Jim's Marketing Blog

Marketing tips and ideas to help you grow your business

Why your subscribers aren’t hiring you (and how to fix it).

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monetize subscribers, subscribers into customers, marketing

Hannah has almost 2000 newsletter subscribers. Her open rates are always over 80%.

And yet in 5 years, she’s attracted just 4 paying clients directly from her newsletter readership.

She asked me what she was doing wrong. I suggested, with her permission, that as this is a really common problem, I’d share my answer with you.

Marketing data can mislead you

We’re now able to test and measure our digital marketing with great precision. And it’s causing hard working small business owners to make very expensive marketing mistakes.

For example. Service providers like Hannah, often look at the data for their newsletter’s open rates, clicks or shares, then write certain styles of headline or content, based on what’s popular.

That seems to make sense.

Until we look at the massive difference, between what’s popular with readers… and what generates bankable income for our business.

The key point here is that readers are mostly just that. They’re readers. They read our free stuff. And that’s it. This is especially the case when you provide free business information. The vast majority of people who subscribe have no intention of spending a dime with us. They’re looking for free information. Period.

Oh yeah. It really messes with your marketing data

That’s because the free stuff crowd are also the people most likely to open newsletters and click links.

They especially love sensational headlines. They’re attracted to them because they dabble rather than hire expert help, so their businesses are constantly struggling. Over-hyped headlines give them hope that they’re one ‘killer free idea’ away from solving their latest problem.

It’s not a coincidence that none of the 4 readers who hired Hannah directly from her newsletter, had high open rates or click rates. They almost hired her in spite of being on her list. This is because our ‘prospective client readers’ behave very, very differently from the ‘free stuff readers’.

The same approach that gets opens and clicks from freebie readers, leaves our prospective clients rolling their eyes.

Allow me to explain.

Yes, our prospective clients are certainly looking for great, useful information. And that’s a fact.

The BIG difference, is that they are also looking to provide their businesses with the resources and expertise it needs. This means when they consume our newsletters, podcasts, YouTube videos, whatever, they do so with a prospective need for our services and are building a picture of us.

And unlike the freebie crowd, they’re looking for clues.

For example.

  • They’re looking to see how reliable we are over a period of time. They want to know if we regularly show up with ideas or go missing unexpectedly for long periods.
  • They’re also looking for clues as to whether we’d work well together or not.
  • They want to see if our communication style is consistently clear and easy to understand.
  • And they want to see the depth and breadth of our knowledge over a period of time.

Plus a ton of other things they pick up on, which guides their decision to hire us.

In a nutshell: Don’t chase the subscriber data that has little, if any, real-world commercial value. Focus instead on creating for your prospects.

Marketing 101: The sales multiplier tactic

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sales multiplied, marketing tips, inbound marketing

At the beginning of my marketing career, I was introduced to a very effective marketing idea. I call it the sales multiplier tactic. It’s spectacularly powerful and there are several ways YOU can benefit from it.

Here’s how it works.

The core idea is extremely simple. If you want a business that grows quickly, design your business so that when someone uses your services, they get more value from it if their contacts also use your services.

  • This was how LinkedIn grew. Early users asked their contacts and clients to join, so they could connect. TikTok did the same.
  • It’s also how every hit TV show becomes a hit. The first viewers tell their friends about it, so they can chat about the show with them or share in-jokes, which only fellow viewers would understand, etc.

However…

What if you already have a business and it doesn’t have the sales multiplier tactic built in? After all, the vast majority of business owners are in this position.

One option is to retrofit the sales multiplier tactic to your business. Retrofitting takes a little time and creativity, but it’s relatively easy.

However, there’s an easy and extremely popular alternative that any business can use.

Making the sales multiplier tactic work for your business

A highly popular alternative option, is to add it to your marketing, rather than your service.

One example is my newsletter. It works like this.

  • Someone within a company or network subscribes to my newsletter.
  • Then, they read one, which will help overcome a problem their company or network has. So, they forward it to a few other people.
  • Why? Because it’s easier for them to get their colleagues on board with an idea I mentioned, if they’re able to read it for themselves.
  • Some of those colleagues will subscribe and do the same.
  • This is how I’ve attracted many of my largest clients, as details on how to hire me are at the bottom of each newsletter.

That example only works because it’s an ad-free newsletter with useful information, not a series of special offers and sales pitches. For the sales multiplier tactic to work for you, your marketing needs to contain something helpful, interesting or informative. This holds true if you’re using it on a podcast, a YouTube channel, your social media account or anywhere else. 

Whichever route you choose, if you get it right the impact it can have on your sales results is amazing.

There’s no need to market your business in 2025

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stop marketing in 2025, better than marketing

If you dislike marketing or simply find it a frustrating waste of time and money, this is written especially for you.

Just how frustrating is marketing?

The vast majority of small business owners I’ve spoken with over the years, work hard. They put a lot of hours in, too. Yet they feel compelled to tell me that when it comes to marketing their products or services, they’re lazy.

And it’s just not true.

So, why do they think they’re being lazy about their marketing?

They regard marketing as being dull (which it is) pushy (which it is) and irritating (which it is). So, they quite understandably try to avoid it. That’s NOT being lazy.

It’s completely natural to want to avoid things that are dull and irritating. We avoid crap and marketing is a constant source of dull, irritating crap.

Let’s remember.

  • Marketing is responsible for the junk mail and spam that clogs up our inbox.
  • Marketing is behind those unsolicited telemarketing calls that interrupt us when we’re at home with our family.
  • Marketing is the reason strangers pester us in the street with flyers.
  • Marketing is responsible for the sales spam that floods social media.
  • Marketing is also responsible for pushy connection requests on LinkedIn.
  • Marketing is the cause of all those repetitive commercials that ruin every piece of media we consume.

So, how do you grow your business without marketing?

Drop marketing. Replace it with something better

If you dislike marketing and are not happy with the way your business is growing, it’s time to replace it with something better.

Something that will instinctively feel right.

Something you won’t want to avoid.

Something that’s a natural extension of the work you do.

Allow me to explain, along with a few examples.

Better than marketing

Imagine you’re walking in the park on a scorching hot day. You didn’t bring enough water and now you’re feeling really, really thirsty. It’s getting warmer. You notice your throat is now dry. Thankfully, you finally spot a sign for ice-cold drinks with an arrow pointing to a small hut. You walk over, buy a bottle of water and eagerly gulp it down. You then buy another bottle for you to enjoy on your journey home. You thank the vendor and head back.

That sign with the arrow, saying ‘ice-cold drinks’ didn’t feel like marketing.

It didn’t pester you, it didn’t bore you, it wasn’t dull and it certainly was not an unwanted interruption. It was exactly what you were looking for. And the vendor just sold a couple of bottles of water to a very happy customer.

Everyone’s happy.

Also better than marketing

I recall walking into the study to ask my wife, (Sharon) if she wanted a coffee. I quickly noticed that she was listening to an interview with a musician, whose work she loves. He was talking about his new album and the inspiration behind some of the tracks. Like thousands of other listeners, Sharon was buying the album as he spoke.

That radio interview sure didn’t feel like marketing.

Sharon had been looking forward to the interview all morning. She was listening intently and enthusiastically as the musician spoke. He wasn’t being dull and she was delighted after enjoying his interview and ordering the new album. The musician was happy having had a great interview and probably selling tons of albums. The radio show had just provided a great 30 minutes of entertainment.

Everyone’s happy.

And this is better than marketing, too

People like myself, who share our knowledge in a newsletter, on social networks, a podcast or whatever… we don’t need to market what we do. People hire us, knowing in advance what to expect. We simply make it easy to contact us and we keep being useful. It’s a joy to share useful ideas. Our audience gets some useful advice. Everyone’s happy.

And what about those amazing business owners who bake joy into the very process of doing business with them? They attract customers like moths to a flame and retain their customers for far longer. These are the happiest business owners and their customers are happy too.

Growing a business doesn’t have to be dull and uninspiring. It’s a choice. A really bad choice, but a choice nonetheless.

With this in mind, there’s an obvious way forward.

Follow your heart and follow your head

Follow your heart: If you dislike the prescriptive marketing crap that’s based around pestering, interrupting and irritating people, please stop. You won’t be very good at it and it will make you miserable.

Follow your head: If you want to thrive, you’ll need to replace bullshit marketing with something better.

The examples I’ve shared are all things that have been intentionally baked into the business. It’s the natural consequence of their day-to-day workflow. And by default, unlike traditional marketing, these are non-prescriptive. I know from the work I do on this with clients every day, that your specific mix must be developed around you, the kind of business you want and your unique personality.

That’s how to grow your business in a way that feels natural and authentic. And it’s how you create a business that thrives for you on every possible level.

Be stingy with your time but not your ideas

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share ideas, stingy time

Laura emailed me with a great question. She is a member of my newsletter community and wanted to know I find time to give so many ideas away in my newsletter, blog and on my Twitter or X account. My reply contains a really useful idea, so I decided to share it with you.

It starts with understanding that sharing useful ideas is a very different type of sharing.

  • If you own 3 bars of gold and you give 1 of them away, you are left with 2 bars of gold. Give all 3 bars away and you’re left with nothing.
  • However, if you give someone a useful idea, you still have just as many ideas as you had before. Plus, you have just enriched the other person. That person could tell others how your idea helped them. So you may also have made a new business contact or a number of new business contacts.

However, there’s something else about sharing useful ideas that’s extremely important.

Scaling your sharing

You need to choose a way to be generous with your ideas, which scales.

  • If you give an hour of your time, to share useful ideas to each of 10 individual people, you have just spent 10 hours of your time. It doesn’t scale. It’s unsustainable.
  • But if you give an hour of your time to your community every day, in a way that reaches 10 people or 10,000 people you have only invested 1 hour. Newsletters, YouTube, blogging, podcasting and social media publishing are just some of the ways you can achieve this.

Be stingy with your time

Here’s how I explain the balance required: Be stingy with your time, but not your ideas.

You have a limited number of hours available each day and you need to use them wisely. Thankfully, by scaling the way you share useful ideas with your prospective clients or customers, you can choose to give generously. You can contribute to the success of dozens, then hundreds, thousands or hundreds of thousands of your prospects. And the initial financial investment required from you, in many cases, starts at zero.

Just think about that for a moment. And if it sounds interesting, why not give it a try?

Want to regularly create great content marketing? Use these 3 tips

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If you’ve ever wondered how to regularly produce content marketing that converts prospects into clients or customers, this information is for you.

I’ve divided it into 3 core tips.

1. Is this useful?

There’s a sign on the wall in my studio. It’s a small sign, containing just 3 words: “Is this useful?”. That’s the mark I set for everything I create. Nothing gets published unless I believe you’ll find it useful. I don’t try and look clever. I don’t try and be edgy. I don’t try to shock people. I just try to be useful to you. And as long as I think you’ll find an idea or observation useful, I share it.

Many business owners are put off creating content, because they try to make it as close to perfect as possible. The thing is, your prospective clients or customers want something useful, not perfect.

Once you stop aiming for perfection you’ll find it a lot easier. You’ll also get massively better results.

2. Don’t let duff content ideas block you

If you’re anything like me, you’ll find that most of the content ideas you get are pretty average. Most of mine are terrible! But maybe 1 in 5 or 1 in 10 are good enough to be turned into a useful piece of content marketing.

The challenge is that in order to get that 1 useful idea, you need to give yourself permission to have the duff ones.

The way I overcame this, was to deliberately allow myself to think of lots of duff ideas, knowing that something useful would come from it.

So, regard your duff ideas as essential steps on the way to creating the content you need. This switches them from being disheartening, to highly motivating.

3. Your work is way better than you think

We often overestimate the ideas and the work of others and underestimate the value of our own. Here’s a great example of what I mean.

A business owner told me how she was taking some files off a computer for archiving, when she discovered an old documents folder. It contained loads of articles that were really interesting. She looked to see who wrote them and found they were all her own work, from 9 years earlier!

She didn’t publish them at the time, because she thought they weren’t good enough. It was only when she thought they were written by someone else, that she saw them for what they really were. Your work is almost certainly way, way better than you think.

So get it out there!

In short, if you’re looking to improve the quality and quantity of your content marketing, focus on being useful. See your duff ideas as necessary steps to your useful ideas. And give your content the respect it (and you) deserve.

Lists dominate content marketing. Here’s why you should use them

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lists, content marketing, power of lists

Ever wondered why so many articles, videos and newsletters are based around the idea of a numbered list? It’s because lists are extremely popular. People love them. Today, I’m going to explain why, and how, you should incorporate lists in your content marketing.

Why then are lists so popular?

Lists promise ideas. Lots of ideas. And fast!

Lists promises a number of bite-sized ideas or suggestions. And quickly. So when we see “21 Business habits of highly successful people“, we’re not expecting an in-depth examination of 21 habitual characteristics of people who have achieved business success.

No.

We’re expecting lots of ideas. And we hope that at least one of those ideas will help us in some way. If it does, it will repay the 3 or 4 minutes we invested in reading it. That’s a good return for just a few minutes of our time.

Now, I have a question for you. Does your content marketing mix contain list-based content?

If not, I suggest you give it a try. Lists are perfect for sharing, which makes them ideal if you want to expand your reach on social networks. New readers who discover your work through list content, will then get the chance to see your more detailed work. Others will follow you on the social networks, where they see your lists shared. Many of my most shared blog posts are lists.

Lists can also be very powerful, when it comes to increasing your email marketing open rates. Email marketing that has a list in the subject line, can result in significantly increased open rates.

Here’s why.

Most small business owners are not expert copywriters. As such, the subject lines they use for their email marketing tend to under perform. And poorly written subject lines result in low open rates. This means no matter how good their marketing message is, very few people will see it.

Using an average list title as the subject line of a marketing email, will always, always out perform an average, regular subject line.

Should you focus exclusively on lists?

No.

No you shouldn’t.

Seriously.

Don’t!

Allow me to explain.

True, there are YouTubers making a fortune from creating only list-based videos. And yes, there are sites that attract millions of page views, who rely very heavily on list-based content. The business model behind both of these examples is primarily advertising. If your business sells ads based on open rates, keep churning out the lists.

However, for every other kind of business, relying exclusively on lists is a bad idea. And they should be used sparingly.

For example, I could have written this article as a list.

  • It would have taken me a lot less time to write.
  • It would have been shared a lot more on social networks.
  • And the email version of the post would have been opened by a lot more people.

However, I wanted to dig a little deeper into one subject; the content marketing effectiveness of lists. I didn’t want to weaken that focus with “10 Reasons why lists dominate the internet”.

Going a deeper than a list

Sometimes, you need to offer more substance around one subject. Other times, an issue could be impacting your audience and you need to address it. And there are times when you want to share one really useful idea, which wouldn’t work if you broke it down into a list of sub-ideas.

The surface level approach that makes lists so popular, renders them ineffective for anything that requires depth.

So mix it up. But include lists as part of that mix.

In short, if you haven’t already used list-based articles, videos, podcasts episodes, posts or newsletters, give it a go.

Experiment. Test different types of list. Measure the feedback. Check the numbers, including; sales, client enquiries, open rates, social shares and new subscribers, etc.

And let the numbers be your guide.

Marketing 101: Use shorter sentences. Here’s why

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Jim Connolly marketing, write short

Here’s a quick copywriting tip, to help you improve your marketing results.

Your prospective clients prefer to read short sentences. This is especially true when explaining detailed information. For example, how your service works.

I’m not suggesting you use fewer words than required. Far from it! Use as many words per sentence as you need. Don’t remove a necessary word. Just don’t use more words than you need.

Why is that, Jim?

Over-long sentences lack impact and clarity. Those are essential elements of effective marketing. Most amateur writers tend to write over-long. Learning how to write shorter helps you avoid that mistake.

Tip: One way to shorten sentences without losing anything important, is to remove extraneous words. Look at the 2 examples below.

  • People should exercise on a regular basis.
  • People should exercise regularly.
  • We have no news at this point in time.
  • We currently have no news.

A whole story in 6 words

It’s amazing what can be achieved using fewer words. Ernest Hemingway once wrote a story in just 6 words. It’s a powerful story, too.

“For sale. Baby shoes. Never worn”.

Inspired by Hemingway’s brevity, look for opportunities to keep your sentences as short as required. Aim for clarity. Remove the fluff. And keep sentences confined to one thought.

It’s not as simple as it sounds. But if done correctly, your results will reflect the additional effort.

The content marketing your prospects want from you

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Marketing, list writing

I regularly write about the importance of creating marketing that’s useful to your prospects. So, here are some specific examples, which you can adapt and apply to your own marketing.

Let’s go.

Their needs and your products or services

Start off by thinking about the services you provide or your product range. Then, consider the following topics or ideas and how you can incorporate them into your content marketing messages.

People have an inbuilt need to feel connected: Share ideas to help your prospects connect with useful contacts. The Wall Street Journal wrote about how I achieved this for one of my clients – 4 Marketing Strategies That Paid Off For Small Companies.

People also have an inbuilt need to belong: Share the opportunity to become part of your community. Lots of content marketing fails to address this. Newsletter creators talk about their ‘list’. Podcasters and Youtubers talk about their ‘subscribers’. These are all self-focused. Instead, do as I have done and build a community.

For example, when one of my community hits reply to my newsletter, they can email me direct. And they always, always get an answer from me. No AI. No automation. Just me. I make it very clear that I’m part of the same community as you… the small business owner community. Your prospects value that kind of connection. They’re less attracted to being part of an impersonal list.

Everyone is trying to succeed at something: Share ideas to help your prospects achieve their targets, goals or dreams. Obviously, as with pretty-much every topic here, if you offer a specific product or service that can help them in this area, incorporate that into the content.

We all need to feel safe and secure: Share ideas to help your prospects reduce risk or feel safer.

Everyone wants to avoid wasting time: Share ideas to help your prospects maximize their time, or help them complete certain tasks faster, etc. I’m not a time management expert, but I’ve shared tons of ideas in this area, based on decades of running a successful business, without working crazy hours. The response is always excellent. So don’t be put off sharing from your experience.

People want to improve and expand their knowledge: Share your industry knowledge, sure. But also share your experience with them. For example, if you’re an accountant, don’t just focus on tax, profit and loss or the latest business news. They can get that anywhere. Tell them the common factors you’ve identified in successful businesses. And the ones you’ve identified in those that flounder or fail.

Your specific experience is extremely valuable. It sets you apart from all your competitors. And in doing so, you make it far easier for prospects to feel a sense of connection with you.

We also want to avoid unnecessary stress: Share ideas to help your prospects feel more relaxed and assured. If there’s a specific product or service you offer, which can assist them with this, incorporate that into the message or idea.

Aim for unmissable

Are any of those topics missing from your content marketing? If they are, look for ways to incorporate them. Because this kind of useful, relevant information is the cornerstone of successful marketing. You’ll know you have the balance right, when your content marketing is so useful that people would miss it if you stopped.

How to build trust, before a prospect even knows you

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build trust, reliable, content marketing, reliability

Today, I’d like to give you a proven way to build trust from your prospective clients or customers — before they even know you.

Here’s how it works.

When I share this idea with small business owners, I start by asking them to consider a few questions. Here’s what I ask them.

  • If you publish a newsletter, can your readers rely on you to get each edition out on time?
  • If you use social networks for business, can your contacts or followers rely on you to show up regularly with your ideas?
  • If you publish a podcast, can subscribers rely on you to publish on schedule?
  • If you are a blogger, can people rely on you to publish useful posts at least once a month?

Here’s the thing: Content marketing not only allows prospects to discover us and the services or products we provide. It’s also an extremely powerful trust building asset.

What this means for you and your business

By observing your activities, such as those I listed above, your prospects also start to build a wider picture of your business. A picture that shows how committed you are to delivering on time. A picture of your reliability.

By turning up regularly, your marketplace gets to see, for themselves, that you can be depended on. Over time, you’ll also build a strong reputation for consistency. These combine to transform your content marketing into an exceptionally valuable, trust building asset.

Go easy. Don’t overstretch yourself

The easiest way to make this work for you, is to choose just one or two content marketing activities. (I only use two myself). Then, commit to being there when you’re expected. You don’t need to be prolific. A consistent, monthly newsletter is far more effective, than a weekly newsletter, which you just don’t have the time to regularly create and send.

If you do this, then bit by bit, day by day, your prospective clients will come to rely on you.

Just think how valuable that would be for your business. Imagine a marketplace filled with prospective clients who already know you’re reliable and who already trust you. And you can achieve this, without overloading yourself with extra work.

Tip: Here’s how to make your content marketing massively more compelling.

Photo by Tony Schnagl on Pexels.com

Unleash the power of vigorous, written marketing

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vigorous written marketing, marketing copywriting, content marketing

Most of the written marketing I see is at least 75% too long. Overlong marketing lacks impact. It also lacks clarity and totally fails to motivate prospective customers or clients.

I want to help you avoid this expensive mistake.

And it starts with one of the best-known quotes on the subject.

Vigorous, written marketing

And it starts with one of the best-known quotes on the subject.

Vigorous writing is concise. A sentence should contain no unnecessary words, a paragraph no unnecessary sentences, for the same reason that a drawing should have no unnecessary lines and a machine no unnecessary parts. This requires not that the writer make all his sentences short, or that he avoid all detail and treat his subjects only in outline, but that he make every word tell.

Professor William Strunk Jr. – The Elements of Style.

The vigorous writing referred to here, is writing that is strong and full of energy. That’s the kind of writing that moves people to take action; to contact you, buy from you or hire you. It’s the kind of writing that gets the results you need.

How can you and your business benefit from the power of vigorous, written marketing?

The answer comes from understanding why the problem exists.

Google usually gets the blame

That’s because Google’s search algorithm needs overlong, written content. It prefers 2500 words to 250. So, for over 20 years, online marketing writers have been rewarded for high word counts. That’s certainly not what’s needed for vigorous, written marketing.

But Google isn’t responsible for the wider problem.

Email marketing and off-line media is just as ruined by overlong content. Neither of those formats have ever required the writer to dance the Google dance.

The problem exists because most written marketing is created by people who lack sufficient training. It’s either written by business owners who ‘dabble’ or by below-par marketing writers.

The solution?

The business owner wishing to switch to the vigorous, written marketing they need has two options.

  1. Learn how to do it effectively.
  2. Pay someone who already knows.

How to decide?

  • The cost (in time) of learning is considerable. It takes years of practice. However, you’ll start seeing improvements relatively quickly.
  • The cost of hiring an expert is lower. And it’s a lot faster.

The price you pay for starving your business of vigorous, written marketing is far higher than either of those options. So pick one of them and run with it.

Photo by Cherrydeck on Unsplash