Photo: Tim Mossholder on Unsplash

When it comes to being a pushy business owner, there are two ways to do it.

One of them works extremely well.

The other one doesn’t.

Allow me to explain.

1. You can push people

Pester them with cold calls.

Interrupt them with selfish requests.

Spam them.

Try and close the sale the first time you speak to them.

Hassle them for referrals at networking events.

Hound them on social networks.

2. You can push yourself

Expand your knowledge.

Refuse to settle for less than you truly want.

Do what’s right, even when it isn’t easy.

Do what your competitors avoid, because they think it’s too tricky.

Leave your comfort zone… regularly.

Focus on what you want rather than what you fear.

In short, when you push yourself, you move forward. When you push others, they push you back. All the way back.

Choose wisely my friend, and then push.

Today, I’m going to share a strategy with you that I use with some of my clients. It’s designed to help them solve problems and get the answers they need. It can do the same for you.

Although this strategy can be used on just about any business challenge, the example I’m using here is, how to get more referrals?.

Ready?

Lets go!

When we get a client referral we always know why it happened.

We earned it.

We exceeded our client’s expectations and provided exceptional customer service. We were consistent. We turned up. We cared. This combined to make us extremely referable.

When business owners consistently get too few referrals, they usually can’t figure out why. From their perspective, they’re working hard, caring for their customers and delivering solid customer service. Often, they will blame someone (their customers) or something (their industry). This then places the problem outside their control and allows it to persist.

The answer?

What if? thinking

When I solve this type of challenge for business owners, I start by doing some ‘what if?‘ thinking with them. It looks a little like this.

• What if the range of services you provide isn’t ideally matched to your client’s needs… how could you improve it?
• What if your response time isn’t optimal… how could you improve it?
• What if your customer service isn’t perfect… how could you improve it?
• What if the level of care and attention you place in your work isn’t maximized… how could you improve it?

Important: Using specific ‘what if?’ questions, based on my client’s exact situation, leads to massively more effective answers, than the very general examples above.

The idea behind ‘what if?’ thinking is to allow us to imagine a scenario, where there is room for improvement. And remember, it can be used for ANY area of our business, not just referrals.

‘What if?’ thinking lets us put distance between the challenge (too few referrals), and our belief that we’re already doing everything we can. It opens our thinking up to new possibilities. Possibilities that simply aren’t there if we blame external factors.

All of the important challenges we face, in life as well as in business, need to be solved from the same starting point: Accepting we have a problem. And if we want to find the best answers, we need to acknowledge that we’re not already doing everything perfectly.

This is truly great news.

It means there’s always room for our business to improve, because there’s always room for us to improve.

It means we can achieve more, because we can become more.

I was talking with an amazing group of entrepreneurs earlier. During our session, I mentioned that I hadn’t sold my services to anyone in well over 20 years. I went on to explain that thousands of people have hired me or bought from me. But I hadn’t sold anything to anyone.

That’s not just word play.

It’s a way of operating!

And if you want to attract more customers, no selling required, you need to know about it.

Buying and selling

It starts with something that my first ever boss told me. It’s simply this.

“Everyone loves to buy things, but no one likes being sold to”.

And she was right.

Most small and medium-sized business owners do not ‘get’ this. Their marketing is little more than a series of needy pitches. They turn up when they want you to buy something. And it’s rightly ignored by the vast majority of prospective customers, because no one likes being sold to.

The smartest business owners focus on engagement. They look for opportunities to give. They seek out ways to be useful to their customers, prospective customers and the wider marketplace. They build relationships and earn trust. In doing so, they attract attention and create meaningful connections.

In short, those very different approaches look something like this.

• Most marketing is about bringing your need to the marketplace. Sales pitches, special offers and closing sales.
• Smart marketing is about bringing your seed to the marketplace. Growing engagement by contributing your knowledge, solving problems, sharing your passion, being helpful and opening relationships.

Smart marketing is more effective, develops greater trust and builds better relationships. And it works in every industry. Because regardless of what line of business you’re in and what marketplace you serve, people love to buy things.

Bring your seed, my friend. Before you know it, your business will blossom in a wonderfully predictable way. No selling required.

Competition is good for business. More importantly my friend, competition is good for YOUR business.

Here’s why:

• Competition motivates you to raise the bar and set higher standards.
• Competition inspires you to innovate.
• Competition compels you to leave your comfort zone.
• Competition encourages you to differentiate yourself, so you stand out.
• Competition leads to better products and better services for the marketplace.

As business owners, the decision we face is simple: Do we wait for an agile competitor to force us to do better, or do we take the initiative?

In other words, do we wait and react or take the lead and act?

Our response to that question is hugely important.

Why?

Because it will determine whether we give ourselves a winning advantage and achieve our full potential or find ourselves constantly playing catch-up.

It’s tough being a service provider. There are so many of us in every industry. Not only that, a prospective client can find lower priced alternatives to us, on Google, in seconds.

With so many competitors, what can we do?

• We could try and out-spend them on advertising. Of course, this eats into our profit margins.
• We could try being the lowest priced. Of course, this almost eliminates our profits.
• We could try joining a networking group. Of course, we’d be relying on fellow group members to provide us with leads… the very same people who need to attend the group because they can’t even get enough leads for their own businesses.

There are better alternatives though. And one that works extremely well, is to become number one in a category of one.

It’s the strategy I follow for my own business and one that could be just as effective for you and your business.

It works like this

Let’s imagine you’re an accountant. (You could equally be a mentor, financial advisor, lawyer, designer, trainer, marketing consultant or whatever). Anyhow, unlike your fellow accountants you choose to work exclusively with creative professionals. This immediately places you as number one in a category of one.

• The fact you understand their profession at a super-deep level, sets you apart from the rest.
• The fact you understand their terminology and speak their language, sets you apart from the rest.
• The fact you understand the threats and opportunities specific to their industry, sets you apart from the rest.
• The fact you understand their unique requirements, sets you apart from the rest.
• The fact you understand the creative mindset, sets you apart from the rest.

And because you’re set apart from your former competing providers, your prospective clients will see you as massively more relevant to them and their business!

It’s hard to think of a service provider in any industry, who couldn’t transition themselves into being number one in a category of one.

Including you, my friend.

How attractive and interesting does your marketing look, from the perspective of your marketplace?

For example.

• That interesting newsletter you’re going to send. Is it interesting to you or the people you’re sending it to?
• That special offer you’re about to launch. Is it special to you or the people you’re offering it to?
• That important email you’re planning to send. Is it important to you or the person you’re sending it to?
• That exciting announcement you’re about to make. Is it exciting to you or the people you’re announcing it to?
• And that amazing opportunity you keep talking about. Is it amazing to you or the people you’re talking to?

Think for a moment about how many special offers, exciting announcements and marketing messages you encounter each week, which you totally ignore. It’s more than 99 percent of them.

You only buy (attend, purchase, subscribe to, etc), the things marketed to you, which do the following.

1. Grab your attention. Otherwise you wouldn’t notice them or the message they have.
2. Are clearly of so much value that you attend, make a purchase, join or subscribe.

And that’s also what your prospective clients or customers need from your marketing!

Here’s the thing: The vast majority of small business marketing fails on both fronts. Why? Because it’s written from the perspective of the sender (the marketer), NOT from the perspective of their marketplace.

I’m not saying the offer isn’t directed to the prospective client, or that it doesn’t offer benefits, or that it lacks a call-to-action. It usually does all those things.

I’m saying that the way this is done, is based on a toxic assumption. An assumption that the marketplace is as motivated about whatever the marketer is offering, as the marketer is.

3 ways toxic assumptions can hurt a business

These are probably the 3 most common examples. Though there are many, many more.

1. Too little time is spent pumping MASSIVE, real-world value into our offering.

This happens because we think the benefits of our services are already compelling enough. The truth is, no matter what we think, our offering is never compelling enough! If we’re not adding a measurable lift in the value of our product or service very, very regularly, we quickly get surpassed by competitors or become irrelevant.

Check out the competition. Look for holes in the provision of whatever you do, which a little creativity can be transformed into a huge marketing win.

2. Too little time is spent listening to what prospective clients want.

Even before the pandemic, the pace of change was accelerating. Now, as we plot our way out of the pandemic, the rate of change is hugely accelerated. Thankfully, social media gives us access to what our marketplace wants, in real-time.

The social media platform we choose to ‘listen’ to should be based on where our marketplace is. With a little time spent learning how to find the core information we require, we can better match our offering to the ACTUAL, current wants and needs of our prospective clients.

3. Too little time is spent learning how to create compelling marketing.

When we assume that our marketing is already compelling enough, there’s little incentive to radically improve it. Sure, we might make some adjustments. But we tend not to invest the time, effort and hard work on improving something, if we believe it’s already great.

Every business owner knows that it’s essential to outsmart their competitors.

However, the most successful business owners add something extra to the mix. It’s a missing ingredient that makes all the difference. They outcare their competitors, too.

For example.

• They care more about the success of their clients than their competitors do.
• They care more about building great client relationships than their competitors do.
• They care more about delivering on promises than their competitors do.
• They care more about improving industry standards than their competitors do.
• They care more about assisting their marketplace than their competitors do.
• They care more about making great contacts than their competitors do.
• They care more about quality than their competitors do.
• They care more about service than their competitors do.
• They care more about meeting deadlines than their competitors do.
• They care more about ethics than their competitors do.
• They care more about connecting with people than their competitors do.
• They care more about professionalism than their competitors do.
• They care more about their marketing than their competitors do.
• They care more about leading in their industry than their competitors do.

It’s hard to think of a more mutually beneficial, effective and future proof way to succeed in 2021 and beyond.

Finally, from my home to yours, I’d like to wish you and your family a healthy, happy and prosperous New Year.

In no particular order.

1. Have you considered firing your worst clients? Bad clients are a source of stress, frustration and unhappiness. They zap your energy too. The time wasted on bad clients can then be invested in delighting your best clients even more.
2. Do your business goals for 2021 fill you with excitement? Are they all about thriving, or simply surviving? If you miss a thrive goal by 25%, you’ll still have a great year. If you miss a survival goal by just 1%, you’re broke. Set goals that inspire you to succeed.
3. What was your biggest business challenge in 2020 and what can you learn from it? Whilst this year has produced a number of unique challenges, it has also exposed lots of historic weaknesses. Some of the most common include; an unwillingness to adapt, insufficient financial reserves, piss-poor marketing and fear of investing in yourself / your business. Those who don’t learn from past mistakes tend to repeat them.
4. If you stopped trading tomorrow, how tricky would it be for people to find a suitable replacement? Your task is to be as close to irreplaceable as possible. Learn more about becoming irreplaceable here.
5. Have you looked at opening your services up to a global audience? If not, now is a good time to consider it. That’s because proximity is no longer geographical for many service providers. For example, my 3 newest clients are based on 3 different continents. One of the big lessons from 2020 is that people are happy to work with you remotely. I’ve worked this model for over 15 years and can’t recommend it highly enough.
6. What are the biggest hurdles to your success right now, and how do you plan to remove them? A business problem can only persist with your consent… passive or active. EVERY challenge you’re facing right now has already been overcome successfully by hundreds of thousands of business owners. There are experts in every area of business, who have the exact answers you need. Talk to them!
7. How can you reduce or eliminate the feeling of risk that’s associated with hiring you or buying from you? There are a lot of fearful people out there right now. Figure out how to help them feel more secure. This will remove a major block to hiring you or buying from you.
8. What’s the biggest opportunity for your prospective clients in 2021 and how will you help them benefit from it? Help your clients see all the amazing rebound opportunities on the horizon. And if you work in business development as I do, use your skills and vision to help them benefit from these opportunities.
9. Is your marketing useful or does it read like a sales pitch? People hate being sold to. So stop pitching them and make your marketing so useful, that prospective clients would miss it if you stopped.
10. Have you considered offering a premium version of your services? There’s an extremely profitable segment of every marketplace, who are eager to pay more for ‘that certain extra’. Here are some useful tips.
11. Is your business providing you with the lifestyle you want? If not you will either need to lower your expectations or work on growing a better business. I recommend the latter. Rekindle that motivation you had when you started your business. And stop settling for less.

I’m confused.

Really confused.

Here’s why.

You say you provide a great quality service, but your fees are pretty close to average. You give various reasons to hire you, but your services look a lot like your competitors. And the wording on your website reads just like all the others I’ve checked out in your industry.

Obviously, I’m not reviewing your marketing. But someone is. And that person is (or was) a prospective client.

Today, anyone can check you or your business out in a matter of minutes. It has never been easier for the marketplace to build a picture of you. That’s why it’s critically important to make sure our promises are matched by our marketing.

The instant a prospective client senses a disconnect between what we claim, and what they experience, we lose them. Even if we get a second chance, it’s a huge struggle to repair a bad first impression.

If you’re working hard to provide a high quality, professional service, it’s essential that your marketing is equally as professional.

It’s an easy win.

It’s a huge win, too. Because those people who currently can’t ‘see’ that you’re exactly what they’re looking for, will start hiring you, as soon as your marketing has opened their eyes.

There’s no doubt that these are worrying times.

There’s equally no doubt that this scenario is an incubator for opportunities to flourish.

Allow me to explain.

We’re looking at 2021 with no clear idea about what impact COVID-19 will have. None of us know when things will return to normal.

Perhaps just as worrying, is that things are almost certainly going to be very different from before, when they return to normal.

So even ‘normal’ will look different, whenever it arrives.

Here’s the thing: When faced with confusion, the tendency is to worry. To hunker down until things go back the way they were. That’s not going to happen. The past truly is the past.

This means that business owners waiting for the old, familiar ways to return before planning what to do, have no end point. No defining date to bounce back stronger. So they’ll drift, which is a lousy idea because you can’t drift your way to success or even survival.

Two points about this confusion and worry

Firstly, as business owners we need to learn to dance with the confusion. Move with the challenges. Live with the changing direction of our marketplace. This means planning for the super short-term as well as the medium and long-term. Checking the numbers once a month is like running blind. Keeping our finger on the pulse is essential.

Secondly, as business owners we have to be very aware that this same confusion and nervousness is impacting everyone else. Our clients and customers are confused. So are our prospective clients and customers. Their decision making is likely to be a lot less predictable than it used to be. We need to keep this in mind, as contracts come up for renewal. We also need to acknowledge that our marketing has to adjust (and adjust and adjust) to the evolving situation, or we’ll become irrelevant.

Flourishing

Every business challenge creates an incubator for opportunities to flourish. Before calling bullshit, take those two points I just mentioned.

• One business owner will see them as 100% negative.
• Another will identify (at least) a dozen opportunities to improve their business and own their competitors.

What makes this a perfect storm to flourish, is that the vast majority of business owners are focused on the gloom. This static majority wait and hope, leaving their marketplace wide open to the motivated and agile minority.

• Interestingly, both types of business owner are equally fearful.
• All that changes is the reaction they choose when faced with fear. Their response.

Fear either inspires us to respond with positive action, or causes us to respond by hunkering down and doing nothing. It’s where the phrase ‘scared stiff’ comes from.

The key here is that both responses are a choice we make. And our choice is a critically important factor in our results over the coming months and years.

In short, look for the opportunities. If you can’t see them, find someone who knows where to look. Adapt and adjust as required. If you don’t know how, find someone who does.

Almost every small business owner is wasting their time and money on the wrong kind of marketing.

Here’s why you’re probably making the same mistake, plus an example of what happens, when you switch to the right kind of marketing.

The wrong kind of marketing

I’m referring to the obvious stuff that small business owners think of, when they consider marketing.

This includes the things they do when business is quiet and they have to do SOMETHING. The things that look easy enough for them to try. The things they copy from their competitors. The predictable, uninspiring messages they put on their websites, newsletters and social media accounts. In short: the obvious things that small business owners dabble with.

That’s not how you grow a business. No. That’s running blind, hoping you’ll get lucky. And it’s why the majority of small businesses go broke.

The right kind of marketing

I’m referring to creative marketing. You already know what creative marketing looks like. It’s what 100% of successful businesses do; from the expanding small businesses in your marketplace, to the consultants who work from home yet service international brands and earn a fortune. It’s also what the world’s fastest-growing brands do and how they stay ahead.

Creative marketing is not only spectacularly effective, it’s rare among small (and medium-sized) businesses. Really rare. This is one of the reasons it’s so powerful, compared to the dabbling bullshit I mentioned earlier.

Here are just a handful of reasons why creative marketing is so powerful.

• It’s hard to copy, which means it carries on working.
• It requires little or zero money, so your competitors can’t out-spend you (think about that for a moment).
• It stands out, so you get noticed.
• It helps you differentiate your business, products or services, so you never have to sell based on prices / fees or work with low value clients.
• It inspires your prospective clients to take action.
• It gets shared. This increases the reach of your marketing.
• It’s memorable. Because small business marketing is useless, creative marketing finds it easy to make a positive, memorable impact.
• It touches people in a way that never happens with uncreative marketing.

Still not convinced?

I’d like to tell you about Sara.

What creative marketing can do

Sara emailed me before the pandemic and invited me to lunch. She’s semi-retired now, but I mentored her a while ago and we’ve been great friends ever since. She now knows how to creatively build an extremely profitable business, in any sector or industry. She’d previously been a very good business consultant, but always struggled to get the flow of high quality clients she needed. Sara went on to build an amazing business and today invests in small and medium-sized businesses.

Why am I telling you this?

Over lunch, Sara told me that 2 and a half years ago she’d invested in a small, independent bakery. The bakery was already employing great people, already using premium quality ingredients and already making delicious food. BUT too few of the right kind of customers knew it was there, as they’d been using typical, small business marketing.

Sara spotted an opportunity and because she knew the owners, she offered them a price for their business. They eagerly accepted, especially as Sara promised she’d employ the same team to run it. (And they were going broke).

I asked Sara how the bakery was doing. She said she’s increased the turnover by almost 1100% and it’s massively more profitable, too.

One thousand, one hundred percent.

Massively higher profits.

Remember: She kept the same team, the same levels of quality, the same delicious food. Her only change was to switch from typical small business marketing, to creative marketing.

This probably goes without saying

But I’ll say it anyway.

If you’re currently dabbling with the usual type of ineffective, small business marketing, it’s time to switch.

Switch to a deliberate, creativity-driven approach. It’s what 100% of my work is based on, both with my clients and my own business.

Punch above your weight, by creatively gaining the attention, trust and patronage of your marketplace (ahead of your competitors). Look to the future with excitement, not apprehension, because your creativity-driven approach works perfectly in every economy, location and industry.

And it has never been more effective, than it is right now.