Jim's Marketing Blog

Marketing tips and ideas to help you grow your business

Blogging Tip: Making time for a commercially successful blog

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This post has some valuable information, for those of you either starting a commercial blog or thinking of taking their existing blog more seriously. It’s about understanding the time investment required, if you want to build a commercially successful blog.

Blogging time

A common misconception regarding blogging, is that the time investment required to build a successful blog, is primarily the time it takes to write posts. Whilst at the very beginning, the time it takes to write your posts accounts for a big chunk of your blogging time, once your blog gets established, the time you spend writing the posts becomes a smaller and smaller percentage. Currently, just 20% of my blogging time is spent writing posts. The majority of my time is spent looking after the elements that come into play, when thousands of people read your content every day and your work becomes highly visible.

That’s what I want to share with you in this post.

A wonderful challenge

It’s a wonderful challenge to have, but one that is seldom discussed. The thing is, if you are thinking of either starting your own commercial blog or you are about to start taking your existing blog seriously, you need to know the kind of time commitment required once your blog takes off.  In the case of this blog, it’s a few hours a day now.

When I started Jim’s Marketing Blog, almost 4 years ago, I would invest around 30 minutes writing a post and then an hour a day marketing that post and the blog itself. I would get to know the people who commented here, connecting with them on Twitter and (back then) Friendfeed. It was fun, enjoyable work, but there was a time investment required, which I knew I needed to make if I wanted the blog to progress.

Fast forward 4 years and I still do all of that, though I now use Google+ (a LOT), Twitter and Facebook. However, today I ALSO invest around 2 hours on other blog related activities.

Blog related activities?

As your readership builds and your blog ranks well for lots of popular search terms, you will attract lots more attention. This includes:

  • Sales pitches: Anyone Googling the words ‘marketing blogs’ will find my blog on page 1, so, when they want someone to pitch a marketing related product to, they always find me.
  • Guest bloggers: I also get emails daily from people asking if I will let them ‘guest blog’ here. Because none of them do any research, they are unaware it’s a self-authored blog, so email me anyway.
  • Reader questions: I get lots of emails every day from readers, with often extremely complex marketing related problems. Whilst I am unable to offer them individual support, I do reply to every reader email.
  • Advertiser emails: Because of the blog’s position on Google, I get emails all the time from people who want to advertise here.
  • PR spam: PR firms insist on adding me to their lists, without consent, when sending out their client’s press releases, even though I have never published a press release here. PR spam is easily the biggest source of unwanted email I encounter, with 30/40 emails a day.

N.B: Yes, I know it would be a lot easier for me to just hit delete on every email or have filters set up to try and catch the pitches, PR spam and link requests, but it would mean many genuine, reader emails being lost and I am not prepared to do that.

All in all, I would say that actually writing blog posts is now less than 20% of the time I currently invest in this blog and activities directly related to it.

And in return?

The rewards are many and huge!

If you have the time or can make the time, to handle the feedback created by a successful blog, the pay-off is amazing. Make no mistake, starting this blog was easily the most valuable business decision I ever made and has repaid me many, many times over for what I have invested into it. The benefits of blogging can be stunning, if you manage to develop a large, targeted reader community:

  • Most important for me is the opportunity to connect with, work with and meet amazing people. The readers of this blog are my biggest commercial asset. I feel like I know many of those who comment here and must have spoken to a couple of hundred of you so far. It’s a true reader community and invaluable to me.
  • You can contribute to others, in a way that helps hundreds of thousands of other people every year. It’s impossible to overstate the value of this, for those of us who are committed to serving others.
  • You can build a very enjoyable, 6 figure business from it, as I did here. If affiliate products or software sales are your thing, look at what Brian Clark did with copyblogger, launching several, million dollar businesses off his blog. It just requires skill, time and a LOT of work!
  • You will attract countless opportunities for you and your business, as your reach and influence increases.
  • You will also get a massive amount of enjoyment from it.

In short: If you are serious about developing your blog into a massively valuable asset, make sure that you have processes in place, for what happens as your blog takes off.

What everybody ought to know about words

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Words have an amazing influence on us and the people around us. The right words can open doors for us. The wrong words can see those same doors slammed in our face. Some words make us feel inspired and energized, others make us want to give up and sulk in a corner.

Some years ago, I told a friend that I was nervous about a job interview I had lined up for that afternoon. He offered me some advice. He said rather than say I was nervous about it, I should tell myself I was excited about it. I asked what difference it would make. He then told me to try it. I immediately discovered that changing just one word, transformed me from feeling apprehensive about the interview, to looking forward to it.

How careful are you, regarding the words you use?

  • In your marketing: Do you offer ‘strategic implementation’ or ‘help people blow the lid of their potential and achieve breakthrough results’?
  • In your conversations with prospective clients: Do you speak in a monotone voice, which suggests you have not slept well, or do you use your voice as an instrument, to engage the other person and share how passionate you are about helping them?
  • In your conversations with yourself: Do you use words that empower you and cause you to move forward (excited), or words that work against you (nervous)?

Most small business owners inject little, if any, passion or energy into their written or spoken words. They phone it in. They talk about ‘strategic implementation’ and ‘client focused solutions‘, as if they were reading from some lame 1990’s glossy brochure. Their story is dull.

In short: Take some time to review the words you use and the way you use them. Look for opportunities to replace negative words, with positive words. Inject passion and energy into your conversations, when appropriate. The results can be amazing!

Are you playing hard to get OR playing to win?

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I have a valuable question for you today: Are you playing hard to get with your prospective clients?

No, I’m not talking about hard to get in the same way you did when you were a kid with a crush on someone.  I’m talking about making it hard for the marketplace to ‘get’ what you and your business is all about.

Clarity works

One of the oldest sayings in marketing is; a confused mind always says, “no!”

The logic behind this is sound.  It tells us that when we ask someone to make a purchasing decision, if they are confused about what the offer is, they will opt to stay as they are and maintain the status quo.  Clarity has the opposite effect.  Clarity makes decisions easier and when combined with a powerful marketing message, can massively increase the quantity and quality of your sales leads, as well as sales.

Service providers:  Make it easy for people to see why they need to hire you, rather than hire one of your competitors or hire no one.  Strip all the unnecessary fluff from your marketing copywriting.  Cut to the chase.  Make every word count.

Product providers:  Make it easy for people to see what the direct benefit to them is, of using your product rather than buying an alternative or buying nothing.  As with the service providers, remove the surplus from your marketing messages and focus on what’s in it for them.

In short: A confused mind always says, no.  So, look through your marketing and ensure that there’s nothing, which is likely to lead to unnecessary confusion.  This one step can have a huge, positive impact on the success of your marketing and the development of your business.

Should bloggers delete comments that disagree with them?

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I was prompted to write this post, after 2 people recently thanked me for publishing their blog comments. They assumed that as their comments disagreed with me, they would be deleted. I am hearing this more and more often, hence the reason I want to bring this out into the open.

Here’s the problem: It seems some well-known blogs refuse to publish comments, if they take an opposing view to the points made in the blog post. Unless a comment is neutral, complimentary or has an argument that can be easily shot down in flames, it’s banned from being published.

Removing critical blog comments

What amazed me, was that in each case these people say they had left comments that were not offensive, but were removed simply because they made a solid argument that was opposed to the view, expressed by the blogger. In my opinion, it shows a total lack of respect (and self-confidence) on the part of the blogger, if they refuse to allow anyone to disagree with them! I believe the blogger also loses a useful learning opportunity, as banning such comments eliminates the opportunity to scrutinize their point more thoroughly.

Note: Here’s how Mark Zuckerberg used criticism, to improve Facebook.

One of the benefits of a blog is that it is designed for communication, rather than broadcasting. Communication needs to be 2 way or multi-way, which means giving people the right to question you, as well as compliment you or agree. Blog comments allow that to happen, if we let them.

Blog comment policy

Now, I do have a commenting policy on this blog, which is designed to eliminate comment spam and stop people from using this site as a platform for abusing others. You can read it here and you are also very welcome to copy it and use it on your own blog too. However, I warmly welcome you to contribute to anything I write here, if you have something you want to share. That includes expressing a different point of view to mine (so long as we agree my point is always right, of course! ;) )

Yes, your blog is your own property and you can do whatever you want to with it. However, when you decide to ban people from expressing a different point of view from your own, the word soon gets around. Bloggers don’t need a reputation like that!

Yes, plumbers DO GET Plumber’s Block!

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It’s common for people to quote urban myths, as if they were facts; especially if the myth seems to make sense.

One popular myth, spread by super smart Seth Godin among other highly respected authors, seems to make it’s way into most intelligent discussions about Writer’s Block.  It goes like this:

Well, you don’t hear about plumbers getting Plumber’s Block, do you?  They just get up every day and do it!

Plumbers DO get Plumber’s Block

Thanks to a recent series of water related challenges, I’ve met with 2 plumbers in the past week.  I have always known the Plumber’s Block argument to be bogus, so I took the opportunity to ask both of them, if they ever got Plumber’s Block.  I defined Plumber’s Block as a feeling that they simply can not do a plumbing related task, because they don’t know where to start or their brain can’t focus.

Both said YES!

It seems that (at least some) plumbers do occasionally get Plumber’s Block, particularly when faced with a complex, unique plumbing challenge.  Both plumbers said they sometimes experienced what people from every profession do, when trying to solve a puzzle (including writers.)

They hit a mental block!

They explained that there are elements of their job, which they can do almost on auto-pilot, because they require zero creativity and they have repeated the exact same task thousands of times.  This is the equivalent of a writer, writing their name and address.  Writer’s don’t get Writer’s Block when it comes to auto-pilot writing, such as writing their address, just as Plumbers don’t get Plumber’s Block when doing one of their automated processes.

However, both writers and plumbers (and everyone else) occasionally hit a block when working on something unique, which requires creativity.

So, the next time you hear someone quoting the fact that plumbers don’t get Plumber’s Block, explain that everyone occasionally hits a block, when doing something unique or creative.  To suggest otherwise might make for a good sound-bite, but it’s based on bullshit.

The big secret behind successful blogs

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blogging tips, blogs, content marketing

One of the most common questions people ask me, is: “What laptop / notebook is best for blogging?”  As I get asked this so often, I decided to answer it here AND share the big secret behind this blog with you.

First things first:

  • Using Rafael Nadal’s tennis racket will not make you a Grand Slam winner.
  • Using a top of the range MacBook Pro, probably won’t improve your blogging.

That’s because those items are simply tools.  They are beautifully designed tools, but tools nonetheless.  It’s what we do with them, which counts.

I fully understand the value of using great tools.  However, when I write a blog post using my Mac, Samsung or Dell, the reader can’t tell the difference.  Similarly, if Seth Godin wrote his posts using a 5 year old Toshiba laptop, he’d still be successful.

Here’s my secret blogging sauce!

If you really want to massively increase the value of your blog, (and your business too) you need to embrace your inner freak!  THAT’S what makes the difference.

Who are you?

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As far as the marketplace is concerned, who are you?

I mean, if I were to read the information about you on your website, blog and social networks, what would I know about you?  Typically, people share very little of their uniqueness and instead, use generic drivel to describe who they are and what their business is all about.  They lack the kind of narrative that inspires people, then wonder why prospective clients aren’t motivated enough to contact them!

As your prospective client, I need you to show some passion.  Some energy.  Some creativity.  I need you to tell me what sets you apart from the thousands of others in your industry.  If you can’t do that, you will really struggle to attract clients; let alone high quality clients.

Keeping it human

Take a look at the areas of your marketing, where you describe who you are and what your business does.  Remove any references to “providing client focused solutions” or “strategic implementation.”  Talk to people like humans and tell them what value YOU and YOUR business bring, in real, quantifiable terms.

You see, if you don’t give people enough information about you and your business, you will have no outsiders.  That may sound like a good thing, until you realise that you can’t have insiders, without outsiders.  These insiders are the ones you need, in order to grow your business.  (NB: I wrote all about this in detail, in this post.)

In short: The less you sound like everyone else, the easier you will find it to capture the marketplace’s attention and earn their custom.

What leaves your kitchen?

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One of the characteristics of the very best Permission Marketing, is that the message is so valuable to you that you would miss it, if it stopped.

I encountered a superb example of this yesterday, when I noticed myself checking a couple of my favourite a number of times, to see if a new post had been published yet.  For the 3rd day running there were no updates and that mattered to me.  I missed it.  My day was less, because their contribution was missing.

THAT is the way you want people to feel about your blog posts, newsletters and social media updates.  Not as an intrusion, but as a welcomed experience.  BTW: It was an RSS issue and I grabbed all the missing posts, later.

What leaves your kitchen is what matters

A great chef knows that nothing should leave their kitchen, unless it is worthy of them.  In marketing, we need to apply a similar screening process before we press the send or publish button.  We need to think if what we are about to share is likely to add value to those who receive it or not.

If we get that balance right, when we offer our audience a business proposition, they will listen.  We will have earned their valuable attention.

This contribution focused approach is a world away from pestering people with sales pitches.  It’s all about engaging with your marketplace by being seen as a source of value.  Pestering people with sales messages, on the other hand, simply trains them to ignore you!

Bloggers: How to write something interesting every day!

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blogging

If you would like to learn the secret behind those amazing bloggers, who somehow manage to publish interesting content every day, here it is!

Drum roll please…

They have simply figured out that writing is a lot like talking and that talking is easy.  Everyone says something every day that is interesting, to people in their niche.  Prolific bloggers simply write those thoughts down and publish them.

So, unless people tend to fall asleep when you speak with them about your subject, you already have all the content you need.

Some wonderful ideas never become blog posts

A common example of this can be seen when you look at the great comments on social networks, blogs and forums, from people who seldom update their own blogs.  I get comments here often, where the commenter shares an idea or insight, which is as good (sometimes better) than my original post.  I then check their blog out and find it’s had nothing added to it in weeks or months.  They clearly don’t lack ideas for content, they simply choose not to share them as blog posts.

If people listen with interest when you speak, they will read with interest when you write; especially if you just be yourself.

But first, you need to get your ideas out there and in my experience, blogging is the finest possible way to do that.

So, what’s holding you back?

How to build a valuable client list and a more profitable business

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The way to build a great client list, is to feed your business with high quality leads, from your ideal profile of client.

It’s actually pretty simple to see how targeted your marketing has been up until now.  You just need to take a look at the quality and volume of the leads or inquiries your marketing generates.  If you tend to attract:

  • Leads from people who are fee sensitive
  • Leads from people, who you know will be a nightmare to work with
  • Too few leads

…then your marketing is clearly not effectively targeting the right people with the correct message.  You need to fix that quickly!

The quality of your client base will have a direct impact on the quality of your business and also your quality of life.  Because my marketing is targeted, I already know you are a small business owner and that you often work long hours too.  Working long hours on projects for low quality clients is stressful, unrewarding and frustrating.  You deserve better than that!

So, get specific

One of the first things I do when I start working with a new client, is to determine what their ideal client looks like.  From that point onward, everything we do is designed to attract these high quality, prospective clients.  By using marketing, which I design to be directly relevant to these extremely valuable people, my clients are able to redesign their client list and their business.  This has a positive impact on every element of their business and their quality of life.  It’s rewarding, fun and very profitable for them.

I suggest you do the same.  Get specific.  Understand that for your marketing to work, it needs to be directly relevant ONLY to your ideal profile of client. This is what makes it powerful enough to inspire people to take action and contact you. Your marketing can only be that compelling, when you speak directly to the right people, with the correct message.

If you would like me to help you, let me know.

How to become a prolific writer

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content marketing

Do you ever suffer from writer’s block?  If you do, this post is just for you!

I received a note from a reader today.  He said how impressed he was that I managed to have a series of posts ready to be published whilst I was away last week.  He went on to say he’d love to be able to write as much valuable content as me, one day.

Many people seem to be waiting for some magical flash of inspiration to strike them, before they will start to write.  In my experience, you get a lot further, a lot faster, if you decide not to wait for inspiration to strike, but to proactively seek it out.

Writer’s block and bricklaying

My late father was a bricklayer and never once suffered from bricklayer’s block.  However, if he spent a while away from laying bricks, when he returned to work his back and shoulders used to ache and he found it harder.  You may have experienced something similar, if you start exercising again after a week (or 3) away from the gym; everything aches!  Interestingly, something similar happens when you write.  If you write regularly, it becomes easy.  If you write infrequently, it’s a lot harder.

I use a similar approach to writing as my dad used for laying bricks and have never had any issue with writer’s block.  I get to work at a set time every day (before my family wakes up is best for me) and lay one word down at a time, like my dad did with bricks, until I have the piece written.  I don’t wait until I feel like it, in fact, I’m not even sure how it’s supposed to feel!

Writer’s block and perfection

Many people tell me they have a perfectionist mindset, which means everything has to be perfect before they can write and that the actual writing itself has to be perfect too.  The challenge with perfectionist writers is that they seldom get started, because perfection is in very short supply.  I strongly suggest you drop the perfectionist mindset when you write, as it is both high-pressure and low output.

I decided a long time ago, to give myself permission to write imperfectly.  I am happy to say that I have stuck by this and have never written a perfect piece of work in my life.  I have, however, developed one of the most popular blogs in my niche and helped clients to make millions in sales, from copy I have written for them.

Something that helped me massively, was this quote from Ernest Hemingway:

For a long time now I have tried simply to write the best I can.  Sometimes I have good luck and write better than I can.

In short: Get started, write often and give it your best shot!

Photo: Wiertz Sébastien

The secret to long term business success

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Today’s post is all about something that’s even more valuable to your business than overnight success!

In an age where people expect instant results, the value and importance of developing a long term relationship with your marketplace is often overlooked.

The thing is, business is all about people and people place enormous value in those who consistently demonstrate their expertise over a prolonged period of time.  I was prompted to pull the post I had originally planned for today and write this one for you, after a comment that was left here yesterday by Sue Davis.  Sue is a long time reader and as you will see, there is real value in developing this kind of long-term relationship with your marketplace.

Here’s the comment in full, republished with Sue’s permission.  I have highlighted the areas I shall be focusing on:

I have just had proof of your expertise!  I wanted to find something on social media sharing for a course I am writing and almost by default came to your site because I knew you would be doing it right.

Before I got to the bit I wanted I was reading one of your posts, followed a text link and found myself buying your Audio program.  The copy was so well written I jumped into your sales conversion funnel and popped out with something I wasn’t even looking for.

I rarely buy programs of any sort.  I did because over the past few years you have sent a lot of sense into my email box so I trust you.  It’s one of the few blogs I like to read instead of skim.  This has built trust and is proof positive that everything you have been saying is true.  Of course you knew that already!

Turning up with value, regularly, over time

If you take a look at Sue’s comment, it demonstrates one of the cornerstones of successful content marketing: To show your prospective clients your expertise, by regularly reaching them with valuable content, over a prolonged period of time.

The trust that Sue mentioned is an essential element in any great relationship and in this instance, I earned Sue’s trust by becoming a regular, valued part of her working week.  Equally, I regularly receive emails about my services, from people who tell me they feel like they already know me, because of the relationship I have formed with them via the ongoing content I share here.

The bottom line:  Overnight success may grab the headlines, but the most valuable business relationships are those you form with your marketplace, by earning their trust, over time.

Blogging: Seth Godin and I are doing it wrong!

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blogging, blog tips, content marketing

According to just about every blogging expert out there, I’m doing it all wrong.  But that’s fine with me.  Apparently, Seth Godin is doing it all wrong too.  It turns out that when it comes to blogging, Seth and I are as clueless as our heads are hairless.

What I discovered whilst ruining this blog

Although I’m doing it all wrong, here’s what I’ve discovered; whilst building a daily readership of thousands and making a six figure income from this blog:

  • Your blog posts do not need to be lengthy.
  • You don’t need to use video on your blog.
  • You don’t need to offer a “weekly round-up” of your posts every weekend.  It’s perfectly fine to write something original or post nothing at all.
  • You don’t need to review every piece of crap that’s sent to you.
  • You don’t need to be an associated blogger.  It’s fine to be independent; plus you look less like a sheep when you are not part of a flock.
  • Your posts do not need to be Search Engine Optimized every time or even most of the time.
  • You don’t need a complicated commenting policy or special commenting software.  Seth doesn’t even have comments.
  • You don’t need to spend a fortune on blog design.
  • You don’t need to write a newsletter, just because other bloggers do. (In fact, it’s best NOT to do anything, just because other bloggers do.)
  • You don’t need to use SEO software, to help you write your posts.
  • You do not need to use guest bloggers.
  • You don’t need to drop the F bomb or be deliberately confrontational, in order to stand out.
  • You DO need to find out what works for you, based on what you want to achieve; then do it YOUR way.

Tip: It’s probably NOT going to help you, if you follow the pack.  If your current approach to blogging isn’t working, dump it and consider breaking a few rules.

Me?  I’m going to look for more and more rules to break and more ways to do it wrong.

Why?  Because each time I do, something wonderful happens.

How to kill your business!

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business development topics r

A key factor in every failing business I have ever studied, is that the business owner dabbles.

Rather than get the professional help they need, they decide to crush their chances of success, by dabbling with their marketing.

Some common examples include:

  • People dabble with promotional offers: They make unattractive offers, to the wrong people, at the wrong time, using the wrong message and the wrong medium.
  • People dabble with social networking: They set up accounts, usually on too many social networks and then copy what they see other people doing.  They spread themselves too thinly and have no effective strategy.  As a result, they miss all the great opportunities.
  • People dabble with blogging: They set up a blog, with no clear idea of what they want to achieve.  They then fill their blog with “me too” posts (posts that simply repeat what millions of other people are saying) and then quit after a few months, because (it) didn’t work.
  • People dabble with email marketing: They buy a list or add people to a list (without their consent), and email them sales messages.  They waste months angering people with unwanted email, that the recipients never requested, and wonder why it didn’t work.
  • People dabble with advertising: They place the wrong message, in the wrong area of the wrong publication, at the wrong time.  They use the wrong typography, the wrong call to action and then proclaim; “advertising doesn’t work!”
  • People dabble with mail shots: They send a marketing letter, written usually by themselves rather than a copywriter (to save money), to a list they bought or built from contact data they found.  The mixture of amateur copywriting, bad targeting and no compelling reason for the reader to do anything, makes this a total waste of time.

Then there are enlightened small business owners

These business owners decide to build a successful business, so they invest in the professional marketing help they need.  They do the right things correctly and enjoy the rewards.

They have figured out that in the most challenging economy in living memory, the dabblers are simply dabbling their way out of business.

How to never sell on price again!

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Today, I want to show you how to never sell your products based on price again!

Price sensitivity

If you find people are price sensitive, there’s always a reason.

If your product appears to be similar to competing products, yet you are charging more for it, people will think your product is too expensive.  All things being equal, people go for the best (lowest) price because it’s all that they have left, to determine whether they are getting value for money or not.  If you want to move away from competing on price, you need to provide something different and of greater value to your target customer.

Now, if your product already offers a real, unique advantage over your competitors products, and people can’t see all that great value, you need to focus on how to get your message across powerfully in your marketing.  However, that’s not what today’s brief post is about!

In most cases, the price sensitivity problem persists because there is just not enough differentiation between what you provide and what is available elsewhere.  That’s what I’m going to focus on here.

The need for differentiation

For 16 years, I have been telling business owners to differentiate their products (and services), so they don’t have to sell based on price.

For 16 years they have asked me, “how?”

It’s obviously impossible to give you a global answer, on how you can be different enough to rise above your competitors.  Of course, if there was a global answer, everyone would use it and thus it couldn’t work as everyone would look the same!  The whole point about differentiation, is that it has to be different.

So, here are a few ideas for you, based on successful differentiation tactics that business owners have used with great success, to avoid having to sell based on price.  See if any of these help you get your creative juices flowing!

  • The product is a numbered, limited edition.
  • The product is signed by it’s creator.
  • The product is recommended to the prospective customer, by someone they respect or admire.
  • The product weighs 50% less than competing products.
  • The product is made from 100% renewable sources.
  • The product is bright orange, when competing products are only available in black or white.
  • The product is offered with a lifetime replacement guarantee.
  • The product is used as a way to show your membership of a community.  An example of this is the iPhone community, where ownership of an iPhone places you in their “tribe.”

The more valuable your differentiation is, the less people will make price an issue.  It’s genuinely challenging work to come up with something that makes your product uniquely valuable, but if you are prepared to do the hard work, you can own a very profitable chunk of your marketplace.

Proof: Why your marketing needs to prove itself!

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Proof matters. It matters because the gap created by a lack of proof, is usually filled with doubt.  In business, you really don’t need people doubting you or your message.

Why proof matters in marketing

People typically want to believe you, but they like to have proof as a way to justify their belief.  These days it’s usually pretty easy to provide that proof, particularly online.  If you get a mention in a national or regional newspaper, there’s usually a link you can provide, to show your coverage.

For example, I provide a lot of proof on the about page on this blog. I include 5 different links to mentions of me that appear in The New York Times.  There’s also a link to the website of my friend and former client; Grammy Award winning producer, Bruce Elliott-Smith, as well as my current AdAge Power150 listing etc.  I use the links to help provide proof to new readers and prospective clients, that my narrative is genuine.

The problem with proof

Today, if you get mentioned in just about any regional or national newspaper / magazine, you can provide readers with a link to it on that publication’s website.  However, most of the mentions of you from 8 or more years ago in the press, are probably gone without trace. You may have a hard copy of the article that says how great you are, but nothing you can link to, which shows it on the newspaper’s own website.  Equally, appearances you made on TV or great radio guest spots from back then, are also hard to prove.

The challenge here is that in the age of click-able proof, many people expect proof to be available on the website of the newspaper, magazine, radio station or TV station etc.  Not simply on your site.

In my own case, I have appeared on dozens of BBC radio shows, with nothing I can link to as proof.  I list the BBC in an image on my about page and hope that my transparency and click-able proof are enough to build the trust required.  You know what?  For many who don’t know me, it won’t be.  They need that click.  To be honest, I understand them too!  I see mentions some bloggers make regarding coverage they have received, and find it hard to believe, based on the quality of their content.  Others I believe instantly and feel no need to click anything, because their content / work is clearly extremely good.

Maybe there’s a lesson there too: That people are less willing to believe someone who claims high level media coverage, when the quality of their content seems pretty average?

In my experience, if you can link to your mentions in the media, you should.  It removes doubt and encourages trust.  If you have enough credible mentions, which are easy to prove, you may find people are more likely to believe those achievements, which can’t be proven instantly with the click of a mouse.  Here are some tips on how to get more high quality media coverage, if that’s a challenge for you right now.

Is blogging something you fit in after the important work is done?

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A reader emailed me recently, to say she is about to start a business blog.  She wanted to know how I find the time to keep this blog updated as frequently as I do, with useful content.

Image: Maria Reyes-McDavis

The answer is that I don’t have to “find time” to write here!

Let me explain: I see business blogs a little differently from most people.  I regard business blogs as massively valuable assets.  So, I give this site high priority within my business.

To me, business blogs are online magazines, which provide articles to interested people; with an opportunity for the readers to connect with the author and their fellow readers.

Just as you can’t play around and accidentally produce a worthwhile business magazine, you can’t play around with a business blog and expect it to develop a great community of highly valued readers.

Magazine thinking?

Think of any great business blog.  It provides valuable articles for people interested in their niche, just like any high quality business magazine.  For example, Brian Clark from copyblogger refers to his site as a media asset and his posts as magazine style content.  I have always been of the same mindset.  I see this site as a genuine media asset and I treat it with the respect it deserves.

  • It’s not a hobby.
  • It’s not a passtime.
  • It’s not a gesture.
  • It’s not something I do when there’s no real work that needs doing.
  • It IS an extremely valuable business asset.  Look at this!

This site never needs me to have spare time to invest in it.  If it did, it would be another infrequently updated business blog.  I regard Jim’s Marketing Blog and the reader community here as an integral part of my business, so it gets worked on ahead of many other less important (to me) business activities.

  • People who just write posts when they have spare time, after the important work is done, end up with a site which reflects that level of investment.
  • People who regard their site as the important work, treat their site very differently and see very different results.

The bottom line:  It’s a question of priorities.  Professionally, I place an extremely high priority on developing this site, so it always gets the time and attention it deserves.

How to avoid making bad decisions

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If you want to know why some business owners make such poor quality choices, you simply need to look at the lack of professional care they apply to the development of ideas.  I call this lazy thinking.

Lazy thinking?

Lazy thinking is a term I use, to describe the process of applying very little real thought to the solution of problems, leading to; low value decisions, ineffective actions and poor results.

I saw a great example of lazy thinking recently, at a late night pub in my local town.  There’s a small sign on the door, which asks people to respect the local residents, and leave the premises quietly.  The reasons that the sign fails to resolve the problem, are obvious.

  • Firstly, the loud, obnoxious people who leave bars making so much noise that it’s likely to offend local residents, are loud and obnoxious people.  They make that noise because they NEED to be noticed.
  • Secondly, the drunks who leave these bars making tons of noise, are often unable to walk in a straight line.  They are hardly likely to read a message, make a decision and then adjust their behaviour to magically act in a sober way.

The pub owner knew the sign would have no positive impact on noisy late night drinkers.  The local residents knew it too.  That’s what happens when you apply no thought to the solution of a problem.  As I mentioned recently, when you apply the right kind of thinking to a problem, you get a far more effective result.

Lazy thinking in small business marketing

Lazy thinking is behind the dumbass marketing you see small business owners waste their time and money on.  For example:

  • It causes business owners to waste money on mail shots and email marketing, which they write themselves in order to save money.  These home-made, DIY marketing messages are almost always extremely ineffective, so rather than save money, these letters waste a fortune.  They also fail to generate the sales, which a professionally copywritten message would have generated.  Lose – Lose.
  • It causes business owners to buy mailing lists, rather than build communities.  In 2011 we build lists of interested people, by attracting them (here’s how to do it.)  We don’t buy them.
  • It causes business owners to add you to their newsletter list without your permission, just because they have your email address.
  • It causes business owners to leave sales messages in the comments section of blogs, without realising how cheap it makes them look.
  • It causes business owners to waste money on ebooks, which promise unbelievable results.
  • It causes business owners to put lots of great content on Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin etc – Whilst their own blogs are seldom updated (if they even have one!)

We place a very low ceiling on our potential, if we apply the lazy thinking model to business decisions.

Your prospective clients have never been better informed.  Thanks to low cost (and no cost) global digital communications, they have never been so actively targeted by competing providers, either.  If you want to survive in business today, let alone thrive, lazy thinking just doesn’t cut it.

Get everybody talking about you with this 1 simple idea

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Today, I want to help you and your business attract more word-of-mouth than ever before.  I want to help you create an crowd of people, queuing down the street, just to get a peep of what all the buzz surrounding your business is about.

It starts here.

When you look at the vast majority of websites in any niche, it gives you an extremely accurate insight as to why so many businesses fail.  Very, very few of them stand out as being worth talking about.

UVSP’s and Purple Cows

In 1995, I was telling small business owners to develop what I called a UVSP (Uniquely Valuable Selling Proposition.)  This was my version of the USP (Unique Selling Proposition), which I have always believed to be incorrect.  It’s not enough to be unique, without offering unique value.  In 2002, Seth Godin wrote about this in his best-selling book, Purple Cow.  UVSP or Purple Cow, it amounts to the same thing; a product or service, which stands out for being of unique value.  Something with an interesting and attractive story.

Most small businesses stay small, because they do the opposite.  They don’t offer unique value.  They are too similar to their competitors.  Their story isn’t interesting, so no one talks about them.

How similar are your competitors?  Check out the blogs or websites of 10 of your competitors and look at what they have to say.  Look at what they offer.  Look at their testimonials, their promises, their guarantees.  Notice how amazingly alike they are.  In almost every case, their messages could be swapped around and I am not sure anyone would notice.

They want word-of-mouth referrals, but give the marketplace nothing worth talking about.

An alternative approach? Twylah

This weekend I spent a lot of time talking about Twylah, because it’s an interesting story worth sharing.  I saw this video about how Twylah works on Robert Scoble’s blog and it blew me away.  Their story was so compelling, that I wanted to tell people about it.  It didn’t cost them a dime.  It was their story, not their money, which compelled me to talk about them on Twitter and share the service with you in this post.  In doing so, I have just spread the word to thousands of people.

And so… some of you will watch that video, listen to how valuable Twlyah could be for your marketing and tell others.  Very soon, LOTS of people will be talking out it.  It’s a valuable, easy to use marketing tool.  That means it’s interesting to business owners.  It’s the kind of thing we want to share with the people we know.  You can check out my Twylah here.

BTW: If you look at the page without watching the video, you will think you’re looking at a paper.li clone.  It’s pretty much the polar opposite and allows you to make money direct from your Twitter stream, without Tweeting ads etc.  Ask them nicely and you may get an account. (It’s in the pilot phase right now.)

Remarkable. Interesting. Shareable.

Today, if you want your business to thrive or even survive, you have to break out of the sea of sameness and offer something that has unique value to your marketplace.  Business has changed.  Years ago, you could be just like all your competitors, but if you outspent them or out networked them, you would win the majority of the business.  Today, your clients and prospective clients see their social media streams light up, as soon as one of your competitors announces a fresh, interesting way of doing business.  News like that spreads through your marketplace via social networking sites very quickly.

So here’s my suggestion:  Focus on developing a UVSP or Purple Cow of your own.  Develop a uniquely valuable, remarkable way to be of service.  Become one of those interesting stories, that your marketplace LOVE to be part of and share.

Make your business the one they are talking about!

Let’s work together and grow your business. To find out more click here!

Picture: Robert Scoble

9 Ways to write more high quality blog posts… right now!

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Here are 9 ways to write more, high quality blog posts.

  1. Write short posts.  You don’t have to churn out 1,000 word essays.  Most of my posts are under 500 words. Some are under 150.
  2. Don’t try to write like someone else.  The more your posts reflect you and your unique self, the more people will value them.
  3. Spend less time publishing your ideas on social networking sites.  Then, use that time to feed your blog.
  4. Avoid seeking perfection.  The perfection mindset will cause you to write from a position of fear.  Be human, which means being imperfect.
  5. Use a voice recorder or your phone to capture ideas for blog posts.  You will often get your best ideas when you can’t write them down.
  6. Don’t feel like you have to bring the answers with your posts.  Ask the questions.  Get a conversation going: It’s a blog, not a broadcast!
  7. Write when you feel creative.  If you feel inspired to write a post, write one.  Then, write another one! I seldom write 1 post at a time.
  8. Use the questions people ask you, as inspiration for future posts.  If someone is asking you a question linked to your topic, there’s a good chance other readers will find the answer useful too.  I wrote this post, after a reader asked how I managed to publish 12 posts here in the past 7 days.
  9. Most importantly, enjoy it! Many bloggers say they have to force themselves to write posts.  You don’t need to force yourself to do something you enjoy, so identify and resolve whatever it is, which is stopping you from enjoying your blog.