Marketing tips, marketing help and advice

Marketing Tip: Get your business talked about for all the right reasons

By Jim Connolly | December 15, 2017

Here’s something we know for certain about 2018.

Your clients and prospective clients will carry on having conversations. They’ll continue to chat about the things that grab their attention. They’ll talk with their friends and contacts about the things that delighted them. They’ll carry on recommending products and services.

This means that it’s time for you to start developing a plan for 2018. A plan to ensure your business is a part of these super-valuable conversations. So you can benefit from an ongoing flow of word-of-mouth recommendations.

What’s next?

Don’t worry. I have you covered. This free resource will help you make your business totally remarkable. And remarkable businesses are the ones that people talk about, for all the right reasons. I hope you find it useful, my friend.

Do Facebook ads work?

By Jim Connolly | December 9, 2017

So, do Facebook ads work?

At least a couple of times every week, people tell me a version of the following:

“I spent (x amount of money) on Facebook ads. I got some new likes, but it didn’t attract any new customers / clients”.

Successful online advertising is hard. No, giving Facebook (or Google, etc) your money and placing your ad isn’t hard. They make that part really simple.

The hard part is learning how to make money, buying ads for your business.

Do Facebook ads work? Here’s the challenge

Facebook ads are sold as a super-fast solution. The pitch looks like this: You can quickly get your ad in front of thousands of local, potential customers. Surely, with all those people seeing your ad, some of them will take action and hire you or buy from you.

It’s tempting, to say the least.

The reality is very different. Ad buying is NOT a quick fix. It’s a slow burn, which is MARKETED to you as a quick fix.

It may be true that 100,000 people near you can potentially see your ad. But that doesn’t mean Facebook ads work. This is because it’s really tough to get those people to do what you need.

You need them to notice your ad. And people are getting better and better at filtering out online advertisements.
You then need your ad to motivate them enough, so that they click on it. This is tricky, even for the pros.
You then need them to visit your website.
You then need them to feel inspired enough by your site, to either hire you, buy from you or make an enquiry. Even if the advertising platform has worked for you, your site needs to compel people to take action.

Do Facebook ads work? Think medium to long-term

If you want to buy ads on any online platform, accept in advance that it’s likely to take time and money, before you make a healthy profit. It’s not a magic bullet. If you go into ad buying with a medium to long-term mindset, you’ll give yourself the best chance to make it work.

And make no mistake, online advertising (including Facebook ads) can work exceptionally well. That’s why good advertising professionals are paid a fortune. Just don’t expect to hit the advertising jackpot by dabbling with a few ads, when times are tough and you need a quick fix.

You could get lucky. But luck isn’t a strategy.

So go into it (or any form of advertising) with your eyes wide open. Unless you already know what you’re doing, online advertising is a slow burn. Not a quick fix.

So, do Facebook ads work? If you have the time and money to learn how to us them effectively, then they can work. Do Facebook ads work for small business owners in need for quick results? No. Without knowing exactly what you’re doing, you’re unlikely to get fast results.

Shocking news: Your prospective clients regularly read blogs

By Jim Connolly | December 8, 2017

Image: Danielle MacInnes.

It’s true. Your prospective clients visit blogs. And they visit them regularly, too.

I know, I know. They told you they didn’t visit blogs or you assumed they didn’t, but they do. However, they probably don’t even know it.

Allow me to explain.

Blog = website

A blog is just a website: A framework for delivering information. If a website is interesting, people will read it. Your prospective clients don’t care what framework a website is built on. They care about the content of the site.

As the name suggests, Jim’s Marketing Blog is very clearly a blog. However, many other websites built on the same WordPress blogging software I use, have less obvious names.

These include; BBC America, CNN, Time, The New York Post, Variety, USA Today, The Star Wars website, Sony Music, MTV News, The Walt Disney Company website, The Harvard Gazette, The New Yorker, The Mercedes Benz website and lots of other sites, read by hundreds of millions of people… including your prospective clients!

WordPress sites alone account for just under 30% of all Internet traffic. And there are many other blogging platforms. Think about that number for a moment.

What could this mean for your business?

The marketing potential from blogging is huge. And it’s getting better all the time.

Here’s one of the foundations of successful marketing: Be where their attention is. So, where is the attention of your marketplace?

Here are a few of the most common attention grabbers.

Facebook and other social networks. Blogs are designed to be easily shared on social networks. And that’s exactly what happens. Rather than buying Facebook ads, you can let Facebook users share YOUR site with THEIR friends.
Phones, tablets or computers. Modern blogs are designed to look great, regardless of what device you view them on.
Search engines. Blogs, especially WordPress, are designed to be easy for Google to crawl and index – making them easier to find on Google and other search engines.
Email. Blog posts (like this one) can be delivered via email. In fact, massively more people read my blog via email than on the blog itself.

In other words, blogging places you right where the attention of your marketplace is. And the value of that connection is hard to overstate.

For instance, client enquiries from my blog have increased year-on-year, every year, since I started blogging almost a decade ago. And it’s not just me. I work with people every week, who have seen the same pattern of results from their business blogs.

You can do the same

You too could be where the attention of your marketplace is (without spending a penny on advertising). You could be attracting client enquiries, rather than pursuing them. You could be order taking, rather than selling.

Tip: Here are 25 more reasons to start a business blog.

The tricky part?

Although our prospective clients DO visit blogs, they DON’T bother with the typical, dull, small business blogs. We need to be prepared to invest in our blogs the same way we invest in every other key area of our business. And that means taking time to deliver something, that’s as useful as possible, as often as possible. It means learning how to do it right – rather than following generic “how to blog” guides.

It means having a strong commitment to the community we serve.

Questions worth answering

Now you know your prospective clients regularly visit blogs, isn’t it time you reconsidered starting one?

And if, like many business owners reading this, you have a blog that isn’t working for you, is it time to start taking it seriously?

I can’t answer those questions for you. I can only let you know that a marvellous opportunity is staring you right in the face. It’s an opportunity, which increases in value every day. An opportunity, to benefit from the most powerful form of marketing I have ever known.

Do marketing gimmicks work? Yes. Here’s how!

By Jim Connolly | December 7, 2017

I think you’ll find today’s post really useful. I’m going to share some ideas, to help you understand how marketing gimmicks work and how you can use them, to massively increase the reach of your marketing.

How a marketing gimmick went viral

Some years ago, I discovered a business blog. The thing about this blog, was that the author cussed and swore. She didn’t just drop the occasional f-bomb. No. She took every opportunity to swear. It was a marketing gimmick, done for effect.

And it worked. It worked really, really well!

At the time, she attracted a lot of attention and interest. People were talking about her. Back then, it was rare for a business blogger to cuss in their posts. Many people emailed me links to her latest posts, dazzled by her profanity.

She gained a lot of visibility. Visibility that had the potential to help her attract a huge (and extremely valuable) audience.

And then… she vanished!

No, she didn’t literally disappear. But she did soon vanish from the radar of public attention.

Why?

Well, it turned out that all she had to offer her readership was her cussing. At her core, she was just ‘yet another’ business blogger. So although her marketing gimmick drew people in, once the initial shock value wore off, there was nothing to return for. It was a missed opportunity.

Marketing gimmicks: making them work

Make no mistake, marketing gimmicks work. That’s to say, they can help you to get noticed… and noticed fast, by a huge slice of your marketplace. Plus, if you use a little creativity, it can cost you pennies.

However, there’s a limit to what we can achieve with gimmicks alone. That’s because while a good gimmick can open a door for you, you then need to deliver something useful.

Here’s an example of what I mean.

Imagine you wanted to massively increase the audience for your newsletter, podcast, vlog or blog. You could use a marketing gimmick to get people talking about you, sharing your content and subscribing. But, to benefit from all that valuable attention, you’d then need to offer something of substance… helpful ideas, interesting information, useful insights, etc.

Marketing gimmicks: The bottom line

The bottom line looks like this: Marketing gimmicks will attract people’s attention. Substance will retain their attention.

Before coming up with a marketing gimmick, focus on what you ultimately want to achieve. Then have a process in place, so that the initial gimmick is followed-up with something of value. That’s how to attract people’s attention, retain their attention and earn their trust.

With the ongoing attention and trust of your marketplace, you can achieve great things for your business. Start with a marketing gimmick. But remember that the gimmick is only the start. It opens a door of opportunity. Nothing more.

Tip: If you found this useful, you can get my latest ideas delivered direct to your inbox, for free, right here.

Stop trying to appeal to everyone. Really. Stop it!

By Jim Connolly | November 25, 2017

Today, I’d like to show you how to avoid one of the most common (and costly) marketing mistakes.

Let’s go!

One of the cornerstones of successful marketing, is to identify exactly who your customer or client is, then focus exclusively on them. This is the opposite of what we see most small business owners doing. They try and be a little relevant to everyone, only to find they become directly relevant to no one.

Don’t do that.

Really.

Stop it.

It’s hurting your business!

So, here’s a smarter and massively more effective alternative.

Insiders

In order for your marketing to work, you need to determine exactly who you want to provide your services to. These people are your insiders.

Insiders are the ones you should focus your time and effort on. They are the ones you need to have in mind, whenever you make a marketing decision.

Of course, you can’t have insiders without outsiders.

Outsiders

It sounds a little risky to regard some people as outsiders. However, it’s the safest thing you can do. That’s why every successful business has outsiders. For example, if you’re Apple, your outsiders are people who want cheap technology. If you’re Gap, your outsiders are people who don’t care about fashion.

By deciding who your insiders are, you can create marketing that’s directly relevant to them. This is really important.

Why?

Because in order for your marketing to motivate someone to buy from you, it needs to be compelling. This means it needs to talk directly to them. Vague marketing, which tries to appeal to as wide a group as possible, lacks the impact required.

Ironically, this means that the wider range of people you try and appeal to, the fewer people you will reach with the impact required.

Decide what your ideal customer profile is

Then market exclusively with them in mind.

For example:

Compose every piece of marketing as if you were talking directly to them.
Use their language.
Study what matters to them.
Be where their attention is.
Uncover the problems facing their industry.
Offer answers.
Become a useful resource.
Build services that address their specific wants and needs.
Become known as a specialist provider to their industry, rather than a generalist. (Specialists earn more, attract better clients and are always in high demand).

In short, make your marketing directly relevant to your ideal profile of client. This one step, will give you a powerful marketing advantage over the vast majority of your competitors.

How to build a massively valuable community, without Facebook or any other network

By Jim Connolly | November 20, 2017

What do Facebook, Twitter, Snapchat and Linkedin have in common?

They’re relied on by millions of business owners, as a way to connect with their marketplace.
Plus, these same business owners have zero control over them.

Think about that for a moment.

On Friday, the popular Unilad Facebook Page was removed from Facebook. It has over 34 million likes and reaches billions of people. The page came back after a couple of days, following a huge media outcry.

The whole thing served as a timely reminder. A reminder that outsourcing the communication channel between your business and your marketplace, to an unaccountable 3rd party, is really risky.

Of course, if you or I have our main social account deleted, there’s unlikely to be a huge media outcry. Click… and we’re gone, along with the community we built.

The answer?

The answer is to take control away from social networks.

How?

My recommendation isn’t sexy. It’s not fashionable. It’s certainly nothing new. But it works. And it’s of massive value.

I’m referring to email!

Sure, use social as a way to connect with prospective clients / customers, if you really want to. But encourage those people to give you permission to contact them via email.

Pushing ads isn’t community building

Many small business owners fail with email, because they make their emails little more than a series of advertisements. Every email should contain what I call Independent Value. This means the reader should get something of value, independent of whether they spend money with you.

So no, a series of emails from you all about special offers isn’t going to cut it. That’s advertising, not community building.

Here’s what works: Only contact people when you have something useful to share. Show up regularly. You’ll then be building your very own permission-based community (what Internet marketers refer to as “your list”).

Yes, make it easy for people to get in touch with you, when they want to hire you or buy from you. Just don’t make that the focus of your emails.

Get it right and you’ll never be reliant on any social network.

I don’t have the time, Jim

A couple of interesting things happen, when you no longer need to spend all that time every day, feeding your business’ social networks.

You’ll rediscover the time you lost. This will give you more than enough time to build your own email community. I’m a dad, husband and I run a successful marketing business with clients all over the world. Plus, I work out for over an hour every day. However, I spend less time on social networks than anyone I know. That’s not a coincidence.
You’ll also find it massively easier to focus. It’s difficult to concentrate on anything, when you’re being constantly distracted by social media updates.

These benefits combine to provide you with a far more productive working environment.

They also “gift” you the additional time and clarity required, to create useful content for your email community.

Business and personal

An important distinction needs to be made, between business and personal use of social networks.

I’m not suggesting you stop connecting with family and friends.

Far from it! I myself use Twitter socially. The vast majority of my contacts and tweets are not connected to my business. It’s a leisure activity for me, which I really enjoy.

My point is the importance of building your business community on a platform, which YOU control. It’s about highlighting the risks of handing the main communication channel between you and your marketplace, to a 3rd party, over which you have zero control.

How effective can building an email community be, when a small business handles it correctly? Well, despite Jim’s Marketing Blog being one of the most popular blogs in its niche, 12 times MORE people read the email version of the blog. My email readership is also, easily my biggest source of new clients and enquiries.

Outsourcing the communication channel with your marketplace, to any social network, is extremely risky. It’s also 100% avoidable.

Here’s what you need to know: This is a proven example, which shows you how to get it right. It includes how I helped a client build a massively valuable reader community. You can read it here.

The extraordinary truth about your business

By Jim Connolly | November 15, 2017

Fact: You are capable of extraordinary things.

There are no ordinary people. It’s just that some of us settle for ordinary results. We make ordinary decisions and take ordinary actions.

It’s easy to be ordinary. We simply need to follow the masses. It requires no courage and no creativity. It’s like living on autopilot. This is why millions of extraordinary people live ordinary, unfulfilled lives.

So, how do you become extraordinary?

You don’t need to do a thing! You are already extraordinary. You were born that way. However, there are 2 things you should do, to build an extraordinary business and life.

Make extraordinary plans. This means deciding what you want, rather than settling for the ordinary.
Summon the courage to put your plans into action. It’s tricky to break free from the masses and do your own thing. However… remember those periods of your life, where you needed to be brave? That’s proof that you have the courage required. You need to dig deep down and summon that courage. But it’s there. Right now. Just waiting.

Those 2 steps are all that separate us from enjoying an extraordinary life.

Questions and answers

Is it easy? No. It’s challenging.

Is it worth it? Absolutely.

Can you do it? Yes. You’re extraordinary and capable of almost anything you set your mind to.

Do you want it? That’s for you to answer.

Networking groups: How to get better results

By Jim Connolly | November 13, 2017

People often ask me for tips on how to get better results from their networking groups. In today’s post I am going to share an idea, which is seldom covered regarding networking. Yet, it’s the core reason why networking groups fail for so many business owners.

Let’s start by being very clear about why small business owners attend networking groups. The primary reason they give me, is that they want to connect with people, who may be a source of referrals or connections, which lead to new clients or customers.

That’s what I’m going to focus on here. I’m also primarily addressing physical networking groups, though the concept works for online networking too.

Getting the word out

When a business or project is new, it needs a push. The word can’t spread until you, as the business owner, start talking. In the early days, connecting with people who can help you spread the word is absolutely essential.

However, once a business is established or a project is no longer new, you shouldn’t need to keep attending networking groups, in order to get leads. There should be no need to keep pestering people to recommend you.

Here’s why:

Remarkable services spread.
Remarkable stories spread.
Remarkable resources spread.

Once you get the word out. Once people have heard about what you do. Once you start delighting your first clients or customers, the word will spread. And you will attract regular enquiries from eager, prospective clients.

The remarkable problem

Of course, the typical small business owner chooses not to build a remarkable business. They want to play it safe.

That’s is why the following scenario is so common.

Think about the service providers in your town, who are in the same industry as one another. They will offer a very similar range of services, to the very same prospective clients, make very similar promises and charge very similar fees. They’re totally, utterly unremarkable.

So, instead of attracting high quality enquiries from eager clients, they need to push, push, push.

This is where networking groups come in.

An unremarkable business has no legs

No matter how well the owner of an unremarkable business “works the room” at networking events. No matter how aggressively they push members of their networking group for leads… there’s a limit on what they can achieve. It’s a pretty low, uninspiring limit too.

They may, just may, manage to make an average living, doing average work, charging average fees to average clients.

Eating soup with a fork

Focusing on the best way to attract great clients via networking groups, is like seeking the fastest way to eat soup, using a fork.

Yes, with practice you may be able to eat soup faster with a fork than the average business owner. But any business owner using a spoon, will make 100 times more progress than you.

When it comes to building a successful business, we already know what works: Focus on offering a remarkable service. Then market it correctly.

7 Important questions your business needs you to answer

By Jim Connolly | November 8, 2017

Here are seven questions worth pondering, as you look to grow your business in 2018.

Who are the 10 leading people in your marketplace and how can you connect with them?
Is your mindset to risk, helping you grow your business, or do you need to be more entrepreneurial?
All of your competitors claim to offer an excellent service. What measurable benefits are there for someone to hire you, rather than a competitor?
Are your plans for 2018 exciting enough to provide the motivation you’ll need?
Is your online marketing; professional, clear and compelling?
If opportunity hasn’t been knocking for your business this year, how can you build a door for 2018?
What improvements would you make, if you absolutely had to grow your business by 200% next year?

Sure, it takes a while to transform your business results. However, you can improve your direction in an instant.

It’s time for you to get edgy. And here’s why!

By Jim Connolly | October 31, 2017

Today, I have a quick, yet really effective marketing idea to share with you. It’s simply this:

Success comes to the business owners, consultants, freelancers and trainers, who embrace the edges.

Allow me to explain what this means for you and your business.

Why it pays to embrace the edges

Clients will eagerly hire you if your service is measurably better than the competition. The best providers are few in number. They are always in demand. This means they earn the best fees.

Other clients will buy from you if you’re cheaper than the competition. If you know how to scale your business correctly for the low price model, you can make a fortune. And many business owners have.

Some clients will eagerly hire you if your service is measurably faster than the competition. The fastest providers in some industries are always in demand. The 2 hour dry cleaner. The express delivery service. Providers like these are always busy and can charge more, because they solve a problem fast.

Better.
Lower priced.
Faster.

Did you notice what those 3 all have in common?

They avoid the middle ground

Most business owners choose to cling to the middle ground. They’re neither better or lower priced or faster. And as a direct result, they make it impossible to grow their business in any meaningful way.

Impossible?

Think about it: There’s nothing to motivate a prospective client to hire a middle ground provider. Nothing. They’re just average. Average and immediately forgettable. Average and unremarkable. And it’s spectacularly hard, if not impossible, to succeed in an average, forgettable, unremarkable business.

A far, far better approach

One of the first things I do when I work with a new client, is to show them how to get their business from the middle ground to the edge. Once we have done this, we have a massively more motivating proposition for their marketplace. It becomes far easier for us to market their services. Plus, because they’ve chosen an edge, my clients also attract a regular flow of referrals and recommendations.

So, they no longer struggle to attract clients or customers. Instead, they become a magnet to those who value the edge they have chosen to embrace. I recommend you do the same with your business, my friend.

Every one of us needs to intentionally decide where we position our business. I strongly recommend you embrace the edges… and avoid the overcrowded, unremarkable middle.

Tip: This will help you get it right.