Marketing tips Marketing help

Your top 2 marketing goals for 2023

By Jim Connolly | December 30, 2022

increase value, client retention, attrition

There are two essential marketing goals for you to focus on in 2023, which I’d like to share with you.

First, some context.

In recent months, we’ve seen the start of a massive change. Consumer spending is falling and company budgets are in equally sharp decline. This is forecast to get worse in 2023 as we enter a global recession. And it has already started to change the way your prospects purchase things. They’re having to take drastic action and cut back on expenditure.

They’re looking for cost savings on essential purchases.
They’re eliminating or reducing non-essential purchasing.

Here are those two essential areas I’d like you to be aware of, along with some ideas on how to put them to work.

1. Increase your value and let your prospects know

You need to greatly increase the value of whatever you provide. Then, powerfully market that greatly increased value to your prospects. Your prospects are thinking really hard about purchases, making value for money an essential if you want their hard earned cash or company budget. I give some tips here on ways to create value.

A common way to greatly increase your value, is to greatly reduce your fees or prices. Lowering fees is a bad idea in any economy. However, when your own overhead is increasing, lowering your fees makes no sense at all. It’s also totally unsustainable, given the long-term economic forecast.

Of course, once you’ve created a way to radically increase the value of your products or services, you need to let people know. This means attracting their attention. Then clearly explaining the compelling benefits you offer, in a way that motivates them to buy from you or hire you. If your service is faster, explain why that extra speed is so valuable to them. If the quality of your product is demonstrably better, explain why that superior quality represents amazing value for them.

Don’t just greatly increase how valuable your service is and expect prospects to ‘get it’. It’s critical that you tell them, in a way that moves them to take action and make the purchase.

2. Work harder than ever on client retention

You need to make retaining your existing clients, a top-level business activity. Their income or budget is being severely squeezed. This means they’re vastly more likely to shop around. This includes clients who until now, have been loyal for years.

To compound things, your clients will be increasingly targeted by your competitors with attractive reasons to switch. Your competitors are experiencing similar challenges to you. Expect them to respond with increased marketing activity and hunger.

In part, you will already improve your client retention by implementing the previous suggestion.

But you’ll need all the commercial firepower you can muster. So, I’m recommending you do what the leaders in client retention do.

It’s simply this: Maintain useful, regular contact with your clients. Clients are used to being contacted when it’s renewal time or when they’re involved with you in a transaction or on a project. The type of regular contact I’m referring to, goes beyond that. And it’s spectacularly effective.

How do you maintain useful, regular contact?

Some common examples include sharing useful resources with them, maybe an app, productivity tool, or useful piece of information [like this]. Also, if you have a contact that could be a great fit for them, connect them. And if you learn of an event that could be helpful to them, let them know. You get the idea.

It’s about being mindful of your clients as you go through your working day, and collecting any resources worth sharing with one or more of them. No, don’t pester them every few days. In my experience, a few times a month is a great place to start. It keeps you front of mind. It’s a great way to become a semi-regular part of your client’s business. The closer the connection between client and provider, the more value you can be to your clients and the harder it is for a competitor to get them to switch.

Thriving in tough times

As we’ve seen over the past 36-months, there have been some huge changes to what we consider business as usual. Each time things took a turn for the worse, some business owners went broke, others struggled but survived, and others thrived. As you’ll know, there were small businesses in each of those three groups in just about every town and city. This often included businesses in the same industry, targeting the same prospects, facing the same restrictions and challenges, yet with very different results.

Certainly, some went into those struggles with significant resources behind them. But that was not so for the average small business owner who thrived. What allowed them to thrive was that they adapted their business to the new ‘normal’. They didn’t hunker down. They didn’t just carry on as if nothing was happening around them. They remained agile and benefited from opportunities that their competitors were not even looking for.

You should consider doing as they did, my friend.

Maximum or minimum can make you a fortune

By Jim Connolly | December 13, 2022

There are 2 business models, which have proven time and again to be extremely successful.

In today’s post, I’ll show you how both of them work, PLUS how to keep your current business model and open up a whole new marketplace!

The 2 models I’m referring to are:

Focusing on the maximum you can deliver.
Focusing on the minimum you can deliver.

Let’s start by looking at those 2 models.

The maximum model

The business owner who takes the first option, will focus on providing excellence. They’ll place a premium on exceptional customer service. They’ll set the highest possible standards and achieve them. They’ll need to unceasingly focus on delighting their customers at every opportunity.

There is a marketplace who are desperate to be treated this way. And they eagerly, willingly pay a premium. It’s an exceptionally profitable marketplace, too.

The minimum model

The business owner who takes the second option, will focus on cost efficiencies. They’ll consistently search for ways to lower their overhead. They’ll embrace automation and AI. They’ll know exactly what the minimum required is and then deliver on it.

There is a huge marketplace willing to pay for a stripped back product or service. We see them everywhere; no-frills airlines, feature phones, low price stores, etc.

The minimum model works. Really, really well.

Just don’t land somewhere in the middle

The problem comes if you fail to choose, and end up somewhere in the space between those 2 successful business models.

For example.

Better than the minimum quality, but not premium either.
Less expensive than the premium brands, but not inexpensive enough for the price-sensitive buyers.
Products or services that are absolutely fine, but not remarkable enough for people to tell their friends.

By failing to choose the maximum or minimum model, you land in the anonymous middle ground; where there’s very little interest and where it’s really, really hard to get noticed.

Middle ground businesses are why networking groups exist. They have to push for referrals, because their message doesn’t spread wide enough or often enough by itself. They’re stuck in a frustrating, unending and very expensive fight for attention.

Your highly lucrative, new income stream

Here’s something worth considering. Something that can help your business thrive, whilst still retaining your existing model.

What is it?

Develop an additional, new brand; dedicated exclusively to either the maximum or the minimum edge of your marketplace.

Think about that for a moment.

This gives you the safety net of your existing model. Plus, it provides you with all the amazing opportunities that come from serving one of those highly lucrative edges. It opens up a lot of potential, yet with relatively low risk.

Yes, it takes planning. But I’ve worked on this with many clients over the years, and the results can be spectacular. It will allow you to open up a whole new legion of prospective customers or clients. I’ve seen what’s possible and it’s definitely worth considering, as part of your business development plans.

Attract more clients with The Fine Print

By Jim Connolly | December 5, 2022

the fine print, marketing, the small print

I have something a bit different for you today. It’s a marketing tactic that helps influence people to buy from you or hire you, by destroying preconceptions about the fine print we often find in marketing messages.

Here’s what we all know about the fine print, before we even read it. It’s going to be some kind of disclaimer, informing us that the product or service they just told us about, isn’t as good as they made it sound.

This got me thinking.

What if my clients were to do something amazing and flip the fine print, so that it was a marketing asset for them?

I developed the idea in full. Then, I tested it and measured the results. Finally, I rolled the tactic out to my clients.

Here’s what happened.

Flipping the fine print

My idea was to create a big and positive impact on their cautious prospective clients [or customers]. The kind of prospects that read the fine print. Those who made bad purchasing decisions in the past, or who just like to be thorough.

Anyhow, what I did was to add fine print to my client’s marketing material. But instead of it containing a disclaimer, it gave their prospective clients an additional, motivating reason to make the purchase.

Think about that for a moment: The prospect is braced for a disclaimer, but they find a powerful benefit of my clients product or service, instead. That’s marketing dynamite!

It shattered negative preconceptions that their prospective clients might have had.
It was memorable for all the right reasons, with prospects often mentioning that they spotted it and it made them feel more reassured.
It built trust in my client’s services or products.

And this all combines and compounds, to make the buying decision that much easier.

Hold that thought.

Your prospective clients

Now, let’s think about your prospective clients.

How do you think they would feel about your services, if you added fine print to your marketing, which contained the same kind of preconception-shattering, motivating benefit?

Could it have a similar, positive impact on how your prospects feel about hiring you or buying from you?

Based on years of seeing it work in my client’s marketing, if you do it correctly, I believe it absolutely could.

Forget networking events!

By Jim Connolly | December 3, 2022

A caller once asked me on a live radio show, for tips on how to work the room at a networking event. I can still remember the shock in their voice, when I gave them my answer. However, the listeners found it really useful, so I thought I’d share it with you.

Here it is. Drum-roll please…

Forget it!

I explained that I wouldn’t spend much time, learning how to get the most from networking events.

No. I wouldn’t spend any time whatsoever on it… none, zero, nada.

Instead, I suggested they focus on ‘why’. Specifically, why they needed to go to networking events. Why their clients, website, social networks, newsletter, customers and contacts weren’t providing all the leads their business needs.

Whenever a business isn’t attracting enough sales or new clients, it’s always because they’re neglecting something. So, rather than pestering strangers at networking events, I offered a few alternative strategies.

Attract interest rather than pestering strangers

Here are some of the things I do for my clients, which work extremely well.

I bake marketing into my client’s products or services. This means making their products or service so remarkable, that they almost market themselves. Just think about that for a moment.
I create a story about their business, which is so remarkable their marketplace want to share it.
Most importantly of all, I put an FTA structure in place for my clients. It’s extremely effective. Here’s what an FTA structure looks like.

So, be kind to yourself. And choose marketing that actually works for you. Marketing that allows you to focus on what you do best.

Scientists agree: First impressions are crucial to sales success

By Jim Connolly | November 27, 2022

first impressions, initial impressions, more sales, get clients

First impressions count. And they count far more than most people know.

Alex is a web designer.

Think for a few moments about the mental picture you’ve just built of Alex.

With only a name and job title, you’ll have almost instantly started to think about how they look.

Perhaps, you’ll have pictured them dressed a certain way.

You may have decided they’re arty. Or maybe a bit of a geek.

Here’s the thing. Your first impression of Alex wasn’t based on who she really is.

It can’t possibly be!

Your impression was based on what your perception of a web designer is.

How to create high value, first impressions

Using Alex as an example, try thinking for a moment about the initial impression a prospective client or customer gets, when you describe yourself by your job title, industry or profession.

Remember to include the fact that some people, perhaps many, will have had a bad experience with one of your counterparts, before encountering you. This is an important factor to take into consideration.

If we want prospects to form a powerful first impression of us, based on the huge value we bring, we need to start by focusing on that value.

Here’s an example of what I’m referring to.

When Alex describes or introduces herself, she starts with something very like the following:

“I help companies attract high quality clients and sales, with websites that deliver consistently outstanding results”.

Alex is a former client of mine. So I know that her description works extremely well. You only have to consider how your impression of her radically changed, when you read it!

But that’s not all.

Something else happens

When you intentionally guide a prospect’s first impression, you also switch their perception of your service or product, from a cost to an investment.

Yes, on an intellectual level, most business owners know that there’s a difference between a cost and an investment.
But on an emotional level, many still regard the procurement of a new service or product as a cost. And sales are made based on emotions or feelings, way more than on logic.

By encouraging them to focus on the value you bring, it’s easy for them to firmly position you as an investment. This dramatically increases the likelihood of them hiring you or buying from you.

What about the science part?

Remember at the start where I mentioned how scientists have proven this?

Well, they have.

Well, they have. Back in 2014, scientific research confirmed that first impressions are so powerful even facts won’t change them. In other words, once they have formed their initial impression of you, positive or negative, that’s how they will regard you and value you… even when facts show them that their impression is wrong.

Let’s recap first impressions

You set the foundation, upon which prospective clients or customers will form their first impression of you.
If you start off by referring to yourself by your job title, industry or profession, you’ll create potentially damaging preconceptions.
By intentionally starting off your conversations, presentations and marketing messages with the value you bring, you position yourself far more attractively to prospects.
You also switch the perception of your services or products, from costs to investments.
This all combines to dramatically improve your results.

In short, people will form their first impression of you, regardless. It’s your job to make certain that your marketing and sales presentations / demos form the right impression. An impression that builds trust and value. An impression that makes buying from you or hiring you the obvious choice.

Training your customers to spend less and leave you?

By Jim Connolly | November 22, 2022

special offer marketing, special offers, discount offers

If you run special offers at predictable times throughout the year, you need to be aware of the full cost.

It’s always more than the 20% or whatever your discount is.

That’s because there are two types of loss when you discount a price or fee. Not one. And the second loss, which most business owners are totally unaware of, can lose you and your business an absolute fortune.

The first loss you probably know

By discounting at predictable times, you train your customers or clients to wait. So that’s what they do. They hold off making the purchase they would have made at full retail, for the special offer they know you’ll run. In these cases, you only lose 20% on every purchase that customer makes of that predictably-discounted product.

You already knew that.

The second loss is much bigger

This doesn’t happen as often, but you take a huge loss every time it happens.

While waiting for your next special offer time to come around, some who would have purchased at full retail, won’t purchase from you now. Or ever again!

Here’s the scenario.

Rather than wait until your next special offer, they get tired of waiting and decide to buy elsewhere.

Why not buy from you at full retail?

Because you trained them not to. You’ve trained them that they’d be losing out if they buy from you now. That’s an extremely painful purchase for them to make, knowing they’re losing money. And many of them won’t make it.

So, they buy from one of your competitors instead.

That deal from your competitor may not be as good as your special offer, but your former customer can have it now. AND without all that pain. Assuming your competitor looks after them, they stand a great chance of retaining your former customer indefinitely.

The kicker?

Very few businesses that have this problem even know it’s happening to them. The overall cost to their business is the lifetime value of every customer they lose this way. And the business owner just assumes the customer left for some random reason.

There is a space in marketing for special offers or discounts. Major companies do it well, smaller businesses almost always make a mess of it and unknowingly lose a fortune right across the board; short-term, medium-term and long-term.

A couple of things to consider

Ideally, don’t discount anything. The only exception here, is if you’re looking to sell time-sensitive inventory that’s going out of date, or inventory items that are depreciating in value.

If you want to increase the number of sales you make or the number of new clients you attract, don’t lower the price or fee. Instead, increase the value of whatever you’re providing. Then increase the effectiveness of your marketing, until it’s utterly irresistible.

A value-packed product or service, with irresistible marketing will sell outstandingly well all year long. No special offers required.

Your sales figures. Going up!

By Jim Connolly | November 21, 2022

Did you know that you can increase your sales in multiple ways, by using a great elevator pitch? Well, you can. It will work for you online and face-to-face. It will open doors for you and help you get noticed. It will help you be remembered by prospective clients or customers, too.

Here’s how you and your business can benefit mightily from this powerful, often misunderstood marketing tool.

It’s not actually a pitch

There are lots of variations, but a common definition of an elevator pitch will go something like this.

A sales pitch that can be delivered in a short period of time [the time it takes to ride an elevator].

That is incorrect. It’s a narrow, literal interpretation of what an elevator pitch is. You are never going to sell anything of value to a stranger in 20-30 seconds. What you absolutely can do, is give a compelling introduction to someone, which will motivate them to want to know more.

In other words, an elevator pitch is a pre-pitch. It’s a short, well-crafted message that inspires the person(s) listening to become interested. Interested enough to give you more time, where you can actually pitch your service or products.

Why you need an elevator pitch

Here are the core business benefits of having a short, well-crafted sales message.

You’ll create a great first impression, fast

When you connect with a prospective client for the first time, you need to be able to make a positive impact quickly. This is true whether it’s face-to-face or online. A motivating elevator pitch will allow you to do exactly that. People are busy and your pitch will ensure they hear what they need to know, with clarity and without delay.

Preparation

It takes time to develop a great elevator pitch. By the time you have it down, you’ll know it by heart. And because it’s a short message, it’s also an easy message to remember. That means it will stick. It also means that whenever you’re in a situation, where someone asks you about your business, you’ll have the perfect answer to hand.

And that’s not all. The feeling of being prepared and knowing you have a powerful message to share, boosts your confidence. And that confidence is then transmitted to whoever is listening, which makes your message vastly more compelling.

How to write your elevator pitch

I strongly recommend you don’t write one from scratch by yourself. Instead, find a free one from a credible source online and refine it, so that it’s directly relevant to you, your services or products. There are hundreds of free examples and templates for you to choose from via your search engine of choice.

Why refine an expertly written elevator pitch, rather than write your own? The toughest form of written marketing is what’s known as writing short. Even professional copywriters struggle with writing short. That’s because you have very few words and every one of them needs to count. You’re trying to motivate, educate and leave a powerful first impression, within those tight confines.

If at all possible, find an industry-specific example to refine. That’s because a different approach is required for every industry. Here’s what I mean. The pitch used by a family law firm will need to be different from that of an oven-cleaning franchise. The pitch used by that oven-cleaning franchise will need to be different from that of a private school.

It’s reasonably easy to create an effective elevator pitch and the benefits massively outweigh the time it will take you. Start with a good quality example or template to work from and you’ll be good to go in no time.

Elon Musk and price anchoring

By Jim Connolly | November 3, 2022

price anchoring, anchor price, marketing

Soon after taking control of Twitter, Elon Musk announced that he was going to allow anyone to have a verified Twitter account, for a monthly fee of $20. He knew he was never going to charge that much. He was simply using a very powerful marketing tactic known as price anchoring, which I am about to share with you.

Here’s how price anchoring works

Price anchoring is where an initial, high price is attached to a product or service. This becomes the anchor price. Then, a subsequent and much lower price is given as the actual price. Having focused on the $20 price Musk originally announced, the actual $8 price, in contrast, looked more attractive.

As is often the case, the late Steve Jobs provides us with a perfect example.

Jobs used price anchoring when he launched the first Apple iPad. As he gave his presentation, he said that the pundits suggested a retail price of $999. Jobs went on to say that his team had managed to produce it for a retail price of just $499. The rest is history. Note: You can watch the price anchor segment of Jobs’ presentation here. It runs for just over a minute and a half and is a masterful example.

Just about any product or service can be marketed using this tactic. The key is to determine your anchor price correctly. It needs to be high enough to seem realistically expensive. That’s what makes your actual price feel like such amazing value in comparison.

Price anchoring works equally well for products or services, and it’s equally effective when used in marketing or as part of a sales presentation. If you’re not currently using this tactic as part of your marketing / sales mix, I recommend giving it a try. It can significantly improve your sales conversion rates and increase the profitability of each new sale you make.

Are you marketing a fridge or a mobile phone?

By Jim Connolly | October 27, 2022

The title of today’s post may sound a little weird. But it will all make sense and help you improve your sales results. So, bear with me.

I updated the operating system on my Macs yesterday. While they were updating, I decided to see if my 2014 Surface Pro 3 PC still worked. I loved that device and took it everywhere. However, I haven’t used it in years. Anyhow, I plugged it in, grabbed a coffee and started to get some work done. In fact, I decided to use it all morning and see what that 10-year old machine was capable of.

I discovered that it was able to do everything I needed it to. This included; writing a newsletter, then writing a marketing email for one of my clients. I used it for Basecamp and also did a Zoom call with it. Had I wanted to, I could also have hand-signed documents with it, streamed video or music while I worked and even some light design work and lots more.

Why am I telling you this?

Marketing can be powerful. Really powerful!

The hardware companies need us to upgrade our mobile devices every year or two. The challenge is that we don’t need to upgrade that often. This means they had to change things and decided to invest in high-impact marketing, to motivate us into a totally unnecessary rapid upgrade cycle.

The results have been utterly spectacular.

We still don’t need a new device every year or two. But now, millions and millions of people want one. Remember, it was iPhone sales that made Apple the world’s richest company — not computer sales.

What happened?

High-impact marketing!

Through the effective use of high-impact marketing, hardware companies are able to make that amazing device they sold us a couple of years ago, seem like a total dinosaur. Our new phone, laptop or tablet device makes a statement. It tells every other member of the ‘shiny new thing’ tribe that we’re one of them. We have the hot new thing. We’re in. As a result, even though our 2 or 3 year old device still does everything you need, we upgrade.

In short, people want to upgrade… and that want is born of marketing. Not of necessity.

To see how counter-intuitive that is, consider this.

Imagine if we used that same approach to buying, when we bought a refrigerator. Every 12 months, fridge manufacturers would release a new model, which is slightly thinner, or slightly lighter than the previous one. And every year or two, we’d feel the need to junk our perfectly good fridge, and buy a new one.

I know. People don’t buy fridges that way.

But back in the 1990’s, they didn’t buy their phones that way, either! That’s how powerful, high-impact marketing is. It’s also why smart business owners insist on it.

Thankfully, any business can deploy high-impact marketing. Here’s a tiny example of some I’ve worked with; accountants, lawyers, online retailers, software companies, high street retailers, training providers, designers, coffee-shops, photographers, dance schools, charities, freelancers, comms agancies, PRs and lots, lots more.

High-impact marketing and you

This begs the question: Are you marketing your business like a fridge or using high-impact marketing like a mobile phone company?

Because if you’re marketing isn’t high-impact, by default it’s low-impact. That’s a bad idea in any economy.

In the current economy, low-impact marketing is unsustainable.

Thank you Tom and 20i

By Jim Connolly | October 19, 2022

This is a little different. It’s a “Thank you” post. And it comes, following a problem I had here on the site.

My subscriber forms vanished!

Saturday morning I woke up to find that my newsletter subscriber forms had vanished. The company who provided them, hosted the forms on their servers and for whatever reason, there was a glitch. This stopped the forms from displaying here.

On Monday, after a number of tech support messages, there was still no way for readers to subscribe.

I knew what to do.

I contacted Tom. Tom is the web design guy for one of my clients. I’d worked with Tom on a project and was really impressed with his knowledge and style of working. I emailed Tom with the problem. He emailed back with some questions. I replied with the answers. And just 20 minutes later, the problem was better than solved.

Better than solved?

Yes.

Tom incorporated the form design I asked for, so that it’s now safely stored on my rock-solid 20i web hosting. Total peace of mind. More than I could have hoped for. And faster than I thought possible.

Tom is now my web design guy and combined with my brilliant hosting provider, will ensure your experience here is both polished and reliable.

Thanks Tom and thanks again 20i!

Scale your business for success

By Jim Connolly | October 15, 2022

What’s the best way to scale your business for success?

Here are my thoughts.

But first, I have a very quick question for you.

What do the following all have in common?

Kindness.
Honesty.
Caring.

The answer is that they’re attributes that are valued, extremely highly, by everyone. We are attracted to people who are kind, honest and caring. And given the opportunity, we prefer to do business with people (and brands), who are kind, honest and caring, too.

Now. Hold that thought.

Scaling your business to success

One of the BIG buzzwords right now, is ‘scaling’. Business owners are being told that it’s a cornerstone of commercial success. And that the best way to scale their business, is to automate pretty-much everything.

For example.

To let AI chatbots handle first-line customer service enquiries.
To have call trees handle incoming phone calls – especially customer service calls.
To automate their social media accounts.
To create impersonal, email / forum-based, drip-fed versions of their services.

In short: To cut back on the human touch as much as possible, whenever possible and wherever possible.

The huge limitation with that approach is clear. Automation software is…. well… software. And as such, is incapable of the human characteristics of kindness, honesty and caring.

The reason for the growth in automation-based scaling, is that it promises a lot and is extremely simple. It requires almost no effort. And it’s sold by the gurus pushing it, as a magic way to cut your overhead back to the bone, both in time and money.

Here’s the snag with automated scaling

As more business owners embrace automation-based scaling, prices and fees in their industries are being driven down and down. It’s a race to the bottom for those who’ve bought in.

Paradoxically, it’s also a race, which no one actually wants to win. This is why we hear these same business owners complaining about attracting fee-sensitive clients and how hard they find it to stand out and get noticed.

They’re discovering that it’s extremely difficult to build a successful business, with the most fee-sensitive clients, wafer thin profits and a customer base who will drop you in an instant, for a lower priced competitor.

That’s a toxic mix.

Another way to scale… that actually works

While some business owners embrace the race to the bottom, where the winner is the cheapest provider, others have identified a far more profitable way to scale.

It’s a different race. A race to profitability and success. A race, where the winners attract the best clients, work on the best projects and earn the best fees.

You see, it turns out that kindness, honesty and caring, scale. In fact, they scale to infinity. People tell their friends about remarkable service. So, the word spreads. And they remain loyal to providers, who go the extra mile to look after their needs. So, they keep their clients for way, way longer too.

Yes, the cheapest prospective clients in your marketplace will always shop for the bottom dollar provider.

That’s perfectly fine.

Because every marketplace has a large and massively profitable niche, who eagerly pay a premium fee for a premium quality service. People hate automation and only opt for it as a last resort.

And even the bargain basement crowd seldom remain with an impersonal service for long. They often realize their cost-cutting error, once they’ve tasted the frustration and expense, of suffering with a problem, which can’t be resolved by automation software and requires a person. And there’s no person available.

So my friend, I suggest you scale your business for kindness, honesty and caring. It’s an excellent foundation on which to build a sustainable, valuable business.

Image isn’t everything. But it matters a lot

By Jim Connolly | September 26, 2022

New service, new product, jim connolly marketing

In business, the image you create isn’t everything.

But your image does matter. It matters a lot.

That’s because people are paying attention. Your prospective clients or customers, your marketplace and your competitors are watching. They’re looking for clues, pointers, tips and hints on how to judge your personal brand and commercial brand.

They want to know why, how or if you should matter to them.

Here’s the thing. When you take time to give people a hint, they’ll take the hint. No, not all of them. And no, not always. But enough people, and often enough, to greatly increase your sales.

With that in mind, there are two important questions for you to consider

What kind of hints are you giving?
Are they attracting the right responses from the right people?

If you’re unhappy with either of your answers, improve one part of your marketing so that it connects with the right people, in the right way. Measure the results. Then find another area of your marketing and do the same.

Repeat this, until you’ve made it obvious that you’re worth your prospect’s attention, and that hiring you or buying from you is the obvious choice.

The day I started to look middle-aged

By Jim Connolly | September 6, 2022

I’m 57 years old in a few weeks. And it’s prompted me to share a really useful marketing idea with you, which is directly connected to the day I started to look middle-aged.

I know. It sounds weird, but I promise you it isn’t.

Well, it’s not TOO weird.

It’s all about the marketing importance of your branding. Specifically today, I’m thinking about the visual impact your current branding has on your sales results.

But I need to start with my face. (That’s a sentence I never, ever thought I would write).

From fresh-faced to middle-aged

I honestly have no idea what day it was, when I went from looking like a fresh-faced young man, to middle-aged. If you’re old enough to have become middle-aged, I bet you’d answer exactly the same. That’s because the way we look changes very gradually, over time.

Hold that thought.

I believe this same gradual process also explains why so many great small businesses have out-dated / ineffective branding. And as a direct result, create a bad first impression and lose out on the clients (or customers) their business needs.

Take a look at almost any small business that’s been trading for more than 5 or 10 years and their branding is usually extremely poor. In many cases, it didn’t start that way. Here’s what happened.

When their current branding was launched, it looked fresh and compelling. It had the type of design that would impress any prospective client. Then, a bit like my face, their branding slowly started to age; along with their website, social media profile, newsletters and everywhere else their branding is seen. It happened so slowly, that they haven’t even noticed.

That’s my theory. And I think it’s a pretty darn nifty theory too. After all, no business owner knowingly turns clients away every day.

Does branding REALLY matter, Jim?

Yep. It does.

Seriously, it’s actually really important no matter what size your business is.

And here’s why.

I’m going to use a common example of the power of branding, which you’ll be able to identify with. I want you to think about the visual branding you see when you visit a website for the first time. Experts say (depending on which ones you listen to) that when you visit at a website, it takes less than a second for you to form your first impressions.

You get the almost instant impact of the overall look; the logo, colours / colors, fonts, tones, graphics, photography, typography – – and all the visual branding components on the site.

And you very quickly build your first impression.

They look competent.

They look clueless.

They look relevant.

They look out-of-date.

They look interesting.

They look dull.

They look dynamic.

They look lethargic.

They look professional.

They look amateurish.

They look sizeable.

They look small.

They look successful.

They look strapped.

They look expensive.

They look cheap.

And all this happens before you really know anything about them. Yet it powerfully changes the way you feel about them in all the ways I just mentioned, and a hundred other ways. Remember: People buy based on feelings, NOT logic. That’s how important good branding is.

Of course, first impressions are not always accurate. But first impressions always count.

Here’s why: Many lousy businesses have great looking branding that inspires confidence and attracts clients. Conversely, many great businesses have ineffective branding that creates doubt and turns clients away.

An excellent business that creates a bad first impression will 100% definitely be losing sales and clients. Especially from those who are looking for a good, quality service. Prospective clients looking for something ‘cheap’ will think they’ve found it, when they see what looks like a struggling small business.

If you’re not attracting enough sales or leads. If you’re attracting enquiries from people with small budgets. If your social marketing efforts are not getting the results you want. It could be time to invest in your branding.

How to be utterly irreplaceable

By Jim Connolly | August 19, 2022

How hard would it be for one of your clients or customers to replace you with an alternative provider?

I was thinking about this recently when a salesman came to my home. He asked if he could quote me a price to look after the trees and hedges, which surround our house. I said that I wasn’t interested. He then said that if I told him what my current guys charge, he’d beat their price. I explained that I still wasn’t interested. I thanked him for his time and he left.

Just think about that for a second. Because it contains a massively powerful marketing lesson.

Imagine being so valuable to your clients or customers that they send competitors away, uninterested in hearing about their lower prices or ‘better’ deals.

Let’s look at how this applies to you and your business and what you can do, to be (or remain) utterly irreplaceable.

Being irreplaceable

If that salesman had been a little wiser, he’d have asked me what made my current provider irreplaceable. If he’d asked, here’s what I’d have told him.

The team who look after my hedges and trees have worked for us for years. They know exactly how we like things. They are extremely reliable and when we needed them in an emergency, they responded fast; removing a tree that had fallen down in a storm. They provide a great service, which they are well paid for.

They’re happy and we’re happy.

They’ve made themselves irreplaceable by building trust. They’ve earned that trust by doing great work over the long haul and being extremely reliable. I have recommended them dozens of times over the years to friends, all of whom are equally delighted with them.

There are 2 pieces of gold dust in the previous paragraph.

The best way to become irreplaceable is to earn trust. It was during our first year with the tree company that they came out to remove that tree, which was blocking a road on a dangerous corner. They were here in 40 minutes and charged us their normal rate, when they could have exploited the situation. Their attitude to service has remained every year since.
When a provider earns our trust and does great work, it’s easy to recommend them to our friends.

Clearly, every business owner should strive to make their business irreplaceable. It improves customer retention, whilst also generating a regular flow of word-of-mouth referrals.

It’s not about one huge action. In the above example, my tree problem gave them an opportunity to shine. However, it was followed by years of excellent customer service. It’s certainly not about being the lowest priced.

How do you become irreplaceable?

It’s about the daily interactions you have with your customers and your marketplace. It’s the compound effect of many positive experiences. You earn the position of being irreplaceable over the medium and long haul. Every interaction should be viewed as an opportunity to increase your value to your customers.

That’s how you earn (then re earn) the position of being irreplaceable. Yes, you need to re earn the position. If you earn trust and then casually assume you’re permanently irreplaceable, you’ll soon be replaced by someone who out manoeuvres you. A casual approach causes casualties.

Now let’s look again at my opening question. Ask yourself, how hard would it be for one of your clients or customers to replace you? If you don’t like your answer, do something about it today. Then make the process of being irreplaceable, part of the rhythm of your business.

Your reward is a business built on a rock solid foundation. A foundation of clients who regard you as utterly irreplaceable.

How to create marketing that works

By Jim Connolly | August 12, 2022

I have a very effective marketing idea to share with you today. I’m going to show you how to create marketing, which people will value and that’s powerful enough to inspire them to hire you or buy from you. It’s based on the work I do with some of my clients and includes a brief case study, which you can learn from.

So, let’s get started.

Receiving attention or paying attention?

It starts with understanding that there’s a huge difference between someone receiving your message and someone paying attention to it.

For example, TV viewers are sent targeted marketing messages (commercials) during TV shows. What do most of us do? We fast forward through them or if watching the show in real-time, we go and make a coffee. Just because they send their messages, doesn’t mean we are paying attention.

For your marketing to work, you need to get a great message in front of the right people. In order to get this correct, here’s the key question we need to ask ourselves:

If I stopped my email marketing campaign or I stopped publishing my blog posts, newsletter etc, would people really MISS them?

As a quick look at the marketing you receive every day confirms, for most people the honest answer to that question is NO! We get bombarded with dull, uninspiring sales messages all day and see them as an intrusion, rather than something of value.

Of course, for that tiny minority of small businesses who DO produce marketing, which people genuinely value and would miss if it were to stop, the sky is the limit.

I’m going to share the process required to make this work for your business later in this post.

First, we need to understand why there’s so much dull and ineffective marketing out there.

Dull is cheap. Dull is fast. Dull is easy!

It’s cheap, fast and easy to create a dull marketing message and push it to a lot of people. As a result, there’s no barrier to entry today.

Things were very different 15 years ago. Back then, if a small business owner wanted to send a mail shot to 50,000 people, she’d have to spend some serious money.

She’d have to cover the cost of the mailing list.
Then she would need to pay for all that paper and the printing.
Next she would need to pay a company to get the letters folded and inserted into the 50,000 envelopes.
Then there’s the huge postage costs for those 50,000 pieces of mail.

All in all, it would cost many thousands. She would need to think long and hard about the value of what she put into those envelopes. Get it wrong and she would pay a hefty price.

Today, everything has changed

That same business owner today, can hit 50,000 people using cheap email software and her laptop. It costs just a little of her time. If it fails, maybe tomorrow’s one will work.

In short, it’s never been cheaper or easier to push dull, uninspired, poorly thought out, selfish marketing out the door.

So, that’s exactly what millions of people are doing. This is why there’s so much junk in your email inbox and on your social networking accounts.

How to get it right

There is an alternative approach I want to share with you, so people welcome your marketing, share it and hire you or buy from you. It requires that you take the exact opposite approach, to 99% of the marketing you see out there.

It’s about shifting the focus of your marketing, so that it’s primarily of benefit to the people who receive it and secondarily of benefit to you.

It’s about producing content (audio, video, articles, blog posts, newsletters, social networking updates etc), which provide independent value to those who receive it. This means they get genuinely valuable or useful information from it, independent of them needing to spend a penny with you.

An example of how this works, based on one of my clients

Imagine you are a dog owner and after a trip to the vet, you subscribe to their dog owner’s newsletter. It gives you useful tips and ideas, to help you keep your dog healthy, fit and happy. At the bottom of each email are their contact details, so you can call them when you need a vet.

You find this free information so valuable and interesting, that you send it to 10 of your dog-owning friends.

They subscribe and then do the same.
Then these new subscribers share it too, and on and on it goes.
The amazingly valuable, highly-targeted readership just keeps on growing!

Soon, my client was talking to hundreds, then thousands of dog owners and positioned themselves in their marketplace, as THE place to take your dog for all its veterinary needs.

Their newsletter was eagerly anticipated by it’s readers. Yes, people wanted to hear from them and valued what they had to share.

Compare that vet’s approach to the typical marketing messages we see.

That vet doesn’t need to run expensive radio ads.
They have no need to waste time on Facebook. They own the communication channel with their prospective clients (by using email)!
They have no need to buy mailing lists.
They don’t need to waste valuable hours at networking events.
They certainly don’t need to pester people on social networks or ask strangers for recommendations on Linkedin.
They don’t need to invest in anything, other than the creativity required to produce a genuinely valuable newsletter, with useful content.

That example shows how a business can grow a massively powerful marketing asset, by sharing real value, rather than pushing unwanted messages. If you want to thrive in today’s exceptionally volatile economy, this is the kind of marketing you need.

The kind of marketing that increases in value every day.

The kind of marketing that requires zero advertising spend.

The kind of marketing that connects you with prospects in a way they actually look forward to and share with their friends.

In fact, the exact kind of marketing I have been creating for my clients, since the mid 1990’s. It works. And it works in every economy.

Target the unhappy, not the uninterested

By Jim Connolly | August 4, 2022

I want to share one of the foundations of effective marketing with you today. It’s something that can help you dramatically (and quickly) increase your sales or client acquisition figures. It can also help you save time, money and focus your marketing far more effectively.

It starts with understanding the following.

People who are happy with the products or service they get from one of your competitors, are not looking for whatever your business is offering.

Satisfied people are exactly that. They’re satisfied. They value their current provider. And like you, they ignore marketing messages when they’re not interested in a new (whatever).

This remains true even when:

You’re providing amazing value.
You are less expensive.
You are faster or more reliable.

Despite this, most marketing from small and medium-sized businesses tries to be relevant to as wide an audience of prospects as possible.

Yes, it’s certainly true that you can change someone’s worldview or mindset. But it takes time. Lots and lots of time. It also takes a great amount of effort. Even then, the conversion rate is low.

That’s why I recommend you adopt a more effective approach.

Focus on the unhappy. Avoid the uninterested

Yes, it’s important to build an awareness of how great your product or service is. You need people to know where to go, when they’re looking for whatever you provide.

But what if you need to quickly increase your sales figures or attract new clients? Then my friend, it’s time to adjust the focus of your marketing. If you want to have the full attention of the most motivated buyers, (people ready to make a purchasing decision right now), focus on the unhappy, not the uninterested.

The ‘unhappy’ are actively looking for what you offer.

They’re eager and ready to proceed.
They already have a budget allocated.
They’re highly motivated to take action right now, and buy from you or hire you.

To profoundly increase your sales numbers or client acquisition rate, your marketing needs to talk directly and exclusively to these red hot prospects. And as a bonus, you’ll also attract very few, if any, time wasters.

Targeting the right prospects makes sense at any time. But in today’s economy it’s absolutely essential.

Success isn’t an accident: These habits make it happen

By Jim Connolly | July 31, 2022

Over the years, I’ve worked with thousands of business owners. Some have achieved extraordinary success, and I noticed they share certain habits… things that set them apart from the average entrepreneur.

Curious to see if these habits could work for me, I implemented them. Many didn’t seem to help much. However, others had a profound and transformative impact. Today, I want to share some of these habits with you.

In no particular order.

They know when to rest. Yes, when it’s time to work, they certainly work. However, they make sure they regularly relax when it’s time for family and friends. They know that balance isn’t a luxury, it’s absolutely essential.

Small business owners in general tend to work hard and many, maybe most, also take too few vacations. It’s very hard to operate at your best, when you’re overworking. Be kind to yourself. Take some time out to sharpen the saw. Even if it’s to close an hour earlier occasionally and go for a walk. It’s hard to be productive when you don’t feel productive. Go on. Give it a try.

They learn how to be great decision makers. Great decision makers get all the information required. They study it. They then request expert advice, if needed. Next, they consider the benefits and the costs of making the decision. They then consider the benefits and costs of doing nothing. Finally, they decide.

I’ve learned that the most common error business owners make, is to ignore the costs and benefits of not making the decision. The cost of not making a decision, even a risky one, can be absolutely massive.

They out-think their competitors. Successful business owners learn to think strategically. Other’s waste years trying to copy an idea, because it’s claimed to have worked for someone else or they read it in a book or they heard it on a podcast. They have no idea of exactly how that idea was planned, or if it applies to their business, or if it’s even effective today with the economy extremely unpredictable.

Strategic planning gives you the power to decide what you want, then create your own success map, based on your specific needs. Such as your resources, personality, strengths and the economy you’re working in.

They do it their way. They write their own playbook for success as they go along. They know that by having a less prescriptive approach to business, they get noticed. This is something I picked up on at a very early stage.

When I started my current business in 1995, I intentionally did things differently. This included identifying the managers at all my local banks, accountants and office supplies companies, then inviting them to local business events. As I got to know them, I also referred them to prospects. All for free. The word spread. Without spending a dime on ads, just a few months after starting my business, I was known by hundreds of local business owners. I had more clients than I could handle.

Look for smart opportunities to zig when your competitors zag. Tip: Remember that the process of giving and receiving, starts with the giving part. So, give something useful. Be helpful. You’ll attract more bees with sugar than with vinegar.

They are selective about their inner circle. As a mentor once told me, ‘If you hang around with people who’re going nowhere, one day, everything they have will be yours’.

They master time management. Every minute counts, and they make sure their time is spent on high-impact activities.

They make connections in advance. A strong network is an asset that pays dividends when opportunities arise. As I mentioned earlier, I invested a lot of time 30-years ago

They keep their promises. Reliability builds trust, which is the foundation of great reputations and strong businesses.

They do more than expected. They know that it’s the additional, unexpected ‘extra’ that people remember.

Final Thought

I hope these insights resonate with you. More importantly, I hope they encourage you to take action.

What next?

I started, by using and implementing just one of these habits, to see where it would lead me. I then selected another, and another. You get the idea. One at a time.

The question now is, which one habit are you going to start with?

How to have zero competition

By Jim Connolly | July 20, 2022

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, elevate, 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 2002/3.

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.

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.

Your business needs to avoid these people

By Jim Connolly | July 16, 2022

There are certain people who you and your business need to avoid.

Some are easy to spot.

For example.

The marketing expert who has to pester people on Linkedin, because their own marketing doesn’t work.
The business consultant who claims to be in demand, yet offers free consultations.
The leadership expert who’s just like all the other leadership experts. (Think about that for a moment).
The social media marketing expert who needs to use paid ads or spam, to get your attention.
The web designer whose website is outdated and ugly.
The copywriter whose content is uninspiring.

Others are harder to spot.

The strategist whose own strategy isn’t working.
The accountant who understands the numbers, but can’t express what they mean to your business.
The business coach who has never built a successful business.
The success coach whose personal life and professional life is a mess.
The Google ads or Facebook ads expert, who knows just enough to sound convincing.

Here’s the thing: With a slick website and some testimonials (fake or otherwise), anyone can claim to be an expert in anything. So, before you hire the services of an expert, ask them to back up their claims in a way that is both meaningful and verifiable.

Personal recommendation

The best way to avoid hiring the wrong provider, is via personal recommendation. Ask your friends and trusted contacts if they have someone suitable they can endorse to you.

However, there’s a critically important additional step you need to take, before acting on a personal recommendation.

Make sure to ask the person giving you the endorsement, if they have first-hand experience of the provider.

Otherwise a friend or contact may give you the name of someone they’re aware of, but have no actual experience of that person’s ability or effectiveness.

Even if they have first-hand experience of the provider’s work and their recommendation is glowing, still do some background research. Be as sure as you can be. Only when you are fully satisfied with their credentials should you consider hiring them.

I hope this helps you avoid making a costly mistake. Equally, I hope it helps you locate, and benefit from, the best quality providers for your business.

Marketing 101: Pick a frequency

By Jim Connolly | July 4, 2022

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.

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.