Jim Connolly Marketing

Marketing tips and ideas to help you grow your business

How to be more magical than David Copperfield

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I went from being broke and living in a slum, the son of immigrants with no contacts, to being financially secure for life in just seven and a half years.  Here’s how I did it.  It’s all about the magic that happens when we learn to embrace change.

The magic

Change can be either positive or negative.  It is something we can either embrace or fear.  What we can’t do, however, is avoid change.  The lesson I learned at the age of 21, which was to transform my life forever, is that change is actually our friend.  Change brings improvement and progress.  In fact, the process of progress always begins with the need to change from what was failing us, to what will serve us.

This is why successful people and those who struggle have such different attitudes regarding change.

  • The happiest and most successful people I know, embrace change: They see change as an opportunity to grow.  They enjoy “living in the now” because they look to the future with excitement.
  • The gloomiest and least successful people I have met, fear change: They see change as a threat to their security.  They live in a state of apprehension, because they are fearful about what the future will bring.

The magical process of progress

Thankfully, the moment we change our mindset for the better, everything else changes too:

  • When we change from blaming others for our lack of success, to accepting it is always down to us, we start the process of progress.
  • When we change from talking about what we will do one day and start actually doing it, we start the process of progress.
  • When we change from seeing problems in our lives as proof that life sucks and start seeing them as opportunities to improve, we start the process of progress.
  • When we change from being the zombie who spends hours watching others achieve their dreams on our TV screens or computer monitors, to being on “the right side of the glass” with them, we start the process of progress.
  • When we change, everything else changes too.

Most importantly, when we change from wondering what we might be capable of, if we went for it 100%, to actually going for it, we start the process of life-transforming progress.  That’s where the real magic is!

To those of you who want more from life: I promise you, if you knew right now just what you could achieve and how your life would improve in every area, you would start that process of change this instant.

How to succeed in a world of failing small businesses

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Business development

Someone asked me a great question recently:

“Why do some businesses, in the same industry, do really well during a recession, whilst others struggle or go broke?”

The set of the sail

My answer came from something my mentor shared with me.  Jim Rohn taught me that it is not the direction of the wind, but the way we set our sails that determines which way we go.  In other words, our success or failure is not the result of outside factors, but how we decide to work with what we have.  We can either stumble our way through business (and life) or we can deliberately move forward.

We can work to our plan, or do what the masses do and become a bit-part player in someone else’s plan.

Right now, you should be extremely excited about your future.  Even if things are bad, really bad, you are NEVER more than 1 idea away from turning it around.  Determine where you are right now.  Literally, grab a pen and a pad and write down your current situation.   Then, write down where you want to be.  Get specific.  Your objective then, is to use your creativity and sweat to take you from point (a) to point (b).

Not sure how to get from (a) to (b)?

Then ask someone who knows.  One of the key reasons for the extremely high small business failure rate, is the tendency for small business owners to refuse to pay for the professional help they (and their business) need.  I’ve met many small business owners, who “invest” in expensive cars that they can’t afford, yet their business is crying out for investment.  Their car is driven by someone who hasn’t a clue where they are going!

None of us can do this alone, if we want to succeed.

We all need the expertise of trusted professionals in order to proceed from where we are, to where we want to be.  I have around a dozen experts, who help me with everything from accountancy and legal advice, to keeping this blog running smoothly.  I have also paid for the best professional development and marketing tuition on the planet; learning from Jim Rohn, Jay Abraham and scores of others.  I have easily invested over £100,000 in my professional development over the past 25 years.

In the early days, I was penniless – broke.  All I could afford was a book or a tape.  I then read, and used, what I learned and was able to reinvest in “becoming more” than I was.  As I became more, I also became more valuable to the marketplace and was able to invest even more into my development.  I have maintained this approach to personal and professional development for 25 years and will continue to do so for the rest of my life.

Why?

Because if I hadn’t, I would be that marketing guy in your town; hustling for clients at networking events!  He works hard, but uses a very similar approach to marketing as all his (or her) competitors.  YOU have to be smarter than that!

Your future

So, where is your current approach to investing in your development taking you?  Do you know people, who have the answers you need, but have so far refused to invest in hiring them?

At any time, YOU can elect to change the set of your sail.  When you do, your life journey takes a very different route, deliberately planned to guide you to the life of your dreams.  The guy with the funding you need is a phone call away; so long as you know how to connect with him and earn his interest.  The lady with the marketing skills to turn your business around can’t help you, until you give her a call.

The bottom line: All the answers and help you need is out there.

How to study less and achieve more than you ever thought possible

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I have always found it fascinating, how 2 people can read the same great book or attend the same massively valuable seminar, with completely different results.

  • The first person uses the information she discovered, in order to make the changes required for breakthrough success.
  • The second person finds the information useful, but decides to do nothing with it.

We can either be passive consumers of ideas or we can actively use what we learn, to build a better future.  We can use information in order to achieve our best results ever or become an eternal gatherer of insights and guidance, which we never use.

We live in an age where there has never been greater access to business development information.  Much of this is written by accomplished, respected experts – People we know we can trust.  It’s there right now, just waiting to be read and acted on.

I often wonder how many struggling small business owners would be millionaires today, if they decided to act on some of the great information they gathered; rather than simply gathering more and more ideas that they never put into action.

How to grow a great business and a profitable future

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If one of your competitors were to take a look at your marketing plans right now, how worried would they be?

I often speak with small business owners, who have no real plan or strategy for the development of their marketing.  They only really think of marketing when something has gone wrong, (like losing a client) or they are suddenly concerned by a drop in business.  If they treated their cars like that, they would never service them and only visit a garage when there was already an expensive problem.

That’s a great way to blow a ton of money, on a car that will pretty soon end up on the scrap heap.  It’s also a pretty stupid approach to business development and marketing!

In my experience, and I have worked with thousands of business owners since starting my own business 16 years ago, many small business owners spend more time planning their annual week in the sun, than they spend planning the year ahead for their business.  They carefully shop around for a great flight deal.  They invest in weather appropriate clothing, so they look and feel great.  They scout out the best restaurants.  They research the area where they will be staying.  They do this willingly and actually enjoy it too.

Net result: They have a GREAT time during their holiday, enjoying lots of truly memorable experiences.  This is followed by 51 weeks of frustration, working hard in a business that’s making little progress, because of their lack of planning!

I love people who have a good work ethic.  But working hard without a plan is a waste of your time.  It’s pointless.

Start with the end in mind

Think about what you want to achieve with your marketing.  For example:

  • What do you want your business to look like in 12 months, 3 years or 5 years?
  • What type of clients or customers do you want to work with?
  • What kind of income do you want from the business?
  • How many hours do you want to be working each week?

Is your current marketing taking you toward what you want to achieve?  If it isn’t, stop!  Stop immediately and review everything you do in order to generate business.  Then ruthlessly question the effectiveness (actual results) of each element of your marketing.  Replace what isn’t working, with more effective alternatives. Whatever you do, don’t be like the guy who is pissed off with the performance of his business, yet continues to keep on the same ineffective loop.  Rowing really hard in the wrong direction, still won’t get you closer to where you want to be.  It takes you further away.

There are thousands of free marketing ideas for you here on the blog. So, if you don’t like the direction your business is heading in right now, change it.  Don’t complain and stay the same. YOU are the driver!

How to handle your marketing for success

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“Handle with care“, is a term usually associated with objects, which have the potential to be dangerous or volatile if used incorrectly.  In my experience, handle with care should also be associated with marketing advice.

Just about every form of marketing has the potential to massively under perform, if handled incorrectly.  For example, email marketing in the right hands, can generate fantastic results, but when handled poorly, it not only under performs, but angers people too.  That’s because poorly handled email marketing can look a lot like spam.

Before you implement any kind of marketing, you need to run it through the following 2 questions and get a “yes” as your reply:

  1. Am I using the right kind of marketing for what I want to achieve?
  2. Am I using this form of marketing correctly?

Why not take some time today, looking at the various forms of marketing you use and running them through that simple, 2 question filter.  Handle your marketing with care and either remove or repair anything that contains a “no” response to the above questions.

How to turn your blog into a massively valuable marketing machine!

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blogging tips, blogs, content marketing

Do you write a business blog, but feel frustrated right now with your results?

I have a message for you: Don’t give up!  The success you want may be just around the corner and the results can be exactly what you and your business need!

Here’s why

Most small business owners need to invest a considerable amount of money each year, if they want to introduce their services to targeted, prospective clients or customers.  They invest in mail shots, radio and print advertising etc.  Every time they want to reach those people, they have to pony up with some more money.  It can be a costly exercise, especially for those small business owners who handle their own marketing and need to reach a lot of people in order to generate enough leads or sales, because they get the typical, crappy, small business owner response rates.

That’s how most small business owners market themselves.  Yes, some attend networking events, hire telemarketing companies or hire PR firms etc, but they all involve spending often large sums of money, every time they need to generate sales or inquiries.

And then there’s business blogging

Most business bloggers, and I include myself here, start off with very few readers.  It’s usually just us and a few contacts, who we share our blog with.  Then, over a period of months the readership increases and if the content is attractive enough, we can build a sizeable, targeted audience.  From this point forward, whenever we want to reach these extremely valuable people, we simply need to publish a post, (like this one.)  There are no additional financial costs involved, for you to reach people and engage with them via your blog.

If we keep our content as valuable as possible to our readers and we focus our content, so it’s of direct interest to our core profile of clients, our audience increases in both volume and value.  Once you have bought a URL (or web address) and some server space, there are no additional financial investments required to get started.  Just a lot of work, creativity and the commitment to learn how to market all that great content.  The rewards, however, are amazing and in some cases, life-changing.

Is it easy?

No!  It requires time and commitment.

Is it worth the effort?

Yes!  The results are easily the most powerful of any form of marketing I have encountered, as a marketing professional with 25 years experience behind me.

Powerful?  Let’s take last week as an example.  One of my blog posts was read by over three thousand people in just 6 hours, with thousands more reading it since.  It was also featured on several websites.  Last week I also did an audit of the financial value of business I generated directly via inquiries involving this blog, and it was over £100,000.  I started this blog just 2 and a half years ago, with a £10 investment; which was the cost of the URL and the hosting that came with it!

Blogging and the law of return

Around 14-months ago, I decided to start taking this blog a lot more seriously, as it was quickly becoming my primary source of new business.  Within weeks, the number of readers / inquiries increased.

Then last year, I invested in a fast, super-reliable dedicated server from WebFusion, who now generously sponsor this blog!  This allowed me to be able to concentrate 100% of my blogging time on creating content, without worrying about technical issues or my server being down.  Again, the numbers increased, in both readers and business inquiries, as I was able to produce more and more content, which people could access reliably.

In other words, every time I have committed more into this blog, I have seen a significant, measurable, bankable increase in my results.

Blogging and the need for speed

Whilst most forms of traditional marketing require a significant financial investment, they tend to reach people very quickly.  As we live in an increasingly “instant” society, people like the idea of immediate results.  It may cost 2k to send 5,000 prospective clients your latest mailing, but those letters can be on their doormats in a couple of days.  Your blog, on the other hand, starts off a lot slower.  Yes, it can be up and running for the cost of a lunch at Starbucks, but you will probably have to work at it for many months, before you can reach 5,000 people each week.

However…

What about when you HAVE managed to build a blog, which reaches 5,000 or 50,000 prospective clients each week?

At this point, you will probably want to improve your blog hosting and buy a nice looking blog theme so your site looks polished and professional, like the one I use here.  I built this blog from scratch, using Headway blog theme software (affiliate link.) From that point onward, so long as you continue to invest the time required to publish worthwhile content and you learn how to make your blog as visible and shareable as possible, you will be building your own, increasingly valuable marketing / media asset!

Think about it:

  • You don’t need to pay someone for advertising, when you own a media asset yourself (your blog), which is read by more targeted prospective clients than their publication is.
  • You don’t need to invest in mail shots, when your marketing is being read by hundreds and then thousands of prospects every day of the week, every week of the year.
  • You may even get featured in The New York Times, just because they find value in what you have to say on your blog.  It’s less likely one of your mail shots or ads will gain that kind of complimentary attention.  The value to your blog of those kind of A-List links can also have an ongoing, positive impact on your Google ranking.  Again, this builds the value of your blog as a media asset.

If you want to take your blog to the next level, here are a few ideas, based on the lessons I have learned over the past couple of years:

  1. Decide in advance to persevere during the initial 6-12 months, whilst your blog gets established.  Your blog should be seen as a medium to long term investment, not a quick fix.
  2. Commit to putting as much highly valuable content on your blog as possible.  When I was posting just once a week, the development of the blog was extremely slow.  If you only publish 1 post a week, it will take you a month to publish just 4 posts.  That’s 4 posts for people to share and 4 updates, to encourage people to return to your blog and check it out again.  Give people a reason to visit your blog regularly, with frequently updated content.  Make reading your blog a part of their routine.
  3. If you find it hard to write more than once a week, you may be trying too hard to make each post perfect.  Blog posts don’t need to be perfect every time.  Give yourself permission to write “as well as you can” on any given day.  The perfection mindset destroys more blogs than anything else, in my experience.
  4. Learn how to Search Engine Optimize (SEO) your blog, so that it is as easy as possible for Google and others to find it.
  5. Learn how to write compelling posts, which people will want to read and share.  The more good quality content you give away, the faster your blog will develop and the more people will value it.
  6. Make your blog as easy to share as possible, using the kind of share options you see at the bottom of this post.  It takes time for Google to start sending you significant, regular traffic; yet you can start getting share traffic immediately, by writing great content and sharing it with your social networks.
  7. Read the top blogs in your niche and learn from them.
  8. Read some crap blogs too and see what they are doing – So you can avoid it!
  9. Ask people to subscribe to your blog, with a prominent subscriber box.  Your subscribers are your most loyal readers and often your most valuable too.
  10. Be relevant.  Focus your content, so that it is of direct interest to your ideal client profile.  Don’t try and write for everyone, as this dilutes the value of your writing.

Nothing of genuine commercial value is ever created on the quick!  A successful business blog is no different.  It takes time and commitment.  However, if you are prepared to invest the time, learn the lessons and keep on keeping on, the results can be simply stunning.