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How to get your products, your services and your business noticed

Image: Rupert Britton

Take a moment and imagine that you’re in a huge stadium. There are 70,000 people there. And every single one of you is dressed in bright yellow clothing.

Then someone walks in who’s dressed from head to foot in bright red. Immediately, everyone notices them. They stand out because they’re not like all the others. They’re clearly different.

Here’s why this matters to your business: If you want to get noticed, you need to be willing to stand out. To be visibly, measurably and meaningfully different from your competitors.

That’s how you attract attention.

However, the typical small business unintentionally does the total opposite!

They offer the same kind of services as their competitors, to the same kind of people, for the same kind of fees. They have the same kind of website, the same kind of newsletter and the same kind of branding. And all because they use the same kind of general, generic marketing as their competitors.

It doesn’t work, because it can’t work

Why is that?

Simple: Every time you use a general or generic marketing tactic or marketing idea, by default you’re doing what the masses are doing. You become what Zig Ziglar used to call “a wandering generality”.

And in doing so, you actually make your business less visible.

Less visible?

How can marketing make you less visible?

Easy!

Instead of helping you attract the attention of your marketplace, generic marketing tactics and ideas act as camouflage. You become just like one of the 70,000 people in that stadium, dressed in yellow – – wondering why you’re not getting noticed or attracting attention.

You need a more effective approach to marketing than that. You need marketing that takes your business from the background and thrusts it into the foreground.

With this in mind, take a look at your marketing and consider how many things you’re currently doing, which are similar to your competitors. Then seek out creative alternatives. Alternatives that will get you noticed by your ideal profile of client or customer.

How to avoid fee sensitive clients and customers. Yes, it works in your industry too

Written by Jim Connolly

Photo: Shutterstock.

You don’t need to sell your services or products based on price. You don’t need to waste your time on fee-sensitive clients or customers, either.

In today’s post, I explain why and provide an example of exactly what I mean.

Sort by price

One of the most common features on shopping sites, is the “sort by price” filter. It lets us see products in the category we’ve searched for, listed in price order.

The reason sort by price exists, is that the marketplace demands it. When presented with 5 or 50 options for a commodity product, the lowest price wins. This is known as the race to the bottom. Bottled water is bottled water. It makes no sense to pay more for it than you need to.

Right?

Wrong!

But what about Bob?

Bob is passionate about helping people worldwide have access to clean drinking water. He then finds a water brand, which donates money from every bottle sold, to build wells in areas where there’s no clean water.

So, Bob’s happy (very happy) to pay more for his bottled water from this well-building brand. Plus, because people like Bob know lots of other people like Bob, he tells his friends. They do the same.

Water gets sold.

Wells get built.

And people get to make a meaningful difference to the lives of those who need it.

What’s the lesson here?

If you want potential clients or customers to stop caring about your prices or fees, give them something more important to care about. This means differentiating your products or services from the competition. The moment you do, you’re no longer offering a commodity. And customers are no longer buying based on price.

The good news? If you’re thinking this approach couldn’t work for you or your industry, remind yourself that it works for a commodity as common and utterly indistinguishable as water.

How to be a successful, serial entrepreneur

Written by Jim Connolly

Wherever you are right now, whatever your past, you can be a successful entrepreneur or serial entrepreneur.

First, let’s get the serial entrepreneur myth out of the way

Look around any business network and it won’t be long before you find people, calling themselves serial entrepreneurs.

They’re everywhere. Or so it appears. However, as is often the case, all is not what it seems. In fact, 99.9% of the people I see calling themselves serial entrepreneurs… are not.

They aren’t even entrepreneurs.

They are serial starters!

Allow me to explain.

Serial entrepreneurs or serial starters?

Serial entrepreneurs: These rare people build a series of successful businesses and fully realise the potential of each business, before they move on. A well known example is serial entrepreneur Ev Williams. Ev founded Blogger and sold it to Google for millions, then he co-founded Twitter and then, the hugely successful Medium.

Serial starters: These are the people we see everywhere, who start a series of enterprises, yet never successfully finish developing any of them. They lack the commitment shown by entrepreneurs. So when the going gets tough, they get demotivated and quit. The vast majority of self-proclaimed serial entrepreneurs fit in this enormous group.

This begs the question.

Why are serial starters so common?

It’s extremely easy to start a new venture. It’s exciting. It brings motivation with it. It gets them up early in the mornings and keeps them up late at night. Everything is new. A blank slate. A new beginning. Endless possibilities.

Then, after a while, the real work begins. Not the new enterprise, shiny work. The real nitty-gritty work:

The sales calls.
The rejections.
The unreturned mail.
The broken promises from those who said they would help.
The cash flow problems.
The hard knocks.

As the shine wears off, the momentum drops for the serial starters. So, they look for the next big thing, rather than finishing what they started. The cycle repeats unless they summon the grit to make it to the finish line.

More about grit than money

You don’t need to start of rich, to be an entrepreneur or serial entrepreneur. You do need grit though.

Yes, some entrepreneurs, such as Gary Vaynerchuk, inherit a multi-million dollar business from their parents, and can use that wealth to get all the additional investment they need and branch into other enterprises. However, most of us start off with little more than an idea, grit and commitment.

Ev Williams, who I mentioned earlier, is a textbook example of starting without money. Like most entrepreneurs, he had to do it the hard way. No wealthy parents. No million dollar assets. No easy way to access the financial investment he needed.

Ev was so broke when he started Blogger that he was living on a friend’s couch! He’s now worth hundreds of millions of dollars. Read Ev’s inspirational story and watch the video, here.

History shows us that when it comes to business, money is less important than grit. Remember, Steve Jobs came from a blue collar family! The key is to decide what you want and then commit to doing what’s required, to make it happen.

It’s that simple. And that hard.

How to get lifelong, free access to the world’s top marketing writers

Written by Jim Connolly

Yes, you read the title of today’s post correctly. It’s not a play on words. I have lifelong, free access to the world’s best marketing writers, and you can have it too.

This post started off with an email from Deborah.

My associate Deborah has a seemingly limitless capacity to ask great questions. The kind of question’s I’ve never asked myself before. Earlier today, Deborah asked me for book recommendations, to help her improve her writing. She’s already a great writer, and it’s easy to see why when she’s always seeking out ways to further improve.

That wasn’t the question that prompted this post. It was only her starter question.

Her follow-up was the kicker!

Just one book?

I recommended a book by Roy Peter Clark, called “How to write short” and it’s a classic from a master of the craft. He shows you how to write compelling messages and engaging content, using as few words as required. I don’t do book reviews. I don’t do affiliate links. You can search for it or find it on his website, using the link above. If it sounds like something you want to improve on, grab a copy. In my eyes he’s the boss of writing short, highly effective copy.

Back to Deborah’s question.

She thanked me for the recommendation. Then she asked me the question that inspired this post. She wondered why I only recommended one book!

Here’s my answer.

More importantly, here’s where you’ll discover how to have unlimited, free access to the world’s best marketing writers and communicators.

I study and practice my craft, daily

When I started out in this business, I learned everything I knew about sales and marketing, by studying the work of others. Initially I studied the work of colleagues, who were older and more experienced than me. Then I widened it out to all my inputs.

So, whenever I read or heard a powerful message, I’d write it down. Then, I would unpack the message to figure out why it was so powerful or motivating. I wanted to learn from it.

And I still do the exact same thing today.

I gather inspiration and rather than just swipe it, I swipe it and study it. The wordplay, the rhythm of the syllables. The mental imagery generated. The degree of urgency created… anything I can learn and grow from.

Here are some examples I noted and studied today. They’re all from leading companies and brands – – those with the financial resources to hire the greatest marketing writers in the world.

I studied.

High converting text from website buttons and contact forms.
Powerful calls-to-action on store signs.
High yield headlines.
Motivating paragraphs from marketing emails and letters.
Memorable straplines.
Engaging tweets.
Powerful slogans.
The copy used on packaging and products.
Social media profile copy.
Instantly clickable email subject lines.
… and everything else that attracts my eye or my ear.

Rolls Royce, Apple, Rolex, Disney… international brands of that size and influence don’t hire $100 an hour marketing writers. They hire the very best and money is no object. Their wording (like the examples on that tiny list) is worth a fortune to you and your business.

You don’t have to wonder if their copy works. Yes, it works!

You don’t have to wonder if the copy writer knows what they’re doing. Yes, they REALLY do know what they’re doing!

My task and yours, if you’re interested, is to look for the lessons. Let these masters of the art teach you with their examples of excellence.

Then, use your version of it. Put it into play. Test what you’ve learned and measure the results. Refine it, and then test again. It’s a great way to improve. Because I publish information very regularly, I’m able to test what I learn just as regularly. I can quickly discover what’s effective and what’s less useful. This is one of the many reasons I believe every professional should write a blog and / or a newsletter. It’s perfect for developing your skills and style.

Making your work stand out

By not reading the same books (or subscribing to the same publications, podcasts and Youtube channels) as others in my profession, I’ve been able to develop my own style. It’s a style that’s often rough around the edges. It’s unorthodox. It’s certainly not perfect.

It can’t be perfect.

Here’s why.

The moment you’ve written something perfectly aligned with the style-guide, you’re camouflaged among the thousands who strive for that same version of perfection. Lost in an ocean of similar writing.

You’re no longer a voice. You’re an echo.

You’re no longer a signal. You’re a noise.

The way I write is imperfectly my style. And it constantly evolves, as the marketplace does.

Conclusion

You can learn a lot about written communication from the most effective and talented experts on the planet – – by way of non-obvious sources. The work of these genius writers is everywhere.

Seriously.

It’s on cereal boxes. It’s the book titles on the world’s best-selling books. It’s what catches your eye on magazine covers. It’s in movie trailers… it’s everywhere. And the people paid to write that material are among the best paid, most effective writers in the world. They’re really good. And worthy of our attention.

That’s not all.

By pulling from these priceless, non-obvious sources, different sources, you also give yourself the freedom to develop your own style and your own voice. Essential assets if you want your message, your work and your products or services to get the attention they need.

The world’s best are there for you to study and learn from. It’s free. And yours for life.

What an amazing opportunity.

How to be lucky in business. Plus 4 other nuggets

Written by Jim Connolly

If you hear yourself wishing for better luck, remind yourself that what you really need, is a better strategy.
It’s getting harder and harder to sell average stuff, now that everyone has a social media megaphone.
- The best providers get their message amplified in public.
- The average providers get their message minified in public.
- Below average providers get their message vilified in public.
A business succeeds when there’s congruence between what the business owner wants… and what the business owner does. Failing to provide a business with what it needs, is like refusing to water your plants. Only a lot more expensive.
Everything your business does is marketing. Yes, everything.
Never complain about the economy or other outside factors. Adapt. Adjust. Put your success in your own hands.

Now go and make it a great day, my friend.

What is The Lock-in Effect?

Written by Jim Connolly

Image: Nicolas Hippert

One way to retain more of your customers is a tactic called The Lock-in Effect. The Lock-in Effect, also known as vendor lock-in is almost universally frowned upon. And with good reason too. It’s a selfish and manipulative approach to business.

However, in this post I am going to show you a powerful, ethical and profitable way to use The Lock-in Effect to grow your business.

What is The Lock-in Effect?

It’s a term that’s typically used to explain a practice, where a company makes it extremely hard for their customers to leave them / switch to a new provider, even if the customer wants to.

A couple of lock-in examples:

Banks are notorious for making it far more difficult to move to another bank, than it needs to be. Bill payments are often missed and a process that should take minutes electronically, can drag on for weeks or more. You feel locked-in, because the pain and frustration of moving banks is so high.
If your company is set up to use a certain software package, which all your employees have mastered, it makes it a lot harder to drop that software when a better alternative appears. The cost of buying the new software, and the time and cost required to retrain everyone and the potential for lost data, makes you feel locked-in.

An alternative to the Lock-in Effect

Yes, there will always be businesses that deliberately offer a very average service and try and lock their customers in, using trickery. However, there is a far better way to use The Lock-in Effect. It’s more effective. It’s more ethical and it leads to massively better results.

We can create so much value through our products and services, that our clients or customers lock themselves in.

This approach to business has been used by companies like Apple, Netflix and Zappos – where we see their customers not only going back to them again and again, but also telling everyone about them. That’s why the best Apple salespeople… are Apple’s own customers.

The goal here is to lock clients or customers into your business, by delivering an experience that is so good, they would be crazy to leave you.

That’s the most effective way to make the lock-in effect work for you and your clients.