Jim's Marketing Blog

Today, I’m going to share an extremely powerful marketing tip with you. It’s something that the vast majority of your competitors either won’t be doing correctly or won’t be doing at all. Get it right and you’ll give yourself a massive competitive advantage. 

It starts with this fundamental truth.

People, including your prospective clients, universally HATE the hassle associated with switching providers.

Think about it.

I’m willing to guess that you and I probably have at least one current provider, who isn’t ideal. Their charges may have increased, with no meaningful increase in the value we get from them. Maybe they’re slow to respond when we contact them for support. Perhaps they’re not as interested in dealing with our problems, as they used to be. And we’re pretty darn sure that there are better providers out there.

So, why do we stay with an under performing provider?

We stay, for the same reason your prospective clients have stayed with their current provider.

It’s simply this.

Switching providers is risky and a time suck

People are hardwired to intentionally avoid risk. And because switching to a new provider feels risky, we tend to avoid it.

Yes, YOU know there’s no risk whatsoever in switching to you from their current provider. You know that you’ll look after them better than they could dream of, because you’re capable, reliable, trustworthy and honest. But THEY don’t know that!

People are also busy and switching providers is often time-consuming and frustrating.

So, what’s the answer?

Make switching stress free and easy

The proven solution to this problem is something I call The Easy Switch. It’s a strategy where you make it as easy as possible for prospects to switch to you. It requires a two pronged approach.

1. Showcase your trust assets.
Make it as easy as possible for prospective clients to see for themselves, why they should trust you. You do this using your trust assets; things that help establish you as a safe, low-risk option for them.

Your trust assets might include providing them with a list of your success and achievements. You can also highlight the promises and guarantees you offer, along with testimonials you have from extremely happy clients. And if you’ve been in your current line of business for a long time, don’t keep it a secret. Include that, too. 

2. Make switching to you as simple as possible.
This is the most important part. Even after trust has been established, the perceived challenges involved and the time required in order to switch providers is enough to put people off.

Some providers use a version of the lock in effect / vendor lock in, where they deliberately make moving from them as hard as they can, for their clients. This is a huge problem in some industries, but less of a problem in others.

Regardless, you need to make the switch to you as frictionless, uncomplicated and stress-free as possible.

The best providers have a client transition process in place, where someone from their team manages the whole process for new clients. They stay in close contact with the new client to answer questions, overcome issues with the former provider and offer all the help they can. I do this with my new clients and I very strongly advise you to do the same. 

Show them how easy it is to switch to you

Once you’ve addressed those two parts of the switching process, it’s really important to let your prospective clients know. It needs to feature very prominently in your marketing, especially if you’re in an industry that’s known for making it hard to switch. It needs to be a key point in your conversations with prospective clients.

Equipped with visible trust assets and an equally visible strategy to make switching to you an absolute breeze, you become a much more attractive choice for prospective clients.

You will become the natural choice. The stress-free choice. And for many, you will become the only choice.

Yesterday, a business owner asked me if I had any tips on how to get your fees right. That question is often asked by newsletter subscribers. So, I’m not only going to answer it today, I’m also going to show you how to earn more than you’ve ever earned before, from prospects who eagerly want to hire you.

Let’s start with a few questions.

• Do your clients pay you what you’re worth?
• Do your clients give you the freedom to produce your best work?
• Do your clients respect you?

Even if you found yourself answering ‘no’ to all three of those questions, you don’t have three challenges to overcome.

You only have one.

The news gets better, my friend. Because it’s an easy challenge to solve and the rewards are far, far greater than you might think.

Overcome the fee setting challenge

Here’s why this is an easy challenge to solve.

• You don’t need to figure out how to know in advance if a client will respect you.
• You don’t need to be able to tell ahead of time, if they will allow you the freedom to do your best work, either.

All you need to know is that you’ve set your fee correctly and they’re happy to pay you what you know you’re worth.

Here’s why.

When a client pays you what you’re worth, you don’t have to rush. Your time is being rewarded correctly, so you’re free to consistently provide your very best work, on schedule.

And clients who pay you what you’re worth, who rely on you for this consistently high-quality service, also respect your contribution.

They rely on the value you bring. They respect you for all that you do, to enrich them or their business.

All this was built on the fee you quoted and their decision to agree to your fee.

Why getting your fees right is essential to your success

When you set your fee, you set more than the financial return for your services. You set the whole framework for your relationship with the client.

And in turn, you set the profitability, on every level, of your business.

Here’s what happens.

You create a positive cycle. It’s a cycle where…

• You’re free to produce your best work.
• You’re regularly recommended by your delighted clients.
• You’re respected in your marketplace, because of what your clients say about you.
• You’re paid accordingly by new clients, who know about your excellent reputation.
• These new clients then start that cycle all over again.

Not sure how to set your fee? It’s really easy.

Decide exactly what your fees need to be, in order for you to provide your very best work, and smash your financial targets. Then, make your services so good that they’re worth at least twice as much as your fees. This makes your fees extremely attractive to prospective clients, as you’re charging them just half of what your services are worth.

When you’re already working hard to grow your business, and it’s not getting the results you need, working increasingly harder is a bad move. So, today I’m going to give you a much more effective alternative.

I’ve worked with some amazingly successful people over the years. In 2024 alone, this has included three business owners who took their small businesses from zero to over $10Million. None of them worked as hard as a hard-working, struggling business owner. And they certainly didn’t work longer hours.

So, what did they do?

Instead of over-working and working longer, the owners of successful businesses…

• Invested in expert help.
• Discovered how to do the right things correctly. Then got to work.
• Regularly monitored their progress and adjusted as required.
• Never made business decisions based on general advice.
• Always accepted responsibility for their results.

But they absolutely did not work harder than a struggling business owner.

Why?

Because NO ONE works harder than a struggling business owner.

Here’s what happens.

When a business owner isn’t getting the results they need, the tendency is to over-compensate by working increasingly harder, doing longer and longer hours. So, that’s what they do. If you’ve tried this for any period of time, you’ll know it doesn’t work. It can also effect your overall well-being.

That’s a very unproductive mix, which does nothing to improve the situation. It leads to ineffective decision-making, increased stress and reduced enthusiasm. What’s more, it’s something prospective clients or customers pick-up on instantly. 

The way forward

When a business isn’t heading in the right direction, the harder the owner works and the longer they work, the further away they become from where they want their business to be. It’s time to stop over-working, get guidance and then proceed in the right direction.

Stop over-working: Because your current activity is moving you away from your goals or targets, which is making your situation worse.

Get guidance: Because you need to know what to do and/or get the help to do what’s required.

Proceed in the right direction: Because your work will now be rewarded.

One of the fastest ways to increase your revenues, with profits of a hundred percent (or close), is also one of the easiest wins for your business.

Today, I’ll show you how I do this for my clients, based on 2 of my most recent examples.

An independent bookshop

My wife and I are passionate advocates of independent bookshops. These bookshops already offer a number of additional services, particularly events, such as author talks and book signings, etc.

They also have a 100% profit opportunity… that none of them take. They speak all day every day to people who still buy physical books. As you know, physical books need physical storage. Yes, bookshelves. In bookshops, I regularly hear fellow customers quip about how they’re running out of storage. Hold that image. Because it’s where I got my idea for this bookshop owner.

I suggested that the bookshop owner partnered with a trusted craftsperson who builds and fits bookcases. I then said that whenever she hears a customer quipping about a lack of shelf space, the customer is offered a helpful flyer, with details of the trusted craftsperson who will fit exactly what they need.

It’s a win, win, win.

• The customer gains extra space with their beautifully fitted bookcase.
• The bookshop owner has delighted a customer and received a referral fee.
• The craftsperson gains a new customer.

How often does that happen? Often enough for it to become a highly valuable income stream for the bookshop. An income stream that’s almost zero-effort and 100% profit.

A small, window cleaning company

I also helped the owner of a small window cleaning company. I asked him what additional products or services he provided to his customers. He said he didn’t provide any. Just window cleaning.

I recommended he partner with a trusted window replacement company. My idea was simple. When his window cleaners notice a damaged window or window surround, they simply mention it to the customer and offer them the business card of the trusted window company.

It’s another win, win, win.

• The homeowner gets the repair done before it becomes a bigger issue, as the window cleaner can see the exterior of the homeowner’s windows close-up and spot issues earlier.
• The window cleaning company has delighted a customer and receives a referral fee when the work is carried out.
• The window replacement company gets a new customer.

How often does that happen? The same as in the previous example. Often enough for it to become a highly valuable income stream for the window cleaning company. An income stream that’s almost zero-effort and 100% profit.

Finally

As you’ll have noticed, a massive benefit of this approach is that it scales beautifully. It requires few if any resources. It also works for everyone concerned. In fact, it has to work for everyone, or it won’t work for anyone.

Isn’t that wonderful… everyone’s happy. What a fantastic way to grow your business.

Here’s what we know for certain. There’s a huge difference between someone using a search engine to find your business by its name, and someone merely searching for a provider in your industry.

• If they’re searching for your business by its name, they’ll find you.
• If they’re searching for a provider in your industry, they’ll find countless pages of results. Even if they do manage to find the result for your business, unless you’re at the top of the results, or very close, the chances of them clicking through to your site is tiny. Because you’ll simply be competing with everyone else.

You could try to buy your way to the top of the search results, but it’s increasingly expensive, extremely risky and all the risk is on you.

Thankfully, there is a far better alternative for.

Searching for you by name

Here’s a vastly more effective marketing strategy. It’s the strategy I use myself, and it works in every industry regardless of the economy.

It’s simply this: You focus on making your business stand out from your competitors.
Note – This article gives you a proven way to stand out with 10 examples to get you started.

You do things worth talking about, which means your name and brand spreads from person to person. So, when someone needs whatever you provide, they go looking for you. You, the provider they’ve been hearing about, by name.

Your prospective clients or customers will use Google and other search engines, knowing who they want. No Google Ads, no auctions and no spiralling advertising costs.

By spending a little time and effort working on ways to differentiate your business from the pack, you can very significantly increase sales. Not only that, these sales will be more profitable as you’ll be able to eliminate your advertising spend.

Being there is important. This is especially the case:

• When people are expecting you.
• When people need you.
• When it’s easier for you not to be there.
• And when you’re willing to help out.

Talk is cheap. It’s what we do that matters. And by being there for another person, we demonstrate what they can expect from us in the future. That’s a powerful way to build great relationships, both personal and professional.

The good news: You’ve been delighting your customers or clients for years. You have built an excellent reputation. It’s only a matter of time before you’re presented with a spectacular opportunity. Maybe something life-changing.

The important news: It’s essential you get prepared for your big opportunity, in advance. Now is the time to get that preparation in place.

With all that in mind, here are some things I strongly recommend you get to work on. They’re in no particular order.

• Talk with your suppliers. Find out how quickly they can scale up if you have a sudden, vastly higher demand than usual for certain products.
• Be on the look out for people who you can put in place, in case you need additional team members at short notice.
• Make sure your company’s financial information is clear and detailed, should a serious party ask about acquiring your business. This will help you get the best possible price and show them you’re a professional. It also speeds the process up.
• Talk with your bank manager in anticipation of a future, major project. Make sure you have access to the cash flow required, for what can be a sudden, huge spike in your outgoings. It’s also a good idea in general to get to know your business banking manager, before you need anything from them.
• Get some media training. Learn how to speak on camera, how to talk with clarity and how to overcome any fears about there being a huge audience.
• And if you’re hoping to go ‘viral’ in a way that would put your website under extreme pressure, contact your web host. Ask about their ability to quickly scale your server up, to handle huge volumes of traffic. I’ve seen what happens when a server can’t cope, and masses of valuable sales and enquiries are lost.

Give yourself the gift of preparedness and be ready when your big opportunity comes along.

After all, you’ve literally earned it.

You don’t need to sell your services or products based on price. You don’t need to waste your time on fee-sensitive clients, either.

In today’s post, I explain why. I’ll also provide you with examples you can learn from, so you too no longer need to sell based on price.

Sort by price

One of the most common features on shopping sites, is the “sort by price” filter. It lets us see products in the category we’ve searched for, listed in price order.

The reason sort by price exists, is that the marketplace demands it. When presented with 5 or 50 options for a commodity product, the lowest price wins. It makes no sense to pay more for it than you need to.

Right?

Wrong!

Here’s an example that explains how you can charge significantly more for a commodity product.

Bob is passionate about helping people worldwide have access to clean drinking water. He then finds a water brand, which donates money from every bottle sold, to build wells in areas where there’s no clean water.

So, Bob is very happy to pay more for his bottled water from this well-building brand. Plus, because people like Bob know lots of other people like Bob, he tells his friends. They do the same.

Water gets sold.

Wells get built.

And people get to make a meaningful difference to the lives of those who need it.

What’s the lesson for your business?

Give them something else to care about

If you want potential clients or customers to stop caring about your prices or fees, give them something more important to care about.

The fastest, easiest way to achieve this is to do what that bottled water company does, and differentiate your story.

Here’s another example.

This time it’s based on a service rather than a product. It’s from the accountancy profession. Instead of competing against their equally qualified competitors for the same prospects, some accountants differentiate.

How?

They choose a sector they enjoy working in, such as design, and focus exclusively on working with design businesses. In doing so, they cease being seen as a commodity provider. The accountant becomes known as a specialist. Their marketing speaks directly to designers and the designers immediately take notice. ‘At last, an accountant who understands us’. Set apart from the pack, the accountant has the freedom to charge based on their uniqueness and the value their uniqueness brings to design businesses.

The good news?

If you’re thinking this approach couldn’t work for you or your industry, remind yourself that it works for a commodity as common and indistinguishable as water. Therefore, whatever type of business you are in, it absolutely can work for you.