Jim's Marketing Blog

Marketing ideas to help you grow your business

The mindset adjustment that transforms businesses

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How good are you, when it comes to making business decisions?

That’s a really important question.

Why?

Because good decision-making is an essential part of growing a successful business. That’s why today, I’m going to share a very simple idea with you, which I found extremely useful. It helped me become a massively better decision-maker. More importantly, it can help you, too.

Let’s go!

Much of the email I receive from readers, is connected to a problem they have, regarding a decision. Usually, it’s a decision they’ve been wrestling with or procrastinating on. And in almost every case, the fact they’re delaying the decision, is making things a lot worse. That’s to say, their inaction is turning a minor challenge into a major problem.

The idea that improved my mindset

If you or someone you know struggles with decision-making, consider the following fact. It shifted my mindset to decision-making and allowed me to transform my business.

A decision is always made. Because time will make it, if you do not.

Here’s an example of what I mean.

A guy wakes up with toothache, decides to ignore it, take some painkillers and goes to work. He does this day after day. He tells himself he’s busy. He tells himself that if things don’t improve he’ll make a dental appointment. Eventually, he needs emergency dental treatment. It’s now a much bigger problem. Plus, he’s been in pain, unnecessarily, for days or weeks. And the cost of treatment is higher.

That’s what happens, when we allow time to make a decision for us. We end up with a much bigger issue to deal with. The situation is out of our hands. There’s a lot more pain attached. And it’s more expensive.

There are 2 lessons I took from this

Firstly, we can’t avoid making decisions. We can only delay them. And no one procrastinates their way to success.

Secondly, by delaying decisions, we surrender control of the outcomes. Any business that loses control of its outcomes, has extremely limited potential.

In short, once we have the information we need, it’s time to quit stalling and make a decision. This mindset shift inspired me to become a better decision-maker and build a better business. I hope it helps you too.

Bonus — Here are 10 Daily decisions to help you smash your business goals.

Use these 10 examples to make your business massively more valuable

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Are you tired of attracting too many price-sensitive enquiries? If so, you’re not alone. This simple to fix issue is one of the most common in marketing.

Simple to fix?

Yes!

We know exactly why it happens and how to fix it. Here’s what you need to know, along with 10 examples to get you started.

Here’s why it happens

When competing products or services seem similar, price becomes the obvious way to determine value. As such, there’s little, if any, motivation for someone to pay more. In this common scenario, the lowest price looks like the best deal.

Sure, they “may” go for the 2nd or 3rd lowest price, hoping to insulate themselves from scammers or super-low quality goods or services. The key thing is that at this point, they’re price shopping. And you’re now competing on price.

Here’s how to fix it

A proven way to totally overcome this problem, is through something I call radical value.

Radical value is when you take what the marketplace expects from someone in your industry, and then radically improve upon it.

By default, anything with radical value has to be radically different. This places you in a unique position. A position, where you’re no longer competing on price, because your offering has no comparative competition!

What might this look like?

A business owner using the radical value approach may offer her marketplace:

  1. A service that comes with a 125% money-back guarantee.
  2. A product that’s provably safer than anything in it’s category.
  3. A product that’s 50% lighter than the industry leader.
  4. A service that’s designed from the ground up, around the unique needs of each client.
  5. A product that’s the only one in its class, to be made from 100% renewable sources.
  6. A product that’s part of a numbered, limited edition.
  7. A service that’s 3 times faster than the industry leader.
  8. A product that’s far longer lasting than anything in its niche.
  9. A service that’s massively more extensive than anything else available to your marketplace.
  10. A product that’s clearly the most energy efficient in its class.

Those ideas are just food for thought. They’re simply examples, to demonstrate the kind of meaningful difference, which represents radical value.

Important

Be sure to invest the time and effort required, to create something that’s truly radical and truly valuable. Marginal improvements have marginal impact. They won’t elevate your offering to the point where you have no comparative competition.

So let your creativity run wild. And aim for maximum impact.

60 words on reflection

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marketing help, marketing advice

Someone emailed me with a question, which I’d love to share with you.

She wanted some free advice, on how to “deal with the losers” who ask her for free advice.

The lesson here? It pays to look in the mirror before we’re critical of others. With a little reflection, we may learn something about ourselves… or avoid looking silly.

1 Word you absolutely must remove from your marketing

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What is the main reason someone should buy from you or hire you?

That’s a question, which many small businesses struggle with. And it hurts their marketing. It means they are unable to provide their prospective clients with a clear, compelling reason to buy from them, rather than a competitor.

The thing about solutions

This is why we see the word solutions used in amateur marketing all the time, to describe what a business does.

Note – If you’ve already, clearly stated the value you bring, it’s okay to use the word. I’m talking about when business owners use solutions instead of being specific.

For example:

  • HR solutions.
  • Email marketing solutions.
  • Cost effective solutions.
  • Training solutions.
  • Or “we offer a range of solutions”, etc.

They’re telling us nothing.

Their message is weak. There’s no reason for us to contact them. So their marketing is largely ignored. And it loses them a fortune.

I don’t want that to happen to your business, my friend. So here’s a far more effective approach.

The alternative is to get specific

Determine the core value you bring to a prospective client. Then, communicate it with impact and brevity.

For example, instead of saying you, “offer a range of email marketing solutions”, get specific. Tell them, “We can help you increase sales and boost your profits, with professional, proven email marketing.”

Back in the 1980’s, business owners were advised to develop an elevator pitch. The idea was to create a compelling 5 or 10 second business introduction. Commerce today, online and offline, is like a series of elevator pitch-type interactions. Your prospective clients are busy. Really busy. They’re being bombarded with emails, calls, social network updates, text messages… it’s relentless.

They don’t have time for long or vague marketing messages. They want answers. Fast! That’s why a specific, brief and well-crafted message has never been more important or more effective.

So get specific.

Look for the core reason why a prospective client should hire you, rather than a competitor. Look for the tangible value your service offers. Then, communicate it in a compelling way. It’s far more powerful than claiming to offer a non-specific “solution”.

Why lists dominate content marketing. And why you should use them!

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Ever wondered why so many articles, blog posts, videos and newsletters are based around the idea of a list?

Yes, you’re right. It’s because they’re extremely popular. People love them. And it’s easy to see why.

Lists = Lots of ideas. And fast!

List-based content promises a number of bite-sized ideas or suggestions. And fast! So when we see “10 habits of highly successful business owners“, we’re not expecting an in-depth examination of commercial success.

No.

We’re expecting ideas. And we hope that at least one of those ideas will help us in some way. If it does, it will repay the 3 or 4 minutes we invested in reading it.

This begs the question: Does your marketing mix contain list-based content?

If not, I suggest you give it a try. Lists are perfect for sharing, which makes them ideal if you want to expand your reach on social networks. New readers who discover your work through list content, will then get the chance to see your more detailed work. Others will follow you on the networks, where they see your lists shared. Almost all of my most shared blog posts are lists. This list-based page has been shared over 50 thousand times.

Lists can also be very powerful, when it comes to increasing your email marketing open rates. Email marketing that has a list in the subject line, can result in massively increased open rates.

Here’s why.

Most small business owners are not expert copywriters. As such, the subject lines they use for their email marketing tend to under-perform. And poorly written subject lines result in low open rates. This means no matter how good their marketing message is, very few people will see it.

Using an average list title as the subject line of a marketing email, will always out-perform an average, regular subject line.

So, Should I focus exclusively on lists, Jim?

No. No you shouldn’t. Seriously. Don’t!

Allow me to explain.

True, there are YouTubers making a fortune from creating only list-based videos. And yes, there are sites that attract millions of readers, who rely very heavily on list-based content. However, relying exclusively on lists is a bad fit for most small business owners. They should be used sparingly.

For example, I could have written this post as a list.

  • It would have taken me half as long to write.
  • It would have been shared a lot more on social networks.
  • And the email version of the post would have been opened by a lot more people.

However, I wanted to dig a little deeper into one thing… the marketing effectiveness of lists. I didn’t want to weaken that focus with “15 Reasons why lists dominate the internet”.

Here’s the thing: Sometimes, you need to offer more substance around one subject. Other times, an issue could be impacting your readers and you need to address it. And there are times when you want to share one really useful idea, which wouldn’t work if you broke it down into a list of sub-ideas. In other words, that same surface-level approach that makes lists so popular, renders them useless for anything that requires depth.

So mix it up.

Test and measure

If you haven’t already used list-based blog posts, articles, videos, podcasts or newsletters, give it a go. Experiment. Test different types of list. Measure the feedback. Check things (metrics) including; sales, leads, open rates, social shares and new subscribers.

In short, if you’re not embracing list-based content, you’re missing out on a huge opportunity.

The step by step guide to marketing your business

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Lawrence from New Jersey emailed me with a great question. He wanted to know why I don’t provide any step-by-step marketing guides.

Here’s my answer. It contains an exceptionally valuable marketing tip, which I hope you find useful.

The thing about cookie cutters

Cookie cutters are extremely effective when you’re making cookies. They let you produce lots of identical looking cookies, very fast.

Conversely, a cookie cutter approach to marketing is of very little value.

Why?

Because by using the same marketing approach as your competitors, your marketing becomes identical to theirs. You become camouflaged. This makes it very, very hard for prospective clients to find you. And when they do find you, you’ll seem way too similar to your competitors, so there’s no reason to contact you. Oh, and if they do contact you, they’ll be price sensitive.

Throwing away the cookie cutter

Successful marketing is about standing out. It’s about being noticed by the right people and giving them a compelling reason to hire you or buy from you. And for that you need an individual approach.

  • You need marketing that sets you apart from your competition, so you are the one who gets hired.
  • You need marketing that gets you noticed for all the right reasons, by all the right people.
  • You need marketing that’s specific to you; your unique business, your unique situation and your unique goals.

However.

The marketing guides available via blogs, websites, seminars, webinars, and books, etc., are designed to be used by a wide range of business owners. This means you end up with the same generic marketing ideas as everyone else.

That’s the recipe for how to be ignored! It’s also the total opposite of what you need. And it explains why I don’t provide step-by-step guides.

Instead, I strive to encourage you to stand out. To get specific. To take your marketing seriously. Because that’s the only way to get the attention you need, the sales you need and the results you need.

Let’s grow your business!

I can help you build a more successful business, increase your sales, attract more clients and boost your profits.

Find out how