Debbie is a freelance trainer. She emailed me with a great question. I said I’d answer it here, as I know many of you will find it useful.

Debbie wanted to know what to do, when someone enquires about her services… then says they don’t have a budget or almost no budget.

Here’s why it happens and how to totally overcome it.

Costs and investments

If a business owner tells you they have no marketing budget, or just a small marketing budget, there’s a reason.

It’s simply this: They believe the service / product you provide is a cost and not an investment.

Think about it.

• When a business owner encounters a worthwhile investment, they invest.
• When a business owner encounters a cost, they limit or avoid expenditure.

When I explain this to young entrepreneurs, I put it like this:

If Bob says, “I’d invest more in my marketing, if only my business was doing better”, we know Bob’s got things the wrong way around. Nothing in the world works like that. The world works through cause and effect… not effect and cause.

That same guy wouldn’t go to the gym and tell the fitness trainer, “If you transform my body, weight, fitness and health today, I promise I’ll come here regularly for the next 12 months and work really hard”.

So what’s behind this bizarre mindset?

Knowing and accepting are 2 different things

Every business owner knows the difference between an investment and a cost, on an intellectual level. However, many haven’t accepted it on an emotional level. And it’s a long, frustrating, usually fruitless task to try and convince them, when they just don’t get it.

If you have a lot of spare time and a great amount of patience, you could try and change their mindset. I don’t recommend it, though.

You see, even if you manage to change their world-view. Even if you manage to get them to pay you. You’ll almost certainly end up regretting it. In my experience, the end result will be a fear-focused client, who’s a complete pain to work with.

There’s a better solution

Much better in fact. The solution is to attract so many high quality enquiries, that you don’t have to waste time dealing with people who are not willing, ready or seriously interested in what you offer.

So, focus exclusively on marketing to your ideal profile of client. Do this correctly and you’ll build a great business, doing your best work for wonderful people.

In short: If you want to stop attracting low quality clients, you need to stop using low quality marketing.

Fact: You are capable of extraordinary things.

There are no ordinary people. It’s just that some of us settle for ordinary results. We make ordinary decisions and take ordinary actions.

It’s easy to be ordinary. We simply need to follow the masses. It requires no courage and no creativity. It’s like living on autopilot. This is why millions of extraordinary people live ordinary, unfulfilled lives.

So, how do you become extraordinary?

You don’t need to do a thing! You are already extraordinary. You were born that way. However, there are 2 things you should do, to build an extraordinary business and life.

1. Make extraordinary plans. This means deciding what you want, rather than settling for the ordinary.
2. Summon the courage to put your plans into action. It’s tricky to break free from the masses and do your own thing. However… remember those periods of your life, where you needed to be brave? That’s proof that you have the courage required. You need to dig deep down and summon that courage. But it’s there. Right now. Just waiting.

Those 2 steps are all that separate us from enjoying an extraordinary life.

Questions and answers

Is it easy? No. It’s challenging.

Is it worth it? Absolutely.

Can you do it? Yes. You’re extraordinary and capable of almost anything you set your mind to.

Do you want it? That’s for you to answer.

Today, I have a quick, yet really effective marketing idea to share with you. It’s simply this:

Success comes to the business owners, consultants, freelancers and trainers, who embrace the edges.

Allow me to explain what this means for you and your business.

Why it pays to embrace the edges

Clients will eagerly hire you if your service is measurably better than the competition. The best providers are few in number. They are always in demand. This means they earn the best fees.

Other clients will buy from you if you’re cheaper than the competition. If you know how to scale your business correctly for the low price model, you can make a fortune. And many business owners have.

Some clients will eagerly hire you if your service is measurably faster than the competition. The fastest providers in some industries are always in demand. The 2 hour dry cleaner. The express delivery service. Providers like these are always busy and can charge more, because they solve a problem fast.

1. Better.
2. Lower priced.
3. Faster.

Did you notice what those 3 all have in common?

They avoid the middle ground

Most business owners choose to cling to the middle ground. They’re neither better or lower priced or faster. And as a direct result, they make it impossible to grow their business in any meaningful way.

Impossible?

Think about it: There’s nothing to motivate a prospective client to hire a middle ground provider. Nothing. They’re just average. Average and immediately forgettable. Average and unremarkable. And it’s spectacularly hard, if not impossible, to succeed in an average, forgettable, unremarkable business.

A far, far better approach

One of the first things I do when I work with a new client, is to show them how to get their business from the middle ground to the edge. Once we have done this, we have a massively more motivating proposition for their marketplace. It becomes far easier for us to market their services. Plus, because they’ve chosen an edge, my clients also attract a regular flow of referrals and recommendations.

So, they no longer struggle to attract clients or customers. Instead, they become a magnet to those who value the edge they have chosen to embrace. I recommend you do the same with your business, my friend.

Every one of us needs to intentionally decide where we position our business. I strongly recommend you embrace the edges… and avoid the overcrowded, unremarkable middle.

Tip: This will help you get it right.

There’s a remarkable opportunity right in front of you. And it’s yours for the taking.

For the taking?

Yes!

Think about it: No one gives you the initiative. You take the initiative.

This means you’re free.

• Free to encourage those around you.
• Free to offer the best customer service in your industry.
• Free to build a business that offers you the lifestyle you want.
• Free to have your name used as a byword for excellence.
• Free to become the best possible version of you.

Of course, you’re also free not to. And that’s perfectly fine. So long as you’re clear that it’s a choice. Your choice.

Because the initiative is taken, not given.

That’s got to be one of the very worst reasons to do anything in business.

Do it because it works, sure.

Do it because it generates increasing returns, absolutely.

But doing something a certain way, purely because you’ve always done it that way, makes no commercial sense.

Why?

Because although a business owner’s approach may remain static, the marketplace is changing. And the pace of change is accelerating. This means the approach you use needs to adapt, if you want it to work. Interestingly, this applies to all forms of marketing. Not just digital (internet) marketing.

For example

Here’s just one very common example. Until recently, if a service provider offered an outstanding service, that was enough to ensure they received a regular flow of referrals. They could build a valuable client base, from word of mouth recommendations alone.

Today, that’s no longer enough. Times have changed. Unless you use the correct approach, delighted clients will no longer feel inspired to tell their friends and contacts about you. If you work in any service-based profession, you’ll already know this. There are a few additional steps you need to take, to attract great referrals, which were unnecessary just a few years ago.

As a business owner, you need to be aware of changes like this. Then adapt your marketing approach accordingly.

Fear not my friend!

Here are some of my top marketing tips and ideas — yours now, for free. The information is updated regularly and will provide you with lots of workable marketing advice, most of which you can get started on today.

Kelly emailed me with a great question. I know her challenge is something many small business owners encounter, so I thought you might find it useful.

Here’s an excerpt from Kelly’s email, shared with her permission, along with my answer.

“I started my business in 2009 and though it grew for the first 4 years things have been flat ever since. […] My main problem Jim is that I know I need to grow my business but that means changing things and it feels too risky. I carry on doing what I do because the risk factor stops me doing what I need to do. Why am I self sabotaging?”

Understanding risk

Like many, (perhaps most), small business owners, Kelly fears making some of the improvements needed for success. It’s easy to see why: Improvements require change and change feels risky. So, she repeats what feels comfortable, she works hard and hopes things will improve.

The challenge with that approach, as Kelly has discovered, is that it doesn’t work. It’s limited. Extremely limited.

Here are just some common examples of what happens, when we try to avoid risk:

• We fail to get noticed. To get noticed we need to stand out, which feels risky. Riskier than simply working hard and staying in the background.
• We fail to be remembered. To be remembered, we need to do something extraordinary. The ordinary is within our comfort zone. The extraordinary is, by default, outside our comfort zone. And leaving our comfort zone feels risky.
• We fail to attract word of mouth referrals. People only remark on a business when it does something remarkable. It feels risky to deviate from the norm.
• We fail to attract the best clients and the highest fees. Offering a premium service and charging a premium fee, feels risky. Risky enough for just a tiny percentage of business owners in your industry to even try.
• We fail to deliver exceptional work for our clients. To do exceptional work, we need to risk delivering something different.
• We fail to work on the best projects. The best projects go to those who operate at the top end of their marketplace. These are the providers who are daring enough to tackle the trickiest challenges. The mavericks. Maverick work feels way, way riskier than doing average work.

When I work with a client on this challenge, I start by explaining how change is essential, if they want to grow a great business. Because no change equals no improvement. I then work out what’s blocking them and show them how to overcome it.

If you know there are things you should improve, which you’re not doing because the change feels risky, press pause!

Find out why you associate risk to the safest thing you can possibly do. Then develop a strategy for growth. That’s how you start the process of taking your business to another level. And another level…