Jim's Marketing Blog

Marketing tips and ideas to help you grow your business

Dead trees and a powerful copy writing lesson!

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Writing marketing copy or sales copy that really works can be a challenge, especially for people with little or no experience.  One of the best ways to learn how to write great copy, is to read great copy and then study what you have read. Why did that particular message compel you to click a link?  What was it about the specific offer you just read, that made you follow-up on it?

Copy writing and Dead Trees

One of the best pieces of copy writing I have seen over the past few years, is just a simple, short phrase.  It’s often used when online publications refer to paper-based; newspapers, magazines and trade publications etc.  The term is dead tree media.  For example, when referring to a headline on the front page of the traditional paper version of The Times, a blogger will often refer to it as the front page of the dead tree edition of The Times.

The reason this is such a clever phrase, is that those 2 words, dead tree, are extremely emotive:

  • The phrase dead tree immediately focuses our mind on the fact that in order for paper to be made, trees not only need to be cut down; they have to be killed!  Even recycled paper was once a tree.
  • By calling the traditional version of a newspaper, magazine or whatever the dead tree edition, we start to think of it as out-dated.  When we see the term applied regularly enough, it can be a very powerful way to reinforce the belief that paper-based media is either dying or dead.
  • When there are 2 options available to the reader; either a dead tree edition of a magazine or an online version, the online version is automatically made to sound more attractive, simply because it isn’t being referred to negatively.

A quick copy writing tip

If you are serious about the success of your marketing, you need to get serious about copy writing too.  Here’s a tip.  Collect all the; emails, marketing letters, articles or blog posts that motivate you to take action and study them.  Study what it was that compelled you to click their link, visit their store, call them or email them.

For example, look at the box below this post, with a call to action.  Every hour of every day, people click the link in that box to find out how they can work with me.  Look at the message and think about how you can apply something similar to YOUR site; something that will provide you with sales leads all day every day.

The bottom line: Your site should (and could) be a relentless, lead-generating machine for your business.  If it isn’t, you could well be missing out on more sales and higher profits than you currently believe is even possible.

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

How long should your blog posts be?

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Some of the best blog posts are also the shortest.  Blog posts that offer information rich copy, with all the unnecessary fluff stripped out, get to the point quicker and save the reader valuable time.  This post about social media experts is one of the most read on my blog and it’s just 112 words long!

Why do many commercial bloggers write mainly longer format posts?

From what people tell me, there seems to be 2 reasons. The first reason, is that it’s believed by many that unless a post is more than 300 words long, it will not rank well on search engines.  I have seen enough evidence of this to believe there’s truth in it.  However, if you are in the UK right now and you ask Google: “What is a social media expert?”, you will see that 112 word post I mentioned earlier on page 1 – Out of over 42Million results.

The second reason, which I am going to focus on in this post, is the belief that the longer a post is, the more valuable it will be, and the more people will want to read and share it. My experience over the past 24 years in Marketing, is that the quicker you can make a valid point, without all the fluff that typically weakens a message, the more impact your message has.  Because of this, I think it’s worth adding some shorter blog posts to your commercial blog.

Seth Godin understands the value of brevity

One of the reasons Seth Godin’s blog is so popular, is that his posts are never any longer than they need to be.  Seth’s blog posts are focused, information rich, but never too long.  That’s because Seth understands the power of brevity.  This means some of his posts are just 1 or 2 paragraphs in length.  With Seth’s blog, you get all the juice, without having to wade through acres of bloated content.

Interestingly, I noticed a post on Seth’s blog recently, which is apparently his longest post of the year.  If you look at the number of times people have ReTweeted that post, you will see that it was actually less popular (from a sharing perspective) than many of his very short posts.  BTW: It still achieved over 900 ReTweets, which is amazing!

I’m not suggesting you ONLY write short blog posts

There are good reasons for writing longer format posts, (including SEO.)  I wrote earlier this week about how to write more great blog posts, and it’s almost a thousand words long.

Here’s what I’m suggesting: The next time you have an interesting point you want to make, but you think it may be too short for a blog post, try publishing it anyway!  You may be pleasantly surprised with the feedback you get.  Don’t waste all your short, insightful ideas and opinions on Facebook or Twitter – Write them on your blog and then share them across your social networks.

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

Marketing messages: It’s all about THEM!

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All too often, small business owners market their services based on what is most appealing to them.  They make offers that they think are great.  They focus on benefits that they think are important.

Here’s the challenge with that approach: It’s very ineffective!

Your prospective clients buy for their reasons, not yours.  If you want them to become clients, you need to be able to see things from their perspective and adapt your marketing messages accordingly.  You need to write in terms that are native to them, not you.  You need to inspire them to call you, email you, visit your store etc, and they will only do that if you give them a good reason to.  This means using their language, to demonstrate the benefits of what you do, based on their most pressing needs.  It’s all about THEM.

I saw someone recently trying to encourage small business owners, to attend a free talk he was giving, about how to use foursquare.  Here’s what his primary marketing message was:

“Learn how to geosocialize with your local commercial spectrum!”

Now, for 99% of the small business population, that phrase will be more likely to turn them off, than convince them to check out the service.  He was talking in HIS language, not his intended audience’s.  He failed to explain in clear business terms, what the benefits of attending his talk would be.  He failed to explain why a busy business owner should take time out from running their business, to go and listen to him.

One of the fastest ways you can improve the effectiveness of your marketing copy writing, is to review your material and ask yourself:

  • Is this written in the language I use, or the language of my prospective clients / customers?
  • Does this message clearly explain, in as few words as possible, compelling reasons why they need my product or service?

If you find your copy is failing on either front, rewrite it.  This time, place all the emphasis on them and their needs.

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

How dependent is your business on Twitter, Facebook etc?

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If your Facebook or Twitter account got suspend or deleted, what impact would it have on your business?

I ask this question, because I’m seeing more and more people invest huge amounts of their valuable time building social networks on 3rd party sites, which they have very little real control over.  Conversely, I see remarkably few people invest anywhere like enough time on the development of their own social media platform – namely, a commercial, self-hosted blog (like this one.)  I’m sure you’ve seen it too; people who only manage to put new content on their own blogs a couple of times a month, yet they update Twitter or Facebook on and off all day long.  Their blogs are being neglected, yet their Facebook stream is packed with interesting posts, great ideas and useful links.

In other words, they are building their primary social networking hub on something they have little real control over – Something that can be suspended or deleted without their consent, at any time.

Twitter account suspensions

I was prompted to write this after receiving an email this morning from a reader, who has just had his Twitter account reinstated AFTER Twitter suspended it, without warning or reason, for 8 days!  Although I no longer follow him, I do read his stream occasionally and it is a very typical Twitter account, which doesn’t spam or abuse anyone.  By the time his account was restored, 2 new prospective clients had unfollowed him.  Apparently, they saw the “account suspended” sign and assumed he was a scammer!

In fact, of the 30 or so people I know of, who have had their Twitter accounts suspended, I can’t think of any that were actually doing anything wrong.  By the way, one of those I helped get their account back, via a conversation on Friendfeed, was non-other than Chris Anderson; Editor of Wired Magazine and creator of what we now know as the freemium marketing model.  Again, a completely random suspension.

Free blogs get suspended too

Just over a week ago, 70,000 people, (yes seventy thousand) had their Blogs shut down without notice, when the blogetery blogging platform they were using was closed down.  Some of these people will have invested months of their time, developing content for that platform, only to see it erased without warning.  Had that same time been invested in developing on their own self-hosted blog, it would still be there.

Even WordPress.com, which I consider the best free blogging platform by far, can suspend or remove your blog if, for example, one of their moderators believes you have Search Engine Optimized it, so that it’s too Google friendly and does not read well enough for people.  In a list of blogs that are not allowed on WordPress.com, they list their now famous SEO clause:

Blogs that are written for search engines instead of humans. These blogs are dedicated to trying to fool Google and other search engines into ranking them or the sites they link to highly. WordPress.com is not meant for this type of activity.

The challenge here, is that many people would consider that “type of activity” to be nothing more than SEO!  It’s a very grey area.  What you or I consider a legitimately optimised blog post, one particular moderator at WordPress may consider to be too SEO friendly.  If so, and someone reports it, you are at best suspended or at worst, the blog is deleted.  I have to say here, that typically, the moderators at WordPress are very good these days and only want to block scammy blogs.

Your marketing on your platform

However, why give someone who knows nothing about you or your business, the power to suspend or delete your business blog, when you can build a self-hosted WordPress blog, like this one, which you control and direct 100%?  In my opinion, this alone is a great reason for business bloggers to consider owning their own platform.

My point is that whilst social networking sites are a brilliant idea and a great opportunity for you to reach new people, you should also consider investing in a central Internet space or hub, which YOU control and can develop with total freedom.  No 3rd party should have the power over you or your business, to be able to pull the plug on your primary online platform.

But I put at least 95% of my social media time into producing content for this blog and connecting with the reader community here.

Because of this, if any of my social media / social networking accounts were suspended, I would still have a thriving community of readers, commenters and people who regularly email me via this blog.  I would still be able to reach new prospective clients every hour of each day.

Seth Godin Vs Bob the Blogger!

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As a marketing coach, I am always studying the power of influence and influential people.  For example, we all know the power a celebrity can have, when they give their personal endorsement to a politician or their paid endorsement to a product.  This is because a large chunk of the general populous, uses what a well known or well-respected person says, as a short-cut to their decision making process.

A while ago, one of my favourite writers, Seth Godin, made a couple of statements that were widely accepted as fact – Despite them simply being his opinions.  Fans of Seth heard what he said and then looked for things that would support it.  It’s actually a very good piece and as always, delivered with passion and power.

Here’s what Seth said:

“Blogging is free, it doesn’t matter if anyone reads it.  What matters is the humility that comes from writing it.  What matters is the meta cognition of thinking about what you are going to say.  How do you explain yourself to the few employees you have or your cat or whoever is going to look at it?  How do you force yourself to describe in 3 paragraphs, why you did something?  How do you respond out loud?  If you are good at it, some people will read it.  If you stick at it, you will get good at it. But this has become much bigger than are you boingboing, are you the huffington post.  This has become such a micro publishing platform, that basically you are doing it for yourself, to force yourself to become part of the conversation, even if it’s (Seth gestures with his index finger and thumb, to denote a tiny amount) just that big and that posture change, changes a huge amount.”

Here’s the clip of Seth saying this on YouTube – It’s powerful stuff.

If Bob the blogger (I just made that name up) told you that it didn’t matter if anyone reads your business blog, most of you would disagree.

You might remind Bob that a blog with 5000 unique visitors a day will out perform an identical blog, with just you and your cat reading it.  This is why every blog development program and every leading blog development site, focus so much on developing a targeted readership and increasing your blog’s visibility.

If Bob the blogger told you that as a busy small business owner, you should be writing a blog for humility, you just may question that too.  Here’s why:

  • Bob is not Seth, so we question what Bob says.  With Bob, we are a student.  We study what Bob says and ecology check it, to see if it actually makes sense.  Then, and only then, we accept it.
  • Seth is not Bob, so the temptation is to accept what Seth says, without question.  At this point, we cease being a student and miss much of the learning that people like Seth offer.

The challenge here, is that when we fail to study, we fail to learn.

Blindly accepting something, turns the student into a sheep.  Even when the person is as intelligent and honest as Seth Godin, we owe it to ourselves to study what they say.

This is NOT a post about whether or not Seth is right or wrong with what he said in this one instance.

It’s about whether more people would have questioned what Seth said, if he was “just” a normal guy, like my fictitious friend, Bob the blogger.

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

I’m off on a thinking trip – A “thinking trip”?

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What do you do, when you need to come up with some fresh, inspired ideas?

One of the things I do, is to take a break and have a dedicated 2 day thinking trip.  Today, I’m heading off for this year’s thinking trip – to the stunningly beautiful North Yorkshire Moors.

How my thinking trips work

Between now and Sunday, I will be spending time away from the people I love, to focus exclusively on new ideas.  I never pressure myself to come up with anything, but the change in environment works amazingly well, and the ideas always flow.  I tend to spend the days writing in the countryside and the evenings writing at the beach.  I make sure that I always have quick access to something that I can use to record my thoughts, as my best ideas usually come when I am mobile.  As I mention in this post, I always carry an audio recorder with me; but on these trips, an audio recorder is invaluable to me.

Once I have enough ideas recorded, I write the best ones down.  Initially, I get these ideas fleshed out using a fountain pen and a pad.  I discovered years ago that this helps my thinking, maybe because it slows the process down and allows me to think a little deeper, than when I speedily type ideas using a computer.  Then, on the last day, I type up all the best ideas and they are ready to get working on, when I get back home.

I’m wondering if anyone else uses a change of environment, to stimulate their thinking process?  What works best for you?

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

Get to the point!

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One of the fastest ways to improve the effectiveness of your marketing messages, is to get to the point as soon as possible, in as few words as possible.

For example, I recently helped a new client increase the conversion rate of a page on his website by 450%, after reducing the number of words on that page by 75%.  I have also seen response rates from email marketing soar by over 700%, when rambling copy was changed into a shorter, compelling and more powerful message.

Most of the written marketing I see is at least 50% too long.  This is because amateur copy writers feel they have to include everything in every marketing message they write.  They feel compelled to tell the reader about every benefit of what they do.  They don’t want to miss a thing, so they go into way too much detail.  Thus, what needed to be a brief, focused message with impact, becomes a meandering, diluted message instead.

If you are disappointed by the conversion rates of your written marketing, it might be time to focus more on brevity.  Concentrate on delivering your most powerful points and do it with impact!

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

2 steps to improve your marketing messages!

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Did you ever hear that old saying; “You can’t keep everybody happy”?  Well, when it comes to marketing messages, you shouldn’t even try!  When you embrace this idea, it can provide a massive boost your sales figures.

It’s all about using a more targeted marketing approach.

Targeted marketing messages

A targeted marketing message consists of 2 equally important components:

  1. The message is sent to a targeted group; those most likely to have a need for whatever you are offering.
  2. The message is composed exclusively, with the people in that target group in mind.  In other words it’s directly relevant to them and their needs.

Marketing to a targeted group

Every day, you will see offers in your mail and your email inbox, from companies offering things you have absolutely no need for.  What do you do with these?  You ignore them!  That’s because no matter how great a product or service is, it will only succeed commercially, if it’s marketed to the right people.

For example, you may have just been offered the best deal ever on a new coffee machine, but if you are not a coffee drinker, that offer is not going to motivate you to buy the coffee machine.  So, make sure that you are speaking, writing and advertising to the right people.

A targeted marketing message

Most of the marketing messages we see are very poorly targeted.  The reason this is so common, is that amateur marketers often think that by writing for the widest spread of people possible, they stand the greatest chance of making a sale.

They want to ensure that everyone who reads or listens to their marketing message, will find “something” there that’s interesting.  However, that approach is the exact opposite of what effective, targeted marketing is all about.

Effective, targeted marketing is about getting a directly relevant message in front of a targeted reader / listener / viewer.  It’s about talking to that person, about their needs and what’s happening in their world, and showing how you can help them, with your products or services.

The bottom line here is this: The more compelling, inspiring and motivating your message is, the more successful it will be.

If you would like to see a better return from your current marketing efforts, take a moment to check who you currently market your services to, and also, how targeted your marketing messages are.

A simple way to stay on your reader’s radar!

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As you may know, I’ve been on holiday for the past 8 days.  Because blogging is such a valuable part of my communications strategy, it was important for me to be able to maintain my blogging pattern, whilst I wasn’t here.

This post is all about how wordpress’ scheduled posts feature allowed me to have a fresh post here for you each day – even though I was holidaying with my family, and why scheduling posts can be so valuable for business bloggers.

WordPress’ Scheduled Posts feature

Scheduled postsLike many people who blog regularly, I often write several blog posts at once and then use wordpress’ scheduled post feature, to publish my posts over the coming days.

This is always a really useful feature, but when you are away from work and, as in my case, away from an Internet connection too, it’s pure gold dust!

Why bother posting when I’m not here?

There are a number of reasons, why it makes sense for business bloggers to maintain the regularity, with which they post.  I mention most of them here, in “why some bloggers post every day.”

However, on a very basic level, I have found that just as people get used to visiting a blog regularly, they can also get used to NOT visiting that blog just as easily.  This simple, long established feature of wordpress means that so long as you have the content written up, a blogger never needs to have those 7 or 14 day gaps, where they drop from their reader’s radar.

Do you use scheduled posts?

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

Say it like you MEAN it!

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Have you ever noticed how powerful it is, when someone talks to you about something they are passionate about?  It makes a massive difference to the effectiveness of their message and the energy created can be really infectious.

So, why do so many business owners totally fail to inject REAL passion into their communications with people?

Marketing and passion

Whether you are speaking with people, recording a message or writing about your product or service, you should be doing it with passion.  After all, how the heck do you expect other people to be interested in you or your business, if you don’t sound like you are?

I decided to write this post, after watching a video presentation on a guys website, where the guy sounded half asleep.  There was no energy or passion when he spoke.  He talked about his services, like he was reading a shopping list.

Marketing and motivation

Equally, I read copy every day on websites and blogs, which is supposed to motivate the reader to take action – Yet the copy is pedestrian and lacks impact.

The bottom line: If you want to compel people to take action; to buy from you, call you, email you or click a link – you need to inspire them to do so. You need to motivate your site visitors, so they go from being a reader (passive) to a being a participant (active).

So, you want more blog readers?

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I wrote a very popular post recently, about getting more blog comments.  This post is all about how to get more blog readers and it starts with a question:

“Have you noticed how some blogs and websites are really difficult to read for any period of time?”

You know the blogs I mean, right?  The blogs where you find yourself just skimming the content because after a glance of the page layout, you just don’t feel like reading the whole thing?  If you want to attract more blog readers and increase reader engagement on your blog, you need to make reading your posts a comfortable experience.  Otherwise, people will just skim your content and miss what you have to say.

There are already millions of posts that explain how to get more readers via SEO / social media etc.  This post offers you some easy, yet super-effective ways to massively improve the readability of your blog and by extension, it’s reach, impact and readership.

So, let’s go!

Column width

There’s a lot of research, including my own, which suggests that once the width of a content column (that’s the part of the blog you are reading now) goes beyond a certain limit, it becomes less and less readable.

Although some have said that the maximum width should be just 65 characters (including spaces) I have found that there’s almost no difference until you go past 85/90 characters.  I did a test a while ago, where I increased the width of the content area on one of my blogs to 100 characters and had to stop after just a week, because of the massive drop in every reader-based metric!  I saw a huge drop in the average number of pages per reader, fewer comments and a drop in the number of times a post was shared.

So, if your current blog layout goes beyond 95 characters – consider reducing it.

BTW: The content area here is 502 pixels wide and I use a 15px Arial font, which equals a limit of around 85 characters.

Fonts

If you want people to be able to comfortably read your blog content, they need to be able to see what you’ve written without squinting!  Many blogs use very small font sizes and as such, are way too hard to read on normal monitors and almost impossible to read, on smaller laptops and netbooks etc.

I use a 15px font size here, similar to that used by many other marketing and social media bloggers.  You may want to use something a  little smaller, but I strongly advise you not to go too small.

Black and white? Not quite!

Most new blogs use black text on a white background.  Although black text on a white background REALLY stands out, it can be harsh on the eyes; especially tired eyes!  That’s why it’s a really good idea to use a dark grey font on a white background, as used on many popular sites, like; The BBC, Seth Godin’s blog, Problogger and many other leading sites.

On this blog, I use the same shade of grey as The BBC, which is #464646.

Don’t let Bob or Mary screw up your blog

Whenever you make changes to the layout of your blog or website, you will get feedback from people, like Bob and Mary.  Bob’s a great guy and has a passion for blogs with really wide content columns and super-small fonts.  Mary’s also a wonderful warm human being, who loves those blogs that have jet black text on snow white backgrounds.  They are both entitled to their opinions, but you must not change the basics of your blog design based on what Bob or Mary might prefer.

The vocal minority will often unintentionally lead you to make piss-poor decisions about the look and feel of your blog.  As bloggers, we need to be a lot smarter than that.  We need to look at the facts – The metrics we can measure.  If after making a change, you notice; greater engagement, more comments, more people sharing your content, an increase in the number of pages the typical reader reads – then you are on track.  Even if Bob or Mary’s intentions were good, they were simply expressing their unique preferences.

Listen to all your readers, not just the vocal minority!

Some advice on making these changes

If you are like me and know nothing about HTML or CSS coding, it can be an expensive pain in the rear, to have to make changes to the layout of your blog.

This is why I recommend you consider doing what I did, and start using the Headway wordpress theme; which will allow you to make changes to your blog, without learning how to code.  Headway (affiliate link) lets you make the kind of changes mentioned here, in seconds.  In fact, I built this blog from scratch, with zero need for expert help, using Headway.  It’s given me total control over the blog and saved me a fortune.  It’s also the ONLY product I have ever endorsed here!

Summary

Ultimately the decision regarding the look and feel of your blog, is down to you.  However, there’s an old saying in business, which assures us that; “success leaves clues.”  There’s a reason why so many of the world’s most respected and popular blogs do things in a certain way.  They have already done the testing and measuring.  Beauty is certainly in the eye of the beholder, but when it comes to the readability element of your blog, it’s a wise move to make the experience as good as possible for your readers.

I’d like to know what additional tips you have, for making content more readable.  Equally, do you have any experience of changing any of the elements mentioned in this post?

Let us know what you think!

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

Image: TEIA MG

Content marketing: What is it and how does it work?

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This is a quick post about content marketing and how to get great results from it.

Content marketing

Millions of small business owners (including me) use content marketing as a way to market their services.  They produce content for; newsletters, blog posts, articles, audio, video, social media sites etc.  The idea is that their content will engage prospective clients or customers and generate enquiries sales and also position them as an expert in their field.  Make no mistake, content marketing is extremely powerful when used correctly.

However, as many small business owners discover, there’s an enormous difference between producing content and producing content that actually helps them grow their business.

In marketing, we know that the messages that resonate with us most powerfully are those that make us think or capture our imagination in some way.  Generic messages do the exact opposite.  They pass us by, undetected.  They wash over us, because they’re predictable.  Yet these generic messages are the stock-in-trade of most of the content marketing pieces we see each day from small businesses.

Why?

I believe one of the reasons, is that it feels a lot “safer” to toe the line, follow what the crowd are saying and just blend into the background.  It takes courage for a blogger, for example, to offer their unique perspective on a topic or allow their personality to shine through their work.  After all, what if they are wrong?  What if their point of view generates negative comments?  It would surely be the end of their world as they know it!  So, rather than risk ruffling too many feathers, they opt to rehash generic ideas, which feel safer, because most people seem to agree with them.

Here’s the problem with that approach: It acts like camouflage and stops you getting the visibility you need!

To be visible, we first need to have something to say, which is worth listening to and sharing.  People only pass on content to their friends or network, if they find it useful or interesting and believe that others will too.  In short, people share the good stuff!  The most successful content marketers never seek a full consensus.  They just try hard and deliver content, which will be as valuable as possible to their target market.

Some important content marketing questions

  1. Who am I writing to? You need to know your target audience and focus your content exclusively on what they will find value in.
  2. Why am I writing to them? You need to know your desired outcome or outcomes, so that you can check if you are on course or not.  You can’t manage, what you can’t measure.
  3. Does my content showcase my expertise? Give genuinely useful information to your readers for free (and do it with a smile)!  Don’t send a watered-down version of your expertise into the marketplace.  Why?  Because how on earth are your readers supposed to know that you are any good, if all they see is a half-assed, diluted version of how great you are?I give away tons of free information on this blog, which encourages my readers to share my work with their friends.  As a result, I get business enquiries every day, from people who want to work with me.  This post, for example, gives links to over 140 marketing tips and ideas.

So, what are your content marketing tips or experiences?

Whether you are new to content marketing or a seasoned campaigner, it would be great to hear your feedback.

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

Over 180 marketing and business development ideas!

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marketing ideas, business development, ideas, marketing

Here you go: Access to over 180 220 ideas and answers to help you with your marketing and business development – all in one post!

21 Powerful habits behind successful business owners.

10 examples to make your business massively more valuable.

5 Quick and easy wins for your business.

21 Tips to build a better business.

7 Naked truths about marketing.

4 Proven ways to quickly attract more sales and enquiries.

10 Ways to create unstoppable momentum for your business.

3 Things you absolutely must know, before marketing your business.

7 Habits of the most influential leaders.

25 Reasons to write a business blog.

12 Things every business owner needs to know.

10 Inspiring reasons to get things done.

10 Reasons your business isn’t growing… and how to fix it.

7 Proven ideas to attract more sales or client enquiries.

5 Power tips to keep your business growing.

7 Motivating tips to help you get things done.

6 Ideas to make clients fall in love with your business.

10 Amazing ways to get people talking about your business.

3 Critical steps for a profitable, successful business.

15 Proven ideas to help you grow your business.

7 Ways to improve your sales results… right now.

10 Facts about your business that will make you feel totally inspired.

4 Ways to attract more client leads or sales from your website.

7 Ways to make your marketing more powerful.

Tip: If you found this useful, you can get my latest ideas delivered direct to your inbox, for free, right here.

 

Get your marketing emails opened!

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This post is all about email marketing; specifically, how to get your email marketing opened!

The reason I am focusing on getting your marketing emails opened, is that no matter how great your marketing message or offer is, unless people actually open it and read it, it’s not going to generate the results you want.

How to get your emails opened

So, how do you quickly determine the best way to get your marketing emails opened?  Simple: You keep copies of the marketing emails, which you have opened and you ask your contacts to do the same.

Then, you look at them and see what lessons you can apply to your own marketing!

Is this the best way to ensure your email’s get read? No!  The best way is to hire a proven expert.  Is this an effective way for a keen, small business owner to improve his or her email marketing results? Yep!

Email marketing clues

Once you have looked at the marketing emails that either you or your buddies have opened, you need to start looking for clues.  By the way, it would be particularly useful, if you could get existing customers to let you know the kind of marketing emails THEY have opened, as they are the same profile of people that you want to target.

Here are just a few of the clues, which you may find when you examine those successful emails:

  • The email was sent to you, from someone you know and trust.
  • The email came from a person or company, which you remember subscribing to.
  • The subject line contained the correct spelling of your name.
  • The subject line contained the name of a person or business that you know personally or professionally.
  • The subject line contained a question that got you curious.
  • The subject line contained a bold statement, which grabbed your attention.

Many great marketing opportunities are missed by small businesses, simply because their emails never get opened or read.  The sender often thinks the message or the offer was unattractive, when the reality is that too few people actually saw it.  Don’t let this happen to you!  Email marketing is one of the most effective and cost effective marketing tools on the planet – So long as you use it correctly.

If you have any email marketing tips you would like to share, please do so by leaving a comment below.

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

Lost for words? Here are 10 ways to find inspiration!

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Do you ever find yourself suffering from writer’s block?

If you just answered “yes”, take a look at the following 10 ideas and see if you can find something, which will help you flood your mind with inspirational ideas:

  1. Go for a walk. This one works for me every time.  Just remember to bring something with you, to record your thoughts.
  2. “Write for the waste paper basket.”  I’m paraphrasing Ernest Hemingway there.  The idea is not to allow the need for perfection to stop you getting started.  Get going and THEN refine what you have written.
  3. Listen to some music, preferably something without lyrics.
  4. Read some of your own, previous material.  It’s amazing how many times I read something I’ve written before, which gives me an idea for a brand new piece of material.
  5. Exercise.  Just like number1, be sure to bring an audio recorder with you.
  6. Change your environment.  I write 99% of my material outdoors.  Sometimes, I will write from a quiet location and other times, a busy coffee bar.  If quiet isn’t working for you – Go somewhere noisy, and vice-versa.
  7. Go for a drive.  I know a lot of people who get some of their best ideas, when they are driving.  Just make sure you wait until it’s safe, before you record your ideas.
  8. Take a look at some of the emails, tweets or messages you get from people, seeking your advice.  This can sometimes provide very useful food for thought.
  9. Listen to (or watch) something that’s REALLY funny!  I find that often, just after enjoying a great comedy, (Big Bang Theory is my current fave) my mind feels like a hard drive, which has just been de-fragmented.  I’m told that laughter reduces stress and floods our brains with endorphins , which then changes our mental state.  Whatever the science is, there’s no doubt that it’s extremely effective (and fun!)
  10. Try getting your ideas down using pen and paper, rather than a computer.  As I mentioned recently, I do ALL my problem solving and creative thinking on paper.  I know manyt, many people who find this form of thinking on paper to be extremely effective.

What would you add to this list?

I would really appreciate it if YOU would share your best ideas for overcoming writer’s block, with your fellow readers and myself.  So, what did I miss?

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

32 Questions to kick-start your business!

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Would you call yourself a creative person?

Creativity plays a big part in the development of any successful business.  In fact, your ability to creatively solve problems and spot opportunities will to a large part, determine just how far you and your business will go.

In my experience, one of the best ways to kick-start our creativity, is to ask ourselves questions, which lead us to creatively search for answers and new ideas.  So, here are 32 questions, designed to help you think creatively about the development of your business.  Remember to share them with anyone in your network, who you think might find them useful, using the links below!

  1. What additional, valuable products or services can I offer to my existing clients or customers (herein called clients)?  This is the fastest way to generate a massively profitable boost to your revenue and profits.
  2. Am I fully utilising technology in my business?  Are there processes that I could streamline, which would give me more time to deal personally with my clients and prospective clients?
  3. How can I improve the way I deliver my services?
  4. Do I take time out, to thank people as often as I should?
  5. What new markets could use my products or services?
  6. How can I improve the quality of my products or services, so that they are of even more value to existing and prospective clients?
  7. Am I associating with the right kind of people, for what I want to achieve?
  8. What three things could I do, which would improve the visibility of my business?
  9. How can I reach 500% more prospective clients with my marketing message?
  10. How can I make my day-to-day work more fun?  This is really important!
  11. What’s the best way for me to encourage more people, to recommend me to their contacts?
  12. Is my marketing focused enough?
  13. How can I improve my time management?
  14. Do I take action on the ideas I generate, so they have a chance to make a real difference?
  15. Should I be thinking about doing some kind of joint venture with another, high quality company?
  16. Am I limiting the development of my business, by not investing in professional help in the areas where I am weakest?  If so, which area do I need to invest in first?
  17. How often do I ask my clients for their feedback, regarding the service they receive from me and what additional services they would like me to offer?
  18. When was the last time I sat down and studied my marketing goals?  If you have not got any written, measurable, specific marketing goals, stop reading this and write some down right now!
  19. Is it possible that my services look too similar to my competitors?  Most service providers look way too alike, so the marketplace uses their fees as a way to judge their value.
  20. If my services do look too similar to my competitors, how can I differentiate myself, so that I have something uniquely valuable to bring to the marketplace?
  21. Do I get enough leads and enquiries via my website or blog? If not, how can I increase this, so my site becomes a lead generating machine for my business?
  22. When was the last time a client sent me a “thank you” note?  If this has not happened for a while, it might suggest that you have not exceeded their expectations lately!
  23. Who would make a good endorsed relationship partner for me?
  24. Do I attract enough word of mouth referrals?  If not, what is this telling me?
  25. How aware am I, of my client’s problems and challenges?  You need to know what’s happening in your client’s world, if you want to be able to really help them.
  26. Do I have a shallow a network, spread over a wide area – Or a deeper, more meaningful one?
  27. How many other websites or blogs link to my website or blog?  This is important, as inlinks account for the massive majority of your search engine optimization (SEO)
  28. Am I working to a marketing strategy or am I simply doing tactical marketing?
  29. Just how good is my customer service?  Remember, you don’t compare yourself to what your competitors offer – But to the finest level of service you can possibly offer.
  30. Do I still have the same passion for my business that I used to have?  If the answer to this is yes, get passionate again!
  31. How many of the people I network with on Twitter, have I actually spoken to or met?
  32. Are my online marketing activities producing bankable results, or just a ton of meaningless, social media numbers?  If you have the friends, followers and fans but not the bankable results, you might want to review your strategy.
  33. Do I exceed people’s expectations?

OK – What would you add to this list?

What would you add to this list, as a question that might help get people thinking creatively about the development of their business?  Please leave your suggestions below!

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

How focused are your marketing messages?

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That’s an important question for you to consider.

Why?

Because the more focused your marketing messages are, the more effective they will be and the more business they will generate for you.

Here’s what we know:

  • A focused marketing message speaks directly to the reader (viewer or listener), in a language they understand. It connects with them at a far deeper level than a poorly targeted message.
  • A focused marketing message makes the reader feel as if you knew exactly what they needed. This makes you relevant to them, which is extremely powerful.
  • A focused marketing message captures the reader’s attention. This is of huge value to you today, when people’s attention has never been so scattered.
  • A focused marketing messages has the power to motivate people to take action… to buy from you, call you, email you or visit you.
  • A focused marketing message has the power to inspire and compel the reader in a way that vague messages can’t.

Review your written marketing. Look for opportunities to make it more focused, so that it’s only relevant to your ideal profile of client. Be less inclusive. Talk directly to them.

Business is all about people and people really notice, when you’re speaking directly to them, in their language, about what matters to them!

10 ways to get massively more sales leads!

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more sales leads, get more sales, marketing

Sales leads or enquiries are an essential part of the marketing process.  After all, a steady flow of good quality sales leads, when acted upon correctly, can lead to a regular stream of lucrative business and allow business owners to plan ahead with confidence.

This brief post contains 10 powerful lead generation ideas, which you can add to your marketing arsenal. Why bother with so many lead generation options?more sales leads, get more sales Many small business owners make the mistake of relying too heavily on just 1 or 2 sources of leads. The problem with that approach, is that if one of those lead sources slows down or stops delivering, you are in BIG trouble!  It’s far better to develop a wide spread of inbound, sales lead opportunities.

So, let’s get started!

Sales Leads via Word of mouth

If you want to get the marketplace talking about you to their friends, give them something to talk about!

The golden rule of generating leads via word of mouth, is that you need to be remarkable if you want people to remark on you!

Sales Leads via Email marketing

This is easily one of the most powerful forms of lead generation I have ever used.  For very little cost, a professionally copy written email marketing campaign can generate a steady supply of high quality, targeted sales leads for your business.  Don’t do like most small business owners and use amateur marketing copy, but it doesn’t work.

Sales leads via Twitter

I have personally generated well over £100,000 for my business, directly via leads I attracted via Twitter.  Sadly, I have met just a tiny number of people, who use Twitter correctly as a form of lead / business generation.

Here’s a tip: Be selective and don’t just follow every person and every trend you see!

Sales Leads via Tele Marketing

Whilst I do not recommend you try this yourself, you might want to consider using a professional telemarketing company as a source of lead generation.  This works better in some industries and countries than others, so look before you leap.

Tip:  One thing telemarketing companies have in common is that they’re very good at selling what they do to their target market [you]. They’re not always so effective when it comes to generating leads for their clients.  So, before you consider hiring a telemarketing company, check out their references.  Talk to their clients if possible.

Sales Leads via Networking

I choose to do all my networking online these days.  Whether you choose online or offline networking, the key is to network with the right kind of people.

Form associations with people who either have a need for your services or access to people, with a need for your services.  Let them know what you do and the kind of people you work with, so they know who to recommend you to. This will greatly increase the volume and quality of leads you get.

Tip:  Not all contacts are created equal.  Yes, as human beings we are all of equal value.  However, when it comes to business, some people are far more influential than others.  Seek out the influential.

Sales Leads via Mail shots

Mail shots, (sometimes called direct marketing) has become an increasingly powerful way to generate leads.  With more and more marketing moving online, a hand signed letter from a fellow businessperson these days REALLY catches the reader’s attention.

Sales Leads via your Website or blog

Your site should be a lead generating machine for your business.  Jim’s Marketing Blog attracts over 100 emails a day, many of which come from prospective clients or customers.  Your website should be doing the same.

Tip:  Make it easy for people to contact you.  Publish your phone number and email address.  If you use a contact form, just ask for their name, email address and message.  You don’t need anything else to begin with and every extra piece of info you ask for, massively lowers your conversion rates!

Sales Leads via Joint Ventures and Endorsed Relationships

To find out about Joint Ventures and Endorsed Relationships click the appropriate link!

Sales Leads via Newsletters

Newsletters are a great way to generate leads.  I have found that a well written newsletter, which resonates with your audience, is a very effective way to position yourself as the person with the answers, to their problems.  Then, when they decide to get professional help with their problem, you are already the natural choice.

Focus on providing useful information, not sales pitches.  Too many newsletters are glorified ads, with little genuinely valuable information, which is the exact opposite of what you should be doing.  The most successful newsletters are focused on the needs of the reader.  Be useful and let them know you’re there to help them if they have a problem.

Sales Leads via Advertising

The right message, placed in the correct advertising vehicle, can produce fast, measurable results.  The reason so many small business owners claim advertising doesn’t work, is that they use amateur copy and put it in the wrong place.  Advertising works!  It works extremely well.  However, an uninspiring message sent to the wrong people, at the wrong time, doesn’t work (how could it?)  If you are thinking of advertising and you have tried before and found it didn’t work, either get a professional in… or leave it!  You can waste a lot of money with ineffective advertising.

Obviously, there are far, far more proven ways to generate leads, than can be covered in a blog post.  However, I hope those above have got you thinking about investing in some new lead generating activities.

Want to massively improve your marketing? Then get specific!

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There’s a big difference between learning something and learning something of value.  When I speak with people about my services, I often say;

“Some coaches teach so others can learn – That’s not me!
Some coaches teach so others can accomplish – That IS me!”

This is because not all information is the same.  I meet with businesspeople all the time, who tell me how much they enjoyed a certain book or how interesting they found a seminar or workshop they attended – BUT that they still have the same problems or challenges.  They were educated, but with the wrong information for their unique situation.

What are your specific marketing challenges?

I’m guessing that every person reading that question, will have similar answers.  They may want to:

  • Make more sales.
  • Make the same number of sales, but make those sales higher quality.
  • Boost their profits.
  • Find new markets for their products / services.
  • All the above

Here’s where the challenge begins for most small businesses.  You see, although they generally want to achieve one or more of the above outcomes, their situations are unique.  For example, they have differing skills, time resources, finances and unique likes and dislikes.  So, if they apply a ‘general’ marketing idea that they pick up from a; book, seminar, website or newsletter, it’s usually pretty ineffective.

Another month / year’s worth of business progress is lost. (Ouch!)

When I put a marketing strategy together for one of my clients, I always match what they want to achieve, with their unique resources.  For those of you intent on going it alone with your marketing, I strongly suggest you try and do the same.

Here’s just a handful of things you need to ask yourself, before you use marketing ideas you find in a book, seminar, website etc:

  • Does it fit in with your time resources?  Do you have the time available to start it off and to see it through to the end?
  • Does it fit in with your finances?  Can you afford to implement it correctly in the short, medium and long-term?
  • Will it provide the results you need quickly enough?  When do you need to see a bankable return (MONEY) from it?  Do you believe it will get you where you need to be in time?
  • Is it consistent with your personality and your reputation?  If you put (whatever) marketing in place, will it be consistent with your commercial image?
  • Can you clearly see the direct benefit it will bring?  Is it going to generate; readers, follows, retweets, Facebook friends OR is it going to generate the bankable results you need?
  • How might it impact your relationship with your existing clients and customers?  For instance, if you are thinking of offering a super deal for new clients, how might this make your existing clients feel – knowing they are getting a worse deal?
  • Is the end result likely to generate the profile of client or customer you want?  Are you sure that doing (whatever) marketing, is going to deliver the type of new business you want?

The point of this post is to highlight that your unique situation will only improve, when you start using strategies that compliment it correctly.

Whatever do you, don’t waste another year doing the wrong things really well!

The secret of a top 10 blog

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I’ve had a few emails this week, after technorati.com ranked this blog inside the world’s top 10 small business blogs for the first time.

technorati, small business, blogsWhilst this ranking will go up and down all the time, to have actually reached that spot is quite an achievement, for a marketing blog that’s little over a year old.

People wrote to me wanting to know how I did it, so here’s my secret!

I write exclusively for people – NOT Google!

Ask any top marketing writer (or copy writer) and they will tell you that it’s a challenge to produce material, which inspires people to take action, to; buy from you, visit you, call you, share your work, click links or email you etc.  That’s because people are complex.

As a marketer, people need to find your message both interesting and motivating and that’s no easy task – Especially if you are simultaneously trying to write that same message so that Google’s search engine software likes it!

So, here’s my secret sauce for a top 10 blog

This blog is read by people, enjoyed by people and designed to help people.  If I get enough genuinely useful content onto this blog, people will share my work and people will link to this blog, allowing me to reach more people.  By repeating that process, people have increased the profile of this blog and it’s readership.

Notice a common thread there?

Yep – it’s all about writing for people!

I love SEO – But I write exclusively for YOU

I don’t try and get certain keywords or phrases into my posts, to score highly with search engines.  If I did, it would change the way I write and dilute the effectiveness of what I share with you.  As a result, 100% of what you read here is written exclusively for people.

I love SEO.  It’s one of the reasons I use the Headway WordPress theme on this blog (affiliate), which is extremely SEO friendly.  I also use tags for my posts to help with my SEO too.  However, I do not deliberately write anything to keep Google happy.

Ironically, by writing exclusively for people, I have attracted around 16,000 links to this blog, which has gifted me a pretty good search engine ranking for many key marketing terms.  For instance, people going to Google searching for marketing blogs will have been able to find this blog on page 1 for the search term; “marketing blogs” for the past 6 months.

In my experience, many bloggers spend way too much time ‘optimizing’ their material for search engines and looking for that one killer trick that will magically send their website / blog to the top of the pile.

While they are waiting for that quick fix, you and I can focus on delivering the best content we can, to people.

Thank YOU!

I would like to personally thank EVERYONE who reads this blog, links to it and shares it with their friends.  As you can see, without your support, this blog is nothing.

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