

As with most things in life, it’s all about balance. Before we outsource, automate or dabble with DIY, we need to look at the full picture. We need to consider the wider costs associated. That’s how we make the best decisions and avoid cutting back in the wrong places.

I just received a very angry email. And I have to share it with you

By Jim Connolly | September 15, 2018

Nicola (not her real name) was really angry when she emailed me. With her permission, I’d like to share her story with you. And a powerful business lesson, too!

Nicola had spent a ton of time over the past 2 weeks, looking after the needs of a prospective client. (She’s a web designer). The prospective client told her he desperately needed a new website. He understood his current site was ugly and hurting his reputation.

After a morning-long meeting at the prospective client’s office, a chunk of time spent creating a proposal for him, then several further emails and some phone calls, he finally told her:

He knew he urgently needed a new site. He knew her work was great. He knew her fee was reasonable. But he just couldn’t justify the expense to himself!

Nicola said she was “really, really angry” and asked me what she was doing wrong.

Now, I don’t know Nicola. She’s a reader. And said she’d emailed me out of anger and frustration. The guy sounded so keen. She was expecting a new project. And the disappointment was clearly hurting her.

It’s entirely possible that Nicola has lousy marketing. If she had professional marketing help, she’d ask them what wasn’t working. Rather then me. So yes, it’s possible her prospective client wasn’t motivated to become a paying client, because she handled it poorly. I have no idea.

However, there’s a super-valuable lesson here.

Here’s what prompted me to share this with you

A lot of small business owners wrongly blame their fees, their marketing or their negotiating skills, when they fail to land a new client. Yes, getting it wrong in any of those areas will lose you business. Lots of business.

But sometimes, it’s the prospective client’s mindset. And I believe this is a perfect example, which is why I wanted to share it with you.

Going back to Nicola’s original email, I noticed something interesting. The prospective client explained that he knew he urgently needed a new site. He also said he knew Nicola’s work was great and her fee was reasonable, yet he couldn’t “justify the expense” to himself.

I think it highly probable that this guy was simply one of the unbelievers.

Unbelievers?

Yes!

He knew on an intellectual level that he needed her services, but he didn’t believe it on an emotional level. And as emotions drive decisions, he was never going to hire her.

He sounds like many small business owners, who have an employee mindset when it comes to investment in their business. They know they need expert help, but on an emotional level they’re scared to invest. They believe it’s safer to do nothing. They know… but fear stops them from doing what they know they need to do. Note: He called her fee an expense, not an investment

It’s not your fault

It’s often not your fault when a prospective client walks away.

If you’re using professional marketing, rather than dabbling. If your prices or fees match your promises. If you’re offering real value, and they still decide not to hire you or buy from you… it’s very probable you never had a chance.

So don’t be too hard on yourself, the next time an unbeliever decides to waste your time. It’s them. Not you.

Never underestimate the power of being first

By Jim Connolly | August 29, 2018

It’s 2018, yet we still remember Roger Bannister as the first person to run a mile in under 4 minutes.

Apple became the world’s most valuable company, largely because of profits from the iPhone; the world’s first smart phone. (Here’s the original iPhone press release.)

There are 2 useful lessons here:

When you are the first to do something, it’s remembered for a very long time. We remember Bannister, even though Australia’s John Landy broke Bannister’s record just 6 weeks later. Landy was faster, yet remained relatively unknown because he wasn’t the first person to go sub 4 minutes.
It doesn’t have to be perfect. The first iPhone was really buggy. It even lacked a basic copy and paste facility for over a year! However, it was extremely useful.

This begs the question

What product or service could you be the first to create for your marketplace?

Fortunately, you don’t need to reinvent the wheel. For example, a service which is common in another industry may be unheard of in yours. It just needs to be new to your industry, profession or marketplace.

And it absolutely doesn’t need to be perfect. It needs to be useful.

Stop working so hard. Seriously. It doesn’t work

By Jim Connolly | August 27, 2018

It’s true. When you’re working hard to build a business, and you’re not achieving the results you want, working even harder is never (ever) the answer.

Over the years, I’ve worked with some amazingly successful people. People who went from zero to great financial wealth. People who not only succeed at work, but also enjoy a great family life and social life. None of them work any harder than the average business owner.

They work differently, sure. But they don’t work harder. And they certainly don’t work longer hours. Far from it. In fact, the most successful business owners work far fewer hours, than struggling business owners.

How can fewer hours lead to massively better results?

When a business isn’t developing the way you need it to, the tendency is to try and compensate by working longer hours and working harder. If you’ve tried this for any period of time, you’ll know it doesn’t work. It can’t work.

Think about it:

If you’re rowing a boat in the wrong direction, the harder you row, the further off target you become. Longer days, spent working harder, simply pushes you further and further off target.

What’s needed is an escape plan. A plan to escape the cycle of long, hard days that result in too little reward.

A proven and infinitely better alternative

If your current approach isn’t growing your business, stop. More of the same is not an option.

Next, find out what needs to be done from someone who knows. Then do it. It’s what my clients do every day. And it works. Beautifully.

With a proven strategy and the support you need:

High-energy, super-productive days replace long, hard days.
Progress replaces movement.
Clarity replaces confusion.
Excitement replaces apprehension.

The difference this will make to your business (and you) is huge.

As business owners, we have permission to create whatever kind of business we want. We also have the agility to put new ideas into play, better ideas into play, and watch them blossom into something amazing. It starts with the decision to let go of what we have, so we can replace it with what we want.

Here’s the challenge.

It isn’t easy. In fact, it’s darn hard!

Don’t let anyone tell you the decision is as simple as it sounds.

It isn’t!

Sure, on paper, it sounds easy. But if it was easy, every business owner would fix what’s wrong with their business and thrive. The jump from doing what’s familiar (even when it’s failing) to something new (even when it’s better) is scary. It’s a leap into the unknown.

I’ve worked with small business owners since 1995. And I’ve found that it usually takes something major to happen, before a business owner will switch.

Though not always.

Sometimes it can be something as subtle as a birthday. Or the right words from someone, at the right time. And that’s what I hope this message will be for at least one person reading this: the right words at the right time.

5 Things to start today, which your future self will thank you for

By Jim Connolly | August 22, 2018

Here are 5 practical things you can get started on today, which your future self will thank you for. They’re in no particular order.

Let’s get started!

1: Look for the hidden gold dust that’s under your nose. What was the last marketing email you received, which you opened? What was the last marketing message you read, which motivated you to make a purchase or make an enquiry? By decoding what prompted you to take action, you can get ideas, to make your own marketing more effective. There’s gold dust all around you, if you choose to look for it.

2: Look for trust-building opportunities. Trust is the foundation of every great relationship. We earn trust from what we do, rather than what we say. So show, don’t tell. Tip: This strategy works great.

3: Look for better problems to solve. By solving better problems, you increase your commercial value. Increasing your commercial value is the starting point, to attracting the best clients and earning the best fees. The good news is that most of your competitors will deliberately avoid the tricky stuff. They’ll avoid solving the problems that require additional effort. This presents you with a wonderful opportunity. An opportunity to set yourself apart from your competitors and position yourself as a highly valued provider.

4: Look for the main barrier to your success. Then invest the time and effort required to remove it. Once you’ve removed it, what used to be your second biggest barrier to success will be the new number one. So, invest the time and effort required to remove it. Repeat.

5: Look for outreach opportunities. Right now, there are people who already have the trust and attention of your prospective clients. These trusted people are of massive value to you and your business. Identify who they are. Then, figure out why they should introduce you or recommend you. Get this right and the results can be amazing.

I hope you find at least one thing here, which you can get started on today. If you do, your future self will thank you.

These 4 business owners grabbed the attention of their marketplace. You can too

By Jim Connolly | August 11, 2018

It’s not hard to make your business stand out and attract lots of great clients. In fact, it’s easy.

Here are 4 examples, from business owners who are getting it right.

The accountant, who set up a network just for her clients. So they can connect with one another, help one another and buy from one another.
The dentist, who provides sessions for people who have an irrational fear of dentists.
The coffee shop owner, who offers customers poetry evenings and creative writing events.
The gardener, who not only keeps your garden looking great, but also provides all the garden consumables you need and delivers them to you.

The challenge isn’t that it’s hard to stand out. You simply need to Choose An Edge.

The challenge is that it’s easier not to.

I feel like I already know you

By Jim Connolly | August 1, 2018

I’d like to share a short, easy to understand, yet extremely valuable idea with you today. It’s all about attracting high quality leads on a very regular basis.

I was prompted to write this, after some emails I received this morning. As usual, a number of them contained a version of the following statement: I feel like I already know you. These emails were from people I’ve never met. In each case, they were referring to knowing me via the ideas I share, either on my blog or the email version of the blog.

Why am I telling you this?

What this means for you and your business

Now imagine that instead of me receiving those highly targeted, premium quality leads, it was YOU.

You received them. With more tomorrow, the next day and the next. More leads than you need. And all from people who feel like they know you. People who know your work. People whose attention you have. People who already trust you. (Think about that for a moment).

This opportunity is open to you. Wide open. It requires a couple of things.

You’ll need to generously, regularly share valuable information. Information so useful, that people will eagerly want to receive it and share it.
You’ll need to accept that no matter how great your information is, very few people will take notice at the beginning. Which is fine. Because all you need are your first 10 people. They’ll share your stuff with 10 like-minded friends. Now you’re at 100, which becomes 1000 or 10000 or 100000. If you stick with it.

That second part is where most people fail.

They invest time and effort for weeks, sometimes months, and see little audience growth. They get demotivated. Then quit. Largely because they have been given incorrect expectations of how growing an audience actually works. Despite what many content marketing gurus say, building a valuable audience takes time. It requires patience and commitment.

Focus on the 10

The key is to focus ONLY on earning the attention and trust of those first 10 people. Turn up regularly and give them your best ideas (not sales pitches or advertisements). As long as the information you share is useful enough and you turn up regularly enough, your audience will grow. And the growth accelerates as more people subscribe. When I started my blog, it took me an age to get my first 100 readers. Today, I can get that many in 24 hours. So, stick with it.

I hope you found this information useful. But more importantly, I hope it inspires you to build an extremely valuable community.

Agile Thinking: A new mindset for a new landscape

By Jim Connolly | July 26, 2018

Business is changing. Moreover, business is changing fast. This is great news for agile thinking business owners, who embrace the opportunities. However, it’s not such great news for business owners who are working in today’s rapidly changing environment, with an outdated approach to business.

Today, I’m going to share some ideas on how you can benefit from the exciting opportunities that are all around you.

First, I’d like to demonstrate how things have improved and why we need to apply a new mindset, to the new landscape.

A new mindset for a new landscape

Many of the world’s most influential businesses were unknown 20 years ago. Some, such as Facebook and Twitter, weren’t even founded until the early 2000’s.

That kind of global growth was previously unthinkable.

What’s more, billion dollar companies that lead their industries have been started by relative unknowns, in very untraditional ways.

Here’s a great example. Writing in Techcrunch, Tom Goodwin summed up the new age of agile business:

“Uber, the world’s largest taxi company, owns no vehicles. Facebook, the world’s most popular media owner, creates no content. Alibaba, the most valuable retailer, has no inventory. And Airbnb, the world’s largest accommodation provider, owns no real estate. Something interesting is happening.”

Tom is right. Something interesting is happening. None of those achievements or business models were possible until very recently. The game has changed. And it has changed for ever.

The age of agile business

When I look at small businesses, they tend to fall into one of the following 2 broad categories: They are either dinosaurs or agile operators. That’s to say their approach to the agile business landscape means they are facing extinction or facing unparalleled success.

Armed with a laptop and an idea, there’s very little an agile business cannot achieve.

The new business landscape allows an agile small business owner to have an idea in the morning, and put that idea into play before the end of business that same day.
Using social networks, we can listen to what our marketplace wants and provide that want. No more guess work. No more focus-groups. You can get it right every time. And in a fraction of the time.
Instant access to data, means research that took weeks or months can now be done in days. And at a fraction of the price.
With a great marketing email and some email software, a struggling business can generate a fortune in sales… and fast!
With the correct strategy, anyone can develop their own community. I reach thousands of people every day, many of whom are prospective clients, without spending a penny on advertising. You can too.
If you have a great business idea, you no longer need a bank loan. Today, you can use crowdfunding to get the investment you need. People are doing this all day, every day.

Make no mistake, this is the golden age of business, which people have dreamed about for decades.

Yet, in spite of all this potential, almost all small business owners operate their businesses with a 2000’s mindset. They lack agility. This places them at a huge disadvantage.

For example:

They still take just as long to make a decision, even though they can get the feedback they need in a fraction of the time. As a result, their agile competitors have already eaten their lunch.
They use social networks to follow the crowd, rather than lead their marketplace.
They have a website that’s almost an online brochure, when it should be and could be, a lead-generating machine for their business. If you didn’t start work today with leads from your website waiting for you, you should have. Fix it. You’re leaving money on the table.
They waste money advertising, when they should be building their own platform.
They waste time, money and energy attending networking groups, like people did in the 1970’s, rather than build their own community.

No matter what industry you are in. No matter where you are. Your potential right now is limited only by your willingness, or otherwise, to embrace agile thinking.

What an opportunity. Grasp it with both hands.

Stop competing for business. Seriously. Stop it

By Jim Connolly | July 18, 2018

In most industries, there’s no shortage of providers. Quite the opposite. There’s a surplus.

There’s way too much choice. And that’s why it’s so competitive.

Imagine this

Tomorrow morning at 9am, all your competitors decide to quit. They literally cease trading. Leaving their clients with no option, but to hire you.

As a business owner, this would present you with a huge opportunity. With no more competition, you would be able to cherry-pick the very best clients. You could choose to only work with clients who are happy to pay a premium fee for a high quality service. You could decide to only work with clients, who gave you the freedom to do your best work.

You’d be free to do things your way.

Now imagine this

Tomorrow morning at 9am, all of your competitors carry on as usual.

If you still decide to cherry-pick the very best clients. To offer a premium service for a premium fee. To only work with clients who give you the freedom to do your best work. To do things your way… you will still have no competition (or very, very little).

Competition is a mindset.

Don’t give these people your time or money

By Jim Connolly | July 6, 2018

Today, I’d like to save you time, money, energy and stress. I want to help you avoid making the extremely costly mistake of using someone’s title as a decision-making shortcut.

Whilst some titles are defined by meaningful, proven attainment (like the title Doctor or Professor), others are way too vague. They tell us almost nothing. They can be misleading, too. Here are some examples of titles, which sound like one thing, but often mean something completely different.

The CEO

Anyone can be the CEO of nothing. Think of it like this: Bob and Mark are both CEO’s. That title tells us they are both the head of a company. However, it tells us nothing about their company or their achievements. Bob could be CEO of a 3 month old business that’s in the process of going bankrupt. Mark could be the CEO of Facebook.

If you are thinking of giving your money, time or attention to someone, just because they have the CEO title, dig a little deeper first.

The Internet Start-up founders

I get emails most days, from people calling themselves the founder of an Internet Start-up. Some Internet start-ups are funded by millions of dollars worth of investment. Some are run by people with a proven track record of success. Some are built around a great idea and amazing people.

Others are 2 weeks old, unfunded, with no business model, trying to be the next Amazon.com… only better.

Their title, by itself, means nothing.

Best-selling: From Gladwell to Godin to minimum wage

Then there are best-selling authors. Malcolm Gladwell and Seth Godin can rightly claim to be best-selling, non-fiction authors.

Because they are.

However, they are also a world apart in the wide, 3 tiers of best-selling authors.

Top tier: Gladwell sells millions of copies of each book. His advance for one book alone was over one and a half million dollars. He’s big news and is interviewed on major TV networks, worldwide, when each new book is launched. His name is widely known within the general population. He can (and does) commanded $40,000 for a single speaking engagement! One of his book titles “tipping point” has become and everyday part of the English language.

Middle tier: Godin is successful, but sells a fraction as many books as Gladwell. Godin appears on affiliate marketing blogs, podcasts and in marketing publications to promote his books. Whilst a pole away from Gladwell, Godin’s influence is considerable within his niche.

Bottom tier: These are the best-selling authors, who sell surprisingly few books (as few as three or four thousand) and make very little money. Just search Google for “how much does a best-selling author earn”. You will see it can be as little as $15,000, over a period of 2 years. Often less. That’s for a year spent writing the book and maybe another year promoting it. So, these best-selling authors earn less than minimum wage.

There is a huge difference between Gladwell at the top and the people at the bottom. So, if you’re approached by someone who calls themselves a best-selling author in their marketing, do some research.

The top 10 rated experts in the world

Then there are those, who title themselves as a world top 10 (or top 50) expert because they appear on a top 10 list from a well-known magazine or website.

Some of these lists are endorsed. They’re 100% legit. They’re compiled by staff writers — people who work for (and are paid by) the online publication or magazine. The publication puts these lists prominently in the main body of the main website.

However, a version of this is also a very commonly used tactic to create fake credibility. Today, lots of very well-known publications use unpaid and unknown bloggers to provide free “content” for them.

And here’s why!

The publication gets content. These publications need lots of content to maintain their search engine rankings. (Google rewards frequently updated websites). Most big publishers are cutting back on staff, so getting all that content is increasingly difficult.

This is where unknown, and unpaid bloggers come in. They provide a cheap way, in every sense, for the publication to keep Google happy.

A popular form of this free content are so-called “top X lists”. The blogger lists people, who they happen to know, as one of the top 10 (whatever) in the world. These lists are not voted for. They are just the opinion of a blogger who’s trying to gain exposure with free content. Anyhow, these lists get linked to and shared a lot… by the people who are included on them. Those links and shares are SEO ranking factors for Google. This is why the well-known publications allow them.

The unknown blogger gets exposure. The blogger gets to claim they write for the well-known publication, even though these posts are not endorsed, not paid for and not part of the main body of the website.

If you look deeper, you’ll see there’s usually a small disclaimer on the page where these lists appear. It is also VERY common to find the blogger’s friends added to these lists. The friend will then add the blogger to THEIR top 10 list. As such, the people on these lists are not part of the top 10 in the world. And they’re not endorsed by the magazine / website, which they claim in their marketing. Literally anyone can be number 1 on these not-what-they-seem-lists. It looks impressive. It means nothing.

In short, titles can be extremely misleading. Sometimes by accident. Sometimes by design.

Because of this, using titles as a decision-making shortcut can lead us to make bad decisions. So, always credential people, before you give them your attention, time or money.

21 Powerful habits of highly successful business owners

By Jim Connolly | June 22, 2018

Over the years, I’ve worked with thousands of business owners. Some of them are massively successful. I soon noticed that these super-successful people shared certain habits. They did things, which the average business owner didn’t do.

I decided to learn from them… to acquire their habits, to see if it would help me. It did. It really did. In big, meaningful, measurable ways. Today, I’m going to share some of what I learned from them with you.

Let’s go.

They personalize their business, so it’s uniquely theirs. One of a kind. Rare and valuable. This is true, regardless of their industry or profession.
They are driven by a passion to do something big. Something that motivates them AND those around them.
They know success is about more than money. Because if you’re rich and unhappy, you’re still broke.
They show people, rather than tell people. Anyone can claim anything, so they walk the walk.
They out-care their competitors. And it shines through everything they do.
They out-smart their competitors too.
They set standards, extremely high, self-imposed standards. Then, they achieve them.
They throw away the manual and write their own rules.
They focus on what they want, not what they fear. Sounds obvious, yet it’s the polar opposite of what small business owners do.
They are excellent decision makers. They get the information required, study it, request advice if needed, then decide. This is one of the master skills for success in every area of life, not just business.
They avoid those costly detours, which come disguised as shortcuts to success. Warren Buffett often says a key reason for his amazing results, is his commitment to get rich slowly.
They do all the work required. You can’t sleepwalk your way to the top. Or even the middle.
They also relax. If you work smart during work time, you can relax when it’s family and friends time. In fact, it’s essential.
They seldom watch TV. None (zero) of the most successful people I know, bother with much TV.
They are extremely selective who they associate with and who they recommend. Your associates have a huge impact on what you think and your expectations.
They lead. The world already has enough followers and the followers need leaders.
They manage their time extremely well.
They deliberately build a valuable network of people — before they need them.
They are willing to stand out. They know it’s the only way to be outstanding.
They summon the courage to do what’s required, rather than what feels comfortable.
They make promises and keep them. They know it’s a superb way to build trust and earn a great reputation.
They look for opportunities to over-deliver. I call this approach radical contribution. I’ll cover it in detail, in a future post.

I hope you find those observations useful. More importantly, I hope you decide to turn at least one of them into a habit.

The amazing truth about you

By Jim Connolly | June 6, 2018

marketing blog

You’re amazing.

Those are not just kind words. It’s not an empty phrase, designed to make you feel good. It’s based on fact.

And I’ll prove it

Take a moment and remember how amazing you’ve been in times of emergency… how you’ve come out winning, against the odds. And don’t forget the amazing courage you’ve summoned, when things looked bleak. Or the amazing kindness you shown people, when they were in need. Not to mention the amazing resourcefulness you’ve shown, again and again and again.

My point?

It’s so easy to be in awe of others and the amazing things they’ve done, whilst forgetting the amazing thing’s you’ve achieved.

Remembering that you’re capable of amazing things helps you raise the bar on what you expect from yourself. And when you’re going through tough times, it’s REALLY helpful to remember that you have amazing resources, on tap, ready to be used.

There are certainly some amazing people out there. Just remember that you’re one of them.

Building the momentum you need

By Jim Connolly | May 29, 2018

If a wonderful opportunity came your way today, how prepared would you be?

I was prompted to write about this after speaking with a friend. Amy told me that she had been invited to appear on a national radio show. She’s an architect and the show was a perfect fit for her. Plus, the audience is huge.

As I was about to congratulate her, she explained that she refused the offer.

“I just couldn’t do it Jim. I’d be too nervous”.

It happens to us all

I’m sure all of us have, at some point, refused an opportunity because it took us a little too far from our comfort zone. I know I have. The thing is, everything is difficult, before it becomes easy. To get to the point where things are easy, we need to push through the difficult part.

The problem with avoiding opportunities like that, is that we fail to give ourselves the experience required, to overcome the fear. We need that experience, for example, to become comfortable and confident on radio, TV or public speaking. Then, when an opportunity comes our way we can eagerly snap it up.

Justin Timberlake and 200 million viewers

It reminds me of something I saw a couple of years ago. It was a very brief conversation, between Justin Timberlake and one of the hosts of the 2016 Eurovision Song Contest. The host was deliberately trying to make Timberlake feel nervous, ahead of a live performance.

The show’s presenter asked him if he knew how many viewers were about to watch his performance. He replied, “No”. The presenter said, “Around 200 million people”. Timberlake replied, “Ha. That’s cool”. He then got on stage and sang as if he were performing in front of a dozen close friends, rather than almost twice as many TV viewers as the Super Bowl!

It turns out that Timberlake has been performing to millions on TV since he was just 11 years old. So, he pushed through the hard part years ago. Today, he’s comfortable with the TV cameras and the thought of millions of viewers tuning in. His performance was fantastic.

Creating unstoppable momentum

Opportunities come in different sizes. Smaller opportunities come with very little upside, but they’re usually within our reach. However, the best opportunities almost always require you to stretch. To push yourself.

Every time you embrace a great, challenging opportunity, you become more prepared for the next one. The more prepared you are, the easier it gets. The more opportunities you accept, the more opportunities you attract.

You create momentum. Unstoppable momentum.

This momentum leads you to an increasing number of bigger and better opportunities. And that’s exactly what you need, for your business to reach its full potential.

Get specific. Really specific

By Jim Connolly | May 26, 2018

As a business owner, there are 2 ways you can choose to market your services. One works extremely well. One doesn’t. And most people are choosing the wrong option. I don’t want that to happen to you.

Here are both options, along with how to make the right choice for you and your business.

Try and appeal to as many people as possible.
Intentionally choose the type of customers or clients you want to service. And ignore the rest.

The first option seems to make sense

The thinking looks like this: If we try and appeal to as wide a range of people as possible, we’ll have more prospective customers. This should mean we’ll make more sales (or attract more clients).

The reality is different. Very, very different.

By trying to be relevant to almost anyone who could have a need for your services, you end up being directly relevant to no one.

Here’s the problem: Only a directly relevant message has the power to motivate a prospective customer to take action.

Vague, diluted, semi-relevant messages are ignored.

Here’s a far better approach

The most successful business owners get specific. They decide exactly who they want to serve. They then intentionally focus on communicating with this section of their marketplace. They learn what matters most to this group. They uncover their main challenges. They then connect with them in a way that’s directly relevant and therefore exceptionally powerful.

That kind of specific, directly relevant marketing is what’s required, to inspire people to buy from you or hire you.

The secret to attracting regular referrals

By Jim Connolly | May 23, 2018

Cindy asked me a great question earlier. She wanted to know the best way to generate word of mouth referrals for her business. Here’s one of the tips I gave her, which you may find really useful.

The key to attracting word of mouth referrals, is to understand the following:

Word of mouth spreads between the people in your marketplace. It goes from person to person. NOT from you to them.

So don’t interrupt people.

Don’t pester people for referrals.

Because you don’t need to!

People love to talk. And they really love to share stories about their experiences. Either face-to-face or online. Your task as a business owner, is to give people a story about your business that’s worth sharing. For example, give them a customer service story, that’s so good they want to tell their friends. I list 9 more examples here. That should give you enough ideas to get you started.

Right now, you’re just 1 story away from having your marketplace buzzing with people who are recommending your business. So, what are you waiting for?

The mindset adjustment that transforms businesses

By Jim Connolly | April 30, 2018

How good are you, when it comes to making business decisions?

That’s a really important question.

Why?

Because good decision-making is an essential part of growing a successful business. That’s why today, I’m going to share a very simple idea with you, which I found extremely useful. It helped me become a massively better decision-maker. More importantly, it can help you, too.

Let’s go!

Much of the email I receive from readers, is connected to a problem they have, regarding a decision. Usually, it’s a decision they’ve been wrestling with or procrastinating on. And in almost every case, the fact they’re delaying the decision, is making things a lot worse. That’s to say, their inaction is turning a minor challenge into a major problem.

The idea that improved my mindset

If you or someone you know struggles with decision-making, consider the following fact. It shifted my mindset to decision-making and allowed me to transform my business.

A decision is always made. Because time will make it, if you do not.

Here’s an example of what I mean.

A guy wakes up with toothache, decides to ignore it, take some painkillers and goes to work. He does this day after day. He tells himself he’s busy. He tells himself that if things don’t improve he’ll make a dental appointment. Eventually, he needs emergency dental treatment. It’s now a much bigger problem. Plus, he’s been in pain, unnecessarily, for days or weeks. And the cost of treatment is higher.

That’s what happens, when we allow time to make a decision for us. We end up with a much bigger issue to deal with. The situation is out of our hands. There’s a lot more pain attached. And it’s more expensive.

There are 2 lessons I took from this

Firstly, we can’t avoid making decisions. We can only delay them. And no one procrastinates their way to success.

Secondly, by delaying decisions, we surrender control of the outcomes. Any business that loses control of its outcomes, has extremely limited potential.

In short, once we have the information we need, it’s time to quit stalling and make a decision. This mindset shift inspired me to become a better decision-maker and build a better business. I hope it helps you too.

Bonus — Here are 10 Daily decisions to help you smash your business goals.