Jim Connolly Marketing

Australian business owners topped my list

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As regular readers will know, I have long been an advocate for adopting a global approach to business. It’s not something that works for every industry, but where it’s possible, it’s exceptionally effective. That’s because it affords you greater protection against economic conditions, whilst also providing you with a wider spread of business.

I was mindful of this earlier today. I discovered what I’d already guessed: That the biggest market for my paid services in 2018 has been Australian business owners. If you’re interested, here’s the top 5.

  1. Australia.
  2. UK.
  3. Canada.
  4. Ireland
  5. New Zealand.

The United States has topped my list, every year for almost 20 years. But things change in business. And the rate of change has never been greater. Which is why as business owners, we need to adopt an agile mindset. Because what looks certain today can change in a heartbeat.

3 Fantastic opportunities

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Here are 3 fantastic opportunities, which are available to you today.

  1. The opportunity to make promises and deliver on them. Set deadlines. When you tell a client; “It will be with you at 3pm Thursday”, it has a much bigger impact than saying, “It will be with you later this week”. This is a powerful way to earn trust and build a great reputation. (More here).
  2. The opportunity to invest in others. In short, leave people better than you find them. It doesn’t have to cost you a dime. If you find an article, which you think a contact or client will find useful, share it with them. Even something as simple as a smile from you, can have a positive impact on another person. It could be the only sunshine they see today.
  3. The opportunity to learn something new (and useful). Access to knowledge has never been easier or less expensive. Here’s why this is such a great opportunity: There’s a direct link between what you know and the size of the problems you can solve. Those who earn the highest fees, solve the biggest problems.
  4. The opportunity to do more than people expect from you. Those who over-deliver are always in short supply. That’s why there are no traffic jams on the extra mile.

Opportunity is knocking. Today and every day.

16 Examples of how the most successful business owners think differently

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When we examine any industry, including yours and mine, we see something extremely valuable. And today, I’d like to share it with you.

Marketing different

It’s a pattern.

  1. Only a small percentage of business owners build a valuable community around their work.
  2. Only a small percentage of business owners look for opportunities to inspire and encourage others.
  3. Only a small percentage of business owners create a story worth sharing.
  4. Only a small percentage of business owners proactively look for big problems to solve.
  5. Only a small percentage of business owners invest enough in their education.
  6. Only a small percentage of business owners are eager to lead.
  7. Only a small percentage of business owners listen to their marketplace and build experiences around what they hear.
  8. Only a small percentage of business owners are truly committed to go the extra mile.
  9. Only a small percentage of business owners selectively choose their clients and ignore the rest.
  10. Only a small percentage of business owners are willing to make tough decisions and back them up with action.
  11. Only a small percentage of business owners refuse to surrender their focus to the never-ending stream of interruptions.
  12. Only a small percentage of business owners strive to out-care their competitors.
  13. Only a small percentage of business owners intentionally take time, every day, to look after their mind and body.
  14. Only a small percentage of business owners care enough to create or share a useful blog post, newsletter, vlog or podcast.
  15. Only a small percentage of business owners are willing to visibly stand out from their competitors.
  16. Only a small percentage of business owners are committed to do work that matters, rather than work that pays the bills.

I could go on.

That pattern matters. It matters because it’s also only a small percentage of business owners who succeed in any meaningful way.

And that’s no coincidence my friend.

The marketing impact of premium quality images

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As regular readers may have noticed, I’ve recently started using Shutterstock images in my blog posts. They reached out to me a couple of weeks ago and asked if I’d partner with them. Shutterstock has given me access to their 225 million-strong image library, in return for exposure on Jim’s Marketing Blog.

Note: If you haven’t already heard of Shutterstock, they are headquartered at The Empire State Building with an IPO value of over half a billion dollars. In short, their service lets users find and buy images, vectors, videos, and music.

What interested me, was the opportunity to test, and then share with you, if using ‘paid for’, premium images would have a positive, measurable impact on my marketing results. So, I’m going to use their images until January, then I’ll report back to you with my findings.

Previously, I’ve used images from freely available image libraries or made my own. The obvious challenge with free images, is that they are used everywhere. In theory, because premium images are less commonly used and look better, they should be more effective at capturing attention.

Some immediate feedback

There is one immediate, measurable improvement I can share with you already. And that’s speed.

It’s massively easier to find exactly the right image, when you’re searching a huge professional library, with powerful indexing. To qualify that, it has often taken me as long to find the right image for a blog post, as it took to write the post. And the image tended to be, at best, ‘okay’. With Shutterstock, it takes just a few minutes and the image is always highly professional. That’s allowed me to spend 100% of my blogging time actually writing.

It remains to be seen whether the visual impact will move the dial, from a marketing perspective. Rest assured, you’ll be the first to know my results.

Is too much choice destroying your marketing results?

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How many different levels of service or pricing options do you offer?

That’s a really important question. Because if, like many business owners you offer too many options, it’s needlessly ruining your sales results.

Allow me to explain.

Here’s what happens when we offer too much choice.

  1. The more options we put in front of someone, the more choice they have.
  2. The more choice they have, the harder it is for them to decide.
  3. The harder we make their decision process, the less likely they are to hire us or buy from us.
  4. So, they move on. And we lose a client enquiry. Ouch!

In short: Clarity sells.

Too much choice and ‘toxic complexity’

Too much choice adds what I call toxic complexity to a marketing message.

Toxic, because it causes confusion.

Complexity, because it makes our message too complicated for a prospective client to easily understand.

One of the oldest sayings in marketing is, “A confused mind always says no!”. In other words, when faced with a buying decision, a confused prospective client will not proceed. They’ll say no. And we are the ones who pay the price for their lack of clarity.

The solution?

Seek out unnecessary complexity. I recommend you look at the number of service levels, pricing options and packages you provide. Remember to take into account how many items are listed within each option or package.

Then consider whether you actually need to offer so much choice, so much complexity, so much potential for confusion. And if not, reduce. Everything that needs to be there should remain. But nothing else.

By simplifying the decision making process for your prospective clients, you make it easier for them to hire you or buy from you. And when that decision is easier, more prospective clients will become actual clients.

7 Proven ideas to help you attract more clients

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Look at the 7 ideas below. Each one represents something, which your clients and future clients are attracted to.

If you currently attract too few sales or client enquiries, you’ll almost certainly be missing one or more of the following.

  1. People love to succeed: What are you doing, to help them achieve their dreams?
  2. People love to feel secure: What are you doing, to help them avoid risk?
  3. People love to learn: What are you doing, to educate them on something important to them?
  4. People love to belong: What are you doing, to create a community for them?
  5. People love to save time: What are you doing, to help them reclaim wasted time?
  6. People love to talk: What are you doing, to give them a story worth sharing?
  7. People love to relax: What are you doing, to reduce the stress in their lives?

Are any of those areas missing from your marketing message? If they are, look for ways to incorporate them.