Jim's Marketing Blog

Marketing tips and ideas to help you grow your business

How to be number one in a category of one

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marketing, cookie cutter

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It’s tough being a service provider these days. There are so many of us in every industry. Not only that, a prospective client can find lower priced alternatives to us, on Google, in seconds.

With so many competitors, what can we do?

  • We could try and out-spend them on advertising. Of course, this eats into our profit margins.
  • We could try being the lowest priced. Of course, this almost eliminates our profits completely.
  • We could try joining a networking group. Of course, we’d be relying on fellow group members to provide us with leads… the very same people who need to attend the group because they can’t even get enough leads for their own businesses.

There are better alternatives though. And one that works extremely well, is to become number one in a category of one.

It’s the strategy I follow for my own business and one that could be just as effective for you and your business.

Allow me to explain how it works

Let’s imagine you’re an accountant. (You could equally be a mentor, financial advisor, lawyer, designer, trainer, marketing consultant or whatever). Anyhow, unlike your fellow accountants, you choose to work exclusively with creative professionals. This immediately places you as number one in a category of one.

  • The fact you understand their profession at a super-deep level, sets you apart from the rest.
  • The fact you understand their terminology and speak their language, sets you apart from the rest.
  • The fact you understand the threats and opportunities specific to their industry, sets you apart from the rest.
  • The fact you understand their unique requirements, sets you apart from the rest.
  • The fact you understand the creative mindset, sets you apart from the rest.
  • And because you’re set apart from your former competing providers, your prospective clients will see you as massively more relevant to them and their business!

It’s hard to think of a service provider in any industry, who couldn’t transition themselves into being number one in a category of one.

Yes. Including you, my friend.

Energy and business success: The fascinating link

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marketing motivation, take action

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I have a question for you today. An important question.

The question is this: Does your business excite you and energize you?

Well, it should do.

In fact, it HAS to!

Seriously.

Here’s why

It’s impossible to build a truly successful business, unless that business fills you with energy and excitement.

Think about it.

  • The energy is what keeps you moving forward. It’s the essential fuel source behind every successful business owner.
  • The excitement is what the marketplace needs to feel, whenever they have an encounter with you or your business. It’s highly infectious. It’s what inspires people to hire you, buy from you and recommend you.

And that energy can be yours. If you want it.

You see, you get to choose

You can choose to either create an inspirational business, or carry on like 99% of small and medium-sized business owners, in a business you love, which doesn’t love you back.

Small business owners suffer more stress, work longer hours and work harder, than they would do if they were an employee. They work themselves harder than any boss would, with none of the perks of being a salaried employee.

And that’s nuts!

New clients often tell me they would see other business owners, who were brimming with energy, and wonder how those other business owners managed to be so motivated. Usually, they blame themselves for not being self-motivated enough.

Thankfully, they’re 100% incorrect.

ANY business owner can become highly motivated and fully energized. However, it isn’t going to happen, while they’re working in a business that’s zapping their energy or failing to inspire them.

Business owners are intelligent people. They’re not going to feel highly motivated and energized, working in a business that isn’t fulfilling them.

Clarity is the key

All that energy only comes, when you are crystal clear about what you want from your business AND you have a plan for how to achieve it. This massively improves the way you think and feel about your business. That’s because you know what you want, know how to get it and can see progress toward your dream / goal / target. I see the impact this has on my clients every day. I’m telling you, it’s transformational!

And as your thoughts are what determine your actions, your newly-found excitement for your business provides you with the essential energy and motivation you want. That clarity and direction is all that separates you from those supercharged (and highly successful) business owners.

The challenge you need to overcome, if you want to access that energy and excitement, can be summed-up in one word: Settling.

Settling

Some business owners have spent so long with their daily grind, that they unconsciously start to settle for things the way they are. Sure, they hope things will improve. Occasionally, they’ll try something new. But they find themselves with the same core problem. So they (wrongly) blame themselves for lacking the self-motivation or energy.

Pretty soon, they realize January 2020 is starting to look a lot like last January. And last year wasn’t much different from the year before that. It’s little wonder they lack motivation, when they know that January 2020 won’t be the start of a New Year, just another chance to relive the same old year, all over again.

Fact: You are in control

You don’t need to settle for ANYTHING.

You’re the boss. That’s the whole point of being a business owner.

You get to build whatever kind of business you want. You choose how enjoyable your “work” is. You get to decide what you earn, where you work, where you live, the number of hours you work and the quality of your clients. You get to choose how interesting and fulfilling your work is.

You get to choose it all, because YOUR business is directly under YOUR control.

So quit settling, my friend. Decide the kind of business that would REALLY energize you. Then transition to it.

The most successful business is seldom the best in its niche. Here’s why

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marketing balance

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The most successful service provider and the best service provider, are seldom the same service provider.

That’s because being the best doesn’t automatically mean people will notice you, believe you or hire you.

Why is that?

Commercial success requires a certain balance.

You need to balance the development of an great service, with the development of a strategy to earn the attention, trust and patronage of your marketplace.

Here’s why that balance is essential for your business.

  • If your prospective clients don’t know you exist, it doesn’t matter how exceptional your service (or product) is, because you’re not an option for them.
  • If your prospective clients have heard of you, but your marketing doesn’t inspire them to trust you, they won’t hire you or buy from you.
  • And if your prospective clients have heard of you, and they trust you… but your marketing doesn’t motivate them to take action, they won’t hire you or buy from you.

Without that balance in place, trying to grow your business is extremely frustrating, as less capable competitors grab your share of the marketplace.

With that balance in place, you get all the rewards your hard word and dedication deserves.

How to protect your business from damaging advice

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marketing, bad advice

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In life there are certain people who you absolutely need to avoid. The same is true in business.

Some are easy to spot

  • The web designer whose website is a piece of crap.
  • The marketing expert, who embarrassingly needs to attend networking groups because their own marketing doesn’t work.
  • The business guru who claims to be in high demand, yet offers free consultations.
  • The copywriter whose content is poorly-written and lacks impact.
  • The leadership expert who’s just like all the other leadership experts. (Think about that for a moment).

Others are trickier to spot

  • The social media guru, who used tricks to attract half a million followers.
  • The accountant who understands numbers, but can’t clearly explain what they mean to their client’s business.
  • The strategist whose own strategy is failing.
  • The business development coach who has never built a successful business of their own.

Protect your business from bad advice

The personal recommendation of a trusted friend is usually the least risky way to find an expert provider. Just make sure the friend has recent, first-hand experience of the quality of the provider’s work.

Another option is to find someone, whose work you’re already familiar with. For example, if you subscribe to a provider’s Podcast, YouTube channel, blog or newsletter and they regularly share useful information, they’re giving you some powerful clues.

  • The fact they have turned up consistently, demonstrates a degree of reliability. This is especially the case if they have many years worth of material available.
  • You get to experience first hand, how knowledgeable they are from the quality of information they provide.
  • In addition, you’ll know in advance if they share information with the clarity you need.
  • You also gain an insight into their personality, which can help you determine if they’re the kind of person you work best with.

With an attractive looking website and some testimonials, anyone can claim to be an expert at anything. And that’s why we, as business owners, need to look deeper. Because the cost of hiring a bad business provider is far, far higher than their fee.

A valuable business lesson from Starbucks and Instagram

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marketing agile business

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In today’s post, I’m going to share a strategy with you that’s used by the world’s most successful businesses. I’ll also show how I use it and explain why you should too.

I’m referring to operating your business with a focused and agile mindset. Those words almost sound like opposites. But they’re not. And in business they work together beautifully. Here’s how focus and agility work together.

  • You need to know what it is you want to achieve from your business and stay focused on it.
  • However, you also need to adopt an agile approach regarding how it happens. Then, as new feedback and opportunities come along, you can adjust your strategy accordingly.

In short, you remain both focused and agile.

Here are a couple of well-known examples, along with how I use the same strategy.

You couldn’t buy a cup of coffee from Starbucks

It’s hard to believe today. But it’s true. Starbucks had been in business for a few years (and had already opened its first 5 outlets), before they sold a cup of coffee to anyone. Prior to this, Starbucks sold coffee beans. Agile thinking allowed them to identify a new opportunity, when they noticed how customers enjoyed sampling their coffee beans in-store.

Starbucks’ focus remained the same: to build a successful coffee business. However, their approach changed.

Instagram used to be a check-in app

Instagram started life in 2010 as a check-in app called Burbn. The developers decided their app was too similar to Foursquare, so they pivoted. All their efforts were switched to the photo-sharing component of the Burbn app. Instagram was born.

Their agile thinking allowed them to identify an opportunity for a filter based photo-sharing app. They ran with it. And just 2 years later, the app was acquired by Facebook for approximately $1 billion in a combination of cash and shares.

The founder’s focus remained the same: to build a successful app. However, their approach changed.

I could have used examples from Suzuki, which used to manufacture weaving looms. Or Nintendo, which has previously sold instant rice, vacuum cleaners and even offered a taxi service. And I could have mentioned how Twitter was born from the ashes of a podcast sharing app called Odeo.

But that almost misses the point.

The point is that it’s not only billion dollar companies that use a focused and agile approach. There are businesses of all sizes, achieving breakthrough results from the exact same strategy.

Including mine.

How I use focus and agility

I started out as a marketing consultant, who visited clients at their premises or at my offices in London. When I relocated to a tiny village in the countryside, I quickly decided I didn’t want to waste hours every day travelling. So, I switched to working remotely. Initially I used phones, then switched to VoIP and now full video conferencing.

Not only did this mean zero time wasted on travel, it also cut my overhead by around 98%! Plus, it opened up the whole world to my services. For the past 18 years I’ve worked globally, in over 30 countries, (as well as every state in the United States).

My focus remained the same: to build a successful marketing business. However, my approach changed.

Whatever line of work you are in, there are massive gains to be made by embracing a focused, agile approach to the development of your business.

It’s also worth remembering that the world is changing at an ever increasing pace. An agile and focused approach may be an essential component in 2020 and beyond. Not just to thrive, but to survive.

Content Marketing: Use short sentences. Here’s why!

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content marketing

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

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

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

Why is that Jim? Because from a marketing perspective, long sentences lack impact and clarity. Those are essential components of effective marketing.

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

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

A whole story in just 6 words!

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

“For sale. Baby shoes. Never worn”.

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

It’s not as simple as it sounds. But your prospective clients (and your business), will appreciate the additional effort.