Jim's Marketing Blog

Marketing tips and ideas to help you grow your business

Rapid, massive business growth: With MBRs

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marketing tip, MBR, Mutually beneficial relationships

This is massive.

I’d like to introduce you to one of the most powerful ideas in marketing. It’s an absolute marketing essential, known as mutually beneficial relationships or MBRs.

Here’s how it works, starting with a simple question.

Who already serves your prospective clients or customers, with a service or product that doesn’t conflict with your own?

This is why that question is worth so much to you. Those non-conflicting providers already have the attention and trust of your prospects. An introduction to your prospects, from one of those providers, someone they already trust, can make you a fortune.

Here’s how

MBRs are a cornerstone of success. The effectiveness of the strategy is behind the explosive growth of many of the world’s fastest growing businesses. In my own experience, many of my biggest commercial successes have come from MBRs. And some of these relationships have been producing high-profit income for well over a decade.

That’s because once you’ve built the relationships, they carry on working for you.

With one very important warning.

Mutually means mutually!

Mutually beneficial relationships need to be exactly that.. mutually beneficial. Failing to understand this and get the balance right is the only thing that can stop you. The relationship must benefit the other person in a rewarding way. Just like any relationship, for it to work both parties need to be valued. 

So, determine what you can offer these non-conflicting providers, which will motivate them to help you.

How do you get the motivation right?

You need to fully understand the risk you’re asking a potential partner to take. That person or company will be concerned that they risk damaging their relationship with their clients, if you fail to deliver. Remember, they don’t know you yet.

However, as long as the relationship you propose is beneficial enough for them, and you can convince them of your reputation, you’ll massively lower their perceived risk and increase the odds that they’ll want to proceed.

The potential for you and your business is huge.

How huge?

This huge!

  • When I help my clients build MBRs, I can usually find a couple of dozen industries that are non-conflicting with theirs, yet serve the same people or companies.
  • And each of these industries can have dozens, hundreds or thousands of potential, mutually beneficial partners.
  • And each of these partners can have dozens, hundreds or thousands of customers.

That’s thousands, times thousands of potential new customers, who are already feeling positive about buying from you. Just think about that for a moment. And let it sink in. Then, why not decide to build an MBR.

Decades of experience assures me that you’ll be very, very glad you did.

It’s the most valuable question in sales!

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closing the sale, closing, feedback

If you want to get really good answers, you need to ask really good questions. What I’m going to show you today is maybe the best question in sales. It’s a fantastic question you should ask when presenting to a prospective client or customer. A question that will help you massively increase your conversion rate.

Here it is. Just before you finish speaking with a new prospect, ask them the following.

“Are there any questions you would like me to have asked you?”

Usually, small business owners would ask the prospect if there’s anything else they’d like to know or if they have any questions. If the prospect was not particularly motivated to hire them or buy from them, they’ll usually just say ‘no’, as a way to wind the meeting down.

At that point, the small business owner would have lost the sale.

However, when you ask, “Are there any questions you would like me to have asked you?”, their focus shifts. And you open a door.

Prospects who were not particularly motivated to hire you or buy from you, will now use your question as an invitation to tell you what their issue is. This is especially the case if they were unhappy with something important to them, which you missed. As long as you provide a good enough answer, (which starts with you thanking them for such a great question), you’ll win that prospect over.

Obviously, this idea will work better with some prospects, some situations and in some industries, than others. 

But I have seen enough examples over the years, both personally and from clients and associates, to confirm it is extremely effective at turning a lost contract or sale into a done deal. Give it a try and see just how many additional sales you make.

Attract. Don’t sell

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attract marketing, marketing tips

It turns out that everybody in your marketplace has at least 2 things in common.

  1. They hate being sold to.
  2. They hate having problems.

Think about it, your business exists in order to solve a problem or a number of problems. Every business does. Therefore, business owners should be approaching prospective clients as a problem solver.

Not as an accountant, courier, retailer, IFA, designer, trainer or whatever. But as someone who can make the prospect’s life easier, less stressful, or both, by solving at least one problem for them.

This means talking to them, instead of pitching to them. It means focusing on their needs, so we get a clear understanding of their problems. Then, explaining how we can help them.

When your marketplace sees you as a source of answers, they’ll regard you as a useful asset. And that changes the whole dynamic of how you do business. You become a vastly more attractive proposition.

Why? Because we’re drawn to those who can help us. Those who can make things better for us. Those who can reduce our stress.

In short, doors that were closed to you when you were trying to sell stuff, will fly open when you approach them as a problem solver. And you’ll find people start hiring you or buying from you, without you having to sell anything.

How to make more sales, in uncertain times

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marketing, make more sales,

As I promised recently, here are some more ideas to help you and your business through the uncertainty of the current economy.

As things change, we need to adjust our marketing to the new wants and needs of our customers or clients. That’s what I’m focusing on today.

Plan with flexibility

Typical marketing plans run for a year and make the mistake of assuming conditions will remain roughly the same. As a result, these plans fall to pieces when faced with a period of rapid change. That’s why your marketing plan needs to have flexibility built in.

I recommend creating 90-day marketing plans, to run alongside your overall business plan. These need to be regularly reviewed and adjusted, based on real-time feedback. What’s working better than before? What are your prospects suddenly asking for? What’s no longer working as well as it used to? You get the idea.

Pay extra close attention to your customers

One of the best pieces of business advice I’ve ever received is this.

‘Your customers will show you where your market is going’.

Customers do this through their actions and their words. Here are some questions to ask yourself, so you can see where your market is going.

  • Have your customer enquiries changed recently?
  • Have your customers’ buying habits or preferences changed recently?
  • Are customers mentioning any new concerns during the sales process?
  • Is there a meaningful increase or fall in customer spending?
  • Have you noticed customers becoming more price-sensitive?
  • Are customers engaging with you differently online, perhaps interacting more through social media, direct messages, or emails?
  • Have your customers started recommending (or requesting) new products, services, or features you previously hadn’t considered?
  • Is there a noticeable increase in customers asking you for personalised or customised offerings?
  • Are there specific fears or uncertainties customers are expressing more often?
  • Have customer priorities recently changed?

Now ask yourself, are there new opportunities emerging, or new concerns emerging, which I need to take action on?

Focus on your new opportunities. Think positive

Rapidly changing conditions often cause stress or anxiety for small business owners. We need to be aware of this, and turn it around. A positive, proactive mindset helps us adapt quickly, confidently, and effectively. That’s exactly what we need right now.

So, focus on opportunities rather than obstacles.

Also, encourage yourself, and your team if you have one, to innovate. Innovating puts you in control. It immediately gives you a lift and causes you to think far more positively.

And remind yourself regularly of the challenges you’ve overcome in the past. You’ll overcome future challenges too, if you use the right approach. In fact, you may well come out of this wiser and wealthier than you were before. I saw this with 100% of my clients during the pandemic.

I hope you found this useful. If you did, share it with your friends.

From rags to riches?

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rags to riches, richard branson, self made, rags to riches story, 2025

This article gives you a behind the scenes look at those rags to riches stories we love. Plus, why they’re not always quite what they seem!

People love a good story. So much so, that facts are often changed in order to make the story more compelling.

Now, with some types of story, it’s unlikely to cause us any problems if the story we hear has been embellished. If that prince was a little less hunky in real life than in the story, it’s okay. Similarly, if the fish Bob caught wasn’t quite as big as he told us, that’s fine. But what if it’s a fact that Sir Richard Branson was actually born into a very, very rich and influential family?

Rags to riches… really?

Where we have a challenge, is when the stories we hear are intended to provide us with a business lesson, yet they have a key piece of information missing. Like the rags to riches stories, which contained no rags!

2 Types of business story

There are 2 types of story, which are commonly highlighted in business books, self improvement seminars and business blogs:

  1. The first kind of story is by far the most popular. It’s where we hear about the kid, who is born into poverty, yet goes from rags to riches. We love these stories, because many of us start off with nothing and aspire to make a success of our lives. As the son of penniless immigrants, I know I found these stories inspirational. They helped me believe anything was possible, even starting from zero.
  2. The second kind of story is also powerful and used as a warning. It’s the story of those wealthy business owners who self destruct.

However, there is a third type of story – a story which is seldom told, because it seems to lack the obvious impact of the other two.

Today, I’d like to salute a third group of people, whose stories don’t neatly fit into either of those 2 popular stereotypes. I’m talking about those who come from a super-wealthy or privileged background, but elect to use it as a springboard for something even greater.

Wealth to extreme wealth

Such is the demand for rags to riches stories that many riches to greater riches stories have been incorrectly retold, usually for the sake of emphasis.

I remember listening to the charismatic Easyjet founder, Stelios Haji-Ioannou being introduced on a radio program as ‘a poor kid who did good‘. Stelios politely interrupted the interviewer, to remind her that he was in fact, the son of an extremely wealthy shipping magnate. Stelios’ father gave him £30MILLION to start up his shipping business.

However, our desire to believe that hard working people like Stelios, must have come up the hard way, means these stories often mutate into one of rags to riches.

Sir Richard Branson is no rags to riches story. FAR from it!

Like Stelios, Sir Richard Branson’s success story is often referred to incorrectly, as rags to riches. Nothing could be further from the truth. Sir Richard was actually born into a wealthy, extremely influential family. He is the grandson of The Right Honourable Sir George Arthur Harwin Branson and the son of a leading UK barrister. Sir Richard’s story is one of wealth to extreme wealth. His achievements have been impressive, but we gain nothing in learning from his achievements, if we change the facts to make the story sound better.

Back in 2020, Sir Richard Branson’s family home was valued at over $5Million. Even that was a low, pandemic valuation. His parents bought the home in 1963 from a viscountess!

Sir Richard Branson childhood home
Sir Richard Branson’s childhood home

As we all know, many people born into that kind of wealth, choose to sit on their butt or self-destruct. Others spend their lives travelling the world spending their trust fund and then their inheritance, which is their prerogative. Few have done as Branson did (starting at age 16) and put their unearned assets to work for them, to grow multiple successful businesses, in many different industries worldwide. That should be a good enough story, without story tellers inventing a rags to riches beginning to the storyline.

Seth Godin is no rags to riches story

Seth Godin’s business career started with a superb business education at the best place possible. Seth’s late father, the highly-respected businessman William Godin, was the multi-millionaire owner of the largest business in its niche, in the whole USA. This saw Seth educated at the world famous Stanford Business School (see Stanford Graduate School for Business). For those who don’t know, Stanford is regarded by many as the finest business school in the world. Seth’s fellow Stanford students went on to become CEO’s of; Microsoft, eBay, Paypal, Trader Joe’s, Gap, Nike, Wells Fargo, Ford and countless other multinational corporations – plus at least 1 President of The United States. It’s a great place to get a world class business education and build a priceless network of super-influential, super-wealthy contacts.

Seth started his blog with a bang, thanks to super-influential contacts. For example, he wrote his first blog post, sitting next to Google’s co-founder, Sergey Brin – a fellow Stanford student. Seth’s story is regularly shared as one of rags to riches. The reality is very different, with Seth enjoying access to many of America’s most influential people and starting off with the support of his extremely wealthy family.

We learn nothing from incorrect information.

Podcasters, influencers, YouTubers, authors and trainers don’t need to pretend these inspirational people grew up in poverty, in order to make their journey an inspiration for us. The stories behind the success of people like Stelios, Sir Richard and Seth Godin, contain lessons we can learn from. My point, is that these stories do not need to be repackaged. They stand up as they are. There’s no need to pretend these inspirational people grew up in poverty, in order to make their journey an inspiration for us.

On a more serious note, by repackaging those stories, so they sound like rags to riches, the stories can become toxic. New entrepreneurs often find themselves stuck, wondering why they are not seeing the kind of results that their inspirational, rags to riches role models did; unaware that their role model may have started off with a world-class business education, the most influential contacts imaginable, the support of wealthy family and friends – or all of those assets. For instance, it’s easier to sell a company for millions, when you have contacts who have budgets worth millions, which they need to invest.

In short: Be careful measuring your progress against anyone, but especially people you do not know. Rags to riches stories are often not what they seem.

Tiny tweaks. Huge wins

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small business, marketing tips, business development,

One of the quickest ways to improve your results, is to spot and fix the tiny things that can make a big difference to your business.

Here are some ideas to quickly get you started.

Sham spam

In 2024, I almost lost two, high-quality enquiries from people who became new clients. It was down to what I call sham spam.

Here’s what it is and how to avoid it.

Yes, I know you check your spam email folder. I’m specifically referring to the anti-spam folder on your website, designed to filter spammy messages from reaching you. Genuine business contact form enquiries are sometimes wrongly filtered as spam and you never see them. I learned this one the hard way! It doesn’t happen often, but often enough to justify checking occasionally.

Why not check your spam folder after you’ve finished reading this? It takes very little time.

Customer connections

Regularly make time to connect with at least one of your clients. This incudes former clients. Not to sell them something. Simply to ask how they’re doing and catch up with them. Business relationships become stronger, when they’re based on more than just selling.

Ongoing communication with your clients also helps you to better understand their challenges, their needs and their wants. This understanding makes it easier and less risky, for you to successfully create new services or products.

Pathway planning

If you don’t know where you’re going, every path will take you there. That’s unproductive. It scatters your focus. It leads to dead ends. It’s also why I recommend you plan your days, your weeks and your months in advance.

After all, how can you know if things are going according to plan, if you don’t have a plan?

Flakey forms

This idea takes no time and might stop you from losing important sales enquiries. Go to your website and make sure your contact forms and subscriber forms are working. Often, a form will look perfect when it’s not functioning correctly. So, test your forms by filling-in the required information and make sure everything is okay. It only takes a few minutes, but it could help you avoid missing-out on valuable leads or new subscribers. This is especially the case, whenever you update the software on your website or have any work done on it. 

I hope you found these ideas useful. If you did, remember to share them with your friends.

Working in. Working on

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work your plan, an image of an arrow pointing right, white on a blue background

I shared an idea recently with some entrepreneurs, which I think you may find useful. It’s a powerful, yet very simple difference in how the most successful business owners run their day.

I’ve also included a tip, which you can use to accelerate the growth of your business.

Let’s go!

It starts with an observation

When I speak with business owners who are frustrated with their progress, I find they spend a lot of time reacting. Specifically, reacting to the demands of their customers and colleagues. As such, they spend too little time developing their own business.

This scenario is most commonly expressed in that often-repeated business advice; You need to spend more time working on your business and less time working in your business.

Of course, every business owner needs to respond to the needs of their business. What I’ve discovered is that the most successful business owners respond differently from their average counterparts.

It looks like this.

The most successful business owners remain focussed on their plans. This means they do what’s required for their clients, colleagues etc., BUT they then refocus like a laser on their own plans. They plan their work, and work their plan. As a result, each day brings progress. Some days more than others. The key thing is they move their business forward every single day.

The average business owner also has a plan. However, they find their plans are often derailed by the demands of others. This means that although they start their day correctly, their plans go out the window. They work hard, but make little if any progress on their plans. Before they know it, a day of too little progress becomes a week of too little progress, a week becomes a month… repeat.

What’s the answer, Jim?

The short answer is that we need to plan our work and work our plan. It’s the second part that’s tricky. As I mentioned a moment ago, most business owners have a plan of some description.

The challenge is sticking with the plan, when the day-to-day needs of their business come along.

A valuable reminder

Here’s what worked for me, to ensure my focus always returned to my plan for the day. I set a reminder on my phone, which went off every 3-hours during the work day. When the alarm went off, a message would appear saying work your plan.

Did you notice how the previous paragraph is in the past tense?

That’s because after a couple of weeks, I didn’t need the alarm. I learned to automatically refocus on my plan for the day, as soon as I’d completed an off-plan activity. It’s hard to overstate what a huge, measurable improvement this can make for you and your business.

Give it a try.

Four questions that helped a subscriber boost sales by 68%

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building business contacts, better contacts

When I ask a business owner who their ideal customer or client is, they almost always reply with demographics; average age, location, income level, etc. 

Whilst demographics are certainly useful, they’re just a piece of the picture.

Demographics will tell you who to target with your marketing.

However, to get that demographic to buy from you, you need to know what matters to them. That’s their motivation. That’s what drives their decisions. That’s what drives their actions. That’s what determines whether they buy from you… or don’t.

Demographics alone can be problematic. There are wealthy people who spend the lowest possible price for a reliable product. They’d happily buy a £5 pen, but wouldn’t dream of buying a £500 pen. There are also those on low incomes who would take a loan out, just to own that £500 pen. Income level is only part of the picture.

I was inspired to share this with you, after learning that one of my newsletter readers increased her revenues by close to 70% last year, partly by focusing on 4 of the questions I shared in one of my newsletters. By honing in on the right things, she was able to improve her marketing, so that it spoke directly to what matters to her marketplace.

These are the 4 prospective customer questions that worked for her.

  • What improvement are prospects looking for, from my services or products?
  • What do they primarily place their security in?
  • Which do they value the most, quality they can rely on or low-prices.
  • What do they give most of their attention to commercially?

By talking with current and former customers, we can get a good idea of what matters most to our typical buyer. Often we don’t even need to ask! For example, if our customers tend to wear designer names, quality and style are more important to them than the lowest-priced/reliable alternatives. 

Through observation and conversation, we can get a clear picture of what our prospects are attracted to. That’s an essential part of attraction marketing; marketing that attracts sales and enquiries from our ideal customer. 

I hope you found that useful.

It’s back to normal for you and your business

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business as normal, get back to normal

I’ve heard numerous business owners ask the same question recently. They want to know when things will go back to normal.

They’re asking the wrong question. Things can’t go back to normal.

  1. Time only moves forward. There’s no going back.
  2. Even if we invented a time machine, normal means something different to every person who asks the question.

But that’s okay. You can get things back to normal for you and your business. You won’t need a time machine. You only need to know what normal means for you and your business.

Back to normal

So, what does your version of normal look like? You’ll typically find it was the way things felt for you at a certain point in the past. Usually this is a sense of stability or security. Plus, a feeling that things were more predictable and consistent, less volatile.

Whatever normal means to you, write it down.

things return to normal, marketing, biz dev

Once you have your very own, unique picture of what normal means for you and your business, you can start to build it. Your picture becomes the equivalent of an architect’s drawing. You use your picture to guide you, as you put the pieces into place, so your sense of stability, security and predictability are back to normal.

How?

While your competitors are waiting for the impossible, you get to work. You start by thinking what structures you will need to have around you, to create your feeling of normality. Here are some suggestions to get you started.

Stability and security: These are radically improved when you have the required finances in place. So, decide what’s your figure… how much would it take for you to have the same feeling of stability and security, as you had when things were normal? For extra security, add a zero! Next, get the best advice you can regarding building your wealth. Then, make a plan. How many additional sales do you need to make, or how many new clients do you need. Even better (because it’s faster and easier), what new products or services could you develop for your existing customers or clients.

Predictability: Even when things were normal for you, you couldn’t predict everything. No one can. However, you can predict your future even better than before, by making it happen. This means planning for it and following your plan. So, what would you love to happen over the next 30-days, 6-months, or the next year, 5-years or decade? Write it down. Make a plan.

This isn’t difficult. Seriously. You’re smarter, better looking and your jokes are funnier than people who’ve already done this.

There’s a fast and extremely valuable additional benefit from working on getting things back to normal. Very shortly after you begin making your plans, you’ll start to feel less stressed and more positive. You’ll have a greater feeling of control, because you’ll actually be in control. That feeling of positivity and being in control is invaluable. It provides you with increased optimism, greater enthusiasm and more energy.

Exactly what you need in order to succeed. (Hey, that rhymes)

Main image by Visual Tag Mx

Marketing 101: Vigorous, written marketing

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vigorous written marketing, marketing copywriting, content marketing

Most of the marketing copy I see is at least 75% too long. Overlong copy lacks impact. It also lacks clarity and fails to motivate prospective customers or clients.

I want to help you avoid this expensive mistake, which is why I wrote this for you.

Vigorous, written marketing

And it starts with one of the best-known quotes on the subject.

“Vigorous writing is concise. A sentence should contain no unnecessary words, a paragraph no unnecessary sentences, for the same reason that a drawing should have no unnecessary lines and a machine no unnecessary parts. This requires not that the writer make all his sentences short, or that he avoid all detail and treat his subjects only in outline, but that he make every word tell“.

Professor William Strunk Jr. – The Elements of Style.

The vigorous writing referred to here, is writing that is strong and full of energy. That’s the kind of writing that moves people to take action; to contact you, buy from you or hire you. It’s the kind of writing that gets the results you need.

How can you and your business benefit from the power of vigorous, written marketing?

The answer comes from understanding why the problem exists.

Google usually gets the blame

That’s because Google’s search algorithm rewards overlong, written content. It prefers 2500 words to 250. So, for over 20 years, online marketing writers have been rewarded for high word counts. That’s certainly not what’s needed for vigorous, written marketing.

But Google isn’t responsible for the wider problem.

Email marketing and off-line media is just as ruined by overlong content. Neither of those formats have ever required the writer to dance the Google dance.

The problem exists because most written marketing is created by people who lack sufficient training. It’s either written by business owners who ‘dabble’ or by below-par copywriters.

The solution?

The business owner wishing to switch to vigorous, written marketing has two options.

  1. Learn how to do it effectively.
  2. Pay someone who already knows.

How to decide?

  • The cost (in time) of learning is considerable. It takes years of practice. However, you’ll start seeing improvements relatively quickly.
  • The cost of hiring an expert is lower. And it’s a lot faster.

The price you pay for starving your business of vigorous, written marketing is far higher than either of those options. So pick one of them and run with it.

Photo by Cherrydeck on Unsplash

The horrible truth about marketing

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out market competitors, unfair advantage, marrketing tip

There’s a balance required if you want to rise above the competition. Yes, you should strive to be the best provider you can be. But that’s only one side of the scales. You also need to be the best marketed.

Think about it. There’s a world of difference between being the best… and the best selling.

  • The best selling album is never the best recorded album. It’s the best marketed album.
  • The best selling movie at the box office is never the best produced movie. It’s the best marketed movie.
  • And the best selling sportswear brand is never the best quality sportswear brand. It’s the best marketed sportswear brand.

You already know your best selling competitor is not the best quality competitor. It’s just their marketing that’s better. Note: this doesn’t mean their marketing is outstanding. It only means that they do more of the right things than their competitors. So, they get noticed more than you and/or they’re better at converting that attention into paying clients or customers.

Give your business the advantage

If you’re sick of watching competitors doing better than you, you need to decide to outperform their marketing, the way you already outperform their service. Because an average service that has great marketing, will always beat a great service that has average marketing.

The great news: If you decide to fight back, you’ll have better marketing and a better service. That’s an unbeatable combination. I’m telling you, your competitors won’t know what’s hit them.

The persuasion gap

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marketing tip, the persuasion gap, sales

Today, I’d like to show you a great way to make far more prospects hire you or buy from you.

Here’s what we know.

  • Testimonials from former customers or clients have limited persuasive effect on a prospect. Everyone uses them. And they’re always positive.
  • Samples of previous work we’ve done have limited persuasive effect on a prospect. Everyone uses them. And they’re always best-case examples.
  • Even being recommended to the prospect by someone they trust has limited persuasive effect. Everyone’s been let down by something recommended by a friend.

What’s left is what I call the persuasion gap: It’s the gap between how persuaded the prospect is, and how persuaded the prospect needs to be, before they will hire you or buy from you. 

So, how do you fill the persuasion gap?

We start by understanding a basic fact. When someone buys a product or service, they’re buying the future.

The future?

Yep!

It’s all about the future.

Think about it from the prospect’s perspective. Our product or service hasn’t been successfully delivered yet. It hasn’t worked as expected yet. It hasn’t provided the prospect with outstanding value yet. This is all future stuff. That’s what causes the persuasion gap. They simply don’t know if they’ll be delighted with buying from us in 12-weeks, 12-months or 12-years time.

To fill the persuasion gap, we need to convince them ahead of time. We need to convince them now, so they have a complete picture in their mind of a wonderful, future outcome. And to convince them, we need to confidently explain why we believe in the value of our product or service.

The more confidently we explain it, the better.

Why?

By confidently sharing the story of our product or service with prospects, and building their confidence in us, we help them fill their persuasion gap. That’s when they happily buy from us or hire us.

Photo by Cytonn Photography

Why email marketing doesn’t work in 2025

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why doesn't email marketing work, email marketing doesn't work, newsletter, email campaign 2025

A reader shared an interesting observation with me. She told me she had “found out the hard way that email marketing doesn’t work in 2025″.

She asked me for my thoughts on why email is so ineffective. I said I’d share them here, as I’m sure some of you will find it useful.

Email marketing works

Email marketing works. In fact, email marketing works extremely well. Better than ever.

Just ask any business owner who’s using it correctly. Whether it’s used for newsletters or promotions, the return on investment is off the charts.

Email marketing also works more predictably than just about any other form of marketing. And the tiny financial investment required for email marketing makes it the most cost effective form of marketing out there.

Email marketing doesn’t work when…

What doesn’t work is ineffective email marketing. Just ask anyone who’s doing it incorrectly.

Here’s the thing: ineffective email marketing can’t work.

why doesn't email marketing work, email marketing doesn't work, newsletter, email campaign

Here are just a few, very common examples of how small business owners get email marketing wrong.

  • A poorly written email won’t work. It will fail to motivate the reader to take action; to call you, email you, visit your website, make a purchase from you, whatever.
  • A professionally written email, sent to the wrong people, won’t work. It will fail to reach those with a want or need for your services.
  • A well written email, sent to the right people, with a dull subject line, won’t work. That’s because no one will open it. The subject line has to be compelling or no matter what your message is, it will literally be ignored.
  • A well written email, sent to the right people, with a compelling subject line, offering a generic product or service, won’t work. No one wants to switch to a service that’s no better then their current service.
  • A well written email, sent to the right people, with a compelling subject line, but sent on the wrong day of the week, won’t work. At least, it won’t be anything like as effective as it would be, if you research the best time of day and best day of the week, to send it.
  • Oh, and if you send your emails frequently, or not frequently enough… that’s right, your email marketing won’t work.

You get the idea.

In short, before you reject any form of marketing as ineffective, make sure you’re using it correctly.

So, instead of telling yourself that email marketing doesn’t work, ask yourself why YOUR email marketing doesn’t work. Otherwise, you’ll needlessly miss out on one of the most powerful forms of marketing on the planet!

Image: Shutterstock.

Risk reduction 101

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want something done, ask busy person, sayings

In business, reducing your exposure to risk makes sense.

Eliminating your exposure to risk make no sense whatsoever.

Why?

It’s impossible to eliminate risk from any business. Even if things are going great, and we decide to just carry on with whatever we’re doing, we risk becoming obsolete. We risk becoming irrelevant. We risk losing clients or customers to agile competitors.

In seeking to eliminate risk, we automatically eliminate every great, genuine opportunity. Think about it, every genuine opportunity comes with an element of risk. 

In short, reduce your exposure to risk, for sure. But don’t try to eliminate it.

10 Huge business wins you can start on today

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an AI generated image with the word 'opportunity' written on it.

Here they are in no particular order.

  1. There’s a type of thinking that can only be done by writing. So, the next time you’re working on an idea, solving a problem or developing a new service, etc., write it down in detail. You’ll get a better answer and you’ll find it faster.
  2. Don’t chase the latest success hacks. Instead, focus on proven strategies that work in every economy.
  3. Treat your time with the respect you deserve. Throughout the day, ask yourself is this the best use of my time right now? If it isn’t, stop and do something better.
  4. Get around the right people. Spend as much time as you can with those who will motivate you, inspire you and encourage you. This is probably the easiest tip on this list and certainly one of the most powerful.
  5. Do the extra 5%. Commit to do everything required for the success you want, rather than the 95% of things that most people do. That extra 5% brings with it a disproportionately massive improvement.
  6. Clearly define the vision and mission you have for your business. With clarity and direction, you’ll get ahead faster and fly higher.
  7. Regularly look for opportunities to do something, which your future-self will thank you for.
  8. One of the best investments anyone can make in their business is this: Strive to always exceed expectations. Raise your own bar. Then raise it again. And again.
  9. Provide your business with the resources it needs. When we starve anything of essential resources, it stops growing. Our business is the same.
  10. Eagerly look for a difficult problem to solve. The more difficult a problem is, the more the market will pay you to solve it.

If you found this useful, remember to share it with a friend.

Standing out: You’re the only safe choice for your prospects

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attraction marketing, earn attention

It’s really important that your prospective clients or customers specifically hire you or buy from you.

Allow me to explain.

It’s a fact that if your prospects go to one of your competitors, you have absolutely no way of knowing what kind of terrible experience they could receive. Anything could happen to them.

But on the other hand, you know for absolute certain what will happen when a prospect comes to you.

  • You know that you will look after them.
  • You know they will receive outstanding value.
  • You know that you will care, really care, about them and the service they receive.
  • You know that you will go the extra mile for them.

In short, if they choose you, you know they will be delighted.

A powerful business mindset

I have clients today, who first hired me over 20 years ago. This marketing mindset is what attracted them, and my total commitment to their success is what keeps them coming back. It’s the mindset behind everything I do. It’s 100% them-focused.

I recommend you do the same.

You see, I truly believe you have a professional AND moral obligation to ensure that your prospects hire YOU or buy from YOU. Because it’s the only way you can guarantee for certain that they won’t make a MASSIVE mistake.

You care passionately about your clients or customers. You go to great lengths to ensure their happiness. So, let the marketplace know. Show them that their total satisfaction is what matters to you. That it’s what drives you. That it’s what motivates you to continuously improve.

Now make that message, from that mindset, the cornerstone of all your marketing. It’s already the cornerstone of everything you do. That message is exactly what prospects want to hear… and you know that what you’re telling them is the truth.

Marketing 101: The sales multiplier tactic

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sales multiplied, marketing tips, inbound marketing

At the beginning of my marketing career, I was introduced to a very effective marketing idea. I call it the sales multiplier tactic. It’s spectacularly powerful and there are several ways YOU can benefit from it.

Here’s how it works.

The core idea is extremely simple. If you want a business that grows quickly, design your business so that when someone uses your services, they get more value from it if their contacts also use your services.

  • This was how LinkedIn grew. Early users asked their contacts and clients to join, so they could connect. TikTok did the same.
  • It’s also how every hit TV show becomes a hit. The first viewers tell their friends about it, so they can chat about the show with them or share in-jokes, which only fellow viewers would understand, etc.

However…

What if you already have a business and it doesn’t have the sales multiplier tactic built in? After all, the vast majority of business owners are in this position.

One option is to retrofit the sales multiplier tactic to your business. Retrofitting takes a little time and creativity, but it’s relatively easy.

However, there’s an easy and extremely popular alternative that any business can use.

Making the sales multiplier tactic work for your business

A highly popular alternative option, is to add it to your marketing, rather than your service.

One example is my newsletter. It works like this.

  • Someone within a company or network subscribes to my newsletter.
  • Then, they read one, which will help overcome a problem their company or network has. So, they forward it to a few other people.
  • Why? Because it’s easier for them to get their colleagues on board with an idea I mentioned, if they’re able to read it for themselves.
  • Some of those colleagues will subscribe and do the same.
  • This is how I’ve attracted many of my largest clients, as details on how to hire me are at the bottom of each newsletter.

That example only works because it’s an ad-free newsletter with useful information, not a series of special offers and sales pitches. For the sales multiplier tactic to work for you, your marketing needs to contain something helpful, interesting or informative. This holds true if you’re using it on a podcast, a YouTube channel, your social media account or anywhere else. 

Whichever route you choose, if you get it right the impact it can have on your sales results is amazing.

Needed

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needs not wants, professional service provider

Today, I’m going to show you how to grow your business, build your reputation, keep your customers or clients happy and generate extremely valuable referrals.

Better still, all it takes is one adjustment to the way most small businesses operate.

When I share this idea with business owners, I use the following example. Think about some of the most powerful commercial logos. Apple, Chanel, McDonald’s, Adidas, IBM, Google and Target, etc. All of these designs look simplistic. A child could reproduce any of them in a few seconds.

Now, imagine for a moment what happens when a business owner hires a great designer to create their logo. The designer then gets back to the client with exactly what the client needs… a powerful, extremely effective, yet brilliantly-simple design. Like one of the world-class examples I just mentioned.

Because the client is not a design professional, they want MORE for their money. So, they demand changes.

  • More detail.
  • More lines.
  • More complexity.

If the designer gives the client what the client wants, the client ends up with a confusing piece of junk.

If the designer gives the client what the client needs, the client ends up with an effective, professionally designed logo.

How to get this right

The best service providers use education, to help the client understand what the client needs.

When the service provider does this correctly.

  • The client ends up with what they want and what they need.
  • The service provider ends up with a delighted client, who has a great piece of work. That’s the kind of client who provides valuable referrals.
  • The marketplace gets to see your very best work, which helps you build an excellent reputation.

Your clients deserve your very best work. And so do you, my friend.

Marketing 101: Creativity works better than money

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creative marketing

Ever wondered why I never write about how or where to spend your marketing money?

Well, today I spill the beans. And it can save you, and make you, a fortune.

There are a lot of ways you can spend money on marketing. Advertising and promotion is available via thousands of providers. It’s so easy.

  • You pay them your money.
  • They say they’ll get your message in front of X number of prospective clients or customers.
  • Hopefully, a percentage of these will contact you.
  • And a percentage of that percentage, could spend money with you.

So far so good, right?

It would be, if your competitors didn’t have the exact same options.

But they do.

Buying attention is overrated

Obviously, your competitors advertise to the same marketplace as you… otherwise they wouldn’t be your competitors.

So your ads are always competing against their ads.

Whoever spends most money, gets the most attention. This is equally true when you advertise on different platforms, as digital advertising reaches the same target groups regardless of where they are.

This makes buying attention with ads extremely precarious! Your ad reach will always depend on the marketing money your competitors choose to spend. It’s out of your control. It’s also impossible to plan the future growth of your business with confidence.

Why?

A well-funded competitor can, quickly and easily, wipe your visibility out before you even know what’s happening.

Thankfully there’s an effective alternative.

Marketing creativity over marketing money

I choose to focus 100% on a very different marketing model. It’s a model that is impossible for your competitors to copy, as they can’t see what you’re doing, unlike paid ads / promotion.

BUT they won’t know why.

That’s because the marketing model I use is entirely based around creativity, not money.

It’s about attracting attention, not buying attention.

It’s about giving your prospective clients something to talk about.

And it’s exceptionally effective. In fact, The Wall Street Journal came to me for an example of how I achieve massive marketing success for my small business clients, using creative marketing strategies, and NOT A PENNY spent on advertising or promotion.

In short, I don’t write about how to buy attention because it’s a risky, expensive, unpredictable and exceptionally limited way to grow your business.

So, now you know.

When people say you’re too expensive, do this!

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Jim Connolly marketing

When you ask why they didn’t buy from you, prospective customers or clients often say that your prices are too high.

And it could be true.

However, it usually isn’t.

Here’s what you need to know.

Your prices are seldom the problem

Let’s start with some far more likely reasons for their decision.

  • Your marketing could be suffering from Toxic Complexity. This is dangerous and extremely common.
  • You might be marketing to the wrong people.
  • You could be contacting them at the lowest point of their cash flow cycle.
  • You could be asking people to make a decision before they have all the information they need.
  • Your marketing could be failing to clearly demonstrate enough value, making your price seem higher than they expected.
  • Your marketing promises could be too similar to those offered by your lower priced competitors.
  • Your payment terms may not be flexible enough for them.
  • Your branding could be positioning you as a lower priced provider than you actually are.
  • You could be responding to enquiries too slowly.

And there are lots of other reasons. None of which have much to do with your prices or fees, and more to do with your marketing and how you sell your products or services.

It’s a trap

Lowering your prices can be tempting. It’s a quick and extremely easy way to make your products or services seem better value. But it’s a trap. A trap you need to avoid. A trap that can put your business in a dangerous race to the bottom. You do not want to be in a race to the bottom!

A far better alternative is to find out what’s actually causing people to think you’re too expensive. And to then focus on improving your marketing in those key areas.

If you’re not sure where to start looking for answers, the brief list above is a useful place to begin. Try to look at each item on that list from the perspective of a potential client. Remember, most prospects will have done at least some research. So check your competitors to see how your; services, marketing, payment terms, promises, guarantees, branding and response times, etc., stack up against theirs.

And make lowering your prices the very last thing you consider.