Jim Connolly Marketing

Marketing tips and ideas to help you grow your business

Provide something of value that’s in short supply

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We know why the most successful businesses are always in high demand. It’s the same reason they command the highest fees.

They provide something of value that’s in short supply.

We also know why the average business isn’t in high demand. It’s because they provide something, which is in abundance.

Here’s the thing

It’s not enough to work hard, work smart and care about your clients. Most of your competitors already do that. To think otherwise is to underestimate your competition. And that’s a big mistake.

marketing, high demand, short supply

To be in high demand and earn the highest fees, you need to embrace the tricky stuff. The things that are in short supply, because they’re too challenging or uncomfortable for most business owners.

This includes a willingness to.

  • Set higher standards than your competitors.
  • Do work that’s meaningfully different. Work that has your signature all over it.
  • Initiate. Not always. But often.
  • Be there for people when they need help. This is critically important in today’s economy.
  • Encourage others.
  • Connect people.
  • Treat different customers differently.
  • Adapt to the rapidly changing threats and opportunities. Preferably before your competitors do.
  • Make promises and keep them.
  • Inspire your customers, your team and your marketplace.

Is this easy? No. It’s hard. Really hard.

Here’s a better question: Is it worth it? Yes, absolutely!

The very fact it’s so bloody hard is why it’s so rare, why it’s in such high demand and why it’s so valuable.

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.

How to get great business ideas

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How to get great business ideas, how to, get business ideas,

In today’s post, I ‘m going to show you how to get great business ideas and how to put them to work for your business.

Think about it: Behind every successful business are a series of ideas. Great business ideas, which open up new opportunities or set the business on a new path.

The challenge with great ideas is that they often look like average ideas, until after they become hugely successful. As a result, most great ideas never see the light of they.

In fact, I bet you have a few tucked away right now, without even knowing it.

Here’s an example of what I mean.

How a great business idea was mocked

In 1985, The New York Times announced the death of laptop computers, in an articled entitled; “Whatever happened to the laptop computer?” They wondered why laptops never became popular (seriously). Here’s how one of the greatest business ideas in history, was openly mocked:

“[…] I.B.M. never legitimized the market with its much rumored ”Clamshell,” probably because the company realized that laptops are a small niche market, not a mass market.”

Erik Sandberg-Diment. New York Times 1985.

And when the electric light bulb was invented, most people said it would never become a mass market product. It was thought that there was no affordable way to get electricity to enough homes.

How to get great business ideas that win!

Business owners sometimes ask me what I think of an idea they have. The challenge here, is that it doesn’t matter what I think or what their friends think. Great business ideas are not anointed. If you want to know how good your idea is, you need to get it out there.

If you do, you will find it’s almost impossible to fail.

Really?

Yes, really!

It’s a win-win thing.

  • If it IS a great business idea and it flies, you’ll have a success on your hands.
  • If it flops, you’ll learn something. Something that you can invest in the next idea and greatly increase your chances of success.

Ironically, the only way to guarantee a business idea will fail, is to try and protect it from failure by locking it away.

It’s a lose-lose thing.

  • The idea you fail to ship can’t succeed.
  • The idea you fail to ship can’t teach you anything new.

This not only insulates you from success, it also insulates you from learning and growing. This used to be a problem for me, when I started out in business. I was just in my 20’s and lacking in confidence. I’d sometimes get a great business idea, but I wouldn’t put the idea into action.

I knew I needed to do it. I also knew it couldn’t work if I didn’t ship the idea. But for me, putting an idea into action, even one I thought was great, was easier said than done.

Thankfully, I discovered a way forward, which I’m going to share with you.

Here’s the business idea strategy, which worked for me

I’ve shared this strategy with countless people over the years and the results have been amazing. It’s actually really, really simple.

My breakthrough came when I figured out that the part of my mind responsible for putting ideas into action, was weak. It needed improving, conditioning, strengthening.

I thought one way to do this, would be to treat it like a weak muscle. To make a weak muscle strong, you start off by working with very light weights. As the muscle grows, you slowly increase the weight you’re working with. Eventually, the muscle becomes strong.

I started, by acting on what I considered to be small ideas. Ideas that were unlikely to set the world on fire if they worked, but where there was relatively little downside if they failed.

Here’s how it worked.

  • I’d get a great business idea… just a small one.
  • Every time I put one of these ideas into play, I’d write it down in a journal, along with the results.
  • With every new business idea in my journal, my ‘idea muscles’ grew a little.
  • I also noticed that even with these small ideas, my business was starting to see some very encouraging results. This further built my idea muscles!
  • Pretty soon I found it easy to get great business ideas, big, meaningful ones, and ship them.
  • Every day since I’ve eagerly looked for ways to get great business ideas to help me make opportunities or solve problems.
  • And if they’re interesting, I ALWAYS (always) put them into play.

As the frequency and size of the ideas you act on increases, so does your ability to get great ideas. This is reflected in the development of your business.

And something else happens. Business in general becomes a lot more interesting. That’s because working on new business ideas, even small ones, is extremely invigorating. It causes you to think differently, meet new people and explore new opportunities.

Just remember to start with small ideas. Slowly build it up. And be sure to chronicle your results, so you can see the progress you’re making and also learn from the feedback.

So, how do you get great business ideas? You put the small business ideas you already have into play. Each time you do, your ability to have great ideas and ship them increases.

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!

How to be number one. In a category of one!

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It’s tough being a service provider. There are so many of us in every industry. Not only that, a prospective client can find lower priced alternatives to us, on Google, in seconds.

With so many competitors, what can we do?

Well…

  • We could try and out-spend them on advertising. Of course, this eats into our profit margins.
  • We could try being the lowest priced. Of course, this almost eliminates our profits.
  • We could try joining a networking group. Of course, we’d be relying on fellow group members to provide us with leads… the very same people who need to attend the group because they can’t even get enough leads for their own businesses.

There are better alternatives though. And one that works extremely well, is to become number one in a category of one.

It’s the strategy I follow for my own business and one that could be just as effective for you and your business.

It works like this

Let’s imagine you’re an accountant. (You could equally be a mentor, financial advisor, lawyer, designer, trainer, marketing consultant or whatever). Anyhow, unlike your fellow accountants you choose to work exclusively with creative professionals. This immediately places you as number one in a category of one.

  • The fact you understand their profession at a super-deep level, sets you apart from the rest.
  • The fact you understand their terminology and speak their language, sets you apart from the rest.
  • The fact you understand the threats and opportunities specific to their industry, sets you apart from the rest.
  • The fact you understand their unique requirements, sets you apart from the rest.
  • The fact you understand the creative mindset, sets you apart from the rest.

And because you’re clearly more relevant to the creative industry, you will stand out as the obvious choice, to be their next accountant!

It’s hard to think of a service provider in any industry, who couldn’t transition themselves into being number one in a category of one.

Including you. Yes, including you!

Discover how the top companies keep getting the best referrals

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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.

KFC image

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.