Image: Martin Martz

Ever wondered why I never write about how or where to spend your marketing money?

Well, today I spill the beans. And it can save you, and make you, a fortune.

There are a lot of ways you can spend money on marketing. Advertising and promotion is available via thousands of providers. It’s so easy.

• You pay them your money.
• They say they’ll get your message in front of X number of prospective clients or customers.
• Hopefully, a percentage of these will contact you.
• And a percentage of that percentage, could spend money with you.

So far so good, right?

It would be, if your competitors didn’t have the exact same options.

But they do.

Buying attention is overrated

Obviously, your competitors advertise to the same people as you… otherwise they wouldn’t be your competitors.

This means your ads are always competing against their ads.

Whoever spends most money, gets the most attention. This is equally true when you advertise on different platforms to your competitors: because digital advertising reaches the same target groups regardless of where they are.

This makes buying attention extremely precarious! Your ad reach will always depend on the marketing money your competitors choose to spend. It’s out of your control. It’s also impossible to plan the future growth of your business with confidence.

Why?

A well-funded competitor can quickly and easily, wipe your visibility out before you even know what’s happening.

Thankfully there’s an effective alternative.

Marketing creativity over marketing money

Advertising is the price you pay, for lousy marketing. I’ve said this for decades. It’s even more true today.

That’s why I have always chosen to focus 100% on a very different marketing model. It’s a model that is impossible for your competitors to copy, as they can’t see what you’re doing, unlike paid ads.

• They’ll know that you suddenly get talked about a lot more often.
• They’ll know there’s a real buzz around your products or services.
• They’ll certainly notice their existing clients or customers switching to you.

BUT they won’t know why.

That’s because the marketing model I use with my clients businesses, and with my own business, is entirely based around creativity, not money.

And it’s exceptionally effective. In fact, The Wall Street Journal came to me for an example of how I achieve massive marketing success for my small business clients, using creative marketing strategies, and NOT A PENNY spent on advertising or promotion.

In short, I don’t write about how to buy attention because it’s a risky, expensive, unpredictable and exceptionally limited way to grow your business.

So, now you know.

Photo by David McElwee

When a prospective client or customer decides not to hire us or buy from us, how can we turn their no into a yes? And how can we do this, even when they’ve had their objections or concerns fully answered and they still say ‘no’?

Faced with that kind of rejection, there are 3 broad ways we can choose to respond.

1. We could just leave it. They’ve made their decision. End of story.
2. We could reply and let them know why they’re wrong and make sure they know they’ve made a big mistake. If we know the competitor who won, we could also include all the bad stuff we know about the lousy dirt-bag.
3. Or we could contact them and be more positive and helpful to them, than if we had won the contract!

Yes, it’s number 3 I’m going to focus on. Because it’s exceptionally effective.

Turning a prospect’s no into a yes

Imagine how the following might work, as a massively more effective way to respond to a prospect’s ‘no’.

• You contact the prospect and thank them for the time they spent with you or with your proposal.
• You also let them know, up-front, that you respect their decision. This is important. It shows you’re not doubting their ability as a decision maker.
• You add that as a result of their decision, you’re working to improve your proposal or presentation.
• You then find something generous to say about the competitor who won, so long as it’s true. Nothing sarcastic or tongue-in-cheek, but truly gracious.
• And finally, you let them know that if they ever need anything, you’re there for them and happy to help.

Here’s what we know for absolute certain. Very, very few people respond with that type of good-natured, yet professional strategy. But when they do, they get remembered for the very best of reasons. It’s exceptionally powerful.

Here’s what can happen.

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From rejection to selection

Here are just some of the outcomes this can generate for people, who were originally rejected.

In many cases, the prospect who rejected them suddenly wonders if they made the wrong decision, in choosing the other provider. I’ve seen this result in immediate change of mind, with the rejected provider winning the deal. 

Much more commonly, I’ve seen the rejected provider given the contract, as soon as the winning provider screws up!

It’s as if the prospect is unconsciously looking for their original choice to fail, after becoming fully aware what a wonderful provider they rejected. By respecting the prospect’s decision and leaving the door wide open to them, the rejected provider makes it extremely easy for the prospect to contact them. 

But that’s not all!

Ask anyone who uses this approach and they’ll confirm that it also results in referrals, from the prospects who didn’t change their mind about hiring the rejected provider.

I’ve used this strategy for years and seen amazing results. My clients have, too. So give it a try. You literally have nothing to lose and everything to gain.

Photo: Nick Fewings

The world’s top restaurants don’t waste much time marketing their food. If you think they do, prepare for your eyes to be opened. And for your marketing to radically improve. 

Every business provides a product or a service, which solves a problem for the customer. In order to solve their problem, it needs to create a change. To move the customer from something to something.

For example.

• From worried to confident.
• From vulnerable to safe.
• From broke to wealthy.
• From discomfort to comfort.
• From bored to entertained.
• From struggling to succeeding.
• From confused to clear.
• From sad to joyful.
• From scruffy to glam.
• From lonely to connected.
• From loss to gain.
• From ignorant to informed.
• From stressed to relaxed.
• From pessimistic to hopeful.
• From lost to guided.

You need to figure out the change your prospective customers are looking for. Their ‘from what’ and their ‘to what’.

Now, here’s the part almost every small business totally screws up (and how to avoid it).

The answer is not obvious

The biggest danger here is believing the answer is obvious. It almost never is.

Seriously.

For instance, no successful coffee shop focuses on changing you from thirsty to quenched. None of them.

They change you by creating an attractive atmosphere. An atmosphere, where you can go from stressed to relaxed, or from tired to restored, or from lonely to connected, from stuck to creative or from bored to entertained.

The world’s top coffee shops know this. It’s what their marketing focuses on. It’s why we see very little emphasis placed on the coffee beans used, yet huge emphasis placed on the welcoming, positive atmosphere.

Here’s another example.

The world’s most expensive restaurants don’t focus on taking you from feeling hungry to feeling full. You can go down the street and get the same number of calories at a burger joint for pennies. Instead, these restaurants focus on their exclusivity. They take you from feeling normal to feeling like a star.

You get the idea.

Your product or service

Determine what change or changes your prospect is truly looking for.

Focus on the ‘from what’ part. Your marketing message needs to meet them right there. It needs to talk to their current situation. It needs to address the discomfort they’re feeling. This means your message will be on the very same wavelength that they’re on. This dramatically and profoundly increases the sales impact of your marketing

Then focus on the ‘to what’ part. Your marketing needs to illustrate how your product or service transitions them to their end point. To the very thing they desire… and will happily spend money on.

Like every marketing tactic, idea and tip I use, this is an example of a quick and easy improvement you can make, which won’t require you spending a penny on marketing.

A marketing budget is the price you pay, for being just like your competitors. I’ve been telling small business this for over 3-decades. Marketing is about attracting high-profit clients or customers. This is an example, which you can put into play today.

Photo by Clark Tibbs 

It’s simply this: In business the winners get moving.

Here’s why those 6 words are foundational to your success.

• Every business owner is presented with opportunities to succeed.
• Every business owner can steal ideas.
• Every business owner can choose to be a leader.
• Every business owner can instigate, rather than wait for someone else to move.
• Every business owner encounters problems.
• Every business owner can choose to have zero competition.
• Every business owner can give their business the resources it needs.
• And every business owner has the same 24-hours available to them every day.

It’s what we do that determines our success.

Not our intentions, our network of business contacts, our cutting edge technology, our plans, our targets, our qualifications, our competitive edge, our ingenuity… or our skills.

Intelligent action always precedes success. That’s why in business, the winners get moving.