Jim Connolly Marketing

Stop explaining everything. Really. Stop it!

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Jim Connolly marketing, Curious

One of the most common marketing challenges facing business owners is also one of the most serious. I’m referring to a lack of regular client enquiries or sales leads.

Today, I’m going to show you a key reason why this happens, and how you can overcome it.

I need to start by asking you something: Why do prospective clients call you, email you or ask you questions?

The answer can be summed up in just one word. Curiosity.

It’s their curiosity that motivates them to get in touch with you. This means it’s their curiosity that provides you with business enquiries. So, if you want more enquiries, your task is to make them more curious.

Hold that thought for a moment.

Now, do a quick review of your marketing materials and just look at how many questions you answer about the services you provide. This is really, really important.

Why?

Because with each question answered, you reduce a prospective client’s curiosity. You make them less likely, then unlikely, to contact you with an enquiry. You proactively lose yourself the super-valuable sales leads your business needs.

The balance you want to strike, is to give them ‘just enough’ information to make them curious. Just enough information to motivate them to contact you for answers or advice.

Just enough information, so you get all those sales leads or client enquiries that you’re currently missing out on.

The marketing power of ‘Style Over Substance’

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marketing style

The following statement will sound counter-intuitive. That’s because you’ve been lied to for years. Okay. Here goes.

In marketing, there’s a case for style over substance.

It’s a strong case, too.

Just think about this for a moment.

  • The top political commentators get paid a ton of money, to deliver their take on the news for major networks.
  • The also-ran commentators get paid peanuts, to deliver their take on the news, for small, local networks.

Here’s the thing. In both cases, the news (substance) they comment on is the same. Here’s why one of them is earning 10 times or 50 times more than the other. It’s their style. The style with which they work.

For example:

  • Their courage, when choosing to take, or avoid, a controversial stance.
  • Their ability to communicate with confidence.
  • Their vocabulary.
  • Their energy.
  • Their effectiveness when injecting their personality (style) into their work, so that it’s truly theirs.

Here’s my point: when it comes to business, the substance of an experienced service provider should be there by default. They know their what their service (substance) is, how it works, etc. It’s their style that sets them apart from the crowd.

Style over substance as marketing

The newsletters, podcasts, blogs, YouTube channels, social media accounts and podcasts, which people take notice of, all have their own style.

And the ones that fail to grow, fail to get noticed, fail to make an impact… well… they don’t.

Instead, they follow the cookie-cutter approach to marketing. They bought into the lie. The lie that says; ‘Just market your stuff this way, like everyone else, and it works. Follow the steps. 1-2-3’.

That’s bullcrap.

You can certainly learn substance that way. However, your style, the very thing that gets you noticed, by default, can’t possibly be learned from a marketing seminar, a course, a book or any other generalized form of information.

Why?

Because your style is all about you.

Where are you right now?

Okay, you obviously understand the services you provide extremely well. So the substance is there. You know what you’re doing. You’ve got the substance part covered.

But what about the style?

When it comes to your marketing, when it comes to the story behind your service, are you telling it from your perspective? Are you sharing the substance of your knowledge, using your voice, your perspectives and your experiences? Because these help form your style and your style is what people connect with, hire, purchase, recommend and advocate.

  • It’s your style that sets you apart.
  • It’s your style that makes you approachable.
  • It’s your style that inspires people to share your message.
  • It’s your style that gives value to your substance.
  • It’s your style that motivates people to want to hire you or buy from you specifically.

And none of that can be copied from a book, seminar or course. Because it’s you.

In fact, with so many competitors trying to get the attention of your prospective clients, your style is the most powerful tool in your arsenal.

Photo: Shutterstock.

Marketing that sticks, is marketing that sells

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marketing that sticks sells, marketing spreads sells,

Marketing that spreads does exactly that. It spreads from one person to another. And from a sales perspective, it can be a total waste of your time, energy and focus.

REALLY?

Yup!

That’s because marketing that merely spreads isn’t necessarily marketing that produces bankable results. Clickbait headlines, cute / outrageous / funny videos, provocative images, newsjacking, etc., can all be used to make a marketing message spread like fire.

Without generating a single enquiry or lead, let alone a new client or customer!

Marketing that produces bankable results; (creates sales, attracts new clients, grows your market share, boosts your revenues and profits), is marketing that spreads AND sticks. Most business owners pay way too little attention to that last part.

Marketing that sticks?

Marketing that sticks makes the prospect pause for a moment to take action, before they spread it.

For example, if it’s online, at the very least, they’ll bookmark it or save it, so they can go back to it later and place the order, make the enquiry, fill in the form, call the number… and THEN pass it on.

Yes, marketing that spreads is marketing that sells, but only if it sticks. So be sure to include a direct request (or call to action) in all your marketing. And especially anything designed to be passed around and shared widely.

Your opinions, voice, uniqueness and AI

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human opinion, ai, chatbots, marketing

Opportunity is knocking. It’s knocking loud and it’s knocking clear.

The best part? To benefit from this spectacular opportunity you just need to be yourself.

Allow me to explain.

It starts with a statement of fact: Your opinions are exactly that. They’re yours. They’re as specific to you as your unique blend of life experiences and lessons.

Conversely, artificial intelligence doesn’t have an opinion. Everything about its knowledge base is artificial.

Instead, AI is fed with masses of data. And it’s trained by groups of AI experts. One of the primary tasks of AI trainers, is to keep their AI as neutral to everyone as possible. And in seeking not to offend anyone, AI lacks even an artificial opinion.

In stark contrast

No person who has ever lived is neutral. Unlike AI, we not only have an opinion, we have countless opinions. This includes the opinions and feelings we have regarding the way we do business. And it impacts everything, including:

  • The business tactics we rule in or rule out.
  • The atmosphere we create for our clients or customers.
  • The way we sell or negotiate.
  • The value we place on our products or services.
  • The baseline quality of service or products we provide.
  • The type of staff we hire and the way we look after them.
  • The suppliers we choose.
  • The profile of customers we want to attract (and those we want to avoid).
  • The type of promises and guarantees we provide, etc., etc.

Your business, opinions, voice and uniqueness

Your opinions matter. They always have. They’re what give you your unique voice in the marketplace.

I firmly believe that today, and for the forseeable future, that uniqueness is a powerrful way, maybe the most powerful way, for your business to gain your biggest ever slice of the marketplace.

How?

A growing number of your competitors are switching to AI for their voice. For example, AI tools are creating and guiding their business plans; what to do and what to avoid. Chatbot apps are handling their frontline customer service. Chatbots are also guiding or shaping (and in many cases providing) their; newsletter content, blog posts, video / podcast scripts, advertising copy and social media interactions, etc. In short, everything that prospective clients or customers use in order to judge these businesses, is bland and lifeless.

I’m suggesting that you adopt a very different aproach to AI.

The most savvy business owners I know are also using AI. But the way they use it, excludes every area of their business that carries their DNA. Their opinions and their voice remain 100% human. It’s what guides their messaging, their priorities, their values, their commitment, their customer service and their willingness to go the extra mile. Their businesses have a pulse and personality. They are extremely easy to connect with. They are easy to relate to. And on a very human level, they’re easy to trust. Because they are human. And so is their brand. Not dull and lifeless like the previous example.

Very soon, you’ll be able to stand out and get noticed, in a way that wasn’t possible before. The opportunity is knocking. But only for those who choose to take notice of it.

A genius marketing idea from a 19th century artist

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Back in the 1800’s, Edgar Degas said: Art is not what you see, but what you make others see.

The same is true of great marketing

Successful marketing paints a compelling picture in the mind of a prospective client. It doesn’t list a series of facts or features. Instead, it talks directly to the needs and wants of your clients. It paints a picture of how you can help them. It illustrates how you’re passionate about helping them. Everything is rooted in what’s best for them. Everything.

Ineffective marketing paints a picture of the provider. It’s all about their business and the products or services they offer. It’s dry. It’s dull. It’s forgettable. And it fails to motivate people to take action.

The message, my friend, is simple. If you want to attract better clients, paint better pictures.

Let’s take a look at your website

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website copywriting, web copy

Your website looks great, but you’re not getting the marketing results you need from it. If that sounds familiar, today’s post is written specifically for you. 

Let’s go.

Your site is either working for your business or it isn’t. In order for it to work, it has to do 2 things extremely well.

  1. Prospective clients or customers need to find what they’re looking for, quickly. 
  2. When they’ve found it, your site must motivate them to take the required action. 

That’s where your focus has to be. 

Occasionally you’ll find an amazing designer who totally gets this. But they’re rare in the typical, small business price range. So, you’ll end up with a cool looking website, but the copy / messaging will be ineffective.

Your site’s task is to be a sales generating machine for you and your business. Period. It should be, and it could be, one of your most valuable business assets. 

If your site isn’t delivering a predictable, continuous flow of sales or new clients, fix it. Make the content more compelling. Use words that inspire prospects to hire you or buy from you. 

A good place to start is by finding a new copywriter. This is especially the case if you wrote the current copy yourself. Your new, motivating copy will start working for you as soon as it’s live on your site. It’s one of those areas where immediate marketing results happen. 

This is a powerful, fast-acting improvement you can make to your marketing. Something that can quickly increase your sales figures. So, what are you waiting for?