Marketing tips and ideas to help you grow your business
The average small business owner needs a very good reason to do something new. Yet, just a feeble excuse is more than enough to stop them from even trying.
Entrepreneurs don’t have this problem.
Entrepreneurs think differently. They make decisions based on what’s most likely to lead to progress. As a natural consequence, they create continuous forward momentum.
It’s not a coincidence that success favours the entrepreneur.
In 2017, Frankie introduced me to someone amazing. “Jim, this is Cid, that wonderful photographer I told you about”.
Cid quickly corrected him. “Jim, my name is Lisa, not Cid”.
Frankie then explained why he calls her, Cid:
“Oh, Cid is a nickname. When Lisa says she will do something, she does it. Always to a high standard. And always on time. You can Consider It Done. It’s why we only use Lisa now. So I sometimes call her Cid when introducing her to people”.
There is always a shortage of people like Lisa. People who we can totally rely on. People who we can bring a problem to, and know in advance that they will deliver. People who provide that all-important peace of mind, which we value so highly.
Every service provider would benefit massively, from investing the time and effort needed, to earn that kind of reputation.
Why?
Because it’s not difficult to take a service provider with Lisa’s attitude, develop a brand around them, and create their very own, highly profitable slice of the market. Other’s with similar levels of ability, charge 10 times less and still struggle to get hired.
Note, I shared a story earlier this year about that specific point; how someone charged over 10 times more and easily won the client’s project. You can read it here.
Whatever industry you are in, there is always an opportunity to deliver the way Lisa does. And do it consistently enough, that your reputation goes before you. Market a service like that correctly and the sky’s the limit.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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 are also aware of their weaker areas. But unlike Superman, they’re often unaware of the serious damage caused.
For example.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
I hope that helps provide you with some additional clarity, as you plan to smash your business targets.
In no particular order.
Opportunity is knocking. It’s knocking loud and it’s knocking clear.
The best part? To benefit from this spectacular opportunity you just need to be yourself.
Allow me to explain.
It starts with a statement of fact: Your opinions are exactly that. They’re yours. They’re as specific to you as your unique blend of life experiences and lessons.
Conversely, artificial intelligence doesn’t have an opinion. Everything about its knowledge base is artificial.
Instead, AI is fed with masses of data. And it’s trained by groups of AI experts. One of the primary tasks of AI trainers, is to keep their AI as neutral to everyone as possible. And in seeking not to offend anyone, AI lacks even an artificial opinion.
No person who has ever lived is neutral. Unlike AI, we not only have an opinion, we have countless opinions. This includes the opinions and feelings we have regarding the way we do business. And it impacts everything, including:
Your opinions matter. They always have. They’re what give you your unique voice in the marketplace.
I firmly believe that today, and for the forseeable future, that uniqueness is a powerrful way, maybe the most powerful way, for your business to gain your biggest ever slice of the marketplace.
How?
A growing number of your competitors are switching to AI for their voice. For example, AI tools are creating and guiding their business plans; what to do and what to avoid. Chatbot apps are handling their frontline customer service. Chatbots are also guiding or shaping (and in many cases providing) their; newsletter content, blog posts, video / podcast scripts, advertising copy and social media interactions, etc. In short, everything that prospective clients or customers use in order to judge these businesses, is bland and lifeless.
I’m suggesting that you adopt a very different aproach to AI.
The most savvy business owners I know are also using AI. But the way they use it, excludes every area of their business that carries their DNA. Their opinions and their voice remain 100% human. It’s what guides their messaging, their priorities, their values, their commitment, their customer service and their willingness to go the extra mile. Their businesses have a pulse and personality. They are extremely easy to connect with. They are easy to relate to. And on a very human level, they’re easy to trust. Because they are human. And so is their brand. Not dull and lifeless like the previous example.
Very soon, you’ll be able to stand out and get noticed, in a way that wasn’t possible before. The opportunity is knocking. But only for those who choose to take notice of it.
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 10x and often much more. Much more? Absolutely. My friend hired a photographer for a product shoot in London recently. The person he hired charged £17,000 for the shoot. The lowest quote for the same shoot, was just over £900.
2. How effectively 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.
That’s right. You get the financial reward of charging 5x, 10x, 20x… or whatever. Plus you’re also attracting more clients. These combine and compound. The results are transformational.
The best part?
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 their results. So, refuse to settle for less than you deserve. Increase your value and then market it effectively.
You’ll never meet a married bachelor. You’ll never find a 3-sided square. And you’ll never build the right kind of business, with the wrong kind of people.
The solution seems simple. Decide exactly who the right kind of people are for your business. And then intentionally hire, and market to, the right people.
The tricky part? Saying no to the wrong kind of people!
That’s why the best time to hire someone is before you desperately need a position filled. And the best time to choose a new client, is before you desperately need a new client.
It’s that easy.
It’s also that difficult.
Either way, it’s absolutely essential.
As you start the second quarter of 2023, I have a suggestion you might find really useful. Why not connect with some people?
For example.
Your list of people will be different from the one above. And your list will change, as your situation changes.
For example, my wife is an author. Her list changes radically, when she gets the publication date of her next book. It changes again, when the publicity for that book starts. And again, when she starts research on a new book.
The key thing is to set time aside when required, to focus on the people who could help you, and those who you might be able to help.
As you know, there are people out there who rely on you for various things; both in business and life in general. You’re on their lists, even if they don’t have written lists. The myth of the self-made success is exactly that… a myth. None of us can do it all by ourselves.
So get connected. And prosper.
It doesn’t matter what brand of laptop or phone you work with. Leonardo da Vinci used a quill and parchment. Einstein used a pen and paper, plus a chalkboard.
It doesn’t matter how motivated you feel. You don’t wait for inspiration to appear. You command it to appear.
It doesn’t matter what negative or peevish people tell you. Great ideas are not anointed!
It doesn’t matter if others can’t see your vision. Steve Ballmer famously laughed on camera, when interviewed about Apple’s first iPhone. He said no businessperson would use a phone that didn’t have a hardware keyboard.
What matters, really matters, is that you get started.
This means taking the first step, despite being fearful, tired or nervous… rather than waiting for that mythical perfect time to arrive.
Sometimes we are our own worst enemy.
Unconsciously, we develop stalling tactics and end up standing in our own way. We need to identify the things that cause us to stall, and call them out for what they are (excuses). When we do, we’re free to get started.
Free to unleash our full potential.
There’s an old saying that tells us, let your past make you better, not bitter.
Business owners should use a revised version of that saying, let your competitors make you better, not bitter.
I’ve worked with thousands of business owners over the years and noticed a strong tendency, for them to drastically underestimate their competitors. This then creates bitterness, especially toward the most successful of their competitors. It seems totally unfair.
I get to see both sides. And there’s always a reason why one business is ahead of the pack.
The most useful place to look when our business is struggling against competitors, is the mirror. We’re either failing to market our business as effectively as they are, (or / and) we’re offering a less valuable service. This means we either need to improve our marketing, or we need to improve what we do. Preferably both.
It isn’t luck.
It isn’t magic.
It is fair.
And it produces predictable results. Every. Single. Time. But only if we care enough to do it correctly.
Today, I’m going to give you an unfair advantage over your competitors.
I was just 29 years old when I started my first business. So I made darn sure to seek out as much advice and as many tips as possible, from those with lots more experience. That’s when I discovered what I’m about to share with you.
It’s so effective, I’ve used it with great success ever since!
It came from my first accountant, back in the 1990’s. He suggested I work 1-hour a day longer, than the average for my profession. This is what he himself did, and it gave him what he called “an unfair advantage” over his competitors.
I did as he suggested and the results were amazing.
Here’s how it works, in just 3 steps.
The positive impact on my results came fast and were easy to measure.
But that’s not all.
Yes, it genuinely helped me get a lot more done. But it helped in another way, too.
By knowing I was working while my counterparts were not, it provided me with an instant, mental advantage. It made me feel that I was more committed, more motivated and more driven than them. This may not have been true, but the inspiration it gave me, and still gives me today, is absolutely true.
If you’re in a tight spot right now or just want to give your business a sustainable, measurable lift, I strongly recommend you give yourself this unfair advantage!
Marketing tactics and strategies seldom fail overnight.
Instead, they become a little less effective over time. The decrease in effectiveness is usually so gradual that for weeks, often longer, you hardly even notice it. Then you look at your sales leads, your upcoming sales meetings and your sales figures and the reality of the situation kicks in.
Your marketing is no longer effective and you’re about to feel some real pain, unless you resolve things.
One guy went 5 months without a sales lead, before he contacted me. He said, and I believe him, that he hoped it was just a long blip, and that things would pick up ‘next week’. It was only after his bank refused to increase his lending that he reached out for help.
That months-long period is how marketing problems usually manifest themselves. There’s a slow, very gradual decline in results. Then suddenly the numbers punch you in the face. It’s at this point, where most business owners will take action.
Here’s what I see regularly, with new clients. They have been keeping an eye on their marketing and the results generated. They then paid extra attention as soon as they saw a negative pattern emerging. The moment they believed there was a bigger problem ahead, they contacted me.
So, why do most small business owners hesitate?
There are a number of reasons behind the decision of some business owners, to wait longer than others, before proactively taking control of their problem.
Here are the reasons I hear most commonly from new clients.
It boils down to different circumstances and different attitudes.
Whatever your current situation or mindset, marketing problems are easier and faster to resolve, the sooner you get started. Because the moment you start doing the right things correctly, you change the direction of your business.
One of the best things about owning a business or directing the path of a company, is that you have the freedom to adapt and improve as things change. With this in mind, I’d like to share an idea, more of an opportunity really, with you. Something you may not have considered before.
It’s all about which segment of the market you should serve and how to get your prices or fees right.
Long before the current economic turmoil. Before the pandemic. In fact, for decades now, here’s what we have seen.
High priced, quality brands are doing really well.
Low priced, budget brands are doing really well, too.
The average priced, average brands are struggling.
Yes, those are general observations. But the core message is loud and clear. It’s a lot harder to sell an average priced, average positioned product or service. Average prices (or fees) are too expensive for those with limited budgets. Average prices are of no interest whatsoever to those who demand the best possible products or an exclusive, premium service.
Why then, is the middle ground where the great majority of businesses land?
Obviously, most new businesses set their prices where they feel they have the best chance of making sales or attracting clients. In my experience, they’ll start off a little higher or a little lower than whatever the average is. By default, this means most businesses begin life within the average price range. And that’s where most of them will remain, adjusting prices roughly in keeping with their similarly priced competitors.
If you’re currently serving that highly competitive middle ground, and you’re finding it hard to thrive, I’d like you to consider leaving it. (I wrote this helpful piece about how to leave the middle ground that you may find useful).
I’d like you to think about one of the following alternatives.
By the way, there are huge opportunities at the budget end of things, if you get the balance right.
Poundland, a budget retailer in the UK, generated revenues of over $1.5Billion when its most recent figures were announced. Similarly, service providers who are able to put robust, highly optimized systems in place, can make a fortune whilst charging significantly lower fees for their services. I’ve seen this low-fee model work extremely effectively, many, many times.
So, should everyone reading this reposition away from the middle ground?
No. It totally depends on your answer to the following question.
Over the past 25 years, I’ve found that business owners tend to naturally gravitate toward the middle ground and average pricing. Very few of them intentionally set out to be there. It just happens. The reasons are many and varied.
My suggestion is that it’s a good idea to consider your options. All of them. Is the segment of the market you find yourself serving today, taking you where you want to be in the next 5 or 10 years?
In short, make sure you intentionally choose where you set your prices or fees. Determine what part of the market you are most likely to succeed in. Many business owners ‘happen upon’ the right segment, others happen to get it wrong. We need to be smarter than that and deliberately decide for ourselves.
Unsure why you’re attracting too few sales or too few clients? It could be down to false assumptions. Allow me to explain.
I’m sure you’ve heard the old saying, ‘if the words don’t add up, it’s usually because truth wasn’t part of the equation’. Here’s my marketing equivalent, ‘if the numbers don’t add up, it’s usually because truth wasn’t part of the equation’.
In other words, when your sales numbers don’t add up the way you expect, it’s usually because false information entered the equation. False information, rooted in a false assumption, to be precise.
Here’s a very common example of what I mean.
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 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. Less effective 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.
Imagine the following scenario.
A small business owner urgently needs more sales or more 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 / client acquisition tactics. As a result, they get leads, maybe lots of leads, but few additional sales or new clients. In short, they got what they went for, leads, but they went for the wrong thing. They should have focused on bankable results.
For those who don’t know, in most cases you can attract clients or customers massively faster without spending time or money on lead acquisition or advertising. Only after direct, faster options have been deployed would I consider lead generation.
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.
All accountants, designers, lawyers, training providers and marketing agencies are not the same. But to look at their marketing, you’d think they were. Of course, this is true of service providers in every industry and profession.
For a moment, put yourself in the shoes of a prospective client, eagerly looking for a service provider in your industry. Currently, they’ll find themselves faced with what looks like an ocean of very similar businesses.
I want you to imagine that a serious competing provider turns up. A provider that’s differentiating themselves in a valuable, meaningful way. They stand out for all the right reasons. And huge change is coming.
Here’s what it looks like every single time this happens.
Faced with this possibility, you have a couple of options.
Yes, I recommend option 2.
And I recommend you take it sooner rather than later. Opportunities like this come with a use-by date.
A key factor behind great decision making, is to make sure you are working with accurate information.
In a marketing context:
You get the idea.
In short, never make a decision without first knowing the facts. Make accurate information the foundation of all your decision making.