Jim's Marketing Blog

Marketing tips and ideas to help you grow your business

The false assumptions that ruin your marketing results

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marketing, assume nothing

Unsure why you’re attracting too few sales or too few clients? It could be down to false assumptions. Allow me to explain.

I’m sure you’ve heard the old saying, ‘if the words don’t add up, it’s usually because truth wasn’t part of the equation’. Here’s my marketing equivalent, ‘if the numbers don’t add up, it’s usually because truth wasn’t part of the equation’.

In other words, when your sales numbers don’t add up the way you expect, it’s usually because false information entered the equation. False information, rooted in a false assumption, to be precise.

Here’s a very common example of what I mean.

Failing to check the source

Small business owners are often poorly advised. If they wrongly assume the advice is correct when it’s false, and then follow the advice, they’ll lose money, waste time and miss opportunities.

The golden rule here is to always check the source of advice, before you act on it.

For example, if a sincere friend gives you marketing advice, make sure they have the marketing background required. As Jim Rohn used to tell us, sincerity is not a test of truth. It’s possible to be sincerely wrong!.

Equally, before you pay for advice from a marketing provider, check them out. As you may have already discovered, there are plenty of ineffective marketing providers out there.

The easiest way to check a marketing provider out is to look at how they market their own business. Effective marketing providers attract clients via referral and reputation; so people already know us and our work long before they hire us. Less effective marketing providers are unable to attract enough clients or get enough referrals. You find them at networking events hunting for clients or on Linkedin pestering people for leads. That’s a huge red flag.

Here’s another cause of false assumptions.

You need more sales, not more leads

Imagine the following scenario.

A small business owner urgently needs more sales or more clients. However, they make a false assumption. They wrongly assume they need more sales leads or client leads.

Their focus is now on lead acquisition tactics, when it should be on sales / client acquisition tactics. As a result, they get leads, maybe lots of leads, but few additional sales or new clients. In short, they got what they went for, leads, but they went for the wrong thing. They should have focused on bankable results.

For those who don’t know, in most cases you can attract clients or customers massively faster without spending time or money on lead acquisition or advertising. Only after direct, faster options have been deployed would I consider lead generation.

What next?

When it comes to marketing your business, make it a habit to never assume anything. Check your sources. Ask relevant questions. If you do, you will dramatically increase your chances of finally getting the results you deserve.

They lied: You don’t pay the price for success

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pay price for success, pay price failure

As a business owner, you never pay the price for success. However, you do pay a hefty price for failure.

The price of failure is being paid daily, though most business owners are blind to it until they get the bill at the end.

For example.

  • You pay the price for missing opportunities.
  • You pay the price for failing to adapt to the evolving needs of your marketplace.
  • You pay the price for refusing to invest in marketing.
  • You pay the price for ducking the important decisions.
  • You pay the price for wasting time. Your time and the time of others.
  • You pay the price for being risk-averse.
  • You pay the price for knowing more about what’s happening on a reality TV show, than what’s happening in your industry.
  • You pay the price for being too similar to your competitors.
  • You pay the price for giving your attention to the notifications on your phone.
  • You pay the price for pessimism.
  • You pay the price for applying free, general business development advice to your specific business problems.

Thankfully, the opposite is also true.

You enjoy the rewards of success

For example.

  • You enjoy the rewards of a wise decision.
  • You enjoy the rewards of turning an opportunity into an absolute gold mine.
  • You enjoy the rewards of building a great, professional reputation.
  • You enjoy the rewards of growing a powerful marketing asset.
  • You enjoy the rewards of building a wonderful network.
  • You enjoy the rewards of expert advice that earns you a fortune.
  • You enjoy the rewards of knowing, and witnessing, that you’re on the path to success.
  • You enjoy the rewards of owning a business, which gives you and those you love a great quality of life.

There’s a price for failure and a reward for success. As a business owner, you have total freedom regarding which you choose.

You would assume that goes without saying. You would assume the answer is obvious. It isn’t. It really isn’t.

Think about it.

The majority of small businesses fail in the first 4 or 5 years. All these business owners were genuinely hoping for success, while unintentionally paying the price for failure. The lucky ones failed fast, without getting into a ton of debt. The unlucky ones went under slowly, which is far more painful.

If you’re not currently achieving the success you want, it’s critically important you commit exclusively to following the path of success. Refuse to follow what the failing majority of small business owners do. It doesn’t work. It can’t work.

Get the expert help you need, so you can quickly get on the right track. Enjoy the rewards for success. Yes, of course I can help. It’s exactly what I do for small business owners, just like you.

How to own a valuable chunk of your marketplace

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marketing differentiation, stand out, get noticed

All accountants are not the same. But to look at their marketing, you’d think they were. Of course, this is true of service providers in every industry and profession.

Including yours!

For a moment, put yourself in the shoes of a prospective client, eagerly looking for a service provider in your industry. Currently, they’ll find themselves faced with what looks like an ocean of very similar businesses.

Then, everything quickly changes

I want you to imagine that a serious competing provider turns up. A provider with great marketing, so they’re differentiating themselves in a valuable, meaningful way. They stand out. And they stand out for all the right reasons. Huge change is coming.

Here’s what it looks like every single time this happens.

  • This new provider starts attracting the attention of the marketplace.
  • People start talking about them and the word begins to spread.
  • With so many people saying good things about this new provider, they build a great reputation.
  • They become the default choice, for clients who want more than a cookie-cutter service provider.
  • They soon own the most profitable end of the marketplace: The clients who want something better and will happily pay for it.

Faced with this possibility, you have a couple of options.

  1. You can wait until a competitor like that turns up, targeting your clients and your prospective clients. You’ll be forced into action and you’ll be playing catch-up. This takes the timing out of your control and gives you a bigger, more serious problem to deal with.
  2. Alternatively, you can improve your marketing and become that provider yourself, growing your business with the best clients. You can do it now, so you control the timing and have all the advantages this brings.

Yes, I recommend option 2.

And I recommend you take it sooner rather than later. Opportunities like this come with a use-by date.

Make better decisions

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make better decisions

A key factor behind great decision making, is to make sure you are working with accurate information.

In a marketing context:

  • You can assume that your marketing copy is as good as it can be or you can split test it. By testing different versions and measuring the feedback, you can improve both your message and your sales results.
  • You can assume that your clients and former clients love the service you provide, or you can ask them.
  • You can assume that your products or service is still better value than your competitors, or you can do some research and see if they’ve upped their game.
  • You can assume that you already get a reasonable number of word of mouth recommendations, or you can compare them to the industry average. Note: I wrote this post about how to get more word of mouth referrals that you may find useful.

You get the idea.

In short, never make a decision without first knowing the facts. Make accurate information the foundation of all your decision making.

Yes. But why?

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marketing motivation

Yes. I know you want to grow your business. But why? The why part is what makes all the difference.

It looks like this.

  • The decision to grow your business is a ‘what’. It’s what you want to achieve. A goal.
  • More important to your likelihood of success is ‘why‘. The why part is what will motivate you. It’s what gives your goal meaning. It’s the fuel that propels you to achieve your ‘what’.

So, why [specifically], do you want a bigger business?

Allow me to explain.

Every small business owner has the goal of growing their business. And yet, as you know, most small business owners not only fail to achieve their goal, the majority go broke, even in a great economy.

If you’re finding it hard to grow your business right now, take time out to list exactly why you want a bigger business. Include what it will mean in real terms for you and your family. List how it will massively improve your financial security and your lifestyle. The more meaning your why has, the better.

You’ll know when your why is optimal.

How?

Because you’ll feel the motivation pushing you forward. When your work has new, radically greater meaning, it improves literally everything you do. Your energy levels go through the roof. Your confidence increases. Your enthusiasm surges. Your decision making improves. Your thinking becomes clearer.

So, go and get to work on that list.

Little things. Massive impact. Fast

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business productivity

A very quick way to improve your results, is to seek out the little things that have the biggest impact. Then, put them to work.

Here are a few ideas to get you started.

  • Turn notifications off when you’re working on anything important. By working with unbroken focus, you’ll get more done, in less time and your work will be higher quality.
  • Plan your days in advance. Then work your plan. Otherwise, you’ll be reacting all day and far less productive. It’s also impossible to know if things are going according to plan, if you don’t actually have a plan.
  • Put a little time aside each day to contact one of your clients. Not to sell them something. Just to ask how they’re doing. Business relationships become stronger, when your clients don’t assume you’re selling something, every time you contact them. Plus, you’ll be better able to build useful, new services for your clients, if you communicate with them regularly.
  • Your subject lines are what motivate people to open your marketing emails. Invest an extra 15 minutes crafting them. Even if you only manage a 10% increase, that 15 minutes might be your most lucrative all day.
  • Check your website and make sure your contact forms work. It only takes a few minutes. One day you’ll be glad you did. I learned this one the hard way!

Little things can have a massive impact. So why not take one of these little examples and see if you can apply it today? 

How to crack the success code

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how to crack success code, crack success code

Hard work gets a bad rap.

Sure, it’s important to work smart.

Obviously, it’s important to work with passion, professionalism and great care.

But without the commitment to do all the work required, we’re dramatically limiting our potential. All the work required, includes the hard work… the kind of work we tend to either put off or avoid completely.

I’ve met countless business owners over the years, who are great at what they do, but lack the work ethic needed for the success they desire. They either fail to work the hours required, or they do the hours, but fail to do the work required during those hours.

I’ve never met a successful person in any field, who lazy-assed their way to the top. Yes, there are some wealthy businesspeople who sometimes forget to tell us they were born rich or inherited a fortune. But those who start from square one and make it to the top, work hard.

We do well to follow their example.

Why?

They’ve cracked the success code!

By doing the hard work, as well as the smart work, soon enough they find they have the resources to hire people [or buy the technology], to do a lot of the heavy lifting. They can then adjust their workload so it suits them perfectly.

The best way I ever heard this approach explained, was by the late Zig Ziglar.

“If you will be hard on yourself, life will be easy on you. But if you insist upon being easy on yourself, life is going to be very hard on you.”

  • It isn’t about over-working.
  • It isn’t about working too many hours.
  • It isn’t about working too many days in a row.

It’s about doing the work required, during work hours. And then enjoying our leisure time. Nothing more than that, but nothing less than that, either.

Let’s take a look at your website

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website copywriting, web copy

Your website looks great, but you’re not getting the marketing results you need from it. If that sounds familiar, today’s post is written specifically for you. 

Let’s go.

Your site is either working for your business or it isn’t. In order for it to work, it has to do 2 things extremely well.

  1. Prospective clients or customers need to find what they’re looking for, quickly. 
  2. When they’ve found it, your site must motivate them to take the required action. 

That’s where your focus has to be. 

Occasionally you’ll find an amazing designer who totally gets this. But they’re rare in the typical, small business price range. So, you’ll end up with a cool looking website, but the copy / messaging will be ineffective.

Your site’s task is to be a sales generating machine for you and your business. Period. It should be, and it could be, one of your most valuable business assets. 

If your site isn’t delivering a predictable, continuous flow of sales or new clients, fix it. Make the content more compelling. Use words that inspire prospects to hire you or buy from you. 

A good place to start is by finding a new copywriter. This is especially the case if you wrote the current copy yourself. Your new, motivating copy will start working for you as soon as it’s live on your site. It’s one of those areas where immediate marketing results happen. 

This is a powerful, fast-acting improvement you can make to your marketing. Something that can quickly increase your sales figures. So, what are you waiting for? 

A rare marketing opportunity for your business

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get noticed, make noise, make difference

We rarely find a business that answers their support phone line as fast as their sales phone line.

We rarely find a business that treats customers as individuals, with individual requirements.

We rarely find a business that is willing to demonstrate true leadership in its sector or industry.

We rarely find a business that has the courage to innovate.

We rarely find a business that shows genuine respect for the environment.

We rarely find a business that offers a uniquely valuable service.

We rarely find a business that sets self-imposed deadlines and consistently achieves them.

We rarely find a business that under-promises with its marketing messages.

The opportunity

What’s even rarer, is to find a business doing all [or even most] of the above. When we do, they attract our attention, they earn our custom and they gain our loyalty. Plus, we tell everyone about them. That’s a massively valuable combination.

It’s important to remember that everything your business does is marketing; an opportunity for you to create a powerful, commercial impact.

Steve Jobs, Einstein and the power of focus

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If you’d like greater clarity, more energy and dramatically improved results, you’ll find the following ideas really useful. It’s all about how to harness the power of focus.

It starts with something that seldom gets mentioned, yet is critically important.

It’s simply this: One of the fastest ways to massively improve your success rate, is to give your full focus to as few projects as possible.

steve jobs, power of focus, einstein

Photo: Shutterstock

Why focus on fewer things?

When you are a small business owner or consultant, you have a relatively limited number of resources. You’re required to work on many tasks, which larger companies have dedicated teams for.

By focusing your valuable time on developing too many ideas or opportunities, you dilute how effective you can be with any one of them.

What follows are 2 well-known examples of the power focus, along with lesser known benefits of improving your focus.

Einstein on the power of focus

Einstein is famously quoted as saying that one of the reasons for his amazing success, was his ability to focus on each individual challenge for as long as required.

By intentionally choosing to focus on one project or plan at a time, and saying ‘no’ to the multitude of other ideas demanding your attention, you get to give your full mental resources to the development of that idea.

You also eliminate Mind Fog: The fuzzy thinking that comes from focusing on too many things simultaneously.

Steve Jobs on the power of focus

Steve Jobs shared his thoughts on the power of focus, at the Apple Worldwide Developers’ Conference in 1997:

“People think focus means saying yes to the thing you’ve got to focus on. But that’s not what it means at all.

It means saying no to the hundred other good ideas that there are. You have to pick carefully. I’m actually as proud of the things we haven’t done as the things I have done. Innovation is saying no to 1,000 things.”
– Steve Jobs

The lesson here is clear. In all of your planning, it pays to start by determining what’s the very best use of your focus. Then, give that project, idea or opportunity as much of your available time as required.

But that’s not all.

There’s another major benefit to channelling your focus correctly.

The ‘extra’ power of focus

As well as the benefits already mentioned, the power of focus brings with it another, highly valuable component.

I’m referring to off-the-charts energy levels!

Not convinced? Well, you’ve already seen this in action many, many times. It’s what you witness every time you’ve heard someone talking with great enthusiasm and passion about a project, idea or opportunity.

These high energy entrepreneurs and leaders do not see their energy defused by foggy thinking. Instead, their laser sharp focus brings great clarity. That clarity increases their direction and purpose. They’re then energized and ready to go!

I hope you’ve found this brief look at the power of focus useful. More importantly, I hope it inspires you to take greater control over the number of things you focus on.