Jim's Marketing Blog

As a glance at the news will confirm, these are very uncertain economic times.  This means people are thinking a lot harder now, before they decide who they spend their money with.  Money is a resource and when resources are low or we believe they are under threat, we use them very carefully.

Thankfully, when it comes to marketing and developing your business, we know what to do in times like these.  Back in 2007, we saw 2 strategies widely used by small and medium sized business owners:

1. Some did nothing, hunkered down and hoped things would pick up, before they went broke.  Hope is not a business strategy, and as we know, many sadly went out of business.
2. Others used the uncertainty as an opportunity to gain a disproportionate market share.  They did this by developing a strategy that attracted those clients, who would have previously gone to the providers who were hunkering down and hoping.

Although you can’t change the economy, you have complete control over the path you take with your business through these turbulent times.  Just like the sail of a ship being adjusted to benefit from the changing winds, you can adjust your marketing to benefit from the current uncertain climate.  The good news, is that if you do the right things correctly, there is a huge opportunity out there.

Doing the right things, correctly

I was inspired to write this post after speaking with 2 clients yesterday, who coincidently both joined my marketing program during the last recession.  They are proof that a downturn in the economy can lead to an upturn in your fortunes, when you do the right things, correctly.

The first client has a small B2C business in Wisconsin and she has enjoyed a rise in turnover of over 250% since she joined my marketing program, with an even greater increase in her profits.  All this despite her industry being in a serious slump.  Ask her competitors why their businesses floundered and many blame the economy, which is not so.  The same economic turmoil faced my client, but she was doing the right things, correctly.  The second client owns a B2B company in the South West of England and he’s seen even greater results; again during a period where his competitors are in turmoil.

I’m not saying you are wrong to worry about all the uncertainty your prospective clients feel right now.  I’m saying that if you decide to do the right things correctly, rather than hunker down and hope it will end before your finances run out, you can do as my clients do and work it to your advantage.

It all starts with the commitment to do the right things, correctly.

• Not to dabble.
• Not to hit and hope.
• Not to jump from one bad marketing effort to the next.

Those are ineffective strategies in even a good economy, let alone the worst commercial climate in living memory.

Would you like to develop an extremely popular service, which significantly increases your revenues and profits?

If you just answered, “yes!” I have a question for you:  Do you listen to your marketplace?

I often hear from business owners, who bring a new service to market, only to find there is little demand.  What seemed like a great idea to them, was less appealing to their clients and prospective clients.  This happens because there’s often a big difference between what we think people need and what they actually need!

Listening

One of the best ways to avoid this happening to you, so your next new service is a huge success, is to listen to what your marketplace is saying.  Learn what their problems, fears and opportunities are and then, develop a service based on their needs.

Thankfully, it has never been easier to listen to what your marketplace is saying, than it is today.  Social sites like Twitter, Google+ and Facebook etc, make it possible to listen to people in your target market and get a real feel for what’s relevant to them.  Your clients and prospective clients often take their problems to social networks, in an effort to find answers or get support from people in similar situations.

The key is to listen.  I spend around 5% of my social networking time posting messages.  The vast majority of the time I am listening and learning how to better serve my marketplace.  As most of my non referral clients start off as readers of this blog, I listen extremely carefully to the messages in your comments and emails.  All that listening allows me to spot opportunities to help you.

For example, before I launched my new marketing consulting service last week, I knew there would be a high level of demand.  That’s because it provides something, which you have been asking me for; the opportunity to have me look over your business and give you the answers you need.  You asked for a high value, flexible way for you and your business to benefit from my answers and ideas, so I developed it for you and the response has been amazing.

Regardless of your industry or profession, you are paid to solve some kind of problem.  By listening to your marketplace, you can help ensure that your next new service is relevant, valued and in demand.

In the village where I live, there are 2 routes you can take to the next village.

• The first route is a regular road.  You can use this road to drive or cycle to the next village in minutes, but you won’t see a great deal.
• The second route is a bumpy footpath across several fields.  You can only walk along this route, but if you do, you will see; a stream, flowers, birds of prey, frogs, cows, sheep, horses, goats… You get the picture.

The first route reminds me of the path some people take with their business.  They need a so-called “proven” plan, a Dummies Guide – Something they can follow without too many surprises.

The second route reminds me of those adventurous souls in business, who continuously look for fresh ideas and new ways to render a remarkable experience to their clients.

There’s an old saying I love, which tells us:

Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away.

No one said business had to be boring or predictable.  If you feel a little uninspired with your business right now, take it off road for a little while.  You may find it extremely profitable!

People love to talk, you just need to give them a reason and make it easy for them to spread the word.

Word of mouth

If you want to develop word of mouth publicity or referrals, it helps if you understand a little about what motivates people to share information about you and your business.  Here are 10 reasons I have been thinking about today.  You can add yours to this list using the comments section below.

People spread the word about you because:

1. Something you did or said was remarkable.
2. By sharing a nugget of information from you, they get to look well-informed.
3. They are bored and you have made it easy to spread the word; relieving their boredom for a few moments.
4. It’s a good way to gain your attention, particularly if they do it online and mention you by name.
5. They trust and value what you have to say and feel compelled to share the wisdom.
6. By spreading the word about you, it may motivate you to spread the word about them.  This is known as reciprocity.
7. They want their name to be associated publicly with you or your brand.
8. You made a controversial point, which they were not brave enough to make.  By spreading what you said, they get to make the point, without attracting the flack.
9. You have been spreading the word about them for some time and they now feel obligated to reciprocate. (See number 6.)
10. Something you just wrote or said will be of genuine value to someone they care about, who needs that help right now.  (This post is a great example.)

Today, I am excited to launch a new service, which literally hundreds of people have asked me for.

A flexible, highly effective marketing service

Starting today, you will be able to work with me on any area of your marketing or business development, with total flexibility.  We can work together for a single, 90 minute session or on an entire project or anything in between!

• Maybe you need more high quality clients or high value sales?
• Your business may have reached a plateau and you want to take it to the next level?
• Perhaps you need help developing a new service, so it’s as attractive as possible to your prospective clients?
• It might be that you want to know how to differentiate your business, so you no longer have to compete on fees?
• Or it could be that you want to know how to get your website or blog delivering regular, high quality leads or sales?

The choice is yours, with fees starting at just £490 per session!

I believe this is the perfect opportunity for you to get the professional marketing help you need, from someone you know and trust, with the ability to scale the service around your exact requirements.

To find out how you and your business can benefit from working with me, get in touch now.  Either email me here or jim (at) jimsmarketingblog.com.  You are also welcome to call me any time on 01427 891274 (44 1427 891274 from outside the UK.)

There are 2 routes, which we can take in order to improve how highly we rank as a provider within our marketplace:

1. Invest in our development, strive to continuously improve and learn to be of as much value as possible. (Highly effective)
2. Invest our time bad-mouthing our competitors and belittling their work. (Ineffective and self-defeating.)

The first option is all about growth, contribution and longevity. The second option is all about hate, venom and short-term thinking.

Before you tell someone that one of your competitors is an idiot, be aware that they may think you are just saying it in order to make yourself look good. If they do, you will lose their respect and any chance of doing business with them.

You gain nothing by slamming your competitors. In fact, by attacking them, you will almost certainly hurt your own business far more than theirs.

Some people focus too much on the tools.

I’ve just returned to the office, after a wonderful week away with my family.  Whilst we were away, we spent a lot of time exploring the Yorkshire Moors and noticed something again and again.  Even though we were often driving at altitude, so high up that we were looking down on the clouds, there were lots of cyclists climbing these enormous inclines; using inexpensive looking bikes and wearing just regular clothing, rather than all that lycra stuff you usually see cyclists wearing.

One of these guys spoke with us, when we stopped to take some photos in the mountains.  He is 66 years old and cycles into the mountains most days.  He was hardly out of breath and explained that this is how he and many of his friends choose to travel whenever the weather allows it.  He was wearing a pair of baggy shorts, sandals and a regular looking shirt and riding a tatty looking old bike.

Conversely, I know people who are 20 years younger than that man, who spend thousands on their bikes and hundreds more dressing like they are in the Tour de France, yet the 66 year old on his clunker of a bike would leave them in the dust.  Why?  Because although those people have the best tools available, they eat crap, cycle irregularly and are out of shape.

You can go out today and spend a fortune on a great looking website, wonderful designs and kick-ass IT systems, but these are just the tools.

Yes, we need the right tools to do a job correctly, BUT it’s what we do with the tools, which will determine our results.

One of the best pieces of time management advice you can give someone is this: Either do it or don’t do it!

So many people waste so much time, with half-assed attempts at doing things.  They make a decision to take action, but then lack the conviction or courage to do it correctly; to invest the time, money or energy required.  This is why we see Twitter accounts that have not been updated in 2 years, blogs that have not seen a new post in 6 months and most New Year’s resolutions abandoned by April!

A second decision is required

Once you make the decision to do something, make a second decision: To do it wholeheartedly.  As Yoda famously said; “Do or do not…there is no try!”

Anything else is less than you deserve and will lead to frustration rather than progress.

My friend Nile Rodgers from Chic, regularly reminds me that these are the good times, both through his music and his inspirational blog posts, which cover his recent health challenges.

• No, these are not perfect times.
• No, these are not ideal times.
• But the present is all we have to work with, so until someone creates a time machine, we need to make the very best of what we have.  What we have, is today.

These ARE the good times

As we travel along the road from where we are, to where we want to be, it’s all too easy to put off the good times.

“When I have X amount in the bank, then I will be happy.” 

Trust me, if you don’t know how to be happy when you are broke, you won’t know how to be happy when you are wealthy.  Wealth and happiness are not as strongly related as many people seem to think.  Many of the happiest times in my life came when I was penniless.  I also know some very wealthy people, who have extremely poor quality lifestyles.  They have the money, but are still waiting for that magical point in time, when they can finally enjoy it all.

As Nile explains far better than I can, every day should be seen as a bonus; something special to enjoy and get every drop of juice we can from.

Whilst working for those things that money can buy, it pays to ensure we are not missing out on the things, which money can’t buy.

As always, thanks for the inspiration, Mr Rodgers!

Photo: Nile Rodgers

Professional marketing is not just about attracting new clients.  It’s about attracting high quality clients; the kind of people or businesses you want to work with, value your work and who pay you accordingly.

Low quality clients from ineffective marketing

The challenge here is that many small businesses do not market their services correctly.  As a direct result, they often end up working with low quality clients.  These typically include:

• Clients who pay them too late and cause cash flow problems.
• Clients who pay them too little.
• Clients who clearly grab more of their time and energy than they pay for.
• Clients who are just a total pain in the ass to work with!

In an effort to get money in, these business owners feel pressured into accepting almost any clients who come their way.  In doing so, they take a short-term decision, which usually leads to long term problems that reduce their chances of business survival, let alone success.

Working in a business with a low quality client list can be pretty soul destroying too.  It’s also not uncommon for your worst clients to be your most demanding clients.  I have often seen businesses, where 50% of their time is spent on the worst 10% of their clients.

When I first start working with a new client, I make it a priority to redesign their client list, so they can fire their over-demanding, unappreciative and bad paying clients.  Today, I am going to suggest that you consider doing the same.  I recommend you start developing a marketing plan to rid yourself of your lowest value clients and replace them with the profile of client that is best suited to your business goals.

One in. One out

I have heard respected business leaders telling small business owners to fire their lowest value clients today.  I think these experts sometimes forget what it’s like running a small business and that if some small business owners were to take their advice, they would go broke within 30/60 days.  This is why I recommend replacing clients, one in, one out.  When your improved marketing generates a high quality client, you fire your worst client; until you have developed a client list based on the ideal profile for you and your business.

The challenge here is that you have to change your current marketing, if you want to improve the calibre of clients you attract.  If you repeat the same kind of marketing errors, which led you to attract your existing low value clients, you will simply be swapping low quality clients for new, low quality clients.

If you are not sure about exactly how to start attracting the best clients, you can either try and learn how to “do it yourself” or you can save a lot of time and a massive amount of money, by hiring a marketing professional who already knows exactly what you need to do and will work with you to make it happen.

The bottom line:  Hoping that things will just get better isn’t a strategy.

It’s raining!

• One person walks down the street, notices the rain has started and begins complaining.  They moan to themselves that they are going to get soaked, as they seek shelter.
• Another person notices the rain and is thankful.  This person also takes shelter, but is happy that their garden is finally getting some much needed rain.

It’s raining on both these people, yet the way they respond is completely different.

The next time you experience some dark clouds, consider looking for the seed of opportunity, which is almost always there.

We may not be able to stop it raining on us, but we can certainly control how we choose to respond.

Hey Jim: Can you tell me how to do the wrong thing, correctly?

You would be amazed how many times every week, someone asks me that question.  No, they don’t use those exact words, but they are asking me to tell them the right way to do something, which is incorrect.  Most commonly, they will have started a business in a niche, where there are already established operators and where they are offering nothing new, then ask me how to market their poorly thought out offering.

Here’s the thing:  The best marketing in the world is no match for a poorly thought out product or service.

You can’t out Amazon, Amazon

Opening an online book store today, when Amazon already owns the marketplace, is not a wise move for a small business owner.  You can’t expect Bob to stop using Amazon to buy his books, then to go to your site and go through the hassle of setting up a new account, even though he already knows and trusts Amazon.  He’s never heard of you, you are offering nothing different from his existing, trusted provider and that makes it extremely hard to get him to switch.  You may convince a small number of people to join you, but as U.S retail giants Walmart even discovered; “You can’t out Amazon, Amazon!”

If you have a business idea, which is just like something an established brand offers, you will struggle.

A better combination

A wiser approach is to develop a product or service that is significantly better (in ways your prospective clients will value) than what’s already out there; then market it as effectively as possible.

It takes more creativity than copying what someone else is doing, but the rewards are infinitely better when you do the right things, correctly!

One of the wonderful things about blogging, is that you can write posts and then set them up to be published at a later date.  So, even though I am enjoying a wonderful, 7 day break with my family starting today, you will still see posts published here next week.

During my break, I won’t be hanging out in the comments section.  So, please take that into account if you direct a comment for my attention.

I hope you enjoy the posts I have lined up for you next week and I look forward to sharing some exciting news with you when I return!

How good an observer are you?

One of the lessons my mentor shared with me, was the commercial value of being a good observer.  This means observing what’s happening and looking for the beauty or lesson in what you see.  It also means looking at the subtext of conversations and the meaning behind what people say, rather than just the words themselves.

When we look at a person’s actions or words on a surface level, its easy to miss the bigger picture.  For example:

• Bob may be telling you he’s fine, because he really is fine.
• Alternatively, Bob may be telling you he’s fine because he’s uncomfortable asking you for the help he desperately needs.

I was prompted to write this post, after something I saw when I went out for lunch last week.

I was in a coffee shop enjoying my shrimp salad, when I noticed the people on the table next to mine were complaining about how long it was taking them to be served.  However, when the waitress brought their order and asked, without even making eye contact, if everything was OK, they said “Yes.”  As soon as she left their table, they carried on complaining about the service.

The message below the words

If the waitress in that example simply listened to what these diners said, she would have thought everything was fine.  If she observed the situation more deeply, she would have been able to tell very quickly that they were less than happy.  Their tone of voice, body language and lack of engagement were shouting out how displeased they were.

If you want to really know what your clients, customers and contacts are thinking or what additional help they may need, it pays to invest the time required to be a better observer.

The bottom line:  Business is all about people, which makes the development of our people skills an essential part of our toolbox.

How much do you charge per hour?

The reason I ask you this, is that I have a suggestion for you.  If you currently quote prospective clients an hourly rate for your services, I would like you to reconsider.  In my experience, you will almost certainly do a lot better, if you quote based on the value of the result you deliver, rather than how long it takes you to deliver it.

Here’s why:

• People never pay for the hour.
• People always pay for the result.

For example:

• You pay a gardener for cutting your grass and pulling up your weeds, not the 3 hours they spend doing it.  If you were just paying for the hours, it wouldn’t matter whether your grass was cut or not.  If using up the gardeners time was your outcome, you would be fine if he or she just spent those 3 hours looking at the garden or reading a book.
• You pay the chiropractor for getting you out of pain, not the 30 minutes they spend doing it.
• You pay the copywriter for the 500% increase in your marketing leads, not the 5 hours they spent writing the marketing pages on your website.
• You pay the seminar provider for the information they give you, not the day they spend delivering that information to you and the other delegates.

Results based marketing

When you sell your services based on a per hour fee, your income is capped, because the number of hours you can sell each week is capped.  When you sell your services based on the value of the result you deliver, you can increase your income almost infinitely, by learning how to provide results that are increasingly valuable.

Prospective clients appreciate this value / results model, because the hourly rate model rewards incompetence.

If a service provider charges X per hour, there’s an incentive for them to take as many hours as they can.  Equally, the per hour service provider earns less, the more efficient they are.

In short:  Look at what the prospective client wants to achieve and then quote them a fee for you to deliver that result.

I was walking home this evening, when I decided to stop and take this photo with my phone.  It’s not a great photo, but my photographic skills are not what this brief post is about.

This post is about the decision I made a decade ago, which made this photo of my walk home possible!

My lifestyle today sees me living in the countryside with my beautiful family, making more money than I need, working fewer hours than anyone I know; yet it all started off as a series of notes I scribbled down on a notepad.

The reason for this post, is that most of the stories you hear like this, where someone talks about how their life changed immeasurably for the better when they started setting goals, are written by people selling goal setting books, seminars or goal-setting software. I have nothing like that to sell you.  I just have a few ideas to share, which I hope will inspire some of you or even one of you, to do as I did and massively improve the quality of your life.

FACT: You don’t need goal setting books, seminars or software!

The reality is that you don’t need to buy goal setting products.  You simply need to know what you want and to make the decision to do everything you can, to make it happen.  Learn what you need to learn, find the people whose help you will need and work like crazy.  Chunk your main goals down into small achievable, measurable pieces, and use these as the stepping stones to get you from where you are, to where you want to be.  Review your goals each evening and again once a week.  Check you are on course and if you are not making measurable progress in reasonable time, make the necessary adjustments.  That’s all I did and I can assure you, it works extremely well!

Many people fail to achieve their goals, because they get fixated on making sure they follow all the steps from some dumbass book.  They try and work with those bogus, overcomplicated goal-setting strategies, then get so confused that they lack the motivation to make it happen!  If you are hungry you don’t need a sophisticated sandwich making strategy.  You will figure it out.

Something truly magical happens, when we commit our goals to paper and start working on making them a reality.  As Earl Nightingale discovered: “We become what we think about.”  When we think about our goals and then work to make them happen, we progressively move toward their attainment.

The challenge

Why not make today the day you decide to commit your major life goals to paper, followed by some initial plans and a commitment to do whatever is required to make your goals real?

Let’s work together and grow your business. To find out more click here!