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The titles people give themselves

By Jim Connolly | June 17, 2011

I was thinking earlier, how anyone can refer to themselves as a marketing expert.  If they are really bold, they may call themselves a marketing guru, marketing wizard or even a “thought leader.”  The same is true for every industry.

Of course, the grand titles people assign to themselves are not what counts.  It’s the marketplace, which decides if we are any good.

  • If we consistently help people create quantum improvements, people will notice.
  • If we write a newsletter or a blog, which showcases our ability in a very positive light, people will notice.
  • If we try to help as many people as we can, by giving as much unique value as we can, people will notice.

Obviously, the reverse is also true.

  • If our work is generic, people will notice.
  • If we write a newsletter or blog, which showcases our lack of ability, people will notice.
  • If we have nothing of original value to offer our marketplace, people will notice.

We all have the freedom to give ourselves any title we wish, which is why I find titles so interesting.  Ultimately, the titles people give themselves ALWAYS tell us much more about the person, than the literal meaning of the title.

Make some REAL progress with this 1 simple idea

By Jim Connolly | June 16, 2011

If you want to enjoy massively better results from your business, you need to step back and look at the way things are right now.  A great place to start, is to ask yourself the following question on a regular basis:

Am I making measurable progress in reasonable time?

I know business owners who are earning roughly the same today as they were 2 years ago.  That’s not how you grow a successful business.  That’s called stagnation.  It’s stressful, unrewarding and 100% unnecessary.

Day by day, it’s easy to miss the fact that you are making little measurable progress.  Small business owners who are working hard but getting little reward, don’t do so deliberately.  They are simply unaware that they are repeating small errors, which are stopping their business from growing.  They are like the guy trying to cut down a tree with a hammer.  Lots of effort for very little progress.

The bottom line: If you are not making the progress you want, either figure out what’s blocking you or talk to someone who knows.  Make the changes required and start getting the results your hard work deserves!  Don’t make the mistake of hoping things will just get better.  Hope is not a business strategy.

Proof: Why your marketing needs to prove itself!

By Jim Connolly | June 15, 2011

Proof matters. It matters because the gap created by a lack of proof, is usually filled with doubt.  In business, you really don’t need people doubting you or your message.

Why proof matters in marketing

People typically want to believe you, but they like to have proof as a way to justify their belief.  These days it’s usually pretty easy to provide that proof, particularly online.  If you get a mention in a national or regional newspaper, there’s usually a link you can provide, to show your coverage.

For example, I provide a lot of proof on the about page on this blog. I include 5 different links to mentions of me that appear in The New York Times.  There’s also a link to the website of my friend and former client; Grammy Award winning producer, Bruce Elliott-Smith, as well as my current AdAge Power150 listing etc.  I use the links to help provide proof to new readers and prospective clients, that my narrative is genuine.

The problem with proof

Today, if you get mentioned in just about any regional or national newspaper / magazine, you can provide readers with a link to it on that publication’s website.  However, most of the mentions of you from 8 or more years ago in the press, are probably gone without trace. You may have a hard copy of the article that says how great you are, but nothing you can link to, which shows it on the newspaper’s own website.  Equally, appearances you made on TV or great radio guest spots from back then, are also hard to prove.

The challenge here is that in the age of click-able proof, many people expect proof to be available on the website of the newspaper, magazine, radio station or TV station etc.  Not simply on your site.

In my own case, I have appeared on dozens of BBC radio shows, with nothing I can link to as proof.  I list the BBC in an image on my about page and hope that my transparency and click-able proof are enough to build the trust required.  You know what?  For many who don’t know me, it won’t be.  They need that click.  To be honest, I understand them too!  I see mentions some bloggers make regarding coverage they have received, and find it hard to believe, based on the quality of their content.  Others I believe instantly and feel no need to click anything, because their content / work is clearly extremely good.

Maybe there’s a lesson there too: That people are less willing to believe someone who claims high level media coverage, when the quality of their content seems pretty average?

In my experience, if you can link to your mentions in the media, you should.  It removes doubt and encourages trust.  If you have enough credible mentions, which are easy to prove, you may find people are more likely to believe those achievements, which can’t be proven instantly with the click of a mouse.  Here are some tips on how to get more high quality media coverage, if that’s a challenge for you right now.

The slow demise of the clueless social media rock star?

By Jim Connolly | June 14, 2011

I’ve written previously about the way some social media gurus are totally clueless when it comes to anything, other than building impressive looking social media followings.

Well, even though influential people like Steve Rubel and Shel Israel are talking about the end of the road for social media consultants / gurus, some things never change.  I’m talking about the massive number of clueless social media gurus.

Clueless

I spoke yesterday with a web developer, who told me about an email he received from a well-known social media figure.  This person was trying to bag themselves a free website from him and unknowingly, sent the same begging email to a number of developers, who knew each other.  The email was forwarded on to me and I assume lots of others.  It is one of the  most cringe inducing emails I have ever seen.

It was also strangely familiar.

You see, one of that person’s closest social media associates called my office a few months ago, also looking for a freebie.  They promised to retweet all my posts and recommend me to their huge online network, if I would “just” give them a free marketing consultation. That’s the exact same offer their friend made in their begging emails to the web developers!

I politely said “no.”

NB: I find it’s common for people whose own time is of little financial value, to assume others give their time away too.

Anyhow, during our call, the guru explained that although they are regularly featured on all kinds of lists and in some top blogs, they earn almost nothing and spend most of their time speaking at conferences, for which they are usually paid little more than expenses, often nothing at all.  Commercially, this guru admitted knowing “very little when it comes to strategy!” Their only ability is to know how to build what seems to be a large following, which generates low pay – No pay speaking gigs.

The problem with clueless social media gurus, as opposed to genuine social media experts

The reason this matters, is that those 2 clueless social media gurus have a combined following of over 150,000, who they offer business development advice to; something they have demonstrated very little knowledge of!  No wonder we are now seeing social media rock stars moving into salaried jobs.

Before you decide who to listen to when it comes to the development of your business, check them out.  That means more than counting how many followers they have.  Some of the smartest people in business and social media have modest sized social networks, but extremely successful businesses!

It matters!

By Jim Connolly | June 13, 2011

So many important things in business get overlooked, because we think they probably don’t matter.

  • It matters when you make short term decisions, yet you want long term success.
  • It matters when you tell a client you will have it finished by 4pm, but you haven’t.
  • It matters when your Facebook page is packed with fresh content, yet your primary website or blog is left neglected.
  • It matters when you haven’t read a great book on your area of expertise in the past 6 months.
  • It matters when you use social media like an old school marketing channel, to interrupt people with unwanted sales messages.
  • It matters when you have to attend networking groups to plead for leads, because you are not attracting regular word of mouth referrals.

In business, every action you take is either working for you or working against you.  Nothing is neutral.  Everything matters.

How to attract the best clients and the highest fees: Part 3

By Jim Connolly | June 13, 2011

If you want to attract the best clients and the highest fees, you need to understand the commercial value of originality.

The original Mona Lisa was insured in 1962 for a hundred million dollars and today that valuation would be closer to a billion dollars.  However, you can buy a copy of the Mona Lisa for the price of a coffee!  This is because the marketplace values originality and attaches no value to copycats.

The easy route

The easy route is what the masses decide to take.  This is what Seth Godin refers to as; “offering an average service to average people.”  They attract average clients and have to charge average fees.  This approach is soul destroying and those who take it look to the future with apprehension.  However, it requires little thought, which is why it’s so common.

The challenging route

The challenging route is what the leaders in every field decide to take.  They look for ways to offer a uniquely valuable service, rather than looking for excuses for why they MUST toe the line and do what their competitors are doing.

Whenever I have written on this subject before, people have left comments saying that it’s just not possible to offer anything new or original in their profession.  That is factually incorrect.  What they are really saying, is that it’s challenging, so they quit.  The people get on and do it, push through that challenge.  They invest the effort and energy to come up with something uniquely valuable and then they have the courage to implement it.  That’s why they get to work with the best clients and earn the highest fees.

In a world full of copycats, you can achieve huge commercial success if you seek out and implement your own, original masterpiece!

You can catch up on part 1 and part 2 of this series, using the links below:

How to attract the best clients and the highest fees Part 1

How to attract the best clients and the highest fees Part 2

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

Is blogging something you fit in after the important work is done?

By Jim Connolly | June 12, 2011

A reader emailed me recently, to say she is about to start a business blog.  She wanted to know how I find the time to keep this blog updated as frequently as I do, with useful content.

Image: Maria Reyes-McDavis

The answer is that I don’t have to “find time” to write here!

Let me explain: I see business blogs a little differently from most people.  I regard business blogs as massively valuable assets.  So, I give this site high priority within my business.

To me, business blogs are online magazines, which provide articles to interested people; with an opportunity for the readers to connect with the author and their fellow readers.

Just as you can’t play around and accidentally produce a worthwhile business magazine, you can’t play around with a business blog and expect it to develop a great community of highly valued readers.

Magazine thinking?

Think of any great business blog.  It provides valuable articles for people interested in their niche, just like any high quality business magazine.  For example, Brian Clark from copyblogger refers to his site as a media asset and his posts as magazine style content.  I have always been of the same mindset.  I see this site as a genuine media asset and I treat it with the respect it deserves.

  • It’s not a hobby.
  • It’s not a passtime.
  • It’s not a gesture.
  • It’s not something I do when there’s no real work that needs doing.
  • It IS an extremely valuable business asset.  Look at this!

This site never needs me to have spare time to invest in it.  If it did, it would be another infrequently updated business blog.  I regard Jim’s Marketing Blog and the reader community here as an integral part of my business, so it gets worked on ahead of many other less important (to me) business activities.

  • People who just write posts when they have spare time, after the important work is done, end up with a site which reflects that level of investment.
  • People who regard their site as the important work, treat their site very differently and see very different results.

The bottom line:  It’s a question of priorities.  Professionally, I place an extremely high priority on developing this site, so it always gets the time and attention it deserves.

How to avoid making bad decisions

By Jim Connolly | June 11, 2011

If you want to know why some business owners make such poor quality choices, you simply need to look at the lack of professional care they apply to the development of ideas.  I call this lazy thinking.

Lazy thinking?

Lazy thinking is a term I use, to describe the process of applying very little real thought to the solution of problems, leading to; low value decisions, ineffective actions and poor results.

I saw a great example of lazy thinking recently, at a late night pub in my local town.  There’s a small sign on the door, which asks people to respect the local residents, and leave the premises quietly.  The reasons that the sign fails to resolve the problem, are obvious.

  • Firstly, the loud, obnoxious people who leave bars making so much noise that it’s likely to offend local residents, are loud and obnoxious people.  They make that noise because they NEED to be noticed.
  • Secondly, the drunks who leave these bars making tons of noise, are often unable to walk in a straight line.  They are hardly likely to read a message, make a decision and then adjust their behaviour to magically act in a sober way.

The pub owner knew the sign would have no positive impact on noisy late night drinkers.  The local residents knew it too.  That’s what happens when you apply no thought to the solution of a problem.  As I mentioned recently, when you apply the right kind of thinking to a problem, you get a far more effective result.

Lazy thinking in small business marketing

Lazy thinking is behind the dumbass marketing you see small business owners waste their time and money on.  For example:

  • It causes business owners to waste money on mail shots and email marketing, which they write themselves in order to save money.  These home-made, DIY marketing messages are almost always extremely ineffective, so rather than save money, these letters waste a fortune.  They also fail to generate the sales, which a professionally copywritten message would have generated.  Lose – Lose.
  • It causes business owners to buy mailing lists, rather than build communities.  In 2011 we build lists of interested people, by attracting them (here’s how to do it.)  We don’t buy them.
  • It causes business owners to add you to their newsletter list without your permission, just because they have your email address.
  • It causes business owners to leave sales messages in the comments section of blogs, without realising how cheap it makes them look.
  • It causes business owners to waste money on ebooks, which promise unbelievable results.
  • It causes business owners to put lots of great content on Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin etc – Whilst their own blogs are seldom updated (if they even have one!)

We place a very low ceiling on our potential, if we apply the lazy thinking model to business decisions.

Your prospective clients have never been better informed.  Thanks to low cost (and no cost) global digital communications, they have never been so actively targeted by competing providers, either.  If you want to survive in business today, let alone thrive, lazy thinking just doesn’t cut it.

The secret of successful selling and magical marketing

By Jim Connolly | June 10, 2011

Ever have a salesperson approach you and you just know that they are only interested in making a sale?

When a salesperson is more interested in the commission they will make from selling to us, than they are in helping us, they usually lose the sale and wonder why.  They seem to be unaware that their prospective clients can sense that they are not looking out for them.  If the salesperson realises this and then decides to link their own success, to a genuine commitment to helping others, everything changes.

Suddenly, without using any new fancy footwork, they are selling more than ever before and people are now recommending them.

Honesty signals

What the salesperson in that example needed was a change in their mindset – Not better negotiating skills.  By genuinely giving the best advice and trying to help people make the right decision, they gave the honesty signals that their prospective clients are always looking for.

One of the beautiful ironies of business, is that the more we care about the marketplace, the more the marketplace cares about us.

One of the beautiful paradoxes of business, is that our own self-interest is best served by looking out for the best interests of others.

How to attract the best clients and the highest fees: Part 2

By Jim Connolly | June 9, 2011

This is the second post in a series on how to attract the very best clients and work for the highest fees.  You can read part 1 of this post here if you missed it.

One of the cornerstones of every successful business is that the business owner knows the difference between what people pay for and what people buy.

Paying and buying

Smart business owners understand that people pay for the product or service you offer, but they buy the experience.

For example, when people go into Starbucks, they pay for the coffee.  The reason they pay for the coffee, is that they buy the experience of being able to drink coffee in a space, with other people, who also like to drink coffee and read or work or surf the web etc.  They are part of what Seth Godin would call the coffee tribe.  You can buy equally good coffee from your local store and make it at home for a fraction of the cost of drinking it at Starbucks, however, at home, you don’t get the same coffee tribe experience.

It’s the experience that justifies the 300% extra you pay for drinking coffee at Starbucks, rather than making it at home.  Starbucks don’t try and win your business by selling you coffee cheaper than your local grocery store.  They sell the experience and charge a premium.  There’s a very big lesson here for anyone, who is sick and tired of fee sensitive clients.  Your experience needs to improve, if you want to avoid attracting those low value inquiries and competing on fees.

What experience do you offer?

So, what kind of an experience do you offer your clients or customers?  What do you do for them, which makes it compelling to do business with you, regardless of your fees or prices?

If this is not something you have previously given much thought to, I strongly suggest you start.  Thanks to Google, people can find the least expensive provider in your niche, in minutes.  Thanks to social networking sites, people can learn about the providers in your niche, who offer the most remarkable customer experiences.

Unless you want to sell your services by being the least expensive (and you don’t), you better start thinking about being that provider in your niche, who everyone is talking about.  If you do, you will attract more word of mouth referrals than ever before and never have to compete for business based on your fees.  This is what I help my clients to achieve.  I strongly suggest you get to work on it too.

This is a subject I am going to be covering a lot in future posts, so remember to subscribe to the blog for free, if you don’t want to miss out!

How to attract the best clients and the highest fees part 3.

How to beat your biggest competitors

By Jim Connolly | June 8, 2011

If you have ever wondered how your small or medium sized business can compete against the big guys, here’s a tip!

You have to start by understanding that a small business is not simply a scaled down version of a big business.

There are some important differences.  For example, big businesses are run my committees.  Small businesses are run by people.  The marketplace finds it easier to connect with people, than with committees.  Go and connect on a more personal level with your marketplace.

Big businesses are also notoriously slow to change.  Small businesses can change as soon as change is required.  If you get a great idea, which you want to implement, go and implement it.

Your opportunity as a small business owner, is to play to your strengths.

If you just offer a scaled down version of what big businesses offer, you can’t compete.  However, use your advantages fully and you can develop something of value, which the big guys can’t touch.

How to build a massively valuable network

By Jim Connolly | June 7, 2011

networking, contacts, grow, connect

Here’s a quick question for you:  Who do you network with and why?

I ask this, because there is a direct link between how well connected you are to the right people and your overall business success.

Small business owners usually associate or network exclusively with other small business owners.  They tend not to deliberately build relationships with the most influential people in their niche.  You need both types of people.  It’s important to connect with fellow small business owners, but it’s extremely important to mix with people, who have the skills, influence or funding your business needs, in order to grow successfully.

Knowing the right people for your business

For example, small business owners will speak with the local bank manager about funding, even though the bank manager is a risk-averse, job-for-life, salaried employee.  If they spoke with a wealthy entrepreneur and offered a compelling reason to invest, they could not only get the funding they need, even more importantly, they would be able to tap into the wealthy entrepreneur’s priceless treasure chest of business knowledge.

The marketing person who needs to hassle people for business at local networking events, or pester people for referrals at networking groups, is very obviously not the best person to show you how to attract clients.  However, that’s the person most small business owners will waste their time and money on, simply because that’s the only marketing person they know.

If you are serious about developing a successful business, you need to deliberately build a network of great people around you.  Take the time to identify and then reach out, to people who can help you make quantum improvements to your business.  Your circle of contacts should be one of your businesses most valuable assets.  Treat it that way and work on developing it.

Is your marketplace REALLY listening to you?

By Jim Connolly | June 5, 2011

It’s hard to build a community or a business, when you don’t have a voice.

  • If you follow the social media gurus and act like their outsourced retweeting machine, you lose your voice.
  • If you go with the flow, seldom seeking to express your own opinions, you lose your voice.
  • If you run a small business, which looks a lot like most other small businesses in your niche, you lose your voice.

The solution?

Do the opposite.

  • Stop being a cheerleader for the gurus, if you want to be taken seriously.  Look at what happens, when a guru sees one of their sheep disagreeing with them on their blog.  THAT is the comment they tend to reply to.  No one respects cheerleaders or butt-kissers; including those whose butt is being kissed!  Intelligent people cringe when they see grown men and women sucking up like that.
  • Go against the flow when it matters.  If you believe that common opinion is wrong, have the confidence to make your point.  Confidently expressing what you believe is essential, if you want to have a voice.  Bleating the same views and opinions as everyone else means you become invisible.  It robs you of your individuality.
  • Invest in making your small business uniquely valuable, so it has a story worth sharing.  People will only talk about you if you have something worth talking about.  I wrote about this recently.

Who do you listen to?

Think about the people you listen to.  Do you listen to them because they have nothing new, interesting or inspiring to say?  No, of course not.

You and I do not take advice from sheep.  Guess what?  Nor does anyone else.  We listen to people worthy of our attention; people with something of value to say.  We spread word-of-mouth about businesses and products worth talking about.

The bottom line:  Just as you ignore people who seldom express their own opinions or have nothing of real value to say, so does everyone else.  You place a VERY low ceiling on your potential, if you follow the gurus and inherit their opinions, rather than thinking for yourself and sharing what you have to say.  You deserve better than that.  Much, much better.

If you don’t take a risk now you will hate yourself later!

By Jim Connolly | June 3, 2011

professional development,

If you look at the world’s most successful businesspeople, none of them play it safe.

If you look at the people at the top of your profession, none of them play it safe.

However, if you look at the hundreds of millions of people who live uninspiring, average lives, all of them play it safe.

Risk, creators and consumers

In their quest for the good life, successful people learn to embrace risk. They know that the only job security is when you are your own boss, so they risk it and build a business. They tend not to waste their lives watching reality TV; because their own reality is compelling.  They prefer to meet with friends in the evenings, chew over their plans or develop their ideas. They get it. They are the creators.

In the quest for security, the masses choose not to risk anything. They don’t want to leave the security of a salaried job, even though as an employee, their job is never secure and their destiny is always out of their control. They let their boss take the risks. They console themselves with a brainwashing kit: A 5 foot TV and a diet of TV shows. They are happier to watch the risk takers, who live on the other side of their TV screen. They are the consumers.

The paradox?

The real kicker here, is that the person trying to avoid the risks, is actually playing a far riskier game.  They are constantly under threat of unemployment.  Their boss can fire them, their boss can sell the business, their boss can go broke.  All this is out of their control and can happen tomorrow.  Zero security.

Maybe the most valuable lesson anyone can teach a teenager, is to embrace smart risks.  If something looks like a great potential idea, do the research and if it seems to stack up, try it!  It’s the least risky option and leads to a life worth living.

Your opportunity to join me for a year!

By Jim Connolly | June 2, 2011

Have you been thinking about joining me on my marketing mentor program; where you and I work together, one-to-one for a whole year, to grow your business and boost your profits?

If you have, I have some GREAT news for you.

There is 1 position available, starting in just TWO WEEKS!

You can find out more about the program here, along with how to get in touch.  This really is a great opportunity for us to work together on the marketing and development of your business and for you to benefit from the most powerful marketing ideas I know.

If you are interested, I recommend you get in touch as soon as possible to avoid disappointment.

Jim Connolly can help you grow your business and achieve the breakthrough marketing results your hard work deserves. To find out more, simply click here!

How to have a wonderful lifestyle and a fantastic business

By Jim Connolly | June 2, 2011

People often say how lucky I am, to have a business that allows me to work very few hours, live in a great rural location and still work with wonderful people all over the world.  They want to know how they can do the same.

So, here’s how I did it!

My life sucked

It started with a conversation.  At the time, I was running a very successful marketing business in London.  I worked long hours, made a great deal of money but spent most of my life working, often away from home.  I sat down with my wife and we talked about how we could improve our quality of life.  That conversation was to change the course of our lives.

Over the coming days, my wife and I developed a whole new way to deliver a massively valuable marketing service, which could be delivered no matter where in the world we were.  We then bought a new home, moved in and put the plan into action.

I would love to have a great story about how hard it was, but it wasn’t.  It was actually one of the most enjoyable and exciting adventures I have ever been on.

Then my life stopped sucking!

A couple of years later, our beautiful son was born.  Thanks to this business model, I have had breakfast with him every morning of his life and been here to play with him when he gets home from school too.  I work half as many hours as most people and a quarter as many hours as most business owners.  I work hard and I work smart, but I don’t work long hours.  Over 80% of my income these days does not require me exchanging my time for money.

Now, I could have listened to the people, who told me I was crazy to leave a thriving business in London and restart all over again, with no clients and no guarantee of success.  I could have focused on what I feared, rather than what I wanted.  I could have compromised and told myself that I will retire to the countryside some day; when I’d be too old or too sick to enjoy it.

The motivation to make it work was so strong that I had enough energy and ideas, to have achieved everything I wanted 100 times over.  Today, I get to feel that same motivation, helping other people, who want to transform their business and live the life they are capable of, just as I did.

The irony?  Within 12 months of moving to the countryside, I was working half as many hours, earning more and massively more profitable, than when I was living and working in London!

If you are not where you want to be with your lifestyle right now, change it.  Decide what you want.  Develop a better plan.  Then get to work on making it real.  You can do it.

For those who are serious, I’m here to help you.

How to make your business worth crossing the street for

By Jim Connolly | June 1, 2011

In retail marketing, they have a great saying.  They say that your store should be worth crossing the street for. This means it should be so attractive that people will leave whichever shop they are in or stop whatever they are doing, to cross the street and walk into your place.

The retail outlets that are worth crossing the street for, made the decision to stand out.  They worked at it.  They invested in it.  They took it seriously.

Conversely, the stores that blend into the background and slowly go broke, made the decision not to stand out.  They copied what they saw the others doing.  They didn’t take it seriously enough to do it correctly.  They tried some advertising and played with their window display.  They took free advice.  They did the wrong things extremely well.  As a result, the harder they worked, the more they became camouflaged among all the others, who made the same mistakes.  They didn’t stand a chance.

Is your business worth crossing the street for?

When people compare your business to your competitors (and they do) are they prepared to cross the street? Does what you have to say , capture their attention and motivate them away from their current provider?  These are important questions for you to ask and answer, if you want to grow a successful business.

Most small businesses struggle to get noticed, let alone project the kind of powerful impact, which attracts clients and customers.  The thing is, there’s no need for this to happen to you.  It’s a decision you make.  If you don’t know how to stand out, you can either invest the time required to learn how to or hire someone who already knows.

The bottom line: It’s always your decision.

Is this common mistake crushing your dreams?

By Jim Connolly | May 31, 2011

Will that new business idea of yours succeed?

Yesterday alone, 3 people asked me that question.  They wanted me to tell them “YES, go for it!” or “NO, it’s a bad business idea!”  The challenge here, is that the question itself is deeply flawed.

Will your next business idea succeed or not?

There are many components behind whether a business idea will fly or flop.  The mental resilience of the person behind the business is a key factor.  Their work ethic is another.  Their resources need to be taken into consideration too.  The list goes on and on.

In most cases, the advice I give to people who email me with that question is the same.  I suggest that if they have done the research, checked the numbers and THEY believe it will work, then they should give their idea a chance to fly. Yes, it is good to get feedback from people, whose opinions you trust and respect.  For example, speak with an accountant about the numbers.  But don’t ask her if you should start that business or launch that new idea.

Some people waste years waiting for an idea, which everyone they speak to says is a definite winner.  No one can possibly know that, because of all the factors involved.  As a result, they do nothing, miss the opportunities and get nowhere.  Their need for guarantees, safety nets and green lights, stops them from getting started.  It’s also the total  opposite of the way an entrepreneur works.

Entrepreneurs don’t seek permission

Entrepreneurs don’t try and put the pressure on other people, by making it someone else’s decision, whether the entrepreneur should start his or her business.  They accept responsibility.  They get the information they need and then get to work.

Here’s the one fact we know for certain, regardless of who you are or what your business idea is:  100% of the ideas you never work on, will never succeed.

  • Do the research.
  • Make sure the numbers add up.
  • Make the plans.
  • Get to work.
  • If the idea flops, learn from it and do better next time.

But don’t wait for anyone to give you permission to start.

Get everybody talking about you with this 1 simple idea

By Jim Connolly | May 30, 2011

Today, I want to help you and your business attract more word-of-mouth than ever before.  I want to help you create an crowd of people, queuing down the street, just to get a peep of what all the buzz surrounding your business is about.

It starts here.

When you look at the vast majority of websites in any niche, it gives you an extremely accurate insight as to why so many businesses fail.  Very, very few of them stand out as being worth talking about.

UVSP’s and Purple Cows

In 1995, I was telling small business owners to develop what I called a UVSP (Uniquely Valuable Selling Proposition.)  This was my version of the USP (Unique Selling Proposition), which I have always believed to be incorrect.  It’s not enough to be unique, without offering unique value.  In 2002, Seth Godin wrote about this in his best-selling book, Purple Cow.  UVSP or Purple Cow, it amounts to the same thing; a product or service, which stands out for being of unique value.  Something with an interesting and attractive story.

Most small businesses stay small, because they do the opposite.  They don’t offer unique value.  They are too similar to their competitors.  Their story isn’t interesting, so no one talks about them.

How similar are your competitors?  Check out the blogs or websites of 10 of your competitors and look at what they have to say.  Look at what they offer.  Look at their testimonials, their promises, their guarantees.  Notice how amazingly alike they are.  In almost every case, their messages could be swapped around and I am not sure anyone would notice.

They want word-of-mouth referrals, but give the marketplace nothing worth talking about.

An alternative approach? Twylah

This weekend I spent a lot of time talking about Twylah, because it’s an interesting story worth sharing.  I saw this video about how Twylah works on Robert Scoble’s blog and it blew me away.  Their story was so compelling, that I wanted to tell people about it.  It didn’t cost them a dime.  It was their story, not their money, which compelled me to talk about them on Twitter and share the service with you in this post.  In doing so, I have just spread the word to thousands of people.

And so… some of you will watch that video, listen to how valuable Twlyah could be for your marketing and tell others.  Very soon, LOTS of people will be talking out it.  It’s a valuable, easy to use marketing tool.  That means it’s interesting to business owners.  It’s the kind of thing we want to share with the people we know.  You can check out my Twylah here.

BTW: If you look at the page without watching the video, you will think you’re looking at a paper.li clone.  It’s pretty much the polar opposite and allows you to make money direct from your Twitter stream, without Tweeting ads etc.  Ask them nicely and you may get an account. (It’s in the pilot phase right now.)

Remarkable. Interesting. Shareable.

Today, if you want your business to thrive or even survive, you have to break out of the sea of sameness and offer something that has unique value to your marketplace.  Business has changed.  Years ago, you could be just like all your competitors, but if you outspent them or out networked them, you would win the majority of the business.  Today, your clients and prospective clients see their social media streams light up, as soon as one of your competitors announces a fresh, interesting way of doing business.  News like that spreads through your marketplace via social networking sites very quickly.

So here’s my suggestion:  Focus on developing a UVSP or Purple Cow of your own.  Develop a uniquely valuable, remarkable way to be of service.  Become one of those interesting stories, that your marketplace LOVE to be part of and share.

Make your business the one they are talking about!

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

Picture: Robert Scoble

9 Ways to write more high quality blog posts… right now!

By Jim Connolly | May 28, 2011

Here are 9 ways to write more, high quality blog posts.

  1. Write short posts.  You don’t have to churn out 1,000 word essays.  Most of my posts are under 500 words. Some are under 150.
  2. Don’t try to write like someone else.  The more your posts reflect you and your unique self, the more people will value them.
  3. Spend less time publishing your ideas on social networking sites.  Then, use that time to feed your blog.
  4. Avoid seeking perfection.  The perfection mindset will cause you to write from a position of fear.  Be human, which means being imperfect.
  5. Use a voice recorder or your phone to capture ideas for blog posts.  You will often get your best ideas when you can’t write them down.
  6. Don’t feel like you have to bring the answers with your posts.  Ask the questions.  Get a conversation going: It’s a blog, not a broadcast!
  7. Write when you feel creative.  If you feel inspired to write a post, write one.  Then, write another one! I seldom write 1 post at a time.
  8. Use the questions people ask you, as inspiration for future posts.  If someone is asking you a question linked to your topic, there’s a good chance other readers will find the answer useful too.  I wrote this post, after a reader asked how I managed to publish 12 posts here in the past 7 days.
  9. Most importantly, enjoy it! Many bloggers say they have to force themselves to write posts.  You don’t need to force yourself to do something you enjoy, so identify and resolve whatever it is, which is stopping you from enjoying your blog.
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Hi! I'm Jim Connolly and I help small business owners to increase sales, boost their profits and build amazing businesses. Read more here.

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