Jim Connolly Marketing

How to have zero competition in 2026

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no competitors, zero competition, niche marketing

One of the things I work on with many of my clients, is the development of a valuable niche for their business. A highly profitable niche, with literally no competition.

Here’s a quick look at the approach I use, plus some ideas you can adapt into your own business.

The niche model I use is based on the strategy I developed for my own business. Here are just 3 of over 70 processes I’ve developed.

Enriching my competitors

Instead of focusing on crushing the competition, I focused on enriching the competition. When I started my business in 1995, my strategies were so different from the other providers in my industry, they were no longer competitors. This gave me the freedom to enrich, connect and promote their marketing businesses. That remains to this day.

The following is from a previous article I wrote on this subject – the full article is here.

“I chose to proactively seek out opportunities to help my competitors flourish, to open doors for them, to share new ideas and strategies I’d developed with them, to connect them with useful people, etc. I was in my twenties at the time and many in the industry said I was young and naive. I saw things very differently…”

Tip: If you found that interesting, I strongly recommend you read the full article.

Closing sales replaced by opening relationships

Instead of focusing on closing sales, I focused on opening relationships. It has always struck me as odd that good salespeople are referred to as good closers. So, I decided to focus on opening instead of closing.

Opening relationships, to be precise.

Whilst sales closers have a toolkit of psychological closing techniques, I didn’t. Instead of seeing the sales process as a game of chess, pitting me against the prospect, I wanted to be on the same side of the table as the prospect. In their corner. Looking out for their best interests, exactly as I would if they were already my client. This transforms initial meetings with a prospective client. It switches things 180 degrees, from the usual chess game.

Yes, it does mean being willing to openly, honestly tell a prospective client if you don’t think you can help. When this happens, you’ve still planted some amazingly positive seeds.

You’ve just demonstrated to a prospective client that you can be trusted. You’ve also demonstrated that you offer an exceptionally professional service. In my experience, these same prospective clients often go on to become regular sources of high-quality referrals.

This approach has set me apart and allowed me to further develop my reputation as a trusted adviser. That’s because it’s in such stark contrast to the usual strategy, of closing tricks and needy follow-up emails.

Building an influential network, not a big network

People in the marketing industry are known for the size of their networks. They’re at every networking event. They’re amongst the most active people on Linkedin. I took a very different approach. Instead of focusing on growing a large contact network, I focused on growing a small, but influential network.

Even when I was starting out, I never saw the value of what’s usually thought of as ‘networking’. For example, I think I had my last lot of business cards printed around 2002.

Oh, and I’ve never had a Linkedin account or had any need for one.

Why?

Business is all about people and the depth of the relationships you have with them. I chose to intentionally develop strong, meaningful relationships with people who I believed to be the best fit.

Initially my main focus was senior media people, marketing experts and mentors. I was 29 when I started my business, no one knew who I was and I needed to be around people who were able to help me get known and develop. If you followed the link I shared earlier, you’ll have seen how my first 6-months in business went.

As with every person I have shared this selective networking approach with, I too have found that you automatically get many of the benefits of a large network. Such as massively expanding the reach of your work, your opinions and your ideas.

For example, you’ll find that from time to time, your influential contacts recommend you and your work to their audience. An audience that respects their endorsement. Another example is media coverage, something I have professionally benefited from enormously. Lots of journalists have known me for years. They trust me and are comfortable enough to contact me, and cite me, when they need expert opinion.

Tip: One way to get started is to think who would be really useful for you to know in 12-months or 18-months time. And today, start to look for ways to earn their attention and then their interest. It’s not by cold emailing them or pestering them. It’s about being useful to them. Gently. Over time.

I hope that quick look at 3 of the 70+ processes I’ve developed, has encouraged you to seriously consider a more niche approach to the growth of your business in 2026.

Ultimately, you can choose to compete against the masses or develop your own, wonderful niche. You can choose to blend in or stand out. You can choose to be ‘yet another’ or uniquely you. It’s always a choice. And a really easy one, if you think it through.

From failure to fortune: The feedback loop you’re missing

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Photo by Ross Findon

With 2026 less than 2-months away, I’d like to help you overcome one of the biggest barriers to business success. If you do, you’ll set yourself up for an amazing 2026 and beyond.

Ready?

Then lets go my friend.

It starts with one of the biggest paradoxes in business. The only way to succeed more often, is to increase your failure rate. (I’ll give you 3 examples of why this is provably correct in a moment).

The challenge here, is that many small business owners have not yet figured this out. They avoid taking action on their ideas, unless they are convinced, in advance, the idea will work out exactly how they want it to. As I’m sure you know, success seldom happens like that. So, their ideas are discarded. Including the ideas that would have made them a fortune.

Here’s how we overcome that loop and increase our success rate dramatically.

The failure success reality

When we can see something that clearly makes logical sense, our minds find it very easy to accept. Here are the 3 logical outcomes from taking action on a business idea we have. And we can benefit massively from all 3 of them.

  1. It might work out just how we wanted. A quick win. An instant hit. 
  2. It might work later, after we make some adjustments. By putting an idea into action, we attract feedback. Feedback allows us to tweak and improve. And improvements in what we do directly lead to improved results.
  3. It might flop. If it does, we get to learn from it. This learning can then be invested in the next business idea. Every big success in my business and my life, came this way. These failure lessons help us build an invaluable reservoir of feedback. Feedback that leads to better and better decision-making. This is how all ongoing success happens.

When we fully understand the value of feedback, it becomes a lot easier to put our ideas into action. That’s because we will have eliminated our irrational fear of failure. Just like every successful business owner before us. 

Failure is feedback.

And feedback is our friend. 

Marketing: Smoke and mirrors

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Marketing, Smoke and mirrors

Photo by James Adams on Unsplash

Friends, today’s post is longer than usual from me.

It’s an extremely important subject that is costing/losing small business owners a fortune. To get the full benefit from what I’m about to share, the estimated read time is 4-minutes. I know you’re busy, so if you don’t have time, skip to the paragraph below titled TLDR: You and your business.

Let’s go.

The success of your marketing relies on you identifying, then stopping, and marketing that isn’t producing the results you need. Then, replacing what doesn’t work, with effective marketing that produces maximum results.

A major reason why small business owner’s find their marketing efforts don’t work, is that the vast majority of marketing tips, tactics and strategies out there (around 95% in my experience) are ineffective or damagingly ineffective. They either don’t help your business grow, or they cause your business to shrink. Go back 20-years, that number was around 20%.

As someone who has devoted 30-years of my life to serving small business owners, I kills me to see so many small business owners unknowingly adopting toxic marketing advice. That’s what this article is all about.

Here’s what you need to know.

Here’s why this is happening & how to avoid it

This problem is growing because bad advice used to be very rare in comparison to today. The smoke and mirrors required for fake experts to create the illusion of success or wisdom used to come at a high financial cost. 

Today, all they need is a YouTube account or social media account, knowledge on how to feed/play the algorithms, and the motivation to work extremely hard until they pull it off.

Around 15-years ago, working behind a smoke and mirrors illusion was a lot harder. Here’s an example I remember from the 1990’s in London, which shows the kind of financial barrier to entry for fake experts.

For example.

There was a gallery that was sold to a charismatic guru in his mid twenties. It contained a lot of expensive items and he used the gallery as a base from which to sell coaching to artists, on how to make a fortune selling their artwork. He threw lavish parties in the gallery and looked to be financially successful for someone so young. And apparently he was very convincing. His place remained open for around 2-years.

The smoke and mirrors? 

The cool young artisan marketing guru had:

  • Never successfully marketed art
  • Never successfully sold art

He was gifted the company by his very wealthy parents, along with the building and the stock. He also had all his running costs paid for the 2-years he ‘traded’ there. 

The goal was for his parents to position their son as a successful business guru. They finally pulled the plug when their son started getting complaints, which led to legal proceedings against him and the whole illusion unraveled.

Now to the most important part.

TLDR: You and your business

It’s the exact opposite in 2025. The barrier has been removed. Anyone can do it. Which is why YouTube and social media are packed with thousands of charismatic, confident pretenders, offering dangerously incorrect marketing advice.

Let’s stop this happening to you.

Here are the most common red flags to watch out for, before you pay for, or take free marketing advice, from anyone. Yes, even if (especially if) they have hundreds of thousands or millions of subscribers or followers.

  • Their advice is already commonplace. Any widely used marketing activity will provide you with absolutely no competitive advantage. 
  • They didn’t seem to exist until 5 or 10-years ago. They came from nowhere, despite claiming years of success. Check people out. 
  • They offer easy to create/fake vanity metrics to ‘prove’ their ability. Traffic increases, clicks, leads and enquiries, etc. All these can be faked using software.
  • They’re under 35 and lack the lived experience required, to know the long-term impact of their advice. Such as how their advice would work in different economies. 
  • Their subscriber numbers or follower numbers are huge and it happened in a suspiciously short time. Bots can be purchased to subscribe to, or follow accounts. This is usually done in batches and added carefully over a period of time, in order to avoid being identified as fake. Once a significant number of bots have subscribed or are following them, real people start joining because those numbers suggest the pretender has value. 

One thing which hasn’t changed over the years, is that if we take the time to think it through, it’s not too hard to spot some of the less polished fakes. So, before parting with your money for membership of mastermind groups (insider groups, premium groups/clubs) marketing software or webinars etc., think carefully.

Give yourself time to make the best decision you can. This is especially the case if you’re being rushed to act quickly to avoid missing out or to get some kind of early bird discount.

They know that the faster you decide, the more likely you’ll be to pay them.

Marketing 101: The power of extra

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marketing, extra value, small business

Let’s look at how to apply the marketing power of extra into your business, for massive wins with very little effort.

When making a buying decision or a decision to hire someone, prospects look for the best value. Just like we do. They want to make the decision that they feel offers the biggest bang for their buck. Something that similarly priced alternatives don’t provide.

In short, they’re looking for the extra value, which makes the price so attractive that they proceed and make the purchase.

Note: it’s not the lowest price they want.

Imagine two competing products (or services) that are same price. One of them them offers something extra, which people in the market for this type of product value. The other doesn’t. Naturally, the product with that extra value will win almost all the sales.

That’s pretty obvious.

But here’s the idea I want to share with you today.

Imagine two competing products that are priced differently. One is priced 50% higher than the other. If this higher priced product has enough extra value, the price still sounds like it’s worth every penny. It will carry on outselling the less valuable, cheaper competitor. Maybe by only 20-30%.

That extra value is doing something amazing.

It’s causing the product to outsell the competing product… and these additional sales are made at a meaningfully higher price.

You and your business

With very little effort, that extra value product will become something you provide. You’ll make more sales or attract more clients than your competitors. All these additional sales will be at an increased price.

Very little effort?

Yes. Actually, very, VERY little effort!

The marketplace already provides us with countless examples of exactly what to do. You simply need to look at the extra value that people in somewhat similar industries to yours offer… adapt it for your specific, target customer… then offer it.

You get bonus points (and a lot more sales and money) if you put some time into it and discover the most attractive, extra value.

Then, you need to kick your extra value offering out the door. That’s the only tricky part. Lots of small business owners worry about what will happen, to the point where they choose to do nothing.

Note: Those same small business owners are not risk averse!

They can’t possibly be.

Never, ever assume that a small business owner is scared to take a risk.

Why?

  • These same people started a business in the first place. That’s something only a fraction of the population have the tenacity to do.
  • These amazing people had the guts to employ themselves. And some have a team working for them.
  • These brave people were courageous enough to leave the ‘safety’ of a regular pay check.

This is why I love and respect small business owners so much. 

Important

For those small business owners reading this who have forgotten how resilient you are, reread the 3 lines above. Not just today, in relation to the idea I shared with you today. Read it again if you ever doubt exactly what you’re made of. 

Before they buy: 3 things your prospects need to hear

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marketing impact

Photo: Shutterstock

Before you hit go on your next marketing effort, here are 3 questions your prospective clients or customers need you to answer.

1. I’m busy. Why should I give you my attention?

Attention is earned. It’s not granted automatically because you launched a campaign or sent out a newsletter. Your audience is already overwhelmed by messages, distractions, and responsibilities. If your title/headline doesn’t instantly signal relevance, they will simply ignore it.

Tip: Spend at least 25% of your time crafting the title/headline, as you do on the rest of your marketing piece. It’s THAT important. 

2. Why should I switch to you from my current provider?

Your competitors all claim to offer a great service. Unless you give prospects a powerful reason to switch to you, a reason that carries weight, they’ll stick with what they know. To multiply your conversion rates even more, back your powerful reason with a guarantee. Then, to increase your conversion rates even more, make it easy for prospects to switch from their current provider, to you. 

Relax. I’ve written about how to make switching to you as easy as possible, and as attractive as possible. Read it here.

3. I’ve never heard of you before. Why should I trust you?

Trust is the foundation of every sale. But when you’re unknown to the prospect, you start with none. So, you need to demonstrate credibility, not just claim it. Offer evidence. Show results. Share proof. Make it easy for people to feel safe choosing you. 

When you answer all 3 of those questions clearly, confidently and early, you make it far easier for prospects to buy from you or hire you. 

You’ll cut through the noise.

You’ll position yourself as worth noticing.

You’ll give people a reason to believe in you, and to take action.

You’ll also radically increase your sales!

You’re better. They’re more successful. Why?

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marketing balance, marketing tips, marketing ideas

Photo | Andrew Draper

Today, I’d like to help you avoid maybe the most frustrating thing in business. I’m referring to watching your less capable competitors gaining more of the market, and making more money, than you do.

It all starts with understanding the following.

The most successful provider and the best provider, are seldom the same provider. In fact, it rarely happens.

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

Why is that?

Commercial success requires a critically important balance.

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

Here’s why that balance is essential.

  • 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 DO know you exist, but your marketing doesn’t inspire them to trust you, they won’t hire you or buy from you.
  • And if your prospective clients know you exist, 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 a business is extremely frustrating, as less capable competitors grab your share of the marketplace. You will already know competitors in your space, who are nowhere near as good as you, yet they’re flying.

But with that balance in place: you get the outstanding results your hard work deserves!

Thankfully, this is directly under our control as business owners. And it’s easy. All it takes is a decision. The decision to adjust the balance, so our business attracts the volume and quality of clients we deserve.

But here’s the challenge

It’s even easier to ‘keep on keeping on’ and hope things just get better. Which is why this message is ignored by most people I share it with. It’s why there are business owners still whining about how unlucky they are 5 or even 10-years after they started their business.

It’s not luck.

It’s a decision. THIS decision.

And as business owners, it should be the easiest, most obvious business decision we ever make.