Jim's Marketing Blog

How excited are you about your business?

Here’s why I’m asking. It matters. It really, really matters. That’s because people notice. They notice when you’re enthusiastic and just as importantly, they notice when you’re going through the motions.

The thing about enthusiasm

Enthusiasm is highly contagious: When someone talks to us with enthusiasm, we feed off their excitement. We lean forward and pay attention. We feel more confident about them. It’s a positive experience, which leaves a powerful impression on us.

However…

A lack of enthusiasm is equally contagious: When someone talks to us about their business with too little enthusiasm, we feed off their lack of interest. We politely nod. Our interest drops. There’s no energy. We soon forget them and whatever they said.

We can’t expect our customers, contacts or the marketplace in general to be enthusiastic about our business, if we’re not. It starts with us. So, don’t hide your excitement. Don’t keep it a secret. Let it shine through everything you do.

As regular readers will know, I have long been an advocate for adopting a global approach to business. It’s not something that works for every industry, but where it’s possible, it’s exceptionally effective. That’s because it affords you greater protection against economic conditions, whilst also providing you with a wider spread of business.

I was mindful of this earlier today. I discovered what I’d already guessed: That the biggest market for my paid services in 2018 has been Australian business owners. If you’re interested, here’s the top 5.

1. Australia.
2. UK.
3. Canada.
4. Ireland
5. New Zealand.

The United States has topped my list, every year for almost 20 years. But things change in business. And the rate of change has never been greater. Which is why as business owners, we need to adopt an agile mindset. Because what looks certain today can change in a heartbeat.

Here are 3 fantastic opportunities, which are available to you today.

1. The opportunity to make promises and deliver on them. Set deadlines. When you tell a client; “It will be with you at 3pm Thursday”, it has a much bigger impact than saying, “It will be with you later this week”. This is a powerful way to earn trust and build a great reputation. (More here).
2. The opportunity to invest in others. In short, leave people better than you find them. It doesn’t have to cost you a dime. If you find an article, which you think a contact or client will find useful, share it with them. Even something as simple as a smile from you, can have a positive impact on another person. It could be the only sunshine they see today.
3. The opportunity to learn something new (and useful). Access to knowledge has never been easier or less expensive. Here’s why this is such a great opportunity: There’s a direct link between what you know and the size of the problems you can solve. Those who earn the highest fees, solve the biggest problems.
4. The opportunity to do more than people expect from you. Those who over-deliver are always in short supply. That’s why there are no traffic jams on the extra mile.

Opportunity is knocking. Today and every day.

When we examine any industry, including yours and mine, we see something extremely valuable. And today, I’d like to share it with you.

It’s a pattern.

1. Only a small percentage of business owners build a valuable community around their work.
2. Only a small percentage of business owners look for opportunities to inspire and encourage others.
3. Only a small percentage of business owners create a story worth sharing.
4. Only a small percentage of business owners proactively look for big problems to solve.
5. Only a small percentage of business owners invest enough in their education.
6. Only a small percentage of business owners are eager to lead.
7. Only a small percentage of business owners listen to their marketplace and build experiences around what they hear.
8. Only a small percentage of business owners are truly committed to go the extra mile.
9. Only a small percentage of business owners selectively choose their clients and ignore the rest.
10. Only a small percentage of business owners are willing to make tough decisions and back them up with action.
11. Only a small percentage of business owners refuse to surrender their focus to the never-ending stream of interruptions.
12. Only a small percentage of business owners strive to out-care their competitors.
13. Only a small percentage of business owners intentionally take time, every day, to look after their mind and body.
14. Only a small percentage of business owners care enough to create or share a useful blog post, newsletter, vlog or podcast.
15. Only a small percentage of business owners are willing to visibly stand out from their competitors.
16. Only a small percentage of business owners are committed to do work that matters, rather than work that pays the bills.

I could go on.

That pattern matters. It matters because it’s also only a small percentage of business owners who succeed in any meaningful way.

And that’s no coincidence my friend.

Following this post, a number of readers asked if I had any business predictions for 2019.

There’s one prediction I can make with a massive degree of certainty. The business owners (and leaders) who thrive in 2019 will be the same as those who thrive every year.

These include.

• The business owners who do all the work. Not just the stuff they feel comfortable with. They know that when you’re just 1% away from switching a light on… you’re still in the dark!
• The business owners who persist intelligently. Here’s what that looks like: They persist with what’s working. They desist what isn’t.
• The business owners who back themselves. When they believe in something, they take decisive action.
• The business owners who focus on what’s important, rather than what’s noisiest. They’re very aware that when you flitter your focus away, you flitter your time away, too.

Thankfully, we don’t need to guess what works. That’s because success leaves tracks. And when we follow the tracks, we see the same core methods of operating, again and again and again.

There’s a spectacularly powerful marketing idea for you in today’s post. But you’ll need to use your imagination a little, in order to see what it means to you and your business.

Picture this

What if a business owner decided that as from today, they’d take the following radical action:

To eagerly go the extra mile for their clients, as standard.

By liberating themselves in this way, the business owner would be free. Free to pay greater attention to the needs of each client. They would also be free to care for each client as an individual and not simply as a client… one of a group.

The business owner would find themselves building stronger relationships with their clients. And because business is all about people, this would massively improve the culture of their business; for clients and staff alike.

• They’d retain their clients for longer.
• They’d retain their best staff members too.
• They’d attract the top talent, because people would want to work in that amazing culture.

Plus, their existing clients would tell all their friends about the remarkable service they receive. Here’s why!

There’s a very strong business case for going the extra mile. Especially in an age where your competitors are looking to automate, scale and cut corners.

I recommend you let your competitors carry on with their race to the bottom. While you, my friend, rise to the top.

There are lots of ways a business owner can lower their overheads. Some will make the business more profitable. Others can be extremely expensive mistakes.

What does this have to do with marketing?

Everything!

Small business owners regularly come to me with serious marketing problems, caused by making cost-cutting decisions, which were supposed to improve their profitability.

Here are a few obvious, marketing-related examples. Just to give you an idea of what I mean.

• Some will have outsourced their inbound phone calls to a call handling company. It’s cheaper than hiring someone. Right?
• Some will have their signature pre-printed on their letterheads. It’s cheaper than spending 10 seconds to personally sign their letters. Right?
• Some will have designed their own company logo. It’s cheaper than hiring a professional designer, who knows what she’s doing. Right?

It’s a GREAT idea to regularly look for ways to reduce your overhead. The smartest business owners regularly review everything. However, they make their decisions based on the medium and longer-term. Not just the immediate, lower expenditure.

Here’s what their thinking might be, based on the above examples.

Before outsourcing their inbound calls

They look at the longer game. How many existing clients could they lose, because the outsourced call-handler is winging it, rather than building rapport? How many potential, new clients could be lost, because the outsourced call-handler was reading from a screen, rather than truly understanding the prospective client’s needs?

There’s a huge cost attached to lower client retention and fewer new clients. This means they may only consider outsourcing to the very best call handling providers available. At which point the expenditure gap between hiring someone and outsourcing, even in the short-term, is way narrower. And that’s factored into their decision.

Before pre-printing their signature on their letterheads

They look at the longer game. They consider what the medium to longer-term cost will be, of failing to offer clients the personal touch. It’s very unlikely that this one cut-back would lead to a significant issue. But they may ponder where that lack of personal attention could lead to, if it penetrates other areas of their service. Cheaper coffee for their clients at the next meeting, maybe? An online ticket system for client enquiries?

Before designing their own company logo

They look at the longer game. They consider what the medium to longer-term cost will be to their reputation, with a DIY logo representing what their business stands for. They may also look at the negative feelings they have, when they see an amateur logo, and not want their business to be seen in such a negative way. And some will remember being told what branding actually means, because they seem to recall it’s about much more than just a logo.

Then. And only then. Will they make a decision.

Balance

As with most things in life, it’s all about balance. Before we outsource, automate or dabble with DIY, we need to look at the full picture. We need to consider the wider costs associated. That’s how we make the best decisions and avoid cutting back in the wrong places.

Nicola (not her real name) was really angry when she emailed me. With her permission, I’d like to share her story with you. And a powerful business lesson, too!

Nicola had spent a ton of time over the past 2 weeks, looking after the needs of a prospective client. (She’s a web designer). The prospective client told her he desperately needed a new website. He understood his current site was ugly and hurting his reputation.

After a morning-long meeting at the prospective client’s office, a chunk of time spent creating a proposal for him, then several further emails and some phone calls, he finally told her:

He knew he urgently needed a new site. He knew her work was great. He knew her fee was reasonable. But he just couldn’t justify the expense to himself!

Nicola said she was “really, really angry” and asked me what she was doing wrong.

Now, I don’t know Nicola. She’s a reader. And said she’d emailed me out of anger and frustration. The guy sounded so keen. She was expecting a new project. And the disappointment was clearly hurting her.

It’s entirely possible that Nicola has lousy marketing. If she had professional marketing help, she’d ask them what wasn’t working. Rather then me. So yes, it’s possible her prospective client wasn’t motivated to become a paying client, because she handled it poorly. I have no idea.

However, there’s a super-valuable lesson here.

Here’s what prompted me to share this with you

A lot of small business owners wrongly blame their fees, their marketing or their negotiating skills, when they fail to land a new client. Yes, getting it wrong in any of those areas will lose you business. Lots of business.

But sometimes, it’s the prospective client’s mindset. And I believe this is a perfect example, which is why I wanted to share it with you.

Going back to Nicola’s original email, I noticed something interesting. The prospective client explained that he knew he urgently needed a new site. He also said he knew Nicola’s work was great and her fee was reasonable, yet he couldn’t “justify the expense” to himself.

I think it highly probable that this guy was simply one of the unbelievers.

Unbelievers?

Yes!

He knew on an intellectual level that he needed her services, but he didn’t believe it on an emotional level. And as emotions drive decisions, he was never going to hire her.

He sounds like many small business owners, who have an employee mindset when it comes to investment in their business. They know they need expert help, but on an emotional level they’re scared to invest. They believe it’s safer to do nothing. They know… but fear stops them from doing what they know they need to do. Note: He called her fee an expense, not an investment

It’s not your fault

It’s often not your fault when a prospective client walks away.

If you’re using professional marketing, rather than dabbling. If your prices or fees match your promises. If you’re offering real value, and they still decide not to hire you or buy from you… it’s very probable you never had a chance.

So don’t be too hard on yourself, the next time an unbeliever decides to waste your time. It’s them. Not you.