Jim's Marketing Blog

Marketing tips and ideas to help you grow your business

How to use fear as your compass

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marketing fear, fearless

Photo: Shutterstock.

As a business owner, the fears you have are largely the same as your competitors. This presents you with an amazing opportunity for 2020 and beyond.

Really, Jim?

Yes. Really.

You see, when you avoid doing the things you fear, you also avoid doing the things your competitors fear.

In other words, whatever you’re avoiding, they’re avoiding too.

This means whatever it is, is going to be in very short supply!

Here’s why this matters to you and your business:

  • Lack of supply = scarcity.
  • Scarcity = value.

If you want your business to be in demand. If you want to get your business noticed. And if you want to avoid selling based on price (and you do), learn to embrace the things you fear.

Because that feeling of fear is often your inner compass, confirming that you’re on the right track.

How to add credibility to your marketing and why it’s now essential

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marketing credibility, sales trust

Photo: Shutterstock.

Have you ever looked at the marketing promises made by your competitors?

  • Your most unreliable competitors will promise to deliver on time, every time.
  • Your lowest quality competitors will promise premium quality at low prices.
  • Your least competent competitors will promise a highly professional service.
  • And they’ll all have testimonials. Testimonials that are often the opposite of what a real client or customer will experience from them.

It makes sense.

It’s horrible, but it makes sense.

After all, they’re hardly likely to admit that working with them or buying from them is a total nightmare. You see, the mindset that says it’s okay to produce low quality work and charge over the odds for it, has no problem being dishonest in other areas of their business.

What does this have to do with you?

Your prospective clients or customers have been lied to before. So, the claims you legitimately make in your marketing will only be treated seriously, if you back them up.

Here are a couple of ideas, to help the truth of your marketing stand out.

Adding credibility to your marketing

One way to add credibility, is to link from your website to external (preferably independent) sources. For example, link from your website to external reviews or positive press / media coverage on news sites. (Here’s how I do it). Similarly, if you’ve been accredited by a respected organisation, link to the page on their website, where you’re mentioned.

Another way to add credibility, is to show up regularly with useful information, via a blog, vlog, podcast or on social networks. By providing genuinely useful, informed advice, you demonstrate your knowledge. You also have an opportunity to show your personality. By demonstrating your knowledge and allowing your marketplace to get to know you, you create a potent marketing mix, which helps build trust.

In short, be aware that today’s marketplace is highly sceptical of unsubstantiated marketing promises. And use as many credibility assets as possible.

Finish the year strong with my free marketing guide

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marketing, free guide

You’re going to love this.

Okay, maybe ‘love’ is a little too strong. How about, you’re going to find this extremely useful… yes, that’s it.

So, here we are my friend. The 4th quarter of the year starts today. And no matter how things are going for you right now, this post will help you finish the year stronger. It also shows you how to get my massive, free marketing guide.

Let’s start by looking at what we need to do, if we’re on course to smash our 2019 targets.

  • We need to remain focused.
  • We need to avoid easing up or getting cocky.
  • We need to carry on doing the right things, correctly.

If we reflect on our 2019 results thus far and find that we’re not on course, we also need to act. Don’t worry. I’ll give you a great resource to help, in a moment.

  • We need to start by fully accepting the urgency of the situation.
  • We need to resist the temptation to hunker down and hope things will ‘just get better’ by themselves.
  • We need to get strategic about what we do in October, November and December.
  • We need to make better decisions.
  • We need to take better actions and / or take action more frequently.
  • We need to determine that we will finish strong and turn things around.

First, some good news

Even if you’re off target, you can still make 2019 a successful year. And here’s why.

Equipped with the right strategy and support, your decisions will improve, your actions will improve and your results will improve.

The key is to act. And to act in accordance with the results you’re currently experiencing.

Now some really good news

If you’re not sure what to do next or you can’t afford to invest in professional marketing support right now, I’ve got you covered.

I’ve prepared a massive (over 4 thousand words long), free marketing guide. It’s packed with ideas you can use to improve your sales and marketing results. It covers things like; how to use the amazing power of curiosity in your marketing, ideas to boost your email marketing results, getting connected to the right people, how to use Endorsed Relationships, turning your website into a sales / lead generation machine, some ideas on how to benefit from inbound (attraction) marketing… and lots, lots more.

There’s nothing to sign or download, everything is on this one, huge page. Marketing Tips and Ideas For 2019.

I hope you find it useful, my friend.

Quick tip: How to market with massively more impact

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content marketing, trust

There are 2 important questions, which very few business owners ask of themselves. However, they contain the seeds of a massively valuable marketing insight. And by asking and answering them, you’ll avoid an extremely common and damaging mistake.

Here are the questions.

  1. What does my ideal client (or customer) look like?
  2. What am I doing, to make sure my marketing is only directly relevant to this super-valuable niche?

Here’s why these questions, and your answers, are so important.

Something for everyone

One of the most common marketing mistakes, especially with small and medium-sized businesses, is to try and appeal to the widest possible range of people.

On one level, it seems to make sense.

The thinking looks like this: The more people you try and appeal to, the more prospective clients you’ll have.

However, that’s not how it works. In reality, using that approach guarantees you will actually attract far fewer clients or sales.

And here’s why.

To motivate someone to switch brands or switch providers, your marketing needs to motivate them into action. It has to be directly relevant to them. It has to talk to their world-view. Their wants. Their needs. Their values.

Every time you decide to widen the appeal of your marketing, beyond your ideal client, you weaken its effectiveness. Your marketing shifts from being:

  • Directly relevant (powerful and compelling).
  • To vaguely relevant (feeble and weak).

If you haven’t already, I recommend you get intentional about exactly who you want to do business with. Then focus all your marketing, so that it speaks exclusively to that high value group.

In short, go narrow and deep. Not wide and shallow.

Get it right my friend, and it’s a game changer.

Higher fees, higher profits, happier clients and less competition

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marketing high quality

In today’s post, I’m going to share a proven idea with you that can massively increase your revenues and profits. It’s something I’ve done successfully for countless clients over the years. And it’s based on a wonderfully effective business model, too.

I’d like start by asking you to consider the following. I want you to imagine for a moment, that your clients paid you significantly more than they do now. Maybe 200%, 300% or 500% more. If this was the case:

  • You could give them considerably more of your attention.
  • You could provide them with a far, far better level of service.
  • Your clients would value you more. So, they’d keep returning, delighted with the service they receive from you.
  • Your clients would also recommend you to their friends, many of whom would then become clients.
  • And these new clients would be just as delighted. And recommend you to their friends.
  • Repeat.

Before you know it, you could have a premium quality client base, growing organically.

Premium quality clients. Growing organically.

Think about that for a moment. Because maybe it’s time you considered offering a premium version of your services. Your marketplace already has a highly profitable subset, who value quality and will very happily pay more for it. In fact, they eagerly seek it out.

But that’s not all

The premium quality corner of your marketplace is not only the most profitable. It’s also, by far, the least competitive. It’s the middle ground, which is always stuffed full of competing providers, forcing fees down.

Just think how your business would thrive, with higher fees, higher profits, happier clients and less competition.

In short, average is overcrowded and overrated. So why not develop something premium?

No more time wasters: How top companies keep getting the best referrals

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marketing referrals, get referrals

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.