Jim's Marketing Blog

Marketing tips and ideas to help you grow your business

Marketing 101: Pick a frequency

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marketing 101, pick a frequency, content marketing, frequency

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.

  • 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.

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.

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.

8 Marketing ideas to ‘Crush It’, in the 2nd half of 2022

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marketing ideas, marketing tips, jim connolly

As we approach the second half of 2022, here are 8 marketing ideas and questions to focus on, so you finish the year stronger.

In no particular order.

  1. What are you doing today, which will attract high quality customers (or clients) 30 days from now?
  2. How can you make it easier for your prospects to experience your product or service, in advance?
  3. How can you improve what you offer, so it’s the perfect match for your ideal customer?
  4. How can you improve your customer experience, so people keep coming back and keep recommending you?
  5. What’s your plan, to identify and partner with the people who already have the trust and attention of your prospects?
  6. What marketing tactics will you choose, so that you stay front of mind with your prospects?
  7. Your customers are risk averse. What more can you do, to reduce or remove the risk associated with purchasing from you / hiring you?
  8. What lessons from the past 6 months can you learn from, to improve the next 6 months?

I hope you find these ideas and questions interesting. More importantly, I hope you do something with them.

How top professionals turn deadlines into a superpower!

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marketing deadlines, professional

If you want to work with premium quality clients, on hugely rewarding projects, you’ll find what follows really useful. It explains how the world’s top professionals use deadlines like a superpower.

To start, let’s take a look at how the average service provider avoids actual deadlines. It’s similar to the examples below.

It will be ready as soon as possible:

Soon… when is soon? And how is a client supposed to know if their project is running late? How is a client supposed to know what a provider is possible of? The ‘As soon as possible’ line is just an excuse, offered in advance, to justify anticipated disappointment.

It will be ready for you by the end of next week:

That’s better than the previous answer. Which isn’t saying much. But at least there’s an ultimate end-point. The date still remains vague, which makes forward planning challenging for the client. They’re left wondering if it will be with them tomorrow, the next day, the next day, or perhaps sometime next week. It also signals that the service provider isn’t managing their time well. It’s the epitome of average.

In both of those examples, the so-called deadlines are not deadlines at all.

No.

They’re strategies to let the service provider off the hook. Off the hook with their client and with themselves.

A better attitude to service is called for. A professional attitude, that works great for the client and the service provider.

Professionals set deadlines and stick to them

Here’s what the client wants. At least, any client worth working for: It will be completed at 2pm on Tuesday 7th, as promised.

That’s a real deadline.

It means the client knows what to plan for. It also means the client knows you’re undertaking their project in a structured way. And it reassures them that they’re working with a professional.

Professionals meet their deadlines, because they CHOOSE to. To do this, they look at the scope of the project. They determine a realistic time scale for completion, based on experience. Then, they set a deadline of that date and time. And because they’re professionals, they do everything to deliver on that promise. They’ve allowed enough time to do a great job. And on almost every project, it works just great.

Almost every project?

Yes, almost! Professionals are human and fallible. Shit happens.

  • Dedicated professionals occasionally get sick. Though interestingly, this ‘magically’ seems to happen far less often to them, than it does to the average provider.
  • Dedicated professionals occasionally miscalculate the time required. A supplier they’ve relied on could let them down. That same supplier they’ve relied on might move more swiftly than expected.
  • When shit happens, they make sure the client is updated and kept in the picture. They inform the client to let them know the project will be ready a little earlier, or a little later, than the deadline.

Professionals put it on the line. They know that’s how to build a world-class reputation. They also know that once you learn how to accurately schedule your work, and develop the focus to do the work on time, it becomes second nature.

That’s to say, setting deadlines and achieving them is just the way they do things.

What does this have to do with marketing?

Everything!

A professional attitude to setting and achieving deadlines, as promised, is foundational to your marketing.

Clients value it mightily. And they very happily pay a premium for it, too. They learn they can rely on you.

So, they tell their friends.

Some of their friends hire you, then tell THEIR friends. This creates an ongoing flow of premium quality clients and wonderful opportunities.

THAT is bloody powerful marketing, right there!

Seriously, this deadline setting attitude to service is an essential marketing component. But especially for those interested in working on the best projects, with the best clients!

Discover how the top companies keep getting the best referrals

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KFC image

In today’s post, I’m going to show you a powerful way to get more, great people talking about the services you provide. But that’s not all. I’m also going to explain how to overcome a major problem: how to get people to say the right things about you.

I’ll even throw in a world-class example of how it works.

Okay let’s go

The starting point, is to decide exactly what you want people to say. Otherwise, you’re relying on them making something up on the spot. And usually, when someone is asked if they can recommend a provider, it will be a generic, weak message.

For example, if you ask someone if they have an accountant they’d recommend, the reply is usually something like; “Sure. We’re happy with the (Whatever) Accountancy Firm”.

That’s nice.

But all it really says, is that this particular person is happy with the service they receive. It’s the bare minimum. It’s vague. It says nothing about the service this accountancy firm provides. And it’s certainly not compelling.

Here’s why this matters to you: It’s entirely possible you’re already being regularly referred or recommended to great prospective clients. But you’re unaware, because, as in the above example, the referral is totally ineffective. And an ineffective referral is close to worthless.

Let’s see how the fastest growing companies overcome this problem.

How to get this right

Okay, let’s look at that accountancy firm again.

Only this time, they were professionally marketed and had already incorporated a short, memorable strapline in their branding. Something like “building stronger businesses”. If used correctly, that 3 word phrase would become an automatic part of their referrals.

So, instead of; “Sure. We’re happy with the (Whatever) Accountancy Firm.”

You get; “Sure. We’re happy with the (Whatever) Accountancy Firm. They specialize in building stronger businesses.”

That second referral is massively more powerful with far greater impact.

Think about it. If someone is looking for a new accountant, they’re clearly not happy with their current one. If we assume their existing accountant isn’t really interested in their business, a trusted referral about an accountant that focuses on building stronger businesses is exactly what they want to hear. Such referrals could be 2X, 5X or maybe 10X more powerful at encouraging people to call the accountant, than a simple “we’re happy with them”.

Here’s the thing: Most businesses make it too hard for their clients, customers or friends to know what to say when referring them. And it loses them a fortune.

Make it easier. Correctly integrate an easy to remember 3 or 4 word strapline into your marketing, so people don’t have to make something up on the spot. When you get it right, that strapline becomes part of the conversations people have about you.

That example took me 30 seconds to come up with. Now let’s look at a proven, world-class example of how this works.

How good is their food?

The marketing team behind Kentucky Fried Chicken wanted to give their diners a simple way to describe how delicious the food was. So, they made it very simple. They placed a short, powerful strapline on all their packaging.

It described their food as, “finger lickin’ good”.

And the rest is history!

Those who ate and enjoyed their chicken, now knew exactly what to tell their friends. Moreover, they were delivering an amazingly powerful, professionally written marketing message.

Regardless of whether you happen to like fried chicken, the mental image created with that message is powerful. The idea of people enjoying their food so much that they licked their fingers, would surely motivate their hungry friends to give KFC a try. Plus, because people who eat at fast-food restaurants know other people who also enjoy fast-food, it was pure, marketing gold.

So, the message spread. Millions or billions of times. Worldwide.

Try this

Take some time to think about want you want people to say about your business or the service you provide. Then, spend as much time as necessary crafting a powerful, extremely short strapline. If you don’t have the time or expertise to get this right, find a professional who will do it for you.

Just don’t keep missing out on great word of mouth referrals or targeted sales leads, because people aren’t recommending you correctly.

Boost your sales. With Time Wasters!

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deal time wasters, convert time wasters, marketing time wasters

How do you feel about people, who either ask you questions about your service or look around your products… then leave without buying?

Some business owners get angry. That’s understandable. They perceive these people to be time wasters. In doing so, they miss out on an extremely valuable opportunity. They leave a huge business asset on the table, untapped. An asset, which could help them massively improve their sales figures.

The asset I’m referring to, is the feedback that so-called time wasters can provide you with.

Allow me to explain.

You attract time wasters for a reason

If you’re attracting too many of the wrong type of enquiries, there’s a reason.

It’s usually a sign that:

  • Your marketing message needs to be improved.
  • You are marketing to the wrong people.
  • Or both.

It’s very easy to learn which applies to your marketing, so long as you ask for feedback. Armed with this information, you can then adapt and improve your marketing so you attract the right kind of enquiries from the right prospects.

Before they end the call or leave your premises, ask something like: What was it that prompted you to (visit or call) us today? This will give you some outstandingly valuable feedback to work with.

For example

  • If people often say they were looking for a low-priced whatever, (yet your prices are average or above average), you need to review your marketing message. Take a look and see if you are overstating how low your prices are.
  • If you are not overstating how low your prices are, then you could well be targeting your marketing message at people with too small a budget.

You get the idea.

The key is to get as much feedback as you can from those who fail to hire you or buy from you. It will help you improve your marketing message, improve your targeting and generate more (lots more) business!

So, reframe how you think about time wasters. Speak with them. Listen. Learn from their feedback. Then, make the necessary adjustments and improvements to your marketing. Don’t just assume that someone is a time waster and therefore of no value to your business.

Their feedback could be commercial gold dust.

In fact, it usually is.

Get noticed: Make a difference, not a noise

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get noticed, make noise, make difference

It’s hard to get noticed today. And there’s a really good reason why.

The world has a social media megaphone. Everyone can now tell everybody about everything.

To compound the noise pollution, thousands (and thousands) of influencers and brands are encouraging their flocks to amplify the noise.

Here’s the thing: As the noise from this chatter has increased, we’ve become better and better at ignoring it. Yes, technology let’s us filter the notifications and reduce the noise somewhat. But we ourselves are paying less attention to the chatter. It tends to wash over us.

Getting noticed

And that’s really, really important for business owners to know.

Why?

Because now that talk is cheaper than ever, our actions have spectacularly more impact.

  • People don’t notice the noise. Certainly not beyond a surface level.
  • They notice the difference we make. And this is especially true, when we make a positive difference to them or something they care about; their business for example.

In short, to earn the attention and trust of our prospective clients, we need to look for ways to demonstrate the value we bring, which they’ll find useful. If it’s useful (to them) it isn’t noise. So, they pay attention.

Get noticed above the noise

Rather than having a ton of social media accounts and filling them with noise (automated retweets, funny images and GIF’s, sharing famous quotes, etc), go for quality. Make a difference.

The message you’re reading right now is an example of what I mean. By taking a little time this morning, I’ve produced this information, which I believe some of you will find useful.

  • I do almost nothing on Facebook.
  • I don’t even have a Linkedin account.
  • I share ideas, like this one, and I use Twitter.

That’s it.

And every day, amazing prospective clients reach out to me.

Here’s the thing.

It’s increasingly hard to get noticed on social networks. Millions of business owners, marketing people and agencies are using the same, so-called tricks and tactics. And in doing so, they become camouflaged by the millions of others, who are doing the same thing.

We need to step away from the noise, my friend.

If you find you’re not getting the results you and your business need, focus on making a difference. Find something you can do, which will have a positive impact (be useful) to your prospective clients.

It’s less time consuming than adding to the noise, and massively more effective.

You should use information marketing. Really. Do it!

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Content marketing, information marketing

Today, I’m going to share the power of information marketing with you. It has the potential to sky-rocket your sales results. Actually, it has vastly more potential than that!

I was prompted to write about this, when answering a very common question from one of my readers. They wanted to know, how I find the time to write so many newsletters and articles.

It’s all about my information marketing strategy. And now you’ll see why you really need to start using it!

Let’s go!

Finding time or making time?

A business owner doesn’t need to find the time to go to work, or find time to look after their clients / customers. When a task is important to us, we make time for it. The time for it is set aside, in advance. It’s in our calendar. It’s high on our to-do list. And as a result it gets done.

Marketing is a top-level business activity for me. Not just for me, but for everyone serious about growing a successful business. I know that the information I create, (free marketing tips, ideas and advice) doesn’t always look like marketing.

But it absolutely is.

Some would call it content marketing, but content marketing is extremely limited in comparison.

I call it information marketing

And here’s what it does.

  • It reminds those who choose to follow my work, who I am and what I do.
  • My newsletters, website articles and social media updates showcase my knowledge.
  • My content also provides people with a checkable body of work, which proves that I show up regularly with helpful information AND that I’ve been doing this for decades.
  • This means people know who I am. They know my work and that I’ve reliably provided it for a very long time.
  • The marketing pay-off is that I’m earning their trust, long before they even contact me. And they’re sharing my work with even more prospects!

Now, imagine your prospective clients already had that kind of relationship with you and your business. Consider how much more likely they would be, to buy from you or hire you.

THAT’S what makes information marketing so effective. It provides you with a regular, predictable flow of exceptionally high quality new clients or sales. It also means you never have to sell your services to a stranger again. Because they will already know all about you and your services or products. Information marketing works beautifully.

Okay, now let’s look at just how easy it is.

Information marketing is ongoing

All successful marketing is an ongoing business activity. It’s about becoming, and remaining, visible to your marketplace; so your name, company name, branding, logo, face, etc., is familiar to them.

Almost every small business and many medium-sized businesses get this wrong. They tend to only market their business when there’s a problem; like when they’ve lost a major account or they’ve seen a worrying drop in new clients.

They then, suddenly start marketing to their prospects… even though they’re total strangers to these prospects. It’s extremely ineffective.

And it’s avoidable when you use information marketing.

information marketing, content marketing

It requires way less money than you think

Actually, information marketing takes less money AND less time than you think.

Allow me to explain.

Less money than you think?

Yes. If you market your services the way I do, you don’t need to buy ads. I haven’t paid to advertise my service in over 20 years. Not a penny.

That’s because when you publish useful tips, ideas and advice, which your marketplace will value, they’re attracted to it.

And you’ll be really easy for them to find.

Here’s a quick look at how that works.

  • If you write an article like this, or even something as short as a tweet, your prospects can find it on a search engine. Yes, tweets are findable via Google. Just be sure that when they find your information, it’s very easy for them to contact you and subscribe to your newsletter list. That’s really important.
  • If you write a newsletter (and you REALLY should), people will share it. This is especially the case when you answer common problems for people in your target market. That’s because people tend to know lots of similar people; (those who live in the same area, or are in the same profession, or have the same type of problems, or are in a similar income bracket). So, your initial subscribers will share your newsletters for you, and you’ll be organically building a bigger and bigger, targeted list.

That’s right.

You’re not only connecting with a growing number of prospects. Your growing number of prospects are sharing your work, for free, with even more prospects.

That kind of personal recommendation is massively more effective than an advertisement.

information marketing, get noticed, content marketing

Less time than you think?

Oh yes. Way less time.

Whereas content marketing is known for being about producing a high volume of often low-quality ‘content’, information marketing is focused way more on the quality of information you share. This means you have zero need to ‘pump stuff’ into every social network on the planet every day.

Note: I only use Twitter, my website and my newsletter. That’s it!!!

The information marketing strategy I use with my clients, allows most of their work to be used in multiple ways. So, you invest time creating one piece of useful information, and it can provide you with multiple marketing opportunities.

For example, if you write a useful article for your website or a blog post, it can be:

  • Published as a newsletter. Longer pieces can be published as a 2 or 3-part newsletter series.
  • Published on Linkedin.
  • Published on your Facebook Page or in your Facebook Group
  • Published on a forum your marketplace uses.
  • Extracts can be published as short-form content.
  • And visuals can be published on sites like Instagram, Pinterest and Twitter.

So, you create once and yet produce many, many marketing *assets. (*Things you can use, to attract, help and engage your prospects).

Some all-new information marketing material takes minutes to create. It can be as simple as taking a photo, related to the prospective clients you want to work with. For example, photos of events you’re attending, or photos that show people how you work. These help your prospects to better understand what you do, and they make you more ‘real’ to them. These photos can be really interesting and shared on multiple platforms.

But that’s not all.

After a very short time, as you become more used to creating and sharing useful information, you’ll notice the process takes less and less time.

Information marketing isn’t a time suck

Remember, you don’t need to share something new, multiple times a day, or even every day, as with content marketing.

Information marketing is about producing information that’s useful enough, for people to share your work for you.

It’s all about quality, not quantity. Value, not volume!

You could create just one useful article like this, every 10 – 14 days. By using it in the various ways I explained a moment ago, this would give you something useful and new, to share every 2 or 3 days for a few weeks, to attract the attention of new prospects and start building a valuable connection with them.

Consider again the marketing potential of growing your very own, huge, targeted audience, of extremely high quality prospects. Then measure it against the effort required for information marketing.

If you can see the full potential, you’ll want to get started.

What next Jim?

The best time to start information marketing: building this kind of connection, relationship and trust with your prospects is 10 years ago. But the second best time is now.

If you’re not already marketing your business, by sharing useful information, which you know your prospective clients value, please give it some serious consideration. I have used this model since the 1990’s. And I’ve helped countless business owners transform their sales results with their own information marketing strategies.

I’m telling you, not only does information marketing work better than any form of marketing I have ever used or studied, it works better today than ever before.

Photo: Shutterstock.

How to get immediate marketing results

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immediate marketing results

You absolutely can get outstanding, immediate, marketing results and there are many ways to do it. I’m going to share some examples with you right here, right now.

Oh, and none of them require paying for advertisements.

Okay. Let’s do it!

Immediate marketing results from your website

Improving the call to action messaging on your website will provide you with immediate results.

For example, recently, on my first marketing session with a new client, I suggested a quick improvement. He implemented it during our session. Before the session ended, he was already looking at a higher percentage of people taking the action he required. That’s what I call immediate, measurable marketing results.

And from your email marketing

Improving the subject line on your marketing emails will massively improve your results, from the moment your emails reach your prospective customer’s inbox!

Bonus: You can see equally fast results, if the copy used for your offer in the email content is improved.

Double bonus: Those two improvements will compound when used together, which can result in spectacular marketing results. So, do both!

And from your store

Improving the messaging on your store’s window display can also have an immediate, powerful impact. For example, my friend’s wife owns a lighting store on a local high street. He asked if I could give her a few marketing tips, as things had been a little too quiet lately. One tip took just 5 minutes. I asked for a piece of card and a Sharpie pen. I wrote on the card, and asked if I could place it in her store’s front window.

Before I left, a new customer came in. He said he’d walked past her store lots of times, but ‘for some reason’ he decided to come in today. The marketing results were immediate. A more permanent version of that same message is still there, and still working today.

Those were examples based on improving your existing marketing.

That’s absolutely great.

However, by ALSO introducing new, high-return marketing tactics into your strategy, you can achieve even more. And the possibilities are only limited by your imagination.

Here are some ideas to get you started. In no particular order.

Immediate results from Joint Ventures

The following examples (I could give you dozens), come from just one marketing tactic! I’m referring to Joint Ventures. As you’ll see, when you make them a part of your marketing, and do it correctly, you’ll regularly enjoy immediate, measurable results.

What is a Joint Venture? It’s an agreement between you, and a person or company whose products or services are complimentary and non-conflicting with your own.

What does complimentary and non-conflicting mean? I’ll use my business as an example.

  • I provide marketing services to business owners and marketing professionals, but I don’t provide web design services.
  • I could connect with a web designer who builds websites, but doesn’t provide marketing.
  • I write a newsletter that’s read by business owners and marketing professionals.
  • The web designer also writes a newsletter that’s read by business owners and marketing professionals.
  • Each of us could recommend the other in our newsletter, because our services are complimentary.
  • And because neither of us sells what the other one sells offers, there’s no conflict.
  • Note: I do not do this. It’s just an example to explain the tactic.

The following examples are designed to explain how to use Joint Ventures (JV’s) in your business.

Look at the process being used, NOT the sector / industry of the example. JV’s are applicable to pretty-much every industry.

JVs provide outstanding results, when used in conjunction with public speaking. Here’s an example. I was contacted by the CMO of an accountancy practice. He wanted help with client acquisition. I suggested they put on a Zoom talk for their clients, and invite someone from a complimentary, non-conflicting company to speak. They identified a company that did business with their exact profile of client. I wrote an email for my client, to introduce the opportunity to the potential JV partner. They agreed to give it a go. Two talks were lined up. Each of them had a chance to speak to the other ones audience. It worked really well. Another example of immediate marketing results.

One of the most popular uses of JV’s, is when YouTubers or podcasters invite other YouTubers or podcasters onto their show. The invited person gains exposure to their host’s audience, which can dramatically, and quickly, increase their own audience numbers. They then do the same for the person who hosted them. Both of them see immediate, measurable marketing results.

Immediate marketing results across the board

Once you understand how JVs work, you see opportunities everywhere.

That’s why you need to forget about the industries I’ve mentioned here and the type of JVs used, and focus only on the process to create high-performance JVs.

When you do, you’ll see how companies that install new windows and doors can do Joint Ventures with home security providers, just by recommending one another. In the same way, veterinarians can do Joint Ventures with artists who specialize in pet portraits, or pet photography. And sales trainers can do Joint Ventures with communication trainers. And tree surgeons with grass cutting companies, and locksmiths with carpenters…

You get the idea.

Immediate results. No paid ads

Notice anything about the examples throughout this article? That’s right! None of them required you to buy advertising. You don’t need to buy the attention of your prospective clients or customers, AND ads are way less effective than the 100 plus tactics I use.

So, get your thinking cap on. With a the right planning and some creativity, you never know what kind of immediate marketing results you too could achieve.

How to make your business the obvious choice

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marketing creatively, creative marketing

When looking for a new product or service, there’s a lot of choice out there. Sadly, this ocean of choice exists in your industry. Right now, your prospective clients or customers are presented with hundreds (or more) alternatives.

Given the amount of choice, a foundational marketing question you need to ask yourself is this.

There’s a world full of alternative providers. Why should someone pick me, specifically?

By taking time to create a compelling answer to that question, you massively multiply the number of new clients you attract. And the better your answer, the bigger you win.

So don’t rush it. Take time to get it right.

Oh, and when you get it right, and you’re enjoying all those new clients, remember to keep improving your answer. That’s because this is an ongoing marketing task. You see, what was outstanding a year or two ago, isn’t today.

In some industries, what was outstanding 3 months ago is now the norm.

Word of mouth referrals: It’s never been easier

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word of mouth marketing, Word of mouth referrals, recommendations

Word of mouth recommendations open up an amazing opportunity, for you and your business. If you choose to embrace it, you can have an army of enthusiastic people successfully selling your services.

  • Without paying them.
  • Without even asking them.

There’s a little work required on your part. But once it’s done, you’re good to go! You can then watch extremely high quality sales leads / client enquiries roll in. Over and over and over again.

The work?

Get recommendations by word of mouth

It’s actually pretty simple.

I do it daily with clients.

It works like this.

Think of a product or service you’ve used, which impressed you so much, you told your friends. That’s all you need your offering to do. It’s not about reinventing the wheel. It’s just making some adjustments, which stand out in a meaningful way.

This is what gets people telling their friends, associates and social media contacts about you.

People in your industry have already done this very successfully. In fact, there are countless examples from every industry.

It’s how we all prefer to find new restaurants, phone brands, bars, accountants, motorcycles, authors, marketing consultants, lawyers, professional photographers, financial advisers, software products, artists, fashion brands, doctors, … everything.

Seriously, you need to be a part of that list. You need word of mouth recommendations or referrals working for you and your business.

Word of mouth marketing has never worked better

How come?

The power of a recommendation comes from it being third party and independent. In other words, not from someone who works for the provider they’re recommending, or who is being paid to recommend the product or service. Until relatively recently, someone’s ability to reach people about how delighted they are with you, was restricted. Now, social networks allow anyone to instantly tell 50, 500, 5000 or 50,000 people how delighted they are with you.

Let that sink in for a moment and imagine what that would do for you and your business.

Plus, in many cases, these recommendations and wonderful comments about you, are findable by people using search engines. This gives your recommendations an even wider audience and an even longer life cycle!

Get daily word of mouth recommendations

I work with business owners every day, who are enjoying the massive benefits of free, word of mouth recommendations.

You deserve the same.

So take the time to recreate your products or services, so that people want to tell their friends and contacts about you. If you want to do this right, first time, get some expert help.

Either way, do not miss out on this amazing marketing opportunity to grow your business, from wave after wave of word of mouth recommendations and referrals.

Hard to resist or hard to remember?

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decision making entrepreneur

Your prospective customers need to believe that you, your services or your products are exactly what they want. And from the very first moment, they’re looking for hints to help them decide.

That’s why your branding is so important. It’s a pivotal part of what forms their first impression. And first impressions are exceptionally powerful. So powerful that once a first impression has been made, even facts won’t change them.

Whether we like it or not, prospects are already forming their impressions of our products and services.

The brands that have been intentionally designed to create the right impression are hard to resist. The brands that have not, are hard to remember.

How to get massively better results from your advertising

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How to, advertising tips, ads

Let’s dive right in!

Here are 3 tips to help you get massively better results from your advertising.

1: Discover the media your customers consume

You need to uncover what your prospective customers read, listen to or watch. This will be easier for some of you than others. If, for example, you sell exclusively to a certain industry, it’s easy to identify the most popular media aimed at that industry. The same is true if you sell to a particular community, such as those interested in cycling, cars, boats, cooking, etc. 

For those who sell to a less well defined group, you’ll need to talk with your customers. A simple survey will help. Then look for common threads within the survey answers. For example, they may be interested in a wide spread of things, yet a high percentage may be within a certain age group. This would help you find radio, podcasts, blogs, magazines or TV aimed at them… or at least a useful subset of them.

The more targeted you get your advertising, the better. No matter how great your product, service or offer is, people can’t buy from your ad if they don’t see it.

2: Learn how your customers consume media

Next, you need to know how your prospective customers consume their media. This will help you reach the right people, correctly.

For example, radio advertising can be very effective if you want to build brand awareness. However, it will be far less effective if you want to get people to take direct action and call you or visit your website. Many radio consumers listen whilst they drive, are at the gym or are in the shower, etc. In each example, they can’t easily write down a phone number, URL or social media handle.

So, you need to make sure you use the correct form of media, for the kind of ad you want to run. If you choose radio or podcasts for advertising, it’s worth investing in an easy to remember phone number and web address.

3: Do they pay attention to the ads?

Finally, you need to know if people are engaging with the ads.

The Game Informer magazine is read each month by over 7 million people. It’s an American video game publication and it contains lots of advertisements. Here’s the thing: The ads in the magazine actually add to its value. It would be less valuable to the readers if the ads weren’t there. That’s because video game enthusiasts WANT to know about the games, events and hardware being advertised.

Now compare that to websites that pre-run video ads, when you’re trying to read an article. Do these intrusive ads make the site more valuable to the user?

The point I’m making here is that there’s a difference between advertising where people want to hear what you have to say, and advertising where your message is seen as an annoying intrusion.

In closing

Be where your prospective customer’s attention is. If they are paying attention to what you have to say, and your advertisement is well produced, advertising can make you a fortune. So choose wisely.

I’ll finish today, with an insight from the father of modern advertising. David Ogilvy.

“Much of the messy advertising you see on television today is the product of committees. Committees can criticise advertisements, but they should never be allowed to create them.”

How to make your marketing totally unmissable

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Marketing

What do the following have in common?

  • The trailer for a movie, which is part of a franchise you really enjoy.
  • A radio interview with a musician, whose music you’ve always loved, talking about their new album.
  • A Facebook post from an author, whose books you collect, announcing their new title.
  • A newsletter from a brand you like and trust, announcing an exciting new product.

The answer is that they are all examples of marketing you value. Marketing you wouldn’t want to miss. Marketing that doesn’t even feel like marketing.

How to create unmissable marketing

So, what was it that made those marketing examples unmissable?

  1. You gave permission for the marketing message to reach you. You tuned into the TV station or radio channel. You liked them on Facebook. You subscribed to their newsletter.
  2. The product being marketed (movie, album or book etc.), is something you’re interested in.

The key words there are permission and interest.

Here’s why!

Without your permission, the marketer is being a pest. No one wants to be pestered with unsolicited emails, off-target advertising or unrequested social networking messages.

Without your interest, the “offer” is just another annoying, time-wasting, badly targeted sales pitch.

Making YOUR marketing unmissable

Firstly, make sure you only market to people who want what you’re offering.

Secondly, earn their permission.

How?

Here’s a strategy that works:

  1. Think about the brands you have given permission to contact you.
  2. Write them down.
  3. Next, ask yourself why you did it. Why did you subscribe to their YouTube channel, their newsletter or their podcast? Why did you like them on Facebook or connect with them on Linkedin? Why did you ask them to send you their catalogue or email you their updates?
  4. Finally, see what you can learn from their strategy, which you can adapt, to earn the permission of your prospective customers.

It takes more effort to create unmissable marketing. However, it will massively improve your results.

Here’s what to do, if people ignore your important marketing emails

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Marketing email content

Image: Austin Distel

I get scores of really important marketing emails every day. I call them important, yet none of these messages are of any importance to me.

They’re typically irrelevant and of literally zero interest. They are only important to the people sending them!

I know you receive these emails too.

  • The amazing special offers, which are neither amazing or special in any way whatsoever.
  • The newsletters you never even subscribed to.
  • The partnership opportunities from total strangers.
  • The poorly targeted deals, which aren’t even applicable to you.
  • And let’s not forget the masses of automatically generated spam you receive.

Here’s the thing we need to remember, before emailing someone. If our exciting announcement or important news is only really important to us and our business, we’re not marketing to people. We’re interrupting them!

And if we do that a second time, we go from interrupting them, to pestering them.

That’s not a good look.

How to get it right?

Create something genuinely interesting, which is important to your prospective clients or customers. Then, only send your message to people who have given you permission to contact them, and who you know have a genuine need for that important information.

It’s hard to overstate the marketing power of a valuable message, sent to people who want to hear from you. It’s how you create the best marketing… marketing that’s so useful, people would miss it if you stopped.

List building: How to build a list that builds your business

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list building, build a list

Photo: Shutterstock.

People often ask me for tips on how to build a bigger list. They want more subscribers, more readers, more listeners, more viewers, more followers, etc.

The short answer is simple. It’s this.

Create useful content, which is worthy of people’s attention and make it really easy for them to subscribe.

If you do that, you’ll attract more people and because your content is useful, many of them will subscribe. Think about it. That’s the exact process, which motivated you to subscribe to every list you’re on. Something attracted you, you found it useful, you subscribed.

This begs the question: If the answer is so simple, why is it so darn hard to build a large and valuable list?

Here’s the slightly longer answer.

The advice is simple. The process is tricky

There’s some tricky stuff between you and that massively valuable list you want.

Finding something useful to share, on a regular basis, is tricky. Remember, if you just churn out the same stuff as others in your industry, you won’t attract subscribers or retain them. This means you’ll need to be willing to do some research. You’ll need to become a regular note taker. A collector of ideas. It’s interesting work, but if you’re not already someone who studies and takes notes, it can take a while to transition.

Finding the time to create content is also tricky. You’re already busy, right? Developing content around all that interesting material you have, takes time. That time is easy to justify when you have a huge list. It’s harder to justify, when your hard work is being consumed by just a small number of people. You’ll need to push through the tumbleweed and crickets of the early stages. And I know from personal experience, that can be a real challenge.

Summoning the courage to publish your stuff is also tricky. Why? Because if you do it right, you’ll attract critics. Someone once told me that we have a choice to make. We can either be criticized or be ignored. If we’re being ignored, we’re invisible. That’s not good for any business.

The alternative is to not only expect criticism, but to welcome it as a positive sign that we’re no longer being ignored. Don’t set out to attract critics. Set out to be useful and worthy of attention. But see criticism as an inevitable part of becoming visible and successful.

Note: Here’s why people criticize you and how to deal with it.

Once you know what’s involved, building a valuable list is pretty easy.

And the rewards are huge

Picture this: Just imagine what a difference it would make to your business, if you were in regular contact with thousands of prospective customers. Not via advertising, which is usually seen as an unwelcome interruption. But via a subscription to your content, which people proactively requested because they WANT to hear from you. It’s almost impossible to overstate just how valuable your subscribers are.

The opportunity is amazing. And it’s right in front of you. Right now.

The marketing tip that’s guaranteed to work, even if it fails

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professional development

A reader emailed me with a good question, followed by a very good question.

It’s about a highly effective strategy I mention often, yet I’ve never previously explained that it’s guaranteed to work, at least to some extent.

He asked: How can I earn the trust of prospective customers, when they don’t already know me?

My reply: Make a big, audacious promise to your marketplace, with a confirmed deadline, then deliver the promise on time.

He then had an even better follow-up question.

He asked: But what if something goes wrong and I deliver after the deadline?

My reply: Well, you’ll have proven to your marketplace that you’re brave enough to set clear, measurable deadlines. In addition, you’ll have proven that you’re honest enough to admit you were late. Whilst also proving that you’re professional and dedicated enough to keep going and deliver, albeit late, rather than quit and fail to deliver at all.

In short, even if things go wrong, you’ll still have proven your; courage, honesty, professionalism and dedication. Those are huge trust-building assets.

If you’ve heard me extol the effectiveness of setting deadlines before, yet been worried about the potential downside, I hope this gives you a clearer understanding.

What are ‘Mini marketing campaigns’ and how do they work?

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mini Marketing campaign, client referrals

Many of the most effective forms of marketing, don’t feel much like marketing at all. The mini marketing campaigns idea I’m about to share with you, is one such example. I hope you’ll find it as useful as I did, when I initially uncovered it.

Let’s go.

Often, the service we receive is really good. And in fairness, this happens a lot more often than not. The reason we tend not to remember it, is precisely because it happens so frequently. There’s a lot of forgotten, really good service around.

Today’s post is about what happens when we crank things up and offer a service that’s even better than really good. It’s about what happens when we’re providing a level of service that our clients (or customers) WILL remember. A level of service that’s better than it needed to be, which delights our clients and gives them a story to share.

And that’s just the start!

Mini marketing campaigns

When we do more than expected, more than we need to, we transform our client interactions (work flow) into an extremely valuable series of mini marketing campaigns. Each of these campaigns helps us to grow our business on many fronts. And without even knowing it, we’re growing our business on multiple levels all day, every day.

Multiple levels?

Yep.

As you’d expect, when we consistently provide a service where we do more than we need to, it motivates our clients to tell their friends about us.

And that’s great.

But the benefits are way bigger than that!

  • It deepens our client’s trust in us.
  • In addition, it vastly increases the value of our services to our clients.
  • Plus it earns greater loyalty from our clients.
  • And as a natural consequence, we’re likely to retain them as clients for far, far longer.

And it’s so easy to do

This part may come as a surprise, given the many, huge benefits of this approach. The extra effort required is actually, surprisingly small.

That’s because like every pattern of work, doing more than we need to soon becomes a habit. It becomes our natural way of working. And we don’t need to remind ourselves when something is a habit. In fact, habits can be a lot harder to break than to acquire. (I cover this in more detail here.)

It takes a little while for everything to gel, but think in terms of days or weeks, rather than months. Once it becomes habitual, you’re not even aware you’re doing it.

The effort required is tiny. Because by simply going about your typical working day, you’ll be automatically marketing your services in multiple, valuable ways.

A list of business experts you absolutely must avoid

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marketing stop

In life there are certain people who you absolutely need to avoid. The same is true in business.

Some are easy to spot

  • The web designer whose website is a piece of crap.
  • The marketing expert, who embarrassingly needs to pester people on Linkedin because their own marketing doesn’t work.
  • The consultant or adviser who claims to be in high demand, yet offers free consultations.
  • The self-proclaimed leadership guru, who clearly isn’t leading.
  • The copywriter whose content is poorly-written and lacks impact.
  • The creativity expert who’s just like all the other creativity experts. (Think about that for a moment).

Others are trickier to spot

  • The marketing consultant, who used tricks to attract a million social media followers.
  • The accountant who understands numbers, but can’t clearly explain what they mean to their client’s business.
  • The strategist whose own strategy is failing.
  • The business development adviser who has never built a successful business of their own.

Protect your business from bad advice

The personal recommendation of a trusted friend is usually the least risky way to find an expert provider. Just make sure the friend has recent, first-hand experience of the quality of the provider’s work.

Another option is to hire someone whose work you’re already familiar with. For example, if you subscribe to a provider’s podcast, YouTube channel, blog or newsletter and they regularly share useful information, they’re giving you some powerful clues.

  • The fact they have turned up consistently, demonstrates a degree of reliability. This is especially the case if they have many years worth of material available.
  • You get to experience first hand, how knowledgeable they are from the quality of information they provide.
  • In addition, you’ll know in advance if they share information with the clarity you need.
  • You also gain an insight into their personality and mindset, which can help you determine if they’re the kind of person you work best with.

With an attractive looking website and some testimonials, anyone can claim to be an expert at anything. And that’s why you need to look deeper.

Because the cost of taking bad advice is far, far higher than the person’s fee.