Marketing tips, marketing help and advice

5 Quick and easy wins for your business

By Jim Connolly | July 15, 2017

I shared 5 ideas with a business group recently, which they found extremely useful.

Here they are, in no particular order.

1: Offer something exclusive

Think about offering an elite or exclusive version of your services. There will always be a market for exceptional service and gold-standard products. It’s an extremely profitable market, too.

2: Never underestimate the importance of the human touch

So much of what we do today can be automated, from Facebook updates and tweets, to auto-responder emails. Whilst there is a place for some automation, you can’t automate your way to success.

Business is all about people and your competitors are forgetting that. You can gain a huge advantage over them, if you look for opportunities to interact with people. Keep it as human as possible. Never automate anything, unless it’s essential. The cost in lost business can be staggering.

3: Study the gold dust around you

If you find yourself reading a marketing email or mail shot today, stop! You have some potential gold dust in front of you. Examine it and look for what it was that compelled you to open it. Then, think about what caused you to start reading it.

Finally, consider how you can make your own marketing more effective, by incorporating or adapting what you have just learned.

4: Let people Pick Your Brain, commercially

If you get people asking you for free advice and you place any commercial value on your time, consider offering a Pick My Brain service. It has 2 enormous benefits.

Those who were purely intent on grabbing a freebie from you will vanish. The second they know there’s a fee, they go and look for another victim.
It can prove to be an extremely valuable service for those who really do value your advice (and for you, too).

Business is all about mutually beneficial relationships – not greedy people taking advantage of your expertise for their own selfish reasons.

5: Motivation alone is not the answer

When your business is heading in the wrong direction, you don’t need motivation to speed you up! You need guidance to get you on the right path. Working longer hours in an under performing business, just means you will go broke, faster. No matter how fast you row your boat in the wrong direction, you will still get lost.

I hope you found these ideas useful, my friend. More importantly, I hope they inspire you to take action.

How to attract your ideal clients in just 3 questions

By Jim Connolly | July 11, 2017

I think you’re going to find this extremely useful, so I had to share it with you today.

I have 3 questions for you to ponder. They’re simple questions. However, they can put you on track to attract massively more clients. Not only that, these will be clients who are an ideal match for you and your business!

Attracting your ideal clients

I want you to think about what happens when someone visits your website, sees your social media updates, reads your newsletter or consumes your podcasts or videos, etc.

Now answer the following 3 questions:

Does it tell them who you are?
Does it tell them what you stand for… the things that really matter to you?
Does it give them a reason to switch from their current provider to you?

The majority of small business marketing fails on not one, but all three of those questions. It fails to tell us who they are, what they stand for or why we need to leave our current provider for them.

And without those essential questions answered, there’s nothing whatsoever to motivate anyone to give a rat’s ass about them.

You have a personality. Your business has one too: a way of working, which is your way of doing things. You have things you care passionately about. These are also reflected in the way you work. You have, or can find, powerful reasons why someone should hire you or buy from you. And it’s that mix, which sets you apart, helps you stand out, attracts attention and inspires people to hire you.

So don’t keep it a secret.

Look at your marketing copy. Review your blog, newsletter, social media, podcast / videos… whatever. Then make sure they communicate all that’s meaningfully different about you. In other words, give your marketing your DNA. Your fingerprint.

When you do, your marketplace will have something to connect with. And those in your marketplace who value your message, will be drawn to you.

That’s right: You won’t just attract enquiries. You’ll attract enquiries from people who value the very things, which you and your business value. These are your IDEAL prospective clients or customers. Just think about that for a moment.

Tip: If you’d like to know how and why to stand out, even in an extremely competitive marketplace, read this.

How to get the balance right and attract more clients

By Jim Connolly | July 5, 2017

The most successful service provider and the best service provider, are seldom the same service provider.

That’s because being the best doesn’t automatically mean people will notice you, believe you or hire you.

Balance

Business success comes from balance. You need to balance the development of an excellent service, with the development of a strategy to earn the attention, trust and custom of the marketplace.

With that balance in place, it’s harder to lose than to win.

Here are dozens of ideas (for free), spread over 4000 words, which can help you get the balance right.

An unexpected way to attract massively more referrals

By Jim Connolly | June 30, 2017

Many hard working business owners get very few referrals from their clients or customers. Conversely, other business owners have clients who are a regular source of high quality referrals.

Here’s one reason why this happens. By understanding it, you can significantly increase the number of client referrals you receive.

Pretty-much every business owner works hard for their clients. They make sure their clients get the quality of service they expect. And they consistently strive to ensure their clients get value for money. Of course, our clients expect us to work hard for them. They expect a great quality service. They expect value for money.

In other words, if that’s where we set the bar on the service we provide, we’re merely meeting expectations.

Simply meeting expectations isn’t enough, if we want our clients to tell their friends about us.

Exceeding expectations

The service providers who attract the most referrals have a different approach. They deliberately look for opportunities to exceed expectations. To go the extra mile.

Here’s a very simple example.

The typical service provider tells their client that a project will be completed by the middle of the week. A vague deadline isn’t that useful to a client, but it gives the provider some wriggle room if they’re running late.
A provider who exceeds expectations tells the client the project will be ready by 4pm Wednesday. They know that clients love the clarity of deadlines. They also know that by setting and achieving deadlines, their clients learn to rely on them. To trust them. To value them.

As you can see from the above example, it doesn’t take much more effort to exceed expectations than it does to meet expectations. However, the results are disproportionately huge. So, why not look for opportunities today, to exceed the expectations of at least one of your clients or customers? They’ll appreciate the difference. And so will you, my friend.

This will help get you moving in the right direction – There are no traffic jams on the Extra Mile.

What everybody needs to know about costs

By Jim Connolly | June 15, 2017

attract sales leads, attract clients

The price and the cost are never the same thing.

For example.

The price of a TV set can be a fraction of the cost attached to watching it. Some people who spend hours watching TV every day, find it costs their health, relationships or education.
Other’s buy a TV and find the price is an investment, because they limit their TV time, selectively choose what to watch and expand their knowledge.

The internet is packed with business advice, ranging from toxic to gold dust. And the stuff that seems like gold dust is usually the most toxic.

This is especially the case, with anything that claims to provide a shortcut to success. There are no shortcuts. Just direct routes.

If you want to make better decisions, before you decide to pay the price, stop for a moment and consider the cost.

Do this and you’ll never need to sell again

By Jim Connolly | May 30, 2017

Do you sell to prospective clients or do they hire you, instead?

That’s not a play on words. The difference is huge. In fact, the difference is what separates the most successful service providers from the rest.

For example, I haven’t sold my services to anyone in years. However, new clients hire me all the time. My marketing attracts their attention, then inspires them to contact me. No selling required. Ever.

You can do the same.

That’s how successful marketing works

It attracts enquiries from prospective clients, who have a need for your services. And because they’re approaching you for your skills and professionalism, something extremely valuable happens.

They position you in their mind as a professional with the expertize they need. They don’t see you as a salesperson. They don’t see you as a needy service provider pitching them. So, instead of feeling like they’re being sold to, they’re simply having a conversation with you, about what they need. It’s wonderful. It’s zero pressure.

And the difference it makes is huge!

If your current marketing doesn’t regularly attract targeted enquiries from prospective clients, it’s working against you. It’s placing a very low ceiling on your potential. It’s a source of unnecessary stress. Thankfully, it’s also 100% avoidable.

Attracting new clients doesn’t need to be difficult. It’s simply a matter of doing the right things, correctly. Right now, as you read this, there are people, in your industry who are already doing it the right way and enjoying the rewards.

You can too

It starts with the decision to take action. That’s a decision that most small business owners dodge. They don’t want things to remain the way they are, yet at the same time, they’re comfortable. So they put it off, because they just had a good week or maybe they signed up a new client.

Then 12 months later they wonder why their business has spun its wheels for another year!

There’s no need to settle for things the way they are. The expertize you need is out there. You just need to let go of the failing familiar, so you can grasp the rewards that are waiting for you outside your comfort zone.

Here are some really useful numbers for your business

By Jim Connolly | May 22, 2017

How will you know when your business is profitable enough?

How will you know when you’re attracting the right number of sales leads or new client enquiries?

How will you know when you have enough social networking contacts?

How will you know when you’re getting enough traffic from search engines?

How will you know when your newsletter, podcast or vlog has enough subscribers?

How will you know when your attrition rate (the volume of customers or clients you lose) is on target?

How will you know when you’re receiving enough referrals?

How will you know when you’re financially secure for life?

Put a number on it

In business, the numbers are essential. They allow us to measure our progress. They quickly let us see if we’re on track or off track. They show us if we’re being productive or just being busy. And they help us identify where we need to focus our resources.

If you have not done so already, I recommend you put a number on all the key areas of your business.

Then monitor those numbers.

It will help you move forward faster. It will help you avoid costly detours and it will also provide you with amazing clarity.

A frustrating marketing problem you’ll wish you fixed sooner

By Jim Connolly | May 15, 2017

Today, I’m going to share the answer to one of the biggest and most important marketing problems facing business owners.

When we encounter outstanding value, we take action. Sometimes we make a purchase. Sometimes we request additional information. Other times we tell our friends, because we don’t want them to miss out. But we always do something. Here’s the thing:

At no point do we need to be pestered to make a purchase.
At no point do we need to be pestered to accept additional information.
At no point do we need to be pestered to tell our friends.

In short, outstanding value captures our attention and then motivates us to take positive action.

Your prospective clients are just the same.

If your prospective clients encounter outstanding value, it will attract their attention like an electro magnet! It will motivate them to hire you, to buy from you and / or spread the word about you. If you offer outstanding value, once a handful of people know what you do and how you do it, the word will spread like a virus.

It looks like this

You show your product or service initially to 20 people. Those 20 people tell a few friends or share how amazing your service is on Facebook, Linkedin, etc. Suddenly, 60 people or 120 people know about you and a subset of them also buy from you and / or spread the word about you. The cycle then repeats (and repeats and repeats).

The best marketing spreads from person to person – NOT from you to every prospective client. Once your service is mature, there should be no need for you to keep pushing the same people again and again with your marketing.

The huge value of silence

If you’re telling people about your service, yet they don’t hire you or spread the word about you, it’s extremely valuable feedback. And if you find your clients are not a regular source of new enquiries, this is extremely valuable feedback too.

You need to listen to the silence of their inactivity. And take heed.

That silence is telling you something. Something of huge value to you and your business. It’s telling you that your service isn’t interesting enough to capture people’s attention and not valuable enough to motivate them to take action.

When the typical small business encounters this kind of disappointing feedback, they tend to do the exact opposite of what they need to do. Instead of pumping massively more value into their service or product, then marketing it professionally, they look for magical ways to market an unattractive service. Instead of making their offering more attractive, they make it more irritating.

Bake marketing into your service

When I work with a new client, we start by making their service irresistible. I call this baking marketing into their service. I show them some simple ways to make their current services vastly more attractive to their marketplace. It’s only after we’ve done this, that we dazzle their marketplace with the powerful mix of their newly-irresistible service and super-effective marketing.

Get those 2 elements right and the sky is the limit.

How to be in high demand

By Jim Connolly | May 14, 2017

It works like this. When the supply of something is limited, the demand is high. The more limited the supply, the higher the demand.

Conversely, the things that are most plentiful have the lowest value. They’re easy to provide. Most or all of your competitors provide these. As a result, they’re everywhere.

There’s a lesson here. A lesson that’s based on a pattern you’ll see in every high demand business. These businesses embrace the tricky stuff. The kind of things that are in short supply, because most of their competitors aren’t providing it.

There’s always a very limited supply of people who will.

Lead.
Be reliable.
Create.
Encourage others.
Show appreciation.
Contribute.
Solve problems.

Embrace the tricky stuff. Because that’s where the demand is. It’s where the best clients are, too.

Whose business are you building, yours or someone else’s?

By Jim Connolly | May 12, 2017

Image: Shutterstock.

Today, let’s look at one of the key factors in building a remarkable, profitable business.

Malcolm Gladwell was once asked how to write a best-selling book. His answer was as follows:

“The moment you write a book hoping it will be a best seller, your chances of it becoming a best seller go downhill. […] You write the book you would want to read.”

Gladwell on Steve Jobs

Gladwell then went on to explain that Steve Jobs never brought a product to market, because he thought the marketplace wanted it. Instead, Jobs developed products that he wanted to own.

Think about that for a moment:

Gladwell writes books that he would want to read. They are unlike any other books in his niche. In fact, the title of one of his books, Tipping Point, has become a widely used phase. And his books are also among the best selling non-fiction books of the last 2 decades.
Jobs created products because he thought they were beautiful. Jobs’ success with Apple led to his company being the most highly valued in the world.

There’s an amazingly wonderful insight right there. Something we can all learn from.

What’s the lesson?

If we want to create remarkable products, remarkable services and deliver remarkable experiences, we should deliver what we believe is valuable. What we believe is right. What we believe in.

Think about it: The only way we can hope to build a meaningfully different business is to tap into our uniqueness. To give the marketplace what we would value, if we were the customer or client. If we simply look at what our competitors do, then find a way to do it a little faster or a little cheaper, we become unremarkable.

When Roger Banister broke the 4 minute mile barrier, he was remarkable. The next guy, who ran a little faster than Bannister, wasn’t.

In short, it makes commercial sense to offer a meaningfully different product or service. Ship something that you value highly.

5 Simple ways to make your day amazing!

By Jim Connolly | May 10, 2017

Here’s an idea: Why not make today a day to remember?

Consider doing one or more of the following. Then just watch the kind of impact you create.

Send a handwritten note of thanks, to a person who has helped you or inspired you in some way. The power of something as personal as a handwritten message, is far greater than an email, text or tweet.
Send flowers to someone you care about. This doesn’t have to be expensive. You can pick some wild flowers, wrap them yourself, add a card and deliver them in person.
Write a blog post or article, which shares something that has been useful to you. If it was a website, include a link. That way, your readers will benefit AND whoever or whatever you’re recommending will get some recognition too.
Go to your primary social network and recommend a person or business, which you really appreciate.
Contribute either some time or money to a charity or cause, which does work you appreciate.

One of the wonderful things about contributing this was, is that it’s cyclical. It makes the people you are showing your appreciation to feel great and it makes you feel great too. This makes you want to do it again… thus the cycle repeats.

Try it!

What you know about link building is probably wrong

By Jim Connolly | May 3, 2017

And it’s not your fault.

Here’s the thing: When it comes to marketing your business, there are 2 types of link, not 1 as many people seem to believe!

There’s the type of link you already know about. This is where a website links to your website or blog. This is sometimes called a backlink.
However, there’s another type of link, which is seldom mentioned. This link has just helped me attract a wonderful new client. And it has nothing to do with hyperlinks, link building or backlinks.

In today’s post, I’m going to share how you can make that second type of link work for you and your business. Let’s start with a little clarity.

The type of link you already know about

You’ve been told a million times about the value of getting a link, from a highly respected website to your site. In short, if your site has lots of links pointing to it, especially from high quality websites, it will rank higher on search engine results pages. This kind of link building is the backbone of SEO.

It’s why infographics are all over the internet (they usually have link code embedded in them).
It’s why people will write guest blog posts for popular websites like The Huffington Post and Forbes, without payment, in return for a link.

Those links are valuable. However, they’re not the only type of link that’s of value to you and your business!

A very different type of link

I was contacted by The Wall Street Journal a while back. Business Editor, Chris Gay, wanted some help with a marketing article. I was happy to contribute. More than anything, I was delighted to have been approached for my expertise, by someone from such a respected publication.

You can read the article here: Four Marketing Strategies That Paid Off for Small Companies.

Yesterday, Grant emailed me. He wants a place on my Marketing Mentor Program. In his email, he explained how he first discovered my work because of the Wall Street Journal article.

Although there are no links pointing to me from that article, he was impressed enough with the idea I shared, that he searched for me. He found me and then subscribed to Jim’s Marketing Blog. Fast forward to this week and he decided he is ready to invest in my services.

That article didn’t have a traditional link to me or my website. Nothing for Google to follow. Nothing for Google to index. Nothing for Grant to click.

However, it DID provide a highly valuable link, which turned Grant from a stranger into a client.

Links and the power of association

Never underestimate the value of having your name or brand positively referenced in an A-List publication, even if they don’t link to your website.

Grant is a Wall Street Journal reader and he trusts what they have to say. Though The Wall Street Journal didn’t say they endorsed me, they did use my work as a positive example of a marketing strategy that paid off. Grant was then able to naturally associate [or link] my name, with the article and the source of the article — The Wall Street Journal.

That kind of link is powerful. Really powerful.

The combination of Grant valuing what I said in the article, with the trust he has for the publication, inspired him to go to Google and find out more about me and my work.

My point here is simple: When your name or brand is positively referenced by a trusted source, people will feel positively about you.

You need to be visible on search

Of course, had I been hard to find, Grant would never have visited my blog and subscribed.

To benefit from having your name mentioned in a publication that doesn’t link to you, you need to be easy to find via search engines. The same is true when you’re mentioned on radio or TV. Naturally, this is where SEO comes in. It’s why lots of good quality backlinks are important.

Grant is based in California and searched Google for Jim Connolly marketing. Anyone doing that search within The U.S. today, will find me listed as the first few search results; (either my blog, Facebook Page or my Twitter account). If people search for you after reading about you, they will have your name and they will almost certainly figure out your industry. Your job is to make sure you’re easy to find when people do that. This is easier for some people than others. You may have a very popular name and work in a huge industry.

I suggest you search for yourself, using your name and a 1 or 2 word industry category. If you’re not happy with what you find, make sure you optimize your website, blog and social networking accounts so you’re visible. If you are not sure how, get expert SEO help. It’s worth it.

Why none of this would have worked without a blog or newsletter

Think about it: When Grant visited my site all that time ago, he wasn’t in need of my services. He was curious. That’s all. Because I write a blog, he was able to subscribe and receive regular email updates.

This means I had a way to maintain regular contact with him, through my posts. It also allowed him to learn my approach to marketing and the value of my ideas.

Note: If Grant had initially found just a website, with no blog or newsletter, I’d have lost him.

Think about that for a moment. This will help!

SEO matters

It really does. And backlinks are essential if you want your SEO to work.

The point of this message is simply that you shouldn’t ignore opportunities to promote yourself online, just because there’s no backlink to your website.

If a highly respected publication asks you to contribute to an article AND they position you as an expert, you will be linked mentally in the mind of their readers, to a publication they trust.

That’s of huge value to you and your business.

A powerful email marketing lesson from Google

By Jim Connolly | April 28, 2017

When Google wrote to me recently, they chose to use traditional mail. Paper, an envelope and a postage stamp. It got my attention. I opened it, read it and acted on it. More importantly, here’s why Google contacted me via traditional mail and what you and your business can learn from it.

The problem with email

It’s free. There’s no barrier to entry. As a result, anyone can interrupt us with unwanted email. Also, because it’s free, too little thought is given to the quality of the email or how well it’s targeted. Hence the huge spam problem. It costs nothing to put a low value email together, click send and pester 1000 or 1000000 people with it.

Spammers have trained us to ignore email that looks like it could be spam. This includes promotional emails. The exact kind of emails that legitimate business owners use for marketing.

With spam filters and junk mail filtering, your prospective clients see maybe 1 marketing / promotional email in every 10. They may open 1 in 10 of those they see.

Based on these very rough numbers, this gives you a 1 in 100 chance your email will even be opened by a prospective client. If the email’s subject line is not expertly written, open rates will be even lower. (Tip: Here’s how to write better headlines.)

But don’t worry. In a few moments I’ll show you how to make your email marketing extremely effective.

The value of traditional mail

It isn’t free. However, the price creates a massive barrier to entry. This is why we receive a fraction as many marketing letters via traditional mail as we used to.

When we receive a correctly addressed letter in a regular envelope, we have to open it in order to see if it’s something important, something interesting or junk. The key thing here is that we open it. Open rates for marketing letters, addressed correctly, sent in regular (plain) envelopes are around 98%.

(These numbers only drop, when the letter is sent in a promotional envelope. Otherwise, the envelope must be opened by the recipient, so they can tell if it’s of interest or not.)

As you’ll see in a moment, I’m not suggesting you send all your marketing mail via traditional mail. However, it’s well worth considering for some mailings. Especially when your message is important enough, your list is high quality and you want to ensure almost everyone on the list will read it.

The important thing here, is to make sure you are using the correct tool for the job. Here are some options, based on email / traditional mail.

Permission email marketing

Email becomes super-effective, when you have permission from the recipient and you know your emails are getting into their inbox.

For instance, the email version of Jim’s Marketing Blog requires people to double opt-in. In other words, after entering their name and email address on my blog, they receive an email asking them to confirm their subscription. Only then can they subscribe. This gives me permission to send them my latest blog post. It also proves they can receive my emails. The exact same approach works equally well for newsletters.

The cost is low, especially if you have fewer than 1000 people on your permission list. I recommend using a professional emailing service even if you only send a small number of emails. They make it easy for you to track open rates, clicks, etc. That means you can see how your content or marketing message is resonating with your readers.

Plus, professional email providers give you all the tools you need in order to manage your reader lists. They also stop your email server’s ip address from being blacklisted. I’ve known this happen to lots of business owners. It can stop you from being able to send regular business emails to clients, suppliers and contacts until you get it resolved.

Many email providers, such as Mailchimp, offer a free service to people with a small list. The prices only become significant when your list is in the tens of thousands.

With massively lower costs than traditional mail, permission marketing via a professional email provider is exceptionally effective.

Email marketing to strangers on lists

This is less of an option and more of a warning! Buying so-called permission lists and then emailing them, is usually a waste of money. These are lists, which are sold on the understanding that the people on the lists gave permission for their details to be sold.

In 99.9% of cases, these people simply forgot to uncheck the box that says “send me emails with offers from partners”, when they downloaded a freebie from the internet or subscribed to a free service.

The key thing is that the people on those lists did not opt-in to receiving emails from you!

Conversion rates from such lists are terrible. That’s because those on the lists are getting bombarded with spam, from the thousands of people, who buy the lists they’re on. So they either use extremely powerful spam filtering, have white-list-only email or have switched to a new email address.

Traditional marketing letters (direct mail)

This can be an extremely effective way to get your marketing message in front of your prospective clients. The exceptionally high open rates (so long as you take the measures I mentioned earlier) make it a very attractive proposition.

It also allows you to purchase a high quality list, from a reputable list vendor, with the correct contact details and get great results. Remember, the prospective client has to open the envelope to determine the value. This is faster than earning permission, so can be useful if you need quick results.

Of course, even if 100% of people open your mailshot, it won’t matter unless your message is professionally written. Most direct mail from small businesses is written by the business owner and is simply ignored.

Tip: If you’re prepared to pay for a mailing, pay an expert to write it… someone who knows how to motivate the reader to take action.

So, there are a few thoughts on the merits of traditional mail shots and permission-based email marketing. In short, each has its place and each can be spectacularly effective, if handled correctly.

P.S. I recommend you read this. Does email marketing work? How I helped Irene make over $32,000 in 9 days.

3 Proven ways to quickly attract more clients

By Jim Connolly | April 26, 2017

Your service is better than most of the other providers in your niche. And it’s far, far better than many.

This begs the question: Why don’t more clients hire you?

The challenge is that offering a great service, by itself, isn’t enough. (I explain why here). And telling people you offer a great service in your marketing isn’t enough, either. After all, that’s what every business claims to offer.

To attract the quality and quantity of clients you deserve, you need a better approach. So I thought I’d share a few ideas with you. I hope you find them useful.

1. Make it easy for people to tell their friends about you.

Some services are massively easier to recommend than others. As a result, they get the word of mouth recommendations, when their equally good competitors don’t.

Here’s why: The best-marketed businesses understand that clients need help, when it comes to spreading the word. The rest just work really hard, provide a great service and wonder why they get so few client referrals.

Rather than try and cram what you need to know into this section of this post, if you’re not getting the referrals you deserve, I recommend you read this.

2. Publish a podcast, blog, vlog or newsletter.

Then showcase your knowledge by answering relevant questions. Don’t leave your prospective clients wondering how knowledgeable you are. Show them! Remember: Actions speak louder than words.

This approach gives you a valuable, added benefit too. If you turn up regularly with answers, for a long enough period of time, you also demonstrate your reliability. You show the marketplace you can be relied upon to start a project and stick with it.

That’s marketing gold dust! Why? Because it helps you build trust in the mind of a prospective client, before they’ve even spoken with you.

3. Get your stars out.

If you have any awards, notable media mentions or quantifiable achievements, don’t keep it a secret. Put them where prospective clients will see them. I use my blog’s About page.

Some business owners struggle with this. They don’t want to appear boastful. And I totally get it.

However, you need to look at yourself through the eyes of a prospective client, who has never heard of you. This person will arrive on your website and immediately start building a picture of you in their mind. They won’t know you’re being humble when you fail to mention any meaningful achievements. They’ll simply build that picture, with those key, trust-building facts missing.

I hope you found those ideas useful. More importantly my friend, I hope they inspire you to take action and start achieving the results you deserve.

The answers you need are all around you

By Jim Connolly | April 24, 2017

Hard work is not the secret to success. If it was, our grandparents would have been millionaires. Instead, we know that success comes from doing the right things, correctly.

This means a business owner who wants to improve their results has just 2, relatively easy challenges ahead of them.

1. Acceptance

We need to accept that our current business development strategy isn’t working. Or at least that it isn’t working the way we want it to. Our current strategy may feel comfortable. It’s certainly familiar. However, if it isn’t leading to the results we want, we must accept that we need to move on.

Until we accept the need to improve, we’ll simply carry on wasting time. We’ll carry on working hard, for too little reward.

2. Adopt a proven strategy for success

Once we’ve accepted the need to improve, we’re ready for the second challenge. This challenge is easier than the first. We need to find a strategy that will work for us. A strategy for success.

And thankfully, success leaves clues.

We are surrounded by examples of successful businesses. Everywhere we look, there are businesses that are getting it right. Every area of our business development that needs to improve, is already working spectacularly well for another business. The answers we need are out there. We just need to follow the clues.

Your task here, is to do the research. Look at what the businesses that are succeeding are doing, which you can adopt into your own business.

Here’s an example of what I mean. If your business needs to improve its marketing, what might you learn from the following success clues?

The last service you used, which impressed you so much you told your friends.
The last marketing email you received, which persuaded you to take action.
The last blog post you read, which you were inspired to share.
The last social network update, which motivated you to take action.
The last advertisement you encountered, which compelled you to make a purchase.
The last newsletter you received, which you were motivated to forward to your friends.
The last website you visited, which impressed you with its professionalism.

Once you have done that, it’s time to look below the surface.

Don’t just copy what you find. Instead, consider how you can adapt what you discovered, so that it works for your business.

Make no mistake, the answers you need are out there. Success leaves clues. And the clues are all around you.

Should you promote an issue you care about, via your business?

By Jim Connolly | April 13, 2017

Emma recently emailed me with a great question. She wanted to know if it was wise for her to raise awareness of a social issue she’s passionate about, via her business. She’s concerned that by taking a stance, she might lose potential customers.

As this is something that can apply to almost every business owner, I thought I’d share my answer with you.

For clarity, when I refer to a stance here, I’m talking about standing up for something that’s important to you, which is outside your business. Something you believe in. Something others will either agree with or disagree with. For example, a social issue, environmental cause or the work of a certain charity, etc.

Here are my thoughts, purely from a marketing perspective. As you’ll see there are upsides and downsides.

Is it always a bad idea to alienate a subset of the marketplace?

No. No it isn’t. Allow me to explain.

As this article from Fast Company confirms, “Customers care not only about what companies sell but also about what they stand for.”

By taking a stance on something that really matters to you, you send some powerful signals to your marketplace.

You show them that there are ethics behind your business. This is true whether they agree or disagree with your stance.
You show them that you’re willing to stand-up and lead. Again, this is true regardless of their opinion of your stance.
You show a segment of your marketplace that something they care passionately about, also matters to you. This forms a strong emotional connection between you and them. It transforms how they feel about you. This kind of connection is enormously valuable. That’s because people make decisions based on how they feel.

In fact, feelings will usually have a more powerful influence on a buying decision, than facts.

If you’ve ever used proven facts, to try and convince someone you are right and they are wrong, you’ll know how powerful feelings are, compared to facts.

A missed opportunity?

Typically, small business owners avoid taking a stance. Yes, they have strong beliefs. We all do. However, they choose to keep them separate from their business.

Why?

Because they don’t want to risk alienating any prospective clients, who may hold opposing beliefs. So rather than allow a segment of their marketplace to form a powerful emotional connection with them, they remain silent about what truly matters to them.

They strive to be vaguely relevant to everyone. And as an unavoidable result, they become directly relevant to no one.

And it’s hard, really hard, to grow a business that’s only vaguely relevant.

Marketing to everyone?

I once asked a small business owner, who her ideal client was? She replied:

“Anyone with skin”.

And she was wrong.

For someone to become your client, they have to want (not necessarily need) what you provide. That’s an emotional decision. Sure, they may need a new website, but if they don’t want a new website or they don’t want to hire you to design their new website, they won’t hire you.

By taking a stance, by developing that stronger emotional connection, you give a segment of your marketplace a reason to want to hire you.

social issues, marketing tips

Does this mean that you’re guaranteed they will hire you? No. Of course not.

However, if (for example) they’re passionate about helping children in developing nations to have access to clean drinking water, and they see you are too, they’ll know you’re a kindred spirit. They’ll see that what matters to them, matters to you — that you share a worldview. And people prefer to do business with people, who share the same worldview. This is really important. Seth Godin’s value creation checklist placed worldview right at the top.

Big brands already get it

Almost every major brand, visibly supports causes close to them. For example, Walmart takes an environmental stance and donated almost a third of a billion dollars last year alone. Google (Alphabet) takes a stance by supporting the Equal Justice Initiative. And Coca Cola takes a stance by supporting Africa’s Global Environment and Technology Foundation.

I was unable to find any major brand, that doesn’t visibly take a stand in support of a cause they are passionate about.

Your stance can be part of your story

Taking a stance is about making the things that matter most to you, a relevant and visible part of your work. It’s about building a story, which is consistent with your business and your guiding values / passions / ethics.

It isn’t easy. And it isn’t right for every business.

This is especially the case, if your stance is polarizing. That’s to say, a stance that most people will either strongly agree with or strongly disagree with. It’s not uncommon for businesses that take a polarizing stance, to receive abuse / trolling, from those passionately opposed to their stance.

Equally, if your business relies on customers from your local community and your stance is massively unpopular locally, the financial cost can be huge.

In short, there’s no universal right answer. Whether it’s right for you and your business depends on a number of factors. As with every business decision, it pays to do the research, get the feedback you need and then decide.

You!

By Jim Connolly | April 10, 2017

Worth remembering.

You should focus on what’s important to you, not that bastard who upset you. Whilst you are getting angry, they’re out dancing!
You look better when you smile. It’s the fastest and least expensive way to get a facelift.
You are almost certainly more talented, more admired and more loved than you think you are.
You can either get a day older, or a day better. Each day the choice is yours.
You will be amazed how good you feel, after you tell someone how much you appreciate them. Your kind words may also be the only sunshine they get that day.
You will sell zero copies of the book you never write.
You are able to improve any element of your life or business, which you are unhappy with. It’s all about intelligent activity. Get the information you need. Then use it.

Have a great day. You deserve it.