Jim Connolly Marketing

Newsletters: A more human approach

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When is a newsletter not a newsletter?

When you share your news with your friends via an email, your email looks like a regular email. It contains no glossy images, no “buy now” offers. It’s just an email, from you, to them.

When businesses decide to offer newsletters, they tend to do the opposite. There’s usually little if any actual NEWS and the whole thing looks and reads like a poorly disguised advertisement.

So, this got me thinking:

  • What if you treated the people who read your current newsletter, as if they were already friends?
  • What if you sent them actual news and asked how they are?
  • What if you sent it, not on some lame automated schedule, but only when you had something of value or interest to share?
  • What if some of them contained no special offers or sales pitches?
  • What if some were just offering to help?

Business is all about people

Is it possible that this approach would help you develop a deeper, richer relationship with your readers?

Is it probable that it would sound more honest and trustworthy than the usual; “we call it a newsletter but there’s no actual news, I just want to sell you stuff,” approach?

Because if it is, it could massively improve how they felt about you and your business.

Why does this matter?

It matters because business is all about people. People do business with people they like. People recommend people they like.

There’s real potential here, for those with the courage to make their newsletters more human.

The secret to great marketing

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There’s a massive difference between bad marketing and great marketing.

  • Bad marketing is all about doing things to the marketplace.
  • Great marketing is all about doing things for the marketplace.

Bad marketing

Bad marketing is based around pushing.  They email you because they bought your email address from someone.  They write to you because they know where you live.  They interrupt your busy day with cold calls, because they have your phone number.  In short, they do things to the marketplace, which the marketplace doesn’t value or appreciate.  When these irritating interruptions stop, we are pleased.

Great marketing

Great marketing is based around contribution and engagement.

You write a blog post, which gives people interesting, valuable or entertaining information.  They enjoy it so much they spread the word for you and share your information with their friends.  You write a newsletter, which provides great value to a group of people who asked you to add their name to your subscriber list.  They forward it to their friends, who also ask you to add them to your list too.  If you were to stop writing those blog posts or newsletters, people would miss you.

Here’s a useful post on how to attract great clients not pester them!

The difference?

Bad marketing pesters people in the hope that if you pester enough of them you may make a sale.  It’s based on the mindset that says it’s OK to piss off 1,000 people, in order to get 1 positive response.  Great marketing is the total opposite.  Great marketing attracts people and engages them.

Great marketing allows you to form relationships with your prospective clients.  It also allows you to build great relationships with what I call advocates.  Advocates are essential.  Advocates are people, who may have no need for your services, but value what you do so much that they share your message and recommend you to their friends. For example, most people who read this blog will never spend a penny with me, but they will happily share my work with their friends; which can be of just as much value.  Of course, advocates often become clients and clients should always become advocates.

The bottom line:  I strongly recommend you figure out the most effective way to do things for your marketplace, not to your marketplace.

Attraction Marketing: Who else wants to attract high quality clients?

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Today, the most effective marketing is based on attracting clients and customers, through developing relationships with them.

Pestering people into your funnel

It used to be very different.  A decade or so ago, marketing professionals were telling people about filling their sales funnels.  The idea was that you sent people mail shots, you cold called them, you sent unwanted faxes to them, you pestered them at conferences and networking events.  By cramming as many people into the top of your sales funnel as you could, it was hoped that over time, some of them might filter through and buy from you.

The reason enlightened marketing professionals dumped this approach years ago, was that:

  • It was an expensive way to do business in financial terms, as all that interrupting people took a lot of time and money.  Lots of mailings.  Lots of cold calls.  Lots of junk faxes.  Lots of spam email.  That all adds up to lots of money.
  • It was also expensive in terms of reputation, because companies using that model often had to junk mail, pester or pursue 500 or 1000 prospective clients, to generate a single paying client.  Many would be pissing off thousands of people every week, in the name of sales and marketing!  Small and medium sized businesses discovered that after a few years of all that pestering, they would successfully piss off the vast majority of their prospective clients.

Today, some people are still using that approach.  They will call you because they have your phone number; even though you never gave them it or permission to call you.  They will email you because your address is on a list they bought; even though you hate spam.  They will send you unwanted letters, because they know where you live; even though you never asked to be junk-mailed.

Attracting the best quality clients

I wrote yesterday about the value of building relationships with your prospective clients, rather than sending them sales messages.  Using this approach, you build a marketplace of informed advocates:

  • Informed, because they know who you are and what you do.
  • Advocates, because they value the information you share with them, so they share it with their contacts.  Think how different that client response is, to the way those same people treat junk mail, spam and pushy tele-marketers!

The old model saw the business start off with a “list” of 100 or 1000 or 100,000 people, and it became smaller and smaller all the time, as people asked to be removed from it.  To sustain this model, you need to buy more and more lists, so you could interrupt more and more people.  It’s expensive, time consuming stuff!

The new model, which is not that new any more, sees you start off with maybe just a few informed advocates, and it becomes bigger and bigger all the time, as people spread the word and share your content with their contacts.  This model sees your marketing universe expand, with every new advocate sharing your message with their contacts.  It’s also extremely low cost with unlimited growth potential.

How to kill your business!

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business development topics r

A key factor in every failing business I have ever studied, is that the business owner dabbles.

Rather than get the professional help they need, they decide to crush their chances of success, by dabbling with their marketing.

Some common examples include:

  • People dabble with promotional offers: They make unattractive offers, to the wrong people, at the wrong time, using the wrong message and the wrong medium.
  • People dabble with social networking: They set up accounts, usually on too many social networks and then copy what they see other people doing.  They spread themselves too thinly and have no effective strategy.  As a result, they miss all the great opportunities.
  • People dabble with blogging: They set up a blog, with no clear idea of what they want to achieve.  They then fill their blog with “me too” posts (posts that simply repeat what millions of other people are saying) and then quit after a few months, because (it) didn’t work.
  • People dabble with email marketing: They buy a list or add people to a list (without their consent), and email them sales messages.  They waste months angering people with unwanted email, that the recipients never requested, and wonder why it didn’t work.
  • People dabble with advertising: They place the wrong message, in the wrong area of the wrong publication, at the wrong time.  They use the wrong typography, the wrong call to action and then proclaim; “advertising doesn’t work!”
  • People dabble with mail shots: They send a marketing letter, written usually by themselves rather than a copywriter (to save money), to a list they bought or built from contact data they found.  The mixture of amateur copywriting, bad targeting and no compelling reason for the reader to do anything, makes this a total waste of time.

Then there are enlightened small business owners

These business owners decide to build a successful business, so they invest in the professional marketing help they need.  They do the right things correctly and enjoy the rewards.

They have figured out that in the most challenging economy in living memory, the dabblers are simply dabbling their way out of business.

Bread for the head

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My mentor, Jim Rohn, used to call knowledge; “bread for the head.”  I love that phrase.

Jim’s message was to invest the money required, to gather the knowledge you need; to feed your mind and become MORE.

  • Read the books.
  • Listen to the audio programs.
  • Attend the seminars.
  • Watch the DVDs.

Why?  Because whenever you look at the people who fail to invest in their education, you find that they are not doing so good.  They are out there right now, wondering when their luck will change.  They are living where they don’t want to live.  They are getting through life, without getting much from life.

How I fed my head

I started out with a few books my older brother gave me.  He took pity on me.  I was broke and living in a violent, slum.  I had no job.  I was sick of being broke and going nowhere.  So, I decided to read the books he gave me.

8 years later, I found myself financially secure for life, aged just 29.  I was married to my beautiful wife and running my own marketing business.  I was waking up each day, just happy to be alive.

To get from broke age 21 to secure for life age 29, I invested thousands in my personal and professional development. I have invested a lot more since then.

Don’t do like Joe & Josephine average

Joe happily invests hundreds on the latest phone each year, but wouldn’t dream of spending the same amount on developing his mind.

Josephine happily invests in her daily skinny latte, during her lunch break from the job she hates, but wouldn’t spend the same amount on feeding her mind so she could get a job she loves.

Feed your mind with the knowledge you need and watch what happens to you in every area of your life.  I’m telling you, the results can be, as in my own case, life changing.

Attract more business inquiries than ever before with these 6 powerful marketing tips!

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Do you want more client inquiries from your marketing?  Would you like to make your marketing more compelling, so it encourages more people to take action when they read it?  If you would, then read on!

Most marketing content is written to capture the attention of, and then inform, a targeted group of people.  Great marketers add a 3rd element.  They capture.  They inform.  They compel!

Compelling marketing

Average marketing leaves people thinking, “so what?”

Compelling marketing encourages people to take action.

Compelling marketing is focused on “them” not you. It’s about their needs and solving their problems and making their experience of you and your business as good as possible.  Them, them, them.

Compelling marketing messages

One of the reasons small business owners find their written marketing far less effective than they want, is that it fails to inspire the reader enough, to motivate them to take the desired action.  Here’s an example of compelling copy, which I wrote for a marketing company that had been really struggling to get enough people to subscribe to their newsletter.

Boost your sales and profits starting today, with a free subscription to our marketing newsletter.  Subscribe now and I’ll send you a FREE…..

Previously, they were doing what 99.9% of newsletter providers do; simply asking people to:

Subscribe to our marketing newsletter and receive a copy of our marketing check-list

The new message, which out-performed the old one by over 850%, was all about the reader and giving value.  It starts with a promise, to help them make more sales and increase their profits.  It then gives them a direct request to take action now.  If you want people to take action at all, ask them to take action NOW! It then finishes with the promise that if they take action now, as well as all that valuable newsletter information, they will also receive more great value, in the form of a marketing check-list.

Compelling marketing: 6 quick tips to motivate your prospective clients to take action

Here are some ideas to make your written marketing more compelling:

1  Scarcity: Whenever possible, give people a reason to take action now rather than later.  This comes from the principle of scarcity.  The fear of losing out on something is an extremely compelling reason for people to get moving!

2. Study your target market: The more you know about what’s important to them, the easier it is for you to understand what’s most likely to motivate them.

3. Avoid the use of generic terms: Generic terms simply wash over people.  The most overused word in this category is the word “solutions.”  It’s OK to use the word in context within a longer message (such as a blog post.)  However, using it on your “about” page, social media bio or profile will hurt your response rates.

Telling people something like; “we provide solutions to the XYZ industry” means nothing and is not compelling in any way.  If you build websites, which make companies look fantastic online and helps them attract throngs of eager clients – TELL THEM!  Don’t say you “offer integrated website solutions.”

4. Headlines matter most: This one is simple.  No matter how amazing your marketing message is, if no one reads it, it can’t convert.  The headline or title of your marketing is what compels people to read it.

Why do you click certain links on Twitter, Facebook or Linkedin etc?  It’s because the title makes the link sound compelling enough to check out.  The title sells the link.  Why do you open certain emails and not others? Again, the title or subject line compels you to open it.  I recently blogged about how to attract more traffic from Twitter using attractive headlines.  That post has some useful headline writing tips.

Tip: Keep a list of the next 50 links you click via social networks and study them to see what compelled you to take action.

5. Add to your marketing vocabulary: Having a limited vocabulary and trying to inspire people with your messages, is like having half the ingredients missing from a recipe and trying to make the meal taste right.  Business owners always seem to assume that they have a great vocabulary.  The reality, as you see every day for yourself, is the exact opposite.  Most small business content and general marketing is written using an extremely limited palette of uninspiring words.

6.  Embrace brevity: The fewer words in your marketing message, the more impact you can create.  Most of the marketing copy I see is at least 50% too long; often 75% or more.  A targeted, information rich message that is packed with value, will out-perform a long winded, meandering message that drags on, which few people even finish reading!  In today’s marketplace, where people have more to do than ever before, short marketing messages have more impact than ever.

The bottom line

If you want people to call you, email you, buy from you, subscribe to your blog or newsletter etc – YOU need to motivate them to do so. If you get it right, the potential to attract more inquiries, clients and sales is enormous!