Marketing tips, marketing help and advice

How to crush the competition!

April 6, 2018 by Jim Connolly

Joe emailed me with a very direct question. As lots of you may have a similar challenge, I’ve shared the question below, along with my answer.

Hi Jim. What’s the best way for me to crush my competitors? I’m going to lose my business soon unless I turn things around and I’m sick of missing out to competitors that are no better than me.

I think crush is a strong word, but it certainly gets Joe’s frustration across.

How to beat the competition

There are a couple of proven options. I’m going to highlight them, then offer a more powerful alternative.

1. Most business leaders will tell you that the best way to beat the competition, is to outsmart them. This means spotting or creating opportunities before they do. This is a very effective approach.

2. Some enlightened business leaders will tell you that the best way to beat the competition, is to out care them. This means focusing heavily on customer care. It means truly going the extra mile. It means showing the marketplace that you care enormously about what matters to them. This is also very effective.

However, I’ve uncovered a 3rd and massively more powerful alternative. You can out manoeuvre your competitors by doing both of the above!

By outsmarting them and out caring them, you leverage 2 enormously powerful strategies. You set yourself apart from all the rest. This makes you a lot more visible. Moreover, it makes you more visible to the right people; those who value what you do. And as my clients can confirm, it’s a spectacularly effective way to build a high-profit business.

Is the out manoeuvre approach easy? No. It takes a little additional effort.

Is it possible? Yes. Of course it is. I do it every day.

Is it worth it? Absolutely. You see, this approach not only helps you attract great clients or customers. It helps you retain them. And a business that’s regularly winning great new clients, and seldom losing any, is pretty-much unbeatable.

[P.S. Here’s a recent interview I did with the team at The University of Northern Iowa. I hope you find it useful!]

The Fine Print: Home of lies or a powerful marketing tool?

April 5, 2018 by Jim Connolly

Have you noticed something about the fine print we find in marketing and on packaging?

It’s printed really small. And there’s a reason for that: They would rather we didn’t see it. So they don’t draw our attention to it. It’s one of the reasons I hate marketing.

The fine print is where they hide caveats. It’s where they bury disclaimers. It’s where they tell us that the promises in their marketing are grossly inflated. Or that their product doesn’t look as good as it does on the packaging, etc.

This got me thinking.

How would you feel, if you read the fine print and discovered that it actually confirmed the product to be just as good as they said, in the LARGE print?
How would your prospective clients feel, if your fine print confirmed your marketing claims and reiterated you were being totally honest?

By itself, using the fine print as a way to build trust is far more effective, than using it to back-peddle.

However, there’s a powerful additional benefit

If you use the fine print to confirm you’re being honest, you’ll need to improve the reality of your service. You’ll need to improve it so much, that there are no exaggerated claims to hide. No back-peddling. No caveats. Because your service really is that darn good!

Could this have an amazing, positive impact on your business?

Yes. Yes it absolutely could.

This is your main competitor. And here’s how to deal with it!

April 3, 2018 by Jim Connolly

I’d like to introduce you to your main competitor. And it’s almost certainly not the competitor you’re thinking of.

Whilst there are a few (very few) exceptions, your main competitor is not an alternative brand, vendor or service provider.

Your main competitor is apathy: The decision by your prospective clients to do nothing. To stay as they are. To avoid the potential risk, hassle and stress of switching from their current provider.

Here’s why this matters to you

Most small business marketing completely fails to address this. They focus on reasons to hire them or buy from them, without even addressing the huge leap of faith required by a new client. This is especially the case for service providers and those selling high ticket goods.

My friend, you need to be smarter than that.

Explain just how frictionless it is to switch to you from their current provider.
Tell them that for their total peace of mind, you’ll handle the whole on-boarding process.
Give them assurances.
Provide testimonials from people, who found it easy to hire you or buy from you.

Then make this a key focus of your marketing and also your conversations with prospective clients.

Another type of apathy

Of course, apathy isn’t only a challenge when it comes to switching providers.

For example, many people who hire me have never had expert marketing help before. So, they’re not switching to me from another provider. They hire me, rather than rely on DIY marketing and lousy results. They switch from apathy (with the status quo) to action.

And it’s still vitally important to make that switch from apathy as frictionless as possible. Otherwise, the fear, risk or doubt that’s held them back will carry on doing so.

Tip: Whenever I speak with a prospective client, I make sure they know that I look after them, personally, every step of the way. I call this partnering with my clients. It gives them great peace of mind. And that makes the decision to hire me massively easier for them. You should do something similar for your prospective clients or customers.

And finally

Never wait for a prospective client to tell you they have doubts, before you address the subject. By that point, a barrier to doing business with you will have already been created. And you’ll find yourself facing an unnecessary uphill challenge. Ouch!

Instead, take the initiative. Give them the peace of mind they need. Let them know there are no barriers to hiring you or buying from you. Get this right and you will have overcome your main competitor. Apathy.

Plus, you’ll have created a major marketing advantage over competing providers, who are failing to address apathy correctly with their marketing.

Bring me your problems

March 29, 2018 by Jim Connolly

Bring me your problems: There’s real power in those 4 words.

Why?

Because everyone has problems. And nobody wants them. That includes your prospective clients. What they want (and need) are answers. They want to get unstuck. They want to free themselves from frustration. And this is extremely important to them.

In short, your prospective clients are highly motivated to get their problems solved.

Okay. I need you to hold that thought for a moment.

Now let’s look at the service you provide

Your service is the answer to a problem. Or a series of problems. How do I know this? Simple: Every service provider is a problem solver.

So, I’d like you to answer a question: When was the last time you asked people to bring you their problems?

Sure, every service provider markets the services they provide. They have them listed on their websites, they mention them when they speak with prospective clients, they may even mention them in a newsletter, blog, vlog, podcast or on social networks, etc.

But that wasn’t what I was asking.

My question was a lot more literal than that. So, in very literal terms, when was the last time you used these four words [bring me your problems] in your marketing?

Bring me your problems is a powerful, direct request. It bypasses all the hoopla. It cuts to the chase. This is especially the case when it features prominently, in the right place.

Here’s how it works

It looks a lot like this.

Your prospective client has a problem.
She finds your website (or any of your marketing assets).
She can see that the services you provide are related to her problem.
She then sees a direct request, to bring you her problems.
Boom!

No one said that powerful marketing needed to be complicated.

Oh, and if you found this useful, feel free to share it with your friends.

We need to talk about your entitlement mindset

March 28, 2018 by Jim Connolly

There’s a very common mindset among small business owners. It’s the entitlement mindset. And almost NO small business owner is aware of it, until it’s explained to them. That’s what this post is about, along with lots of ideas for how to put things right.

What does the entitlement mindset look like?

The mindset tells the small business owner that they’re entitled to success. They think they can be average, yet still succeed. They believe they can just keep on doing the same ineffective stuff, and over time, things will “somehow” just improve.

It’s little wonder the vast majority of small business owners fail, and the vast majority that survive are going nowhere. Spinning their wheels. Waiting for the break they never earned, to arrive.

The wake-up call of our age is this: We’re not entitled to anything! We have to earn it. And that includes the attention of our prospective clients. They call it paying attention for a reason.

Remember when I shared this with you?

Your blog doesn’t have subscribers, your newsletter doesn’t have readers, your Facebook Group doesn’t have members, your podcast doesn’t have listeners and your Youtube channel doesn’t have viewers.

You don’t own anyone’s attention. It’s borrowed. You have to earn it. Then re-earn it.

As this blog approaches it’s 10th birthday, this is something I’m focusing on a great deal. If I decide to commit to an 11th year, I will also need to commit to digging deep, to find ways to re-earn your attention. Again and again. That means I need to be as useful as possible to you. Knowing that if I fail to be worthy of your attention, you’ll take your attention back.

In other words, your attention is not something I am entitled to.

Okay. [Imagine dramatic music in the background] Now the bad news!

The same is true of your marketing

Sorry. But if your marketing fails to offer something worthy of your prospective client’s attention, they’ll take it elsewhere. You only have their attention on loan. And if you lose their attention, you’ll also have lost the opportunity to do business with them. You can’t afford that. It’s low leverage. It’s unsustainable.

In short, once you’ve earned the attention of a prospective client, it makes way more sense to work on retaining it. This is how you build a spectacularly valuable communication channel with them.

So share ideas, stories and suggestions with your prospective clients, which THEY will find useful. 99.9% of small business marketing doesn’t do this. It’s self-serving, from the entitlement mindset. It doesn’t attract attention and it certainly doesn’t re-earn attention. It’s usually a dull series of thinly disguised sales pitches and special offers.

They think they are entitled to the attention of people, when in reality, they’re not entitled to shit!

A quick look at the way things were

Old school marketing was all about interrupting people. It was about sales pitches. It was about big brands paying fortunes to get their ad in front of you while you were trying to watch TV or listen to the radio. The huge problem with that model, was that you had to start from scratch every time. It was expensive. Really expensive. This put it beyond the reach of small businesses. However, it was the backbone of the highly lucrative advertising industry for over a century.

The advertising industry today is undergoing a huge change. Brands are embracing the value of earned attention. They’re shifting from demanding your attention, to commanding it. They’ve moved from pestering you, to sharing stories with you.
Read this» Demanding attention versus Commanding attention.

The anti entitlement mindset alternative

Focus on what matters to your prospective clients. Then, use your marketing to share useful ideas with them. Here are just a few suggestions.

Show them how your product / service can save them money.
Show them how your product / service can save them time.
Show them how your product / service can help them attract more customers.
Show them how your product / service can make their life easier, less stressful or both.
Give them useful industry insights.
Give them useful tips, which have worked for others in their industry (or situation).

This model turns your marketing into a valuable asset for your marketplace. Guess what? That’s the kind of marketing that people share and talk about. It’s the kind of marketing that builds trust and generates sales. It’s an anti-entitlement approach to marketing.

It’s also the kind of marketing you need to embrace.

Why?

Because pushing sales pitches at prospective clients, who are already suffering from information overload, is less and less effective.

And unlike the past, your prospective clients have technology today that lets them block you, filter you from their inbox or unsubscribe from you.

What about marketing to your existing clients?

You’re not entitled to the repeat business of an existing client or customer, either. You need to re-earn it, again and again. So a similar, them-focused approach is required. Only this time, create marketing that’s useful for your clients, which includes (but isn’t limited to) how to get more from your products or services.

Apple provides us with a world-class example of how to do this right. Their dedicated Apple Support YouTube channel doesn’t sell stuff. Instead, it adds value to the Apple products you already own. This makes you more inclined to stay with their brand.

Here’s why this works so well.

Let’s assume you’re an iPhone user. When you fully understand how your iPhone works, via those helpful videos, you’ll get more value from it. This makes it massively more likely your next tablet will be an iPad, (which uses the exact same operating system). And with an iPhone and iPad, the Apple Watch makes more sense than buying a different, less compatible brand.

Can you see what Apple are doing? They’re marketing to existing customers, sharing useful information, because they know they’re not entitled to the repeat business of their customers.

Apple are the most valuable company on the planet. However, unlike the average small business owner, Apple does not have an entitlement mindset.

In summary

Your business and mine share one thing in common, my friend. Neither of them are entitled to anything. It’s when we accept this reality, that our mindset to marketing shifts from entitlement to earned attention. And when that shift happens, it manifests itself with a totally different approach to marketing.

So get out there and contribute to your marketplace. Bring radical value. Be as useful as you can as often as you can. And take absolutely nothing for granted.

That time a spammer wanted to point lasers into my eyes

March 26, 2018 by Jim Connolly

Did you know that your marketing can fail, even before people read what you have to say?

Well, it’s true. And it happens all the time. Here’s an example of what I mean.

Spammers pointing lasers into my eyes!

I was prompted to share this with you, after I received a spam email. It was from a company that wants to sell me laser eye surgery. They even offered me a discount.

Let’s unpack that for a moment:

They assumed I’d be happy to place my eyesight in the hands of spammers. They thought I’d be perfectly okay, about some spammer pointing lasers into my eyes.

And they were wrong.

What your content marketing says about you

Here’s the thing:

That laser surgery company may use only the most highly trained laser surgeons.
They might have the best possible equipment.
They could have outsourced their marketing to an agency and been unaware their message was being used to spam people.
And they may well be like many small business owners, and think that it’s only spam when someone else is doing it.

Of course, none of that matters. Because when we’re spammed by a company, all we know for 100% certain, is that they’re spamming us. And spammers are considered to be annoying, desperate and unprofessional.

That’s a bad look for any business.

Be careful how you deliver your marketing

The way you market your business is part of your story. It shows your marketplace how professional you are. It shows them what you believe to be acceptable. It shows them what your business standards are. And it shows them where they should position you, among your competitors. All of that takes place before they even see (watch or hear) the content of your marketing message.

The lesson here is simple. Great marketing, delivered poorly, is like a delicious meal served on a dirty plate. It turns people away, regardless of how amazing the content might have been.

Jim's Marketing Blog