Jim Connolly Marketing

Build a better contact network, starting now

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building business contacts, better contacts

They say it’s not what you know, but who you know that counts. That’s because knowing the right people is essential for business success. It’s also why you’ll never meet a successful person who hasn’t built an extremely valuable contact network. Today, I want to help you build an equally valuable network of your own. 

It starts with a question: How many business contacts do you have?

You can easily get an approximate figure by adding together your LinkedIn contacts, your social network followers/friends and the contacts in your address book, etc. For some reading this, the number will be in the hundreds. For many it will be in the thousands or tens of thousands. And for others it will be a hundred thousand or more.

Here’s a far more meaningful question: How many business relationships do you have?

Business relationships are harder to count. These are the people you connect with on a deeper level. Not just numbers on the social networks you use. Not just names in your address book, who you have no real history with. 
 

Vanity metrics 

Building more and more contacts can be intoxicating. These contact numbers are often referred to as vanity metricks, because most of the numbers are visible to others, such as our social network contacts, and how many followers or online friends we have.

It’s a way for normal people (like me) to finally be like one of the popular kids at school. Even though we know hardly any of these people, we have the BIG contacts number. Go us!
 

Business relationship building

The number of meaningful business relationships we have is a lot less public than our vanity numbers, but a lot more meaningful and massively more valuable. With this in mind, how much time do you dedicate each day or each week, to building and nurturing business relationships? 

Here’s a tip to help you get started.

I want you to imagine you already had meaningful relationships, with 6 people who are useful and/or influential. Now write those 6 names down. Next, take time over the coming week to learn a little about them and how to get in contact with them. Finally, get in touch with each one, introducing yourself and letting them know how YOU can assist THEM.

[Important] Read this: Bring your seed, not your need.

The number of positive replies you receive will depend on lots of factors. This includes things like, how useful your assistance is to the other person, how effective your initial introduction is, how interesting you make yourself sound, and even how good your timing is, etc.

But if you stick with it, always seeking to improve your approach, you will find yourself building extremely useful, mutually beneficial business relationships, with amazing people.

Plus, they’ll get to see just how awesome you are, and introduce you to their contacts. 

They know they need it. So why aren’t they buying?

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marketing, sales motivation

It’s so frustrating. A prospect has seen your marketing. They’ve spoken with you and had all their questions answered. They admit that they genuinely need what you’re offering. However, they still don’t make the purchase.

Typically in this situation, the temptation is to provide additional reasons why it’s exactly what they need. But that’s not what’s stopping them. When the prospect tells you they need what you’re offering, what’s stopping them from buying is that they’re not ready to buy.

At this point, you need to switch your focus away from the benefits of the product or service. Instead, focus on uncovering why the prospect is not ready. There’s always a reason. And it’s usually extremely easy to overcome. Tip: A great place to start is simply by asking them.

So take a little time to find out why they’re not ready. Then remove the barrier. When you do, you’ll make the sale.

Easy does it. No it doesn’t!

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marketing lies, liars

In business, easy is overrated.

It’s easy to meet our customer’s expectations. Easier than exceeding their wildest dreams and giving them a great experience to share with their friends.

It’s easy to settle for less than we are capable of. Easier than kicking forward, and growing a business that provides rewards, which will massively increase our quality of life.

It’s easy to lower prices or fees in order to be more competitive. Easier than finding ways to vastly increase the value we provide, so our customers are delighted to pay more.

Yes, it’s easy. But we started out with the goal of building a successful business, not an easy one. 

Ironically, as our business becomes more successful, everything gets easier. That’s because commercial success is an exceptionally powerful motivator.

How to know what your prospects REALLY want from you

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feedback

Here’s what we’re told. The key to business success is to give the marketplace what it wants. That sounds easy enough.

  1. We ask them what they want.
  2. We provide them with what they want, and we do this to the best of our ability.

The trickiest part there is step one. That’s because history assures us that people tend not to tell us what they actually want. 

  • Some will tell us what they think we want to hear.
  • Some will tell us what they think makes them look smart.
  • Some will tell us what they think makes them look considerate. 
  • And others will tell us what they think makes them look edgy, unique or creative.

If we really want to know what people think, we need to study what they do. Their actions speak louder and with greater accuracy than their words. That’s worth taking into account, the next time you’re tempted to survey people.

Here’s an alternative approach. 

Try this instead

Social media provides you with a wonderful way to see where the attention of your marketplace truly is. You can see what they’re excited about, what they’re worried about, what they’re investing in and what their challenges are, etc.

This can give you valuable feedback, equipping you to make better decisions and spot new opportunities.

Photo by Ann H on Pexels.com

Why you need a story. From the original Mad Man

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marketing, business, brand, story, ogilvy

Someone asked me why her business needed a story. She thought it was, “a load of trendy nonsense”.

When I answered her question, she emailed me back to say it had changed her perception completely. She said it would improve her approach to marketing forever.

So today, I decided to share my answer with you. I hope you find it just as useful.

Why your business needs a story

My answer begins with a quote from advertising legend, David Ogilvy. Ogilvy was the inspiration behind the hit TV show, Mad Men.

Here’s what he had to say.

“There isn’t any significant difference between the various brands of whiskey, or cigarettes or beer. They are all about the same”. “[…] The manufacturer who dedicates his advertising to building the most sharply defined personality for his brand will get the largest share of the market at the highest profit”.

That message isn’t new. It was written decades ago, as you can tell from the examples he uses. But it’s even more valid in 2024, than when Ogilvy shared it.

Think about it. Apple’s iPhone is the best selling mobile phone in the world, despite being one of the most expensive. It doesn’t have the best display, the best camera, the best signal reception or the best battery life.

But it does have the best story.

brand story, feelings, emotions decisions

Emotions drive decisions

Your prospective clients or customers are motivated by emotions, far more than logic. The way they feel about you and your brand, is what will drive their decision to hire you, buy from you and recommend you. And it’s your story, which determines how they feel about you. (I explain why in this post, Does your business pass the coffee shop test?, which you might find useful).

Build a story, my friend. A story that people will embrace and share.

Is it easy? No. It takes a little creativity.

Is it possible? Yes. Very possible.

Is it worth the effort? Absolutely.

The big bucks and the easy bucks are the same bucks

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making big money, jim connolly marketing

Photo by Aknarin Thika

Ten times ten, times ten is a thousand.

Do that another three times and you get a million.

Those who manage to make a million are the ones who can get motivated when it’s just $10, and then stay motivated when it’s only $1000, or $10,000.

Because the jump from $10,000 to $100,000 isn’t that hard. And from $100,000 to $Million it’s even easier.

Whether someone is building a business, building a fortune or building a subscriber base, there is a common thread.

The work at the beginning is disproportionately hard and disproportionately unrewarding.

That’s a major reason why so few people achieve massive success with their business, their finances and their subscriber base.

The way you navigate that difficult period with the low numbers is critically important. It’s what determines whether you reach the part of the journey, where everything is easier and the results are spectacularly higher.