Jim's Marketing Blog

Marketing tips and ideas to help you grow your business

A new beginning or oiling the keys?

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content marketing topics

In business, things have changed more in the past 4 and a half years than they did in the previous 2 decades. The ‘old’ way of marketing, which many have patched up and tried to repair is not fit for purpose in 2024. It’s too irrelevant to be adapted.

It’s like oiling the keys on a typewriter, in an attempt to compete against the productivity of a laptop.

Here’s a proven, vastly better way forward.

Give your marketing a fresh beginning

What I did with massive success for my clients during the pandemic, and have carried forward since, is to start their marketing again. A totally new beginning. I started by asking them to answer the following question.

If you were marketing your business for the first time, based on today’s economic realities and marketplace expectations, what would your marketing need to look like?

By answering that question, you rid yourself of the toxic baggage that’s holding you and your business back. You give yourself the freedom to perfectly match the needs and wants of your prospective clients or customers. You free yourself of the legacy mistakes that are currently working against you.

That type of radical improvement is simply not possible, when all you’re doing is oiling the keys.

Go!

So, go on. Imagine you are marketing your business for the very first time. Take a look at the all-new landscape your business is surrounded by. Now, match your marketing strategy, your marketing tactics, your marketing messages, your promises, your guarantees, etc., so that they’re exactly what your prospective clients want and need.

I can tell you from experience, get this right and the results are spectacular.

Make 2024 your best year ever, even if you’re struggling today

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Business results, reflection, take action

Next week marks the 2nd half of 2024. If you want to finish the year strong, no matter how things are going for you right now, today’s newsletter is exactly what you need.

What follows is based on almost 30 years of experience, helping small business owners achieve their best results. It’s a very straightforward approach. And it works in every industry and profession.

And it starts with us taking a look at how our business has performed over the first half of 2024.

Reflection and action

If we reflect on our progress and discover we’re on course to hit or smash our 2024 targets, we need to take action.

  1. To stay focused.
  2. To persevere.
  3. To carry on doing the right things, correctly.

If we reflect on our progress and it looks like we’re not on course, we need to take action.

  1. To accept the urgency of the situation.
  2. To decide that more of the same is not an option.
  3. To get strategic. Important: Most business owners don’t know what an effective strategy is. Here’s a short, brilliant explainer video, by Professor Roger Martin.
  4. To make better decisions.
  5. To take better actions.
  6. To finish strong and turn things around.

And here’s the GREAT news

Whether we’re on target or off target, we can still make this a very successful year. Equipped with the right strategy and support, our decisions will improve, our actions will improve and our results will improve.

The key is to act. And to act in accordance with the results we’re currently experiencing.

Lots of small business owners get this wrong. Many of those who are off target today, will stay focused, persevere and carry on… with more of the same. They’ll stick with what they’re doing and hope that things will improve.

Over the years, I’ve helped thousands of businesspeople to transform their results. In every case, their turnaround success started after they took that number one step above. They accepted the urgency of their situation, which inspired them to make the required adjustments. 

Yes, I do this same exercise myself

On a personal note, the only reason my own business has been successful over the years, is that I have learned to review my progress, or lack of progress, and then to act accordingly.

If I was using the same approach to my business in 2024 as I was using even a few years ago, my own business would be contracting today.

We all need to reflect on where we are, and then act accordingly. So please take time to see where your business is today, look at its direction of travel, and make the required adjustments.

Photo: Richard Stachmann on Unsplash

Nothing can stop you now. Nothing!

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focused young female student doing homework using netbook sitting near cute cat

Everything you need in order to achieve every goal you have for your business is now available to you. The contacts you need, the clients or customers you need, the financial backing you need, the answers you need, the advice you need… everything.

For example.

More great contacts than you’ll ever need

Thanks to social networks, especially LinkedIn, it’s easier than ever for you to find the exact profile of business contacts you need. But that’s not all. Once you find your ideal contacts, connecting with them is really easy.

The financial cost of all this? Depending on the network you use and approach you use, it’s either free of charge or very inexpensive. What an amazing opportunity.

More clients or customers than you’ll ever need

Not only are there more clients out there than you’ll ever need, there are also more people out there, who already have trusted, direct access to your prospective clients.

Once they recommend you to your prospective clients, a hefty subset will quickly hire you. Far more than you can handle, though. So, only accept enough of them to smash your targets.
Note: I wrote about this at the start of the year, including how it works.

Seriously. Too many clients, too fast, can create big problems.

More financial backing than you’ll ever need

The money is out there and you have multiple ways to access it. Yes, the banks are full of money. The thing is, there are a lot of wealthy people right now, who are getting uninspiring returns on their investments. And a healthy subset of these people are very open to opportunities to invest.

Here’s what I k now about these wealthy investors. They have deep pockets, brave hearts and they’re smart. Smart enough to help you avoid mistakes. In other words, they’ll often invest their knowledge and experience into your business, too. This is often of greater value to you than whatever financial investment they make.

Every answer you’ll ever need

Regardless of what challenges you’re facing, there are people out there with the answers you need. These experienced professionals can save you years of wasted time and years of wasted opportunity. They’re also easier to find and connect with than at any time in history.

And there’s AI. You now have free or low-cost access to AI. So you can find answers and conduct research on just about everything, from the comfort of your preferred device. This is something previous generations were only able to dream about.

But it’s yours. Right here. Right now.

Every challenge now has a solution

Many business owners are unaware just how quickly they can fully-resolve any ongoing, stressful problem. One of the reasons for this, is that they haven’t yet noticed the plethora of solutions at their fingertips. Problems with everything from cash flow, sluggish business growth and lack of investment, to taxes, HR, recruitment and premises issues… just about anything you can think of, are now available to you.

Keep that in mind, if you’re worried about, or frustrated with, tough challenges right now.

Focus on the solutions, my friend. Because the exact answers you need are all around you — you’re swimming in them!

Photo: Sam Lion Pexels.com

10 Proven ways to get free publicity, starting now!

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marketing, free publicity

People will happily share your message for free. Below are 10 proven examples. Look for those that you can adapt, to gain free publicity for your products or services.

  1. If it makes them look clever. This is why social networks are packed with Einstein quotes.
  2. If it makes them look compassionate to their contacts or community.
  3. If by sharing it, they believe they will benefit directly or indirectly.
  4. If they care about you and they believe sharing your message will help you.
  5. If it says something they aren’t brave enough to say for themselves.
  6. If they believe it’s helpful or valuable and that their friends need to know about it. My newsletter is spread by people who find something useful in it, which they want their contacts to benefit from.
  7. If they think it will make them look ahead of the curve or well-informed.
  8. If it’s remarkable. Extremely satisfied customers tell their friends when they receive an amazing service.
  9. If it makes them appear generous to their friends.
  10. If they are part of your community and want others to join them.

Buying or attracting?

As I tell my clients, you can hire salespeople and buy advertising, or you can use a little creativity and build a growing crowd of advocates. That’s a crowd who have the attention and trust of the people they’re sharing your message with.

Trusted people, spreading your message with their friends, for free, is an exceptionally effective way to grow your business.

When was the last time?

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people looking at laptop computer

Photo by Fox on Pexels.com

When was the last time you tested different pricing models?

When was the last time you were contacted by a media outlet, for your professional opinion?

When was the last time you tested a new marketing tactic or strategy?

When was the last time you did something radically different from your competitors?

When was the last time you undertook detailed competitor research, so that you know what you’re actually competing against?

When was the last time you received a great referral from one of your customers?

When was the last time you updated your marketing materials?

When was the last time you took the lead in your industry?

When was the last time you took an idea that’s common and successful in a different industry, and applied it to your business?

When was the last time you seriously challenged one of your long-held business beliefs?

When was the last time you partnered with another business on a project?

When was the last time you updated your business goals and targets?

When was the last time you added a new product or service to your portfolio?

When was the last time you looked for new ways to solve problems, for your customers and prospective customers?

When was the last time you seriously asked yourself, if your business is growing as fast and as profitably as it could be?

When was the last time you saw a significant, sustained increase in profits, and what did you learn from it?

When it’s been too long

If it has been too long since you last did, or experienced, some of the above, now would be a great time to put that right.

Make a list. Then work your way through it. Some of these will be more challenging than others, but all of them are important enough to invest the effort required.

How to turn Free Offers into paying customers

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make free offers work, marketing free offers, freebies
Photo by Bernard Hermant on Unsplash

Yes, free offers can massively increase your sales. But you need to use them correctly in order to get the best possible results.

Let’s go.

There’s a famous saying that tells us, when it comes to business, “There’s no such thing as a free lunch”. We’ve been trained to believe that a freebie is seldom really free.

Why should this matter to you?

Allow me to explain.

Is it a free offer or just a mutual exchange?

I remember visiting a new cafe in my local town. They had signs everywhere offering free WiFi. The guy next to me called one of the staff over. He explained that he wasn’t able to access their free WiFi. He was told that in order to access it, he would need to set up a free account, giving his name, his email address and his postal address. The customer replied, “No way! I thought you said it was free? I already get more than enough spam”.

An awkward conversation followed, with the owner trying to defend their position and the customer saying the free WiFi offer was deliberately misleading. And of course, all this happened in front of the other customers. That negative exchange will have totally changed the customer’s experience.

The impact of a fake free offer will vary from person to person and from situation to situation. But it will be there. And you need to be aware of it, if you refer to mutual exchanges as free offers.

Full disclosure is a must

There is a way to largely mitigate the negative impact of the kind of free offer used by that cafe. It’s all about providing full disclosure. If you want people to take some kind of action in return for the offer, make it clear. If you ask for contact details, let people know why, right there, in the same space where you make the free offer.

People respond a lot better, when you’re being open and honest with them. For example, if you ask for their details, tell them what you intend to do with that information. If you don’t plan to sell their information, or send them ads from 3rd parties, tell them. Tell them that you respect their privacy.

Note: This also applies to online lead generation (or lead gen), where people are asked for their personal details in return for some kind of freebie. And remember that there are regulations governing the way you request, capture and store data, etc. These vary from country to country.

A genuinely free offer

If you make a genuinely free offer, (like the example below) with no strings attached, nothing concealed, it creates a much better impression than the previous examples. It also sets you apart from the masses. People will look for the usual disclaimer, but it won’t be there, because there isn’t anything for you to disclaim. They’ll quickly see that you’re being totally honest with them.

It will instantly improve how they feel about you, your business and the services you provide. It will help you earn their trust. And it will directly, dramatically improve the story they tell their friends.

The deli counter: A great free offer template

If you want a template for the best kind of commercial free offer, look no further than the free samples on a deli counter. It’s simple. And as long as the food is delicious, it’s highly effective. The prospective customer tastes the food ahead of buying it. If they like it enough, they’ll buy it.

Another reason why I chose the deli counter example, is that the profit margins on food are typically hundreds of percent. So the free offer costs the business very, very little. The prospect, however, attaches value based on the retail price.

Your free offers should strive for the same type of balance: A low cost for you to provide it, but a higher perceived value to the prospect.

In short, I recommend you take a structured approach to your use of free offers. Do the research first, based on what your goals are for the offer. Remember that full disclosure is extremely important on many levels. And whenever possible, use that deli counter example as a template.

An important lesson from the last 7 days

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marketing tip, biz dev

Today, I’d like to share a profoundly important marketing and business development idea with you, which is often ignored.

What makes it “profoundly important”? It’s literally (not figuratively) essential if you want to build a successful business and a very bright financial future! That’s why I am also going to show you how to get started.

I need to begin by asking you a question. How many of the marketing or business development tasks you worked on last week, were due last week?

Your answer to that question is important. It’s a great snapshot of how long-term or short-term your current horizon is.

The next 6 months, 12 months and 36+ months

It’s natural to focus on making your next sale or getting your next customer enquiry. It’s really important, too. However, it’s profoundly important to come up for air and look to your future. To work on the foundations of your marketing and business development, which will determine your success over the next 6 months, 12 months and 36+ months.

This might include answering key questions like.

  • How can you greatly increase the number of sales you make, in the next 6 months, 12 months and 36 months or more?
  • And how can you increase the profitability of those sales?
  • What could you be doing in order to significantly improve your customer retention rate and the number of customer referrals you receive?
  • What valuable, new product or service could you be working on, for your current and future customers?
  • Who are the useful people you need to introduce yourself to now, so you’ll have an existing relationship with them in your medium and longer term? There is a direct link between how well connected you are, and how successful your business will be. There’s more information on this here, (in the 3rd marketing tip).

Today’s important tasks absolutely need to be worked on. But the only way to build a spectacularly bright future, is to work today with our future in mind. We need to regularly make time to think, plan and work on our longer-term success.

This means resisting the temptation of being so wrapped up in today’s business challenges, that we have too few foundations in place, for the future success we are capable of achieving.

Plant a seed today

Make time today, even if it’s just 15 or 20 minutes, to advance a business idea you have. In doing this, you’ll be planting a seed for the future success of your business. Then tomorrow, plant, water or feed  another seed. And again the day after.

When harvest time comes, you’ll be very glad you did.

Photo by Stas Knop on Pexels.com

Your customer and your business, are one

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customer focus, focused on customer, us and us

What I am about to share with you is gold dust. And if you take a moment to read it, it can radically improve the success of your business.

It starts with this very simple idea.

You cannot develop greater value for your customer or deliver higher levels of service to your customer, without benefiting from it equally. That’s because your customer, and your business, are one.

Now I’ll explain why.

There’s only us and us

In business, when it comes to the vendor and the customer, there’s no us and them. There’s only us and us. You already know that customers are an essential part of your business. Logically, when you make things better for them, you make them better for your business, too. Your customer, and your business, are one.

A common objection I get when explaining this to business owners, is a version of the following.

But Jim, if I go to that extra effort and expense for my customers, it will cost me in time and money. The customer will benefit, but I’ll lose out.

Here’s where the confusion occurs.

Business owners will look at their current numbers, subtract any extra time or financial investment, and it doesn’t add up. What they’re missing is that their current numbers are a fraction as high, and a fraction as profitable, as they would be with the improved model.

Invest in delighting your customers

How do you switch to the improved model? You do it by developing your business, so that it’s transparently designed to be of massive value to your customers and prospects. I provide lots of useful information in that link, which you’ll find useful.

Here’s what we see from those rare business owners, already embracing this customer-focused attitude.

  • They attract the best customers.
  • They thrive in every economy.
  • They retain existing customers for massively longer.
  • They generate a buzz around their products or services, simply by doing what they do.
  • They never need to sell based on price.
  • They enjoy a hugely valuable profile in their marketplace.
  • They attract high-value opportunities, from brands who want to collaborate with them.
  • They are far more productive.
  • They attract endless word-of-mouth referrals.
  • They truly enjoy every working day, because all of the above things are happening.

All that, and more, can be yours, when you fully embrace the idea that your customer, and your business, are one. You’re then free to grow a high-profit business, doing your best work, for the best customers.

Do this correctly and you’ll be amazed at how quickly, and how dramatically, things improve for you.

You may want to publish your newsletter differently. Here’s why!

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email marketing, newsletters, newsletter marketing

I have an idea to share with you today regarding newsletter marketing. Specifically, how to reach a wider spread of your readership. Just think how that could help you increase your sales or client enquiries.

It starts with an accidental discovery I made years ago, when switching email marketing providers.

People sometimes ask me why I often publish my newsletter on a public holiday or on a Sunday. These are 2 days when far fewer of by readers are likely to be at work or focusing on work. The answer is that I publish when I have something useful to share with you. And I usually write and publish on the same day. That’s it.

I then noticed something extremely interesting when I dug into the email software analytics.

I discovered that my newsletters tend to get a similar open rate on Sundays and public holidays as they do on a regular week day.

However, the mix of readers is very different!

  • Many readers who open 90% or more of my weekday newsletters, seldom open those I send at different times.
  • But readers who seldom open my newsletter on a weekday, are far more likely to open those I send on a Sunday or public holiday.

If you have a set day and time to publish your newsletter, it’s worth testing an alternate day and/or time. It is entirely possible your marketing message will reach a far wider number of your overall readership.

Tip: I wrote this post about how to increase your email marketing open rates that you may find useful.

Photo: Miguel Á. Padriñán Pexels.com

Give yourself a huge competitive advantage… that’s rarely mentioned

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Empathy business, marketing, relationships

Empathy is rarely discussed when people talk about building a successful business. However, empathy is one of the most important components of effective marketing.

Think about it.

  • The vendors you feel closest to are those who understand you.
  • The vendors you value the most are those who appreciate you.
  • The vendors you’re most loyal to are those who take the best care of you.
  • And the vendors you tell your friends about are those who eagerly go the extra mile for you.

Why does this happen?

It happens because business is all about people.

More specifically, it’s about how people feel. That’s because our feelings are what drive the decisions we make, and our decisions are what lead to the actions we take. Feelings are what cause people to hire you, buy from you, trust you, recommend you and remain a loyal client or customer.

You truly care. So don’t keep it a secret

Yes, you care about your clients. And they know it.

But what about your prospective clients? Does your marketing reflect the fact that you’re passionately committed to helping them? If you’re not sure, try this.

Take a look at your most recent marketing or the content on your website, through their eyes. Does it leave the prospect in no doubt that you care about the people your business serves? If not, get to work on it.

A lot is said about the importance of out-smarting our competitors, yet little is ever said about out-caring them. Ironically, one of the smartest things we can do, is to make darn sure that our prospects know how much we care.

Why?

Because very few of your competitors, even those who care a great deal, will make it a core part of their marketing. They just take it for granted that prospects will know.

So, give your business a huge competitive advantage. Make it clear that you genuinely care about the people you serve. It will massively improve the way prospects feel about you. And those feelings are what drive their decisions and their actions.