Jim's Marketing Blog

Marketing tips and ideas to help you grow your business

Taste your words before you spit them out

by

taste words spit out, Marketing words power,

Photo: Shutterstock.

One of the best pieces of advice I ever received, was taste your words before you spit them out. The idea is that we should pause and think before we say something to someone, especially if we don’t know them well. It’s easy to be misunderstood otherwise.

The same idea applies to the information we share via the written word. And I’m going to share 2 quick examples with you. One was embarrassing and the other expensive.

After you

Very recently on Twitter, a service provider was forced to rethink the snappy, 2 word profile he created. The profile simply read: After you!

  • His intention with those words, was to suggest that he’s the kind of person who puts others first.
  • He then figured out that people were misunderstanding it to mean he was after them… in pursuit of them or pestering them. That’s not a good look.

There was no real harm done as he had just started the account and had very few followers. So, he switched the profile to something clearer and laughed about it as he told me.

Crushing defeat

The second example is regarding a seminar that had to be cancelled, largely because of the seminar’s title. The crushing defeat seminar was all about how to crush defeat and come out winning. It seems when people saw marketing for the seminar, the title was misunderstood to mean the event was all about defeat that crushes you. A place to feel sorry for yourself. Obviously, that was the exact opposite of the desired impact.

In both of these examples, the problem could have been completely avoided had a little more thought been applied. The first example didn’t cause any real issues. But the second example had been advertised for a week, before he figured out what was happening. Even if the trainer had shown the seminar’s title to some people and asked what it said to them, he’d have been aware of the problem.

Tip

Those examples may seem obvious. But sometimes the errors we make are more subtle and harder for us to spot. That’s why if you’re not an experienced marketer or copywriter, it’s important to think hard and also get some feedback, before you publish a title (The crushing defeat seminar) or strap-line (After you). The same is true of the calls to action you use, the wording on the buttons or tabs on your website, your newsletter title and the name you give to your services, etc.

A great place to start is with marketing you have, which isn’t generating the response rates you need. Sometimes a better name, title or strap-line can make a massive improvement to your results.

List building: How to build a list that builds your business

by

marketing, list building, subscribers

People often ask me for tips on how to build a bigger list. They want more subscribers; more readers, more listeners, more viewers, more followers, etc.

The short answer is simple. It’s this.

Create useful content, which is worthy of people’s attention and make it really easy for them to subscribe.

If you do that, you’ll attract more people and because your content is useful, many of them will subscribe. Think about it. That’s the exact process, which motivated you to subscribe to every list you’re on. Something attracted you, you found it useful, you subscribed.

This begs the question: If the answer is so simple, why is it so darn hard to build a large and valuable list?

Here’s the slightly longer answer.

The advice is simple. The process is tricky

There’s some tricky stuff between you and that massively valuable list you want.

Finding something useful to share, on a regular basis, is tricky. Remember, if you just churn out the same stuff as others in your industry, you won’t attract subscribers or retain them. This means you’ll need to be willing to do some research. You’ll need to become a regular note-taker. A collector of ideas. It’s interesting work, but if you’re not already someone who studies and takes notes, it can take a while to transition.

Finding the time to create content is also tricky. You’re already busy, right? Developing content around all that interesting material you have, takes time. That time is easy to justify when you have a huge list. It’s harder to justify, when your hard work is being consumed by just a small number of people. You’ll need to push through the tumbleweed and crickets of the early stages. And I know from personal experience, that can be a real challenge. I explain why here.

Summoning the courage to publish your stuff is tricky. Why? Because if you do it right, you’ll attract critics. Someone once told me that we have a choice to make. We can either be criticized or be ignored. If we’re being ignored, we’re invisible. That’s not good for any business.

The alternative is to not only expect criticism, but to welcome it as a positive sign that we’re no longer being ignored. Don’t set out to attract critics. Set out to be useful and worthy of attention. But see criticism as an inevitable part of becoming visible and successful.

Note: Here’s why people criticize you and how to deal with it.

Once you know what’s involved, building a valuable list is pretty easy.

And the rewards are huge

Picture this: Just imagine what a difference it would make to your business, if you were in regular contact with thousands of prospective customers. Not via advertising, which is usually seen as an unwelcome interruption. But via a subscription to your content, which people proactively requested because they WANT to hear from you. It’s almost impossible to overstate just how valuable your subscribers are.

The opportunity is amazing. And it’s right in front of you. Right now.

Why lists dominate marketing. And why you really should use them

by

marketing lists

Photo: Shutterstock.

Ever wondered why so many articles, blog posts, videos and newsletters are based around the idea of a list?

Yes, you’re right. It’s because they’re extremely popular. People love them. And it’s easy to see why.

Lists promise lots of ideas. And fast!

List-based content promises a number of bite-sized ideas or suggestions. And quickly! So when we see “15 Things you really should be doing right now. Yes you. Yes now!“, we’re not expecting an in-depth examination of 15 urgent commercial activities.

No.

We’re expecting ideas. And we hope that at least one of those ideas will help us in some way. If it does, it will repay the 3 or 4 minutes we invested in reading it.

This begs the question my friend: Does your marketing mix contain list-based content?

If not, I suggest you give it a try. Lists are perfect for sharing, which makes them ideal if you want to expand your reach on social networks. New readers who discover your work through list content, will then get the chance to see your more detailed work. Others will follow you on the social networks, where they see your lists shared. Almost all of my most shared blog posts are lists.

Lists can also be very powerful, when it comes to increasing your email marketing open rates. Email marketing that has a list in the subject line, can result in massively increased open rates.

Here’s why.

Most small business owners are not expert copywriters. As such, the subject lines they use for their email marketing tend to under-perform. And poorly written subject lines result in low open rates. This means no matter how good their marketing message is, very few people will see it.

Using an average list title as the subject line of a marketing email, will always, always out-perform an average, regular subject line.

So, should you focus exclusively on lists?

No.

No you shouldn’t.

Seriously.

Don’t!

Allow me to explain.

True, there are YouTubers making a fortune from creating only list-based videos. And yes, there are sites that attract millions of page views, who rely very heavily on list-based content. The business model behind both of these examples is primarily advertising. If your business sells ads, keep churning out the lists.

However, for every other kind of business, relying exclusively on lists is a bad idea. And they should be used sparingly.

For example, I could have written this post as a list.

  • It would have taken me a lot less time to write.
  • It would have been shared a lot more on social networks.
  • And the email version of the post would have been opened by a lot more people.

However, I wanted to dig a little deeper into one thing… the marketing effectiveness of lists. I didn’t want to weaken that focus with “10 Reasons why lists dominate the internet”.

Going a little deeper

Sometimes, you need to offer more substance around one subject. Other times, an issue could be impacting your readers and you need to address it. And there are times when you want to share one really useful idea, which wouldn’t work if you broke it down into a list of sub-ideas.

In short, the surface-level approach that makes lists so popular, renders them ineffective for anything that requires depth.

So mix it up.

If you haven’t already used list-based blog posts, articles, videos, podcasts or newsletters, give it a go. Experiment. Test different types of list. Measure the feedback. Check things (metrics) including; sales, client enquiries, open rates, social shares and new subscribers, etc.

Because you could be missing out on a huge opportunity.

Agility is the new growth

by

marketing, agile growth

Photo: Shutterstock.

Since the start of the pandemic, I’ve written a lot about the need for business owners to adopt agile thinking. So it may come as a surprise that the title of today’s post is taken from Matthieu Pellerin, the founder and head of Google’s Growth Lab.

Pellerin wrote a very interesting post yesterday, Inside Google Marketing: Agility is the new growth. In it, he generously shares what he’s seeing, regarding changes required when marketing during the coronavirus pandemic. I found the following quote especially interesting:

“Our raison d’être continues to be driving responsible and sustainable growth, but we’re now operating under a new mantra of ‘organisational agility’.”

Whilst his post focuses on what his team at Google are doing, there’s clearly a core message we can all benefit from.

The needs, wants and situation of your clients and prospective clients is changing rapidly. In some cases, daily. Your marketing messaging needs to be just as agile, if you want to be as useful, valuable and relevant to them as possible. This includes your email marketing, website content, blog posts, social networking updates and vlogging, etc.

You simply cannot expect a pre-pandemic marketing message to strike the correct tone. Pellerin gives an example of just how important he believes it is, to get agile and move fast:

“We readjust these plans regularly and continue to switch resources as needed. Our key product priorities are shifting at lightning speed”.

Next steps

If, like many people reading this, you’re getting fewer sales or new client enquiries, check the messaging you’re using. If it fails to address the new and evolving priorities of your marketplace, it will also fail to deliver the results you need.

Whenever possible, hire a professional marketing copywriter to create compelling, relevant content for you. If that’s not within your budget, do something yourself. And in either case, review the message at least every 7 days. Sooner if it isn’t generating the results you need.

Yes, this means spending more time on your marketing. However, an agile situation demands an equally agile response.

How to protect your business from damaging advice

by

marketing, bad advice

Photo: Shutterstock.

In life there are certain people who you absolutely need to avoid. The same is true in business.

Some are easy to spot

  • The web designer whose website is a piece of crap.
  • The marketing expert, who embarrassingly needs to attend networking groups because their own marketing doesn’t work.
  • The business guru who claims to be in high demand, yet offers free consultations.
  • The copywriter whose content is poorly-written and lacks impact.
  • The leadership expert who’s just like all the other leadership experts. (Think about that for a moment).

Others are trickier to spot

  • The social media guru, who used tricks to attract half a million followers.
  • The accountant who understands numbers, but can’t clearly explain what they mean to their client’s business.
  • The strategist whose own strategy is failing.
  • The business development coach who has never built a successful business of their own.

Protect your business from bad advice

The personal recommendation of a trusted friend is usually the least risky way to find an expert provider. Just make sure the friend has recent, first-hand experience of the quality of the provider’s work.

Another option is to find someone, whose work you’re already familiar with. For example, if you subscribe to a provider’s Podcast, YouTube channel, blog or newsletter and they regularly share useful information, they’re giving you some powerful clues.

  • The fact they have turned up consistently, demonstrates a degree of reliability. This is especially the case if they have many years worth of material available.
  • You get to experience first hand, how knowledgeable they are from the quality of information they provide.
  • In addition, you’ll know in advance if they share information with the clarity you need.
  • You also gain an insight into their personality, which can help you determine if they’re the kind of person you work best with.

With an attractive looking website and some testimonials, anyone can claim to be an expert at anything. And that’s why we, as business owners, need to look deeper. Because the cost of hiring a bad business provider is far, far higher than their fee.

Content Marketing: Use short sentences. Here’s why!

by

content marketing

Photo: Shutterstock.

Here’s a quick copywriting tip, to help you improve your content marketing results.

Your prospective clients prefer to read short sentences. This is especially true when explaining detailed information. For example, how your service works.

I’m not suggesting you use fewer words than required. Far from it! Use as many words per sentence as you need. Don’t remove a single, necessary word. Just don’t use more words than you need.

Why is that Jim? Because from a marketing perspective, long sentences lack impact and clarity. Those are essential components of effective marketing.

Tip: One way to shorten content, without losing anything important, is to remove extraneous words. Look at the 2 examples below.

  • People should exercise on a daily basis.
  • People should exercise daily.
  • We have no news at this point in time.
  • We have no news currently.

A whole story in just 6 words!

It’s amazing what can be achieved using fewer words. Ernest Hemingway once wrote a story in just 6 words. It’s a powerful story, too.

“For sale. Baby shoes. Never worn”.

Inspired by Hemingway’s brevity, look for opportunities to keep your sentences as short as required. Aim for clarity. Remove the fluff. And keep sentences confined to one thought.

It’s not as simple as it sounds. But your prospective clients (and your business), will appreciate the additional effort.