Jim's Marketing Blog

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I was working on a project when I came across a wonderful quote. It’s intended to be light-hearted, but it contains a spectacularly important message. And rather surprisingly, it also carries a valuable lesson for every business owner.

“Real wealth is never having to spend time with assholes.” – John Waters.

In the speech that quote came from, Waters talks about being rich and how it’s given him the freedom to avoid assholes. Similarly, one of the many freedoms of owning a business is that you get to select exactly who you choose to work with. This means there’s no need for you to spend time around bad customers or clients, (assholes, as Waters puts it).

And that message is really important to remember. It’s important because somewhere along the way, many business owners forget that they have total freedom to only work with great customers.

Beggars can’t be choosers

Whenever I speak about this with a group of business owners, someone will usually tell me that they have to take whatever comes along. And in support of that factually incorrect statement, they’ll tell me that ‘beggars can’t be choosers’.

I then remind them.

• They’re not beggars… they’re business owners.
• And that as a business owner, they need to be extremely choosy who they work for. You can’t build a great business on a foundation of bad customers.

No one wants to work with whatever their definition of a bad customer is. The problem is a natural consequence of operating from the mindset of fear, which accompanies poor marketing results.

The business owner knows the customer is toxic. They don’t want to work with them. But they’re scared to fire the customer. Because if they do, they genuinely have no idea when they’ll be able to replace the bad customer with a great one.

The good news here is that bad customers are not an unavoidable part of being in business. They’re just what you end up with, when you don’t deliberately choose to attract, and work with, great customers.

Here are a couple of suggestions

The first suggestion is often overlooked. It’s simply this. Take some time to describe what your ideal customer looks like. Include as much detail as possible. And remember that you’re describing your ideal customer. So be picky!

My second suggestion is to get serious about attracting new, great customers, like those outlined above. Put a plan in place. Then work the plan.

To help you get it right, I have a free marketing tips section. It runs to over 4,000 words and has scores of marketing ideas you can use, covering 13 specific areas of marketing. I hope you find it useful, my friend.

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The biggest lie in marketing is almost certainly not what you’re expecting.

Here it is.

If you ask the average business owner about marketing they will tell you the following: “I don’t have enough time for marketing”.

And it’s a lie. 

And here are 35 examples to prove it

Whether these business owners know it or not, they are marketing their business all day every day. That’s because everything in business is marketing.

Here are 35 examples.

1. The eagerness you demonstrate, for helping your clients or customers.
2. The cleanliness and age of your company vehicles.
3. The quality of the coffee you offer visitors.
4. The way you speak: From the words you use to the warmth of your welcome.
5. The experience you give your clients / customers, which they share with their friends.
6. The way you handle phone calls.
7. The causes that you or your business publicly support.
8. The way you motivate people to pay you on time.
9. The terms and conditions you set for working with you.
10. The brand and age of the technology you use.
11. The prices or fees you charge.
12. The type of offers you use to attract new clients.
13. The range of services you provide, especially in relation to how similar they are to what your competitors offer.
14. The confidence you inspire in others when you connect with them.
15. The way you respond to email enquiries, both in the speed and tone of your response.
16. The content you use on your website.
17. The places you choose to advertise.
18. The type of advertising messages you use.
19. The groups your business belongs to, plus those you don’t belong to.
20. The energy you have for your business.
21. The way you connect with people on social networks.
22. The time it takes you to make a decision.
23. The quality of the photos and other images you use.
24. The address you work from.
25. The type of clients or customers you choose to work with.
26. The type of clients or customers you choose not to work with.
27. The leadership you demonstrate.
28. The guarantees you offer.
29. The flexibility you show, when a client or customer has a unique challenge.
30. The professionalism of your marketing copy.
31. The working atmosphere you provide.
32. The way you communicate with your clients or customers.
33. The way you handle problems, both internally and external (client) problems.
34. The regularity with which you achieve deadlines.
35. The way you and your team dress.

It’s all marketing

Everything your business does (or fails to do) is marketing.

That’s to say, it’s giving people a story about your business. It’s setting their expectations. It’s building confidence in your services or creating doubt. It’s telling the world what your priorities are. It’s positioning your business as a sound investment or an unnecessary risk.

In short, if you run a business, you are already engaged in marketing. And you’re doing it all day, every day.

So the question is never, if you market your business or not.

The question my friend, is whether you’re doing it correctly and intentionally… or not.

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They’re everywhere: experts, claiming to be able to deliver unbelievable results in unbelievable time with unbelievably little effort.

Tip: Don’t believe them!

Growth hacking, business hacking, success systems, tricks and shortcuts are everywhere. Not because they WORK, but because they SELL.

A subset of the population wants to believe that they can get rich (thin, healthy) quick. They want to reap the harvest, without planting the seeds and tending the soil. They want the rewards, without the effort. They’re looking for magic… something that breaks the laws of cause and effect.

This is why today, we see the marketplace flooded with online gurus selling the 21st century equivalent of snake oil. It’s well-crafted bullshit. Bullshit designed to press all the right buttons, on those who are looking for unbelievable results. And the hungry marketplace laps it up.

The fastest route to success

The fastest way to get from where you are, to where you want to be, is to take the most direct route. To find out what works and do it. It’s about learning how to do the right things, correctly.

Shortcuts to success are nothing more than costly detours. Be extremely cautious of anyone trying to tell you otherwise.