Jim Connolly Marketing

Marketing advice

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I was looking at our search analytics yesterday and saw that a number of people found this blog, searching for the phrase marketing advice, using google.

I entered the phrase into Google and saw that I was on page 1 of google.com.  As I write this, I’m still on page 1, though this will change – possibly by the time you read this. See below:

marketing advice

Is Google getting smarter?

Although I use meta tags for each post and title tags for some posts, the copy writing here is not deliberately optimised.  In other words, I write exclusively for humans and not to keep search engines happy.  Even so, google has been able to identify that there’s lots of marketing advice on this blog.

This confirms what many experts have told me; that the easiest way to optimise a site, is to stick to your topic and make it as valuable as you possibly can.  After all, the content on your site is what encourages people to link to you. These links allow new people to discover your site – But they are also used by google as a way to ascertain the value of your content.

Any good search engine optimisation (SEO) expert will be able to help you get more targeted traffic to your site. In my opinion, every business these days should have a budget for professional SEO. However, it’s comforting to know that by focusing on good quality content, you can still achieve page 1 rankings for valuable search terms.

Are you embarrassed enough?

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No one likes to feel embarrassed, yet embarrassment can be a powerful motivator if you use it correctly.

Jim Rohn, (Tony Robbins’ former boss), tells a great story about how his life was transformed, after he was embarrassed. A little girl came to his door selling cookies for charity and Jim was too broke to buy any – so he lied to her.  The deep embarrassment he felt afterwards was a tipping point, which eventually saw him go on to develop a multi-million dollar fortune.

When I first set my business up, I had a client, who was always late paying me.  I found out later from one of her former employees that this was something she did with everyone; not for cash-flow reasons, her business was cash-rich, but because she actually enjoyed it!  I used to get really embarrassed having to call her office and ask for my payment each month; so I decided after 1 too many embarrassing conversations, to fire her as a client.

However, that embarrassing experience was what helped motivate me to create my massively successful marketing program; which for fifteen year now, has seen me help small and medium sized businesses from all over the world to make more sales and boost their profits.

If you are feeling embarrassed about any element of your business right now, use the power of that feeling to motivate you to do something positive about it.  If you can’t afford to fix what’s embarrassing you, then focus first on making more money.  Here are 34 marketing ideas you can use starting today, to help you quickly increase your sales and profits.

Oh, and here are another 10 great marketing tips I suggest you take a look at too.

Whatever you do, don’t just complain and then stay the same.

That kind of thinking will drive you nuts!

Are you on course?

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Did you start using Twitter in order to waste a stack of time attracting “followers”- Or to generate more sales, leads and business connections?

Did you invest in those expensive brochures in order to watch them slowly go out of date – Or to increase the effectiveness of your marketing?

Did you invest in your website in order to remain invisible online – Or to generate a regular, predictable flow of sales, leads and enquiries?

Marketing tip: Focus on your outcome

It’s way too easy to start a marketing activity with all the right intentions, only to realise one day that you have been slowly drifting off course and are now getting little if anything in return.

Grab yourself a coffee and take a few moments to look at your current marketing activities.  Are they on track to help you make more sales and generate more high quality business?  If not, stop whatever you are doing and either get back on track or develop a more effective marketing strategy.

Your true voice

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Here’s a quick question for you: Think about the websites, blogs and newsletters that are most valued. What do they all have in common?

The answer is that they all have something to say, which is not just a generic rehash of popular opinions. They dare to be different. The writers have the courage to state an opinion, which is not always in line with popular thinking.

bloggingAs soon as you think about it, it makes perfect sense.  After all, no one is going to recommend a website to someone if it’s just saying what everyone else says.  These recommendations are how blogs like this one grow. I rely on you sharing my content for the vast majority of my readership.

The technology blogger Louis Gray is a great source of original ideas and insights. As a result, his blog is one or the most respected in his field.  Louis has a new feature on his blog, where once a month, he recommends a small number of less well-known blogs to his readers.  He told me recently that a key part of his selection process, is that the blog must have something original to say. If it hasn’t, no matter how cleverly it’s written, he won’t waste his readers time recommending it to them. He’s totally right – I mean, how many times does someone want to read the same opinions?

I have written a few times recently about the importance of having the courage to be yourself – to have your own authentic voice.  I believe that when it comes to developing a readership or even a community, it’s essential to let the real you shine through.

In a recent blog post, Seth Godin says:

In our desire to please everyone, it’s very easy to end up being invisible or mediocre. Far better to please the right people.

The majority of small business blogs, websites and newsletters are all-but invisible; because they are so similar to one another.  Their similarity acts as camouflage, which ensures they blend into the background and don’t get noticed.

Whilst I don’t advocate being ‘different’ just for the sake of it, I very strongly encourage fellow newsletter providers and bloggers to have the courage to be themselves and plough their own unique furrow.

Creating a buzz about your business

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This post is all about generating word of mouth and creating a positive buzz about you or your business.

If a friend recommends a great restaurant to you, you are massively more likely to go and eat there than you would be, if you’d found out about that same restaurant via an expensive advertisement. This is because, as we all know, a word of mouth referral is extremely powerful.

So, here’s a question for you:

Why do so few companies do anything to encourage word of mouth?

There are a number of reasons, but here’s what I believe to be the primary one: In my experience, most business owners think they are already doing enough to generate a buzz about what they do.  They genuinely care about their customers and work hard to try and exceed their customer’s expectations.

Surely that’s enough to get people talking about them?

No. It’s not!

That’s because there’s a high level of customer expectancy within the marketplace.  Think about it for a moment.  You expect great service don’t you? Of course you do and so does everyone else!

So, we all notice when we get bad service, but when we get either a good or slightly better than good service, it just washes over us.  It certainly doesn’t motivate us to want to tell all our friends.  We reserve that kind of buzz for the special companies – The one’s that stand out.

Word of mouth 101: We attract remarks, when we become remarkable

The marketplace will not start talking about a company, unless there’s a reason.  So, if we want to attract word of mouth business, we need to give people something to talk about.  A great place to start, is to continuously look for ways to offer a remarkable service, remarkable products or both.

To become remarkable takes courage; the courage to be different.  I’m not talking about being different just for the sake of it. If Bob’s the only Accountant in town to wear a batman outfit to his meetings, he will be different AND people will talk about him. (But that’s a whole different kind of word of mouth!)

Here’s a thought:  Why not take a moment to think about the companies, services or products that you are talking about and figure out how to adapt what you do, so your business becomes just as remarkable – but in your own way.  Use companies in different industries as inspiration, but don’t copy them.  Dare to be different and offer unique value.

Okay, that’s my take on it. I’d really like to hear what tips or ideas you have for generating word of mouth.

February’s Twitter unfollowing trend

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The Twitter unfollow trend happened in February!

That’s right, around 6 months ago, three well-known Twitter users unfollowed all their followers; two within a day of each other.

The big names back then were; Jason Calacanis (mahalo.com founder), Natali Del Conte (Cnet) and Loic Le Muer (Seesmic founder.)

Here’s a what happened – be sure to read the comments section for feedback from Loic and Jason. They gave the exact same reasons then for unfollowing, as people are giving today.

So, this Twitter unfollowing trend is not new and it is not news.

Next story please!