Jim Connolly Marketing

Marketing tips and ideas to help you grow your business

Marketing 101: Pick a frequency

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Here’s a content marketing tip, to help you attract the attention of prospective customers AND motivate them to buy from you or hire you. It’s all about one word that has two extremely useful meanings. That word is Frequency.

Allow me to explain.

marketing 101, pick a frequency, content marketing, frequency

I was prompted to write this after 2 emails I received.

  • The first was from a long time reader. Sophie got in touch to find out why I hadn’t published quite as many newsletters recently.
  • The second email was from a former reader. Rick emailed to say he’d unsubscribed from the blog, because I publish too often.

There’s a powerful lesson here for anyone who wants to grow their business.

Frequency

Clearly, I’ll never be able to keep everyone happy with the frequency of my newsletter. For some it will be too little. For others it will be too much. If I keep Sophie happy, I lose Rick. If I keep Rick happy, I lose Sophie.

So, here’s what I do.

Rather than try and get the frequency right for everyone, I use a different kind of frequency. A frequency that works. Every. Single. Time!

More importantly, it’s the kind of frequency, which you can use to attract more clients or customers and build your business.

The other type of frequency

There’s another kind of frequency. The kind radios use. If you tune your radio into the same frequency as a radio station, you receive their signal. You’re (literally) on the same wavelength as them.

When you’re on the same wavelength as your marketplace, you’re in harmony with them. And they’re in harmony with you. Sophie and I are on the same wavelength. If you’re a long time reader, you and I are on the same wavelength, too.

In short: I only write for you and Sophie.

Now, that won’t be the right frequency for everyone. But I don’t write for everyone. And there’s a very good reason why. It turns out you can’t keep everyone happy. And the harder you try, the weaker your signal becomes. Before you know it, no one is on your wavelength.

Though I used the example of newsletters / blogging for this post, the exact same strategy works for every kind of content marketing.

Supercharge your marketing

If your marketing isn’t resonating with your marketplace, it’s entirely possible your signal is too weak. This happens when you try to be relevant to as many people as possible.

You land in the middle. In my earlier example, you’d be too infrequent for Sophie and too frequent for Rick. Lose, lose.

By landing in the middle, you become directly relevant to no one. This means your marketing message will lack the motivation it needs, to inspire your prospects to take action. Only clear, directly relevant marketing has that kind of impact.

So, pick a frequency.

Shun the masses.

Embrace the community you wish to serve. Focus only on them, their needs and their wants. Be generous. And be generous as often as you can.

Pretty soon, you will have a community of people on your wavelength.

  • People who will value what you do.
  • People who will miss you when you’re not there.
  • People who will hire you.
  • People who will recommend you.
  • People who will talk about you.

Just imagine how valuable that will be for your business.

3 Tips to help you regularly create great Content Marketing

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content marketing tips

If you’ve ever wondered, how some people are able to regularly produce effective content marketing; (newsletters, blog posts, articles, podcasts, etc), and how you can do the same, this post is for you.

I’ve divided it into 3 core tips.

1. Is this useful?

There’s a sign on the wall in my studio. It’s a small sign, containing just 3 words: “Is this useful”. That’s the mark I set for everything I create. Nothing gets published unless I believe you’ll find it useful. I don’t try and be clever. Just useful. And as long as I think you’ll find an idea or observation useful, I share it.

Some small business owners are put off creating content, because they over-complicate things. They dig into minute detail. And try to make everything as close to perfect as possible.

The thing is, your prospective clients or customers want something useful, not perfect.

Once you stop aiming for perfection you’ll find it a lot easier. You’ll also get massively better results.

2. Don’t let crappy ideas block you

If you’re anything like me, you’ll find that most of the ideas you get are pretty average. Most of mine are bloody terrible! But maybe 1 in 5 or 1 in 10 are good enough, to be turned into a valuable (useful) piece of content marketing.

The challenge is that in order to get that 1 useful idea, you need to allow yourself to have the crappy ones… without getting disheartened.

The way I overcame this, was to deliberately give myself permission to think of lots of crappy ideas, knowing that something useful would come from it.

When you view the duff ideas as essential steps in the development of better ones, they switch from being disheartening to highly motivating.

3. Give your work the respect it deserves

We often overestimate the ideas and the work of others and underestimate the value of our own. Here’s a great example of what I mean.

A business owner told me how she was taking some files off a computer for archiving, when she discovered an old documents folder. It contained loads of articles, which were really interesting. She looked to see who wrote them and found they were all her own work, from 9 years earlier!

She didn’t publish them at the time, because she thought they weren’t good enough. It was only when she thought they were written by someone else, that she saw them for what they really were. Your work is almost certainly way, way better than you think.

So get it out there!

In short, if you’re looking to improve the quality and quantity of your content marketing, focus on being useful. See your crappy ideas as necessary steps to your useful ideas.

And give your work the respect it (and you) deserve.

Focus on believers. Forget the rest

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marketing, prospecting, world view, mindset

You gave a great presentation or demo to a prospect.

It went extremely well. Without a hitch.

You answered their questions in full.

You also provided assurances and quoted them a great price.

Only for them to say they’re not interested!

Today, I’d like to show you how to avoid this scenario. Or stop it from happening as often in the future.

It’s down to knowledge and belief.

In particular, the difference between how we get someone to know what we know, and how we get someone to believe what we believe.

Knowledge and beliefs

Knowledge: If you want a prospective customer to know something you know, you simply tell them. Your knowledge is then transferred.

They now know what you shared with them. This is what happens during the sales process.

Beliefs: If you want a prospective customer to change what they believe, simply telling them something new has very little effect. That’s because our beliefs run deep.

Our beliefs about what constitutes value, what we regard as important, what we believe is risky, etc., are developed over decades. They naturally take a long time and a lot of effort to change. Too long for a sales presentation. That’s for sure!

The answer?

Simple!

Focus on the believers

The most direct route to spectacularly improved sales results, is to focus on the believers. Believers are the prospects who already believe in, and value, whatever the core benefits of your product or service are.

And the marketplace is packed with your believers.

This is true regardless of what kind of service or product you offer and what end of the market you serve. Your believers should be your sole focus. These are the only prospects worthy of your attention or your time.

Everything improves when a prospective customer already believes what you believe. Because gaining the sale (or new client) becomes a simple matter of providing a compelling presentation. You know… just like the great presentations you wasted on all those non-believers, who said they were not interested!

Yes, you’ll need to adjust your marketing so you can identify and attract your believers. But that’s relatively easy.

When you get it right, your reward is vastly better conversion rates, higher sales volume and greater revenues and profits.

When you enter Attract Mode, people will hire you

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Here’s a marketing tip, which is based on attracting clients. Yes, they come to you. I’ve done this since 1995 and today, I’ve given it a name. Attract Mode.

When you do work you enjoy, to the highest standard you can, and make it visible to prospective clients, you enter Attract Mode. And people will hire you.

This holds true for every type of service I can think of.

Here’s an example of what I mean.

marketing attract mode, attract mode, show your work, show your knowledge, marketing tip

Last week I spent around 6 hours, spread over a few evenings, working on the hedges that surround my house. It’s great exercise, I love doing it and the weather was perfect. After about 30 minutes, someone came over, complimented my work and asked if I would give him a quote, to tidy up his garden hedge. I thanked him and explained my situation, that I’m the homeowner, not a gardener. He said, “Okay” and went on his way.

In total, 4 people asked me the same thing in that 6 hour period. Because without even knowing it, I was in Attract Mode.

What does this have to do with you, your business and the way you market your services?

Show your work, where prospects will see it

You can enter Attract Mode and reach thousands of times more people than I did, with the service you provide.

How?

By sharing your knowledge, the way you work and your passion for what you do, where your prospective clients will see it.

How will they see it?

It works like this.

  1. You choose a digital marketing platform to create and publish with. I love newsletters and WordPress. You might prefer YouTube or podcasting, whatever. The key is to find a space where you can demonstrate your knowledge, the way you work and your passion for what you do. Along with how to get in touch with you.
  2. You then need to determine where your prospective client’s attention is. This might be Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, TikTok or a more industry specific social platform.
  3. Then, when you’ve published a ‘piece’ that demonstrates your knowledge, the way you work and your passion for what you do, you share it on the social platform (or platforms) used by your prospective clients.

After a while, if you get the value, focus and balance right, you’ll be able to ignore the second and third step. By then, people who have discovered your newsletter, YouTube channel, podcast, blog or whatever, will be sharing it for you. In my case, I publish marketing tips and ideas, which are shared by my newsletter subscribers and those who visit my site.

Welcome to Attract Mode

By including easy ways for people to contact you, interested prospects will reach out. You won’t need to push. Which is good. Because pushing only causes people to push back.

Instead, you’ll be in Attract Mode. People will come to you. You won’t be selling to them, they’ll be hiring you. This changes the whole dynamic of how you grow your business.

Will this work for everyone?

No.

  • Partly because some business owners won’t be able to resist turning what they publish into a series of sales pitches. No one is attracted to sales pitches. No one.
  • And partly because they’ll quit too soon. This isn’t magic. It’s marketing. Real world marketing, which your audience (prospects) will take time to discover. It also takes time for them to develop a connection with you and to identify what you do with what they need.

Attract Mode has been a cornerstone of my marketing since 1995. And it works spectacularly well, when done correctly.

Empathy: It’s far more important than you think!

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How interested are you, regarding the challenges facing your prospective clients or customers? That may seem like an odd question, but your answer is spectacularly important.

Why?

marketing empathy, marketing with feeling

Because the most effective marketing, and strongest business relationships, are all built on a foundation of empathy: The ability to understand and share in the feelings of another person.

Think about it for a moment.

  • The vendors you are most loyal to, are those you feel have a connection with you.
  • The vendors you tell your friends about, are those you feel confident recommending.
  • The vendors you feel closest to, are those who understand your wants and needs, because they took time to find out.
  • And the vendors you appreciate the most, are those you feel you actually ‘know’.

Conversely, the vendors you have no interest in are those who have a mostly transactional relationship with you. These are the vendors that don’t really give a rat’s ass about you or what matters to you. Their focus is cold and based on how to maximize their yield from you.

Show your empathy through your marketing

Despite the value of demonstrating empathy and the damage caused by a transactional focus, most marketing lacks feeling. Instead we’re hit with needy messages transparently designed to milk us like a cash cow; sales pitches, killer deals, special offers and marketing gimmicks. It’s stripped of empathy, yet that human connection is the most valuable part.

Here’s the thing:

Business is all about people. And marketing is about how those people feel.

That’s because our feelings are what drive the decisions we make and the actions we take. Feelings are what cause people to hire you, buy from you, recommend you and remain a loyal customer. Without those feelings there’s no connection.

And without that connection, you and your business lose.

You know that you care about your customers and the community you serve. So, don’t keep it a secret. Instead, make empathy a visible part of the way you do business and the way you market your business.

Look for empathy opportunities

Proactively look for ways to demonstrate empathy.

Yes, demonstrate!

Words have amazing power. But when you show someone, it has massively greater impact, than when you merely tell them.

Here’s a suggestion. Do a review of the way you communicate with your customers and prospective customers. Are you creating empathy? Are you building them-focused relationships? If not, put it right.

Because when you do, it will radically improve the way they feel about you. And those feelings are what drive their decisions and actions.

How to thrive during the cost of living crisis

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cost of living crisis, marketing recession, marketing cost living crisis

Today, I’m going to share some ideas regarding how to thrive during the cost of living crisis. I’ll focus on just 2 of the main issues. Plus, I’ll share an amazing opportunity that’s waiting for you.

Let’s go!

What your prospective customers need from you is changing fast, as the global cost of living crisis takes hold. No one seems to know exactly how long it will last, which adds uncertainty to the mix.

Your marketing has to adapt to this radically different economy. This is especially the case, if you sell to small or medium-sized businesses, or to consumers outside the top income brackets. That’s what I will focus on today.

Here are a couple of major ways things have changed from a marketing perspective, plus some ideas to counter the negative impact.

1. Your prospects are thinking harder

You’re now (or will very soon be) marketing to people who are thinking a lot harder, before they spend their money or their budget.

People shop around a lot more whenever affordability becomes a greater priority. We see this on a small scale when an individual loses their job or an individual company goes through a serious downturn. We see it on a mass scale when the world economy is severely hit.

Here are some ideas for how to overcome this challenge.

More of the same isn’t a smart move

The focus of your marketing needs to address the new reality of your prospective customers. More of the same is not a smart move, because things are absolutely not the same. For example, the level of marketing motivation required will need to increase, as your prices or fees become a far bigger issue.

Timing is more important than ever

There is an important timing component to the marketing improvements you make. And it brings a huge, potential opportunity with it. (Not the AMAZING opportunity I mentioned at the start… you’ll get that in a few moments.)

The business owners who adapt first (and best), to the new requirements of their prospects, will be the net winners. They’ll gain the market-share lost by their competitors who sat on their hands.

We saw this during the pandemic and we’re already seeing it again now.

2. Your prospects hate uncertainty

The way people make decisions when faced with uncertainty is very different than in more stable times.

They are massively more aware of risk and the potential for loss. They also tend to put decisions off for as long as possible, even relatively small decisions. An uncertain mind tends to say ‘no’ regarding a purchasing decision, rather than risk making a mistake.

Here are some ideas for how to overcome this challenge.

Risk reduction and risk reversal

As well as the above recommendations, your marketing needs to include powerful, visible, risk reduction messages. In some cases, there are ways to very successfully offer full risk reversal on products or services; “total satisfaction or your money back” guarantees. I have one service that has always carried this offer.

Clearly, full risk reversal is not suitable for some products and services. But if there’s a safe way for you to reduce the risk, fully or partly, give it a go!

Long-term purchases need to be VERY compelling

The uncertainty over just how bad things will get and how long this will last, means people are now especially hesitant regarding any medium or long-term purchasing decisions. Making a decision that will be with you for a long time, is a great deal harder when you’ve no clear idea what the future holds. Again, your marketing needs to account for this and adapt.

This means placing a far stronger focus on highly compelling reasons for your prospects to take action now.

  • You believe in your products or services.
  • You know they are of outstanding value to your prospective customers.
  • You DON’T know if another provider will take care of the prospect.
  • This means you owe it to your prospects, to make sure they buy from you or hire you.

Now transfer your passion into powerful marketing messages, which will inspire your prospects!

Trust: Get your stars out

Your marketing also needs to build as much trust as possible. This is always extremely important, but in times like these, it’s essential.

One proven way to do this is to get your stars out. In other words, if like me you’ve been trading for a long time (27 years in my case) or have impressive accolades / achievements, these need to be far more prominent in your marketing.

If you would like to see an example of getting your stars out, here’s how I do it and it works extremely well.

Limitless potential and opportunity

The commercial potential ahead of you right now is incredible.

The opportunity is immense.

What?

Yup!

You’re facing incredible potential and immense opportunity!

History assures us that EVERY time we encounter a major economic crisis, literally every single time, there are business owners who win huge… business owners who win huge, in industries where their same-sized competitors floundered.

These are the business owners who focused on thriving, when their competitors focused on surviving.

How did they do this?

Well, here’s the most important factor I know.

They followed the direction of travel

Let me explain that. It’s the most important message I have for you today.

If you want to know the way things are heading, you need to closely observe the current direction of travel. This was a key philosophy of mine, as I successfully led clients through the pandemic. It’s the same concept Wayne Gretzky shared when he said; skate to where the puck is going to be, not to where it has been.

The business owners who thrived previously, paid very close attention to what their prospective customers were doing. They also studied social media channels, to learn what their prospects wanted and needed. They got a very valuable snapshot of the future.

And they ran with it!

They adapted their products, services and the way these were marketed, to perfectly match what their prospects were crying for.

The best overall advice I can give you right now, is to be willing to do the same. To be willing to adapt and improve. And sooner rather than later.