Jim Connolly Marketing

Are you making a noise or making a difference?

By |

It’s easy to add to all the noise out there.

  • Pester people with special offers via social networks.
  • Invite people to your desperate sales video webinar.
  • Retweet that guru who has already been retweeted thousands of times.
  • Write predictable, “me too” blog posts.
  • Agree with whatever the popular opinion of the day is.

The thing is, no one is demanding more noise.

Training people to ignore you

You can’t benefit from the noise deficit, because there isn’t one. So, all the noise makers do is train people to ignore them. Sure, they may have followers, but no one is listening to them. They may have our email address, but their emails don’t get opened or acted on. If they stopped making their noise, we wouldn’t miss them at all.

The difference deficit

Where there is a deficit, is with people who are making a difference. These are the rare people we eagerly subscribe to. These are the people we look forward to hearing from. They add something of value to us and our business. They make a difference. A positive, meaningful difference.

Most importantly, these are the people we miss when they are not there.

And that’s also the best way to determine if your marketing is making a noise or making a difference. It’s a tough question to ask and answer, but would people miss your marketing if it stopped?

Tip: If you need to push your marketing because people are not spreading it, they probably wouldn’t miss it. If people spread the word for you, (send your newsletter to their friends, reshare your work, etc) … you’re making a difference.

7 Ways to make your marketing more powerful

By |

Marketing tips, marketing advice

Communication is one of the most overlooked and underrated skills in business. It’s often seen as a soft skill… something that’s useful, but not essential.

I disagree.

The business owner who is unable to communicate her vision, is likely to struggle just as much as the business owner who has no vision. That’s why as business owners, we need to continuously improve our communication skills.

Some tips for better marketing communication

When seeking to share an idea, whether spoken or written, you may find the following tips useful:

  1. Research your audience.
  2. Think of the core points you want to make. List them in order.
  3. Stay on track, by following the list.
  4. Use as few words as required. Brevity is priceless. Too many words can dilute the power or impact of your message.
  5. Avoid buzz words. Use plain speaking whenever possible.
  6. Understand that volume is seldom the problem. A bad message amplified, is still a bad message!
  7. When people respond, listen, really listen, to their feedback. Look for common misunderstandings and adjust your message to avoid them recurring.

In short: When we have something worth saying, it pays to know how to say it (or write it), as effectively as possible.

How to make your business more human and far more successful too

By |

Whether you sell B2B or B2C you’re ALWAYS selling P2P (person to person).

It’s extremely important to remember that.

Why?

Because people will only listen to you, if you have something valuable to share with them, which matters to them. And no… a vague, poorly targeted marketing message is not going to work.

Here’s what we know

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

  • 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 message has the power to motivate people to take action… to buy from you, call you, email you or visit you.

In short, a focused marketing message has the power to inspire and compel people 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!

PS: Here’s some advice on how to build a successful business, using a more human approach.

Let’s look at your confidence

By |

I have an important question for you today: How confident are you, when you speak or write about your business?

The reason this is so important, is that there is a direct connection between how confident you sound regarding your business and how confident people feel about your business.

Here’s why this matters so much… people tend not to do business with those they lack confidence in!

Confidence and competence

When we speak or write with confidence, we make it easy for people to trust us. We make it easy for them to believe that we know what we are talking about. That’s because people associate confidence with competence.

Of course, the opposite is also true.

When someone speaks or writes with a lack of confidence, they give the impression that they don’t really know what they are talking about. Their lack of confidence is projected onto the people who hear or read what they have to say, which generates doubt and uncertainty.

Even experienced experts can look like blabbering fools, if they get this wrong. This is why I work on this with my clients and help them gain the confidence they need, to grow their business.

Try this simple exercise

Take a look at the last few marketing messages you wrote; (marketing emails, ads, mail shots, blog posts, newsletters etc). Think also about the last few business conversations you had with potential clients and existing clients or customers.

Next, ask yourself the following few questions:

  • Do I speak with conviction and calm assurance?
  • Do I write from a positive, confident perspective; explaining the amazing benefits of my service?
  • Do I accept compliments from people with a “thank you” or feel compelled to respond with a joke or quip?
  • Do I attract regular word of mouth referrals from people, who confidently recommend me?

My mentor used to say; “Have something worth saying and say it well.”

You know how amazing your business is and all the tremendous value you bring. That’s something worth saying. Just make sure that you say it well too.

Let your confidence inspire those around you.

If only they knew how amazing your business is

By |

marketing tips, arketing ideas, marketing advice

Small business owners lose out on sales or new clients all the time, because of a common and costly marketing mistake. In today’s post, I want to show you how to stop this error from hurting your business.

A common and costly problem

Think about it:

  • If only they knew how amazing your business is, you would have more great clients.
  • If only they knew how amazing your business is, you would be able to charge what you are worth.
  • If only they knew how amazing your business is, you would escape the feast and famine cycle.
  • If only they knew how amazing your business is, you could look to the future with confidence.

The challenge here is that in the vast majority of cases, small business owners are lousy at getting that message across. You need to avoid making the same mistake.

Here’s a great place to start.

It’s time to get specific

Explain what makes your business stand out. Highlight the benefits of working with you, rather than an ‘average quality’ alternative provider. Showcase your unique strengths.

General marketing claims like, “we try harder”, “we go the extra mile” and “our service is second to none”, don’t work. Everyone makes those generic promises. By repeating similar claims, your message gets lost in an ocean of predictable marketing.

If you want your marketplace to know how truly superb your business is, you need to transition from generic — to specific. A powerful way to do this is to provide supporting information for your claims. Show them, specifically, what makes your business a better proposition for them.

For example, almost every business claims to offer great customer service. You can rise above the noise and get noticed, by showing prospective clients how you invest in customer service training. You can show them the additional opening hours you provide. If you have customer service awards, showcase them in your marketing.

When people finally see just how amazing your business is, you will find you attract the best clients, the best fees and the most rewarding projects.

The best kept secret

You don’t want to be the best kept secret in your industry. It’s frustrating to know you are better than other providers, who are more commercially successful then you. This is why you need your marketplace to know who you are AND that hiring you or buying from you makes perfect sense.

This is a function of marketing… effective marketing, to be exact. It’s about knowing who your ideal client or customer is and then crafting a powerful message, which you motivate them to read or listen to.

If you make that message [or story] remarkable enough, they will tell their friends about you too.

Tip: You may find this useful: Be the first. Be the best. Be remarkable.

Content Marketing: Is your design killing your content?

By |

The primary design task of any newsletter, website or blog, is to ensure the content is as readable as possible. The design should work like a picture frame and enhance, not hide, your work.

content marketing design

I was on a site earlier, where the design was so loud and busy, that it was hard to find the actual content. When trying to read the content, the rest of the site was so distracting that I left after just 30 seconds or so.

Most newsletters are just as bad. Instead of focusing on the message, they’re packed with distractions. Lots of different font sizes, colours, options, boxes and buttons — all getting in the way and breaking the reading experience. As a result, their actual content gets very little attention… and the newsletter providers wonder why their readership isn’t growing.

The poor readability epidemic

Unreadable design is such a huge problem now, that there are apps that try to combat it. Readability is maybe the best known.

Take a look at the design you use for your newsletter, website and / or blog. If the content is playing second fiddle to the design, change the design. After all, it’s your content that people come to you for and your content, which builds your relationship with your readers.

A quick tip: Clear, big fonts and lots of white space work better than almost anything, when it comes to making your content stand out.