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You deserve clients like mine

By Jim Connolly | May 20, 2020

workaholic, love work

My clients are amazing.

In fact, they’re totally and utterly amazing.

I’ve loved serving my clients for over 25 years. And I respect them. Every single one of them.

Why?

Because they’re not like the average business owner. That’s why their businesses succeed, when the average business fails in the first 5 years, or worse; slowly fails to deliver the results they need for decades.

My clients want to succeed, but they know that DIY marketing can only take them so far. So they choose me to be a part of their success. For which I’m eternally grateful.

The biggest accomplishment of my career, is nothing I myself have done. It’s that I get to spend every working day, with inspirational, smart, courageous people, helping THEM achieve. Imagine that: Every day since 1995, being fortunate enough to do something I love, with amazing people I admire and respect.

You deserve clients like mine.

How to work with totally, utterly amazing clients

Here are a few useful pointers, based on what I do.

  • Before I work with a client, I always speak with them to determine if we’re a great fit. I only suggest we work together and explain how my service works, after I’ve established I can definitely improve their results. I strongly recommend you do the same.
  • Only work with people you instinctively trust. If they lose your trust, fire them. Fast. By the way, I’ve only done this once in 25 years, because I take time to make sure we’re a great fit, first.
  • Treat different clients differently, based on their unique needs. No two clients are the same, so adapt to their specific wants and requirements.
  • Resolve to do everything possible, to help them succeed. I’m talking about going WAY above and beyond the claims you make in your marketing. For example, when appropriate, I connect my clients to my contacts, opening up possibilities they’d never dreamed of. Do the same. All or nothing. If you can help, help. Period. If you don’t trust your clients with your contacts, you should seriously reconsider who you’re working with.

And always follow the golden rule… care more about your client’s success, than you care about your own success.

You’re only as good as your last performance

By Jim Connolly | May 18, 2020

only as good as last performance, good last performance

Photo: Shutterstock.

I want to share maybe the most powerful mindset in business with you. Because when you understand it, it boosts your productivity, increases your confidence and supercharges your results.

It’s simply this: “You’re only as good as your last performance”.

Here’s how it works.

Why this mindset is so powerful

By learning from your last performance, your road ahead is always filled with potential. Always filled = never-ending. And never-ending potential is just another way of saying endless potential.

It gets even better!

Because you’re always free to bury an unsuccessful last performance, under a better performance, you can destroy the fear of failure from holding you back.

Here’s an example of how I embrace this mindset.

When I publish a blog post and find it didn’t resonate with my readers, (it bombed) I don’t just leave it there.

I understand that “you’re only as good as your last performance”. So I learn from my last performance, make improvements and replace it with something better.

I check things like the subject, the message, the conclusion, the clarity, and the relevance etc.

My NEW last performance is then an improvement. The previous performance is history. And knowing that if I get it wrong, I can always perform better next time, I’m free to work without fear. That’s huge. Because it’s exactly that kind of fear that holds people back from doing their best work.

In short: This mindset gives you the freedom to produce marketing (or do pretty-much anything), without the fear of failure crushing you.

When you embrace the idea, that each performance is an opportunity to improve, and that a bad performance can be buried under a great one, you’re free to blow the lid off your potential.

You’re only as good as your last performance in business

Here are a few real-world examples, of the way embracing this mindset helps business owners.

  • If your last public speaking opportunity didn’t go as well as you’d hoped, learn from it and make your next performance better. Because that’s the talk, which people will remember.
  • If your last newsletter or article didn’t generate the results you needed, learn from it and bury it under your next, newly-improved performance. Because that’s the one your readers will remember.
  • If your last marketing exercise failed to get the results you needed, learn from it. Make the required improvements. Then bask in the success of your newly-improved marketing performance.

As you can see, the idea can be applied extremely widely. This gives it the flexibility to help you in many of the most challenging areas of your business.

Embracing this mindset frees you to give the world a massively better (and always improving) version of you and your work. Oh, and just watch what it does to your results.

Given that you’re only as good as your last performance, here’s a suggestion. List some of your past performances, which you’d love to improve, then replace them with better ones. That’s a great place to start.

Just a quick reminder

By Jim Connolly | May 14, 2020

Remember.

  • You’re never more than one idea away from a life-changing breakthrough.
  • And it’s never been easier to put your ideas into action and show the world. YouTube gives you a free, global TV channel. WordPress gives you a free, global publishing platform and Gmail gives you free, global message distribution.
  • Whatever problem you’re facing right now, has already been overcome by countless other business owners. This means the answer you need is already out there. If you haven’t found it yet, keep looking. Just try looking in better places or asking for some informed help.
  • Thanks to social networks, you can listen to your marketplace and find out exactly what they want. This means you can develop a product or service, knowing in advance that the demand will be high. No more guessing. And that means way, way less risk.

There are very real commercial challenges out there right now. No doubt at all. But it pays to remind ourselves that we have opportunities to overcome them, which previous generations of business owners couldn’t have even dreamed of.

What is “a bias for action” and why is it potentially dangerous?

By Jim Connolly | May 9, 2020

bias for action, what bias for action means

Photo: Shutterstock.

Since the start of the pandemic, one of the key business mantras out there, is that it’s smart to have “a bias for action“.

That’s not only wrong. It’s dangerously wrong.

Why a bias for action is dangerous

On a surface level, the advice seems to make sense. It sounds positive after all. However, if you think about it for a few minutes you’ll spot the obvious error. You’ll notice that many of the most unproductive people you’ve ever met had a bias for action.

These include.

  • The people without a strategy, who are enthusiastically doing the wrong things.
  • The people who work like crazy until they burn out and get sick.
  • The people who jump from project to project, because they’re action focused and get bored fast.
  • The people who keep themselves busy doing what’s comfortable, rather than what’s required.

It reminds me of something Jim Rohn used to say; “Motivation alone is not enough. If you have an idiot and you motivate him, now you have a motivated idiot.”

Harsh words. But Jim made a very solid point. A bias for action can work directly against us. Unless we also develop a bias for progress or a bias for success.

The most productive people in business make a critically important distinction. Instead of a bias for action, they widen it out. They don’t want to be busy. They want to achieve desired outcomes. So they develop a bias for progress instead. Progress is what happens when preparation is combined with action.

This means planning first, then acting. Using your time and energy as effectively as you possibly can.

These are challenging times and we all need to be at our productive best. So get specific about exactly what you want to achieve. Do the research. Get the advice. Look at the numbers. And if everything stacks up, take action. That’s when a bias for action is needed.

Agility is the new growth

By Jim Connolly | May 6, 2020

marketing, agile growth

Photo: Shutterstock.

Since the start of the pandemic, I’ve written a lot about the need for business owners to adopt agile thinking. So it may come as a surprise that the title of today’s post is taken from Matthieu Pellerin, the founder and head of Google’s Growth Lab.

Pellerin wrote a very interesting post yesterday, Inside Google Marketing: Agility is the new growth. In it, he generously shares what he’s seeing, regarding changes required when marketing during the coronavirus pandemic. I found the following quote especially interesting:

“Our raison d’être continues to be driving responsible and sustainable growth, but we’re now operating under a new mantra of ‘organisational agility’.”

Whilst his post focuses on what his team at Google are doing, there’s clearly a core message we can all benefit from.

The needs, wants and situation of your clients and prospective clients is changing rapidly. In some cases, daily. Your marketing messaging needs to be just as agile, if you want to be as useful, valuable and relevant to them as possible. This includes your email marketing, website content, blog posts, social networking updates and vlogging, etc.

You simply cannot expect a pre-pandemic marketing message to strike the correct tone. Pellerin gives an example of just how important he believes it is, to get agile and move fast:

“We readjust these plans regularly and continue to switch resources as needed. Our key product priorities are shifting at lightning speed”.

Next steps

If, like many people reading this, you’re getting fewer sales or new client enquiries, check the messaging you’re using. If it fails to address the new and evolving priorities of your marketplace, it will also fail to deliver the results you need.

Whenever possible, hire a professional marketing copywriter to create compelling, relevant content for you. If that’s not within your budget, do something yourself. And in either case, review the message at least every 7 days. Sooner if it isn’t generating the results you need.

Yes, this means spending more time on your marketing. However, an agile situation demands an equally agile response.

Mark Twain: Going out on a limb

By Jim Connolly | May 3, 2020

mark twain, going out limb, where fruit is

One of the foundations of success, is a willingness to go out on a limb. That’s because all meaningful progress is preceded by the decision to take a calculated risk; to go out on a limb and do something.

Risk, security and progress

Starting a family, starting a business, relocating – all of these life changing decisions require us to go out on a limb. One of the oddities of life, is that even though the decisions that lead to the most progress in our lives are preceded by risk, we tend to opt for certainty instead. The pull of the comfort zone is clearly too strong for most to resist.

The challenge with opting for the mediocre decisions, is that mediocre decisions lead to mediocre results.

In our strive for certainty and security, it’s easy to justify playing it safe. After all…

  • If we don’t state our opinions, our opinions can’t be criticised.
  • If we don’t start a business, the business can’t fail.
  • If we don’t ask that amazing person for a dance, they can’t say no.

Mark Twain and going out on a limb

I discovered a wonderful quote from Mark Twain, which describes the importance of going out on a limb far more eloquently than I can.

Here’s what he said: “Why not go out on a limb? That’s where the fruit is!”

One of the great ironies in business, is that playing it safe is the riskiest thing we can do. This means a risk averse business owner places an incredibly low ceiling on his or her potential. They reach a plateau with their business no matter how hard they work, because every genuinely valuable opportunity has an element of risk attached. Progress means change. And change means risk.

Here’s an interesting fact:

In over 6000 years of recorded human history, no one has ever achieved anything outstanding by playing it safe. No one. The message is clear. We need to either accept the necessity for calculated risks, or settle for way, way less than we deserve.

So why not go out on a limb, as Mark Twain suggests? At least occasionally. And put yourself within reach of the fruit.

Mark Twain photo: Shutterstock.

It’s pure, marketing gold dust

By Jim Connolly | April 30, 2020

marketing gold dust

Photo: Shutterstock.

One of the most important lessons in marketing, is to understand that none of us have any clients or customers.

In other words, the client relationship is not ours.

We have to earn the privilege of providing a service to our clients… and then keep looking for opportunities to re-earn it. This means consistently looking for ways to deliver more value than they expect. And determining that an outstanding service is our absolute base line, our bare minimum, and never offering anything less.

Pure marketing gold dust

Only by accepting that we have no clients, can we avoid complacency and operate at our very best. And by operating at our very best, we become not only invaluable to our clients; we also leave a trail of outstanding work that inspires client referrals.

Think about it.

  • Massively higher client retention than others in our industry.
  • Far, far more client referrals than others in our industry.

It’s pure, marketing gold dust. A robust, unstoppable way to grow a successful business.

As I have said many times before, everything in business is marketing. This includes the quality of the service you provide to your clients, and your absolute commitment to their success.

Pandemic marketing: Specifics you need to focus on

By Jim Connolly | April 27, 2020

Photo: Shutterstock.

We’ve all seen the tragic, human cost of the pandemic unfolding and the heroic work of those working on the front line.

Commercially, as countries start to sketch out their plans to ease certain restrictions, we can get a better idea of the business disruption we’re likely to see between now and next year. With that in mind, and to help you plan ahead, here are some specific marketing challenges, which business owners will need to overcome.

I’ve split them into 2 groups (business to business and business to consumer), though you may find some overlap.

If you sell products or services to businesses.

  • Those offering design, branding and so-called ‘soft skills’ training may find prospects holding back on investment, until things settle down.
  • It’s likely that a number of the businesses you serve will cease trading. This will vary depending on the industries you sell into.
  • If your customers have been scaling back or reducing staff numbers, this could reduce the frequency or size of their requirement / future orders from you.
  • With almost every business taking a financial hit from the pandemic, you will encounter more price resistance than before.
  • Leading on from the previous point, your low cost competitors are likely to be a greater threat to your business than they were.
  • Some of your competitors will be a lot more active with their marketing. Most will rely on DIY marketing and have little effect on your business. However, some may get expert help and eat into your market share.

If you sell direct to consumers.

  • Many consumers will be forced to scale back on non-essential products and services. This is less of an issue if you sell into the expensive end of your market, or the low cost end of the market. It’s a bigger concern if you sell into the middle of the market.
  • If most of your customers are elderly, many will be required to stay in lockdown until a vaccine or cure for COVID-19 is developed. You’ll need to create a safe way to serve your customers. Then, you’ll need to market your new approach clearly.
  • Those offering so-called ‘soft skills’ training may find customers and prospective customers less willing to invest, until their financial situation is more certain.
  • Restaurants, coffee shops and cafés, etc., are likely to be required to provide social distancing for customers, until a vaccine or cure is developed. This means you’ll have a smaller capacity, fewer tables / fewer seats and probably fewer customers. You’ll need to work hard on increasing the average order amount.

Issues like these will impact millions of business owners, but you don’t need to be one of them. Everything here can be overcome successfully, if marketed correctly. Everything.

So get to work now on the areas that are likely to impact your business. And give yourself the advantage of adapting to the new needs of your customers, before your competitors do.

At worst, your business can still grow

By Jim Connolly | April 21, 2020

This is a short post. It’s also the most important I’ve written in a long time. I strongly recommend you take a couple of minutes to read it.

coronavirus. marketing mindset

Photo: Shutterstock.

During the pandemic.

  • You have the freedom to focus on surviving.
  • You have the freedom to focus on thriving.

If your thinking is all about how to survive, it will have a hard limit. A limit that sees survival as the desired end point. If things go as well as they possibly can, you’ll still be in business by the end of the pandemic. If things fall (even a little) short of your desired end point, you’re out of business.

If your thinking is all about how to thrive, it has no limitation. No restriction on your end point. If things go well, your business (and you) will have absolutely thrived by the end of the pandemic. If things fall short of your desired end point, your business can still grow!

Focusing on thriving will open you up to outstanding possibilities. It will boost your energy levels. It will inspire the people around you. It will excite your marketplace. It will open your eyes to opportunities that the survive crowd aren’t even looking for.

Picture this for a moment. Imagine how much better your chances of success will be, if you choose today to focus exclusively on thriving. This means you too will be working on outstanding business possibilities, with boundless energy, surrounded by  inspired people, with an excited marketplace, and all this whilst simultaneously enjoying new opportunities, just like my ‘thrive’ clients.

I hope you found this useful, but more importantly, I hope it inspires you too, to thrive.

15 Things you really should be doing right now. Yes you. Yes now!

By Jim Connolly | April 18, 2020

Photo: Shutterstock.

Many of you have emailed me, asking for advice on what you should be focusing on right now.

Obviously, different businesses have different needs. But as we all know, hunkering down and waiting for things to magically just get better, isn’t an option.

With that in mind, here are some general examples of things you should consider.

  1. Research the new needs of your marketplace. It definitely will not be business as usual after the crisis passes.
  2. Stop watching rolling news and feed your mind with useful ideas instead.
  3. Build strategic alliances. Partner-up with providers, who offer a complimentary, but non-conflicting product or service.
  4. Sketch out ideas (and then develop) new, highly profitable services.
  5. Plan the way forward for your business.
  6. Form endorsed relationships.
  7. Before you market anything to anyone, remember that these are weird times for everyone.
  8. Look outside your industry for new ideas, which could dramatically improve your business.
  9. Get to know your clients better.
  10. Hire expert marketing help. This is the worst time in history to rely on DIY marketing.
  11. Start a blog, then distribute it via email. Like I do.
  12. Ramp up your marketplace outreach.
  13. Look for ways to connect your clients or customers with one another.
  14. Ask your clients and former clients, “How can I help?”.
  15. Send a ‘thank you’ to all those helping you during the crisis.

Most importantly, get active now. Don’t let your competitors gain a huge advantage over you, by building their businesses while you’re waiting to see how things pan out. That’s an unnecessary additional business problem, which you really don’t need. So get moving. And get moving now.

Here’s what your marketplace wants from you

By Jim Connolly | April 15, 2020

marketing, move moving

Photo: Shutterstock.

Here are a few thoughts regarding the needs and wants of your marketplace, written from their perspective.

  • We’re about to find out how you react in a major emergency. Please exceed our expectations.
  • We always value sincere, personal messages. But never more so than today.
  • We’re eagerly looking for sources of realistic optimism. And we’re looking at you.
  • We want your seed, not your need. So show us how you can help. Go easy on the sales pitches.
  • We’re just like you; when people go silent on us, we soon forget them.
  • We all respond differently under stress. Expect the unexpected from us and you won’t be disappointed.
  • We will remember how you treated us after the crisis has passed.

Your marketplace is made up of a diverse group of people. They won’t all be focused on the exact same things. But many will be sensitive to some of those points.

This is a challenging time for everyone, including your clients and prospective clients. Your marketing needs to speak to this new reality or it will be irrelevant and ignored.

Front of mind?

By Jim Connolly | April 11, 2020

front of mind, what is

Photo: Shutterstock.

So, what does front of mind mean? In this article I’ll explain the meaning and also provide you with some powerful examples we have all been very aware of.

Since the start of last year, many of the companies, organizations and brands that were front of mind (sometimes called top of mind), have now been replaced. The 2020 coronavirus pandemic changed everything and we saw different brands respond very differently with their marketing. It was a great example of what front of mind means, and how it works.

What does “Front of mind” mean?

It’s generally used to describe the first person or brand that comes to mind, when someone thinks about a topic. For example, if I ask you to give me the name of a social network and you reply with “Facebook”, then Facebook is currently front of mind for you, among social networking brands.

One of your key marketing tasks as a business owner, is to occupy the front of mind position in your marketplace. When they need whatever you provide or need help from someone in your industry, your name needs to pop into their mind first.

If they think of 2 or 3 competitors before you, you’re way less likely to get an enquiry.

A recent example of how front of mind works, and can change, came from the way businesses responded to the coronavirus. Their reaction fit into one of the following three groups.

1. Some carried on as if nothing had happened

They were unsure what to do, so they just did what they’d always done. This made them utterly irrelevant to the new needs and wants of their marketplace. They quickly faded in prominence, in the mind of their existing clients – – let alone the minds of those who would have been their future clients.

2. Some made an announcement, then went quiet

This group saw other providers making a statement about COVID-19, so they did the same. They then reverted back as if it was business as usual, like those in the previous group. And they too saw their businesses or brands fade in the mind of their marketplace.

3. Some adapted to the challenges of the coronavirus

This group increased the relevance and frequency of their marketing messaging. They looked at the new needs and new wants of their marketplace and adapted accordingly.

Interestingly, this group included the largest of corporations and the smallest of small businesses.

For example.

  • Coca Cola started to use their Twitter account exclusively to share coronavirus advice and promote charities, to over 3 million followers.
  • I live in a small village where a local taxi driver switched his business, to exclusively focus on delivering shopping, hot food, medicines and other supplies to high-risk people. He’s now the best known taxi driver in the area and has an army of super loyal customers.
  • In the marketplace they serve, those 2 very different businesses became front of mind.

Businesses in that 3rd group were keenly seeking out ways to proactively connect with, and be helpful to, the community they served. They used social networks, newsletters, blogs, vlogs or podcasts etc., to share useful, relevant information and they thrived as a result.

And they naturally became front of mind!

front of mind, what does front of mind mean

The situation in 2020 / 2021 saw lots of new brands become front of mind, and many have managed to retain the position. The key is to remember that there are opportunities in every economy, and under every kind of service conditions, to take our businesses to the front of our marketplace’s mind.

A different way for you to thrive.

By Jim Connolly | April 8, 2020

marketing different

Photo: Shutterstock.

My recent posts on how to thrive during the current crisis have been extremely popular with readers, so today I wanted to share some more thrive-related ideas with you.

I heard a business owner on the radio yesterday. He was talking about the coronavirus and how it’s hitting the economy. He said he’s waiting for things to improve, before deciding what to do.

In business, there is indeed a time for waiting.

The time for waiting comes after you’ve planted the seeds and put your ideas into play. It’s at this point that you need to be patient and wait for your harvest to grow.

However, patience is not a virtue if a business owner does nothing and waits for their problem to solve itself. Waiting for cash flow to magically improve is not a virtue. Waiting for new clients or customers to unexpectedly arrive isn’t a virtue either. And today, that’s what many business owners are doing.

Other business owners are being proactive

They’re working hard and planting, but they’re failing to plant the specific seeds required, to combat the business impact of the current crisis. And they’re waiting.

Like the guy on the radio I mentioned at the beginning, they’re treating it as if this is just ‘a bit of a quiet period’. When in fact, it’s a global pandemic, a human disaster, which is crippling economies.

They’re doing what they usually do, but this is not business as usual.

A better approach

A radically different economy, with radically different problems, demands a radically different approach. Ramping up your ad spend won’t work. Increasing the frequency of your marketing won’t work.

In fact, doing more of whatever you usually do won’t work. It can’t work, because volume isn’t the problem. Your marketing must speak to the new needs and new wants of your marketplace.

  • It needs to take their problems into account. Figure out how your services can help them right now and communicate it as well as you possibly can.
  • It needs to be well thought out.
  • It needs to address the crisis head-on.
  • It needs to be 100% THEM focused.
  • It needs to be as human as possible. Everyone is impacted by this challenge. People are worried, so ditch the hard sell bullshit.

You and your business absolutely can thrive in this economy.

I’m working daily with business owners, who are enjoying outstanding results, by being highly relevant to the new needs of their marketplace. This opportunity exists because their competitors are doing what they always do, and today, that means they’ll be ignored.

Your competitors will largely be just as irrelevant, presenting you and your business with the same opportunity to thrive.

I hope you found this useful. More importantly, I hope it inspires you to improve the focus of your marketing.

Coronavirus, your competitors and something you probably need to fix

By Jim Connolly | April 6, 2020

Marketing tips, marketing advice, free

Photo: Shutterstock.

I wrote recently that your marketing is toast. That’s to say, what motivated people to hire you or buy from you before the coronavirus pandemic, has changed. In that post, I provide some ideas to help you put things right.

Today, I want to help you identify and fix another two, extremely widespread marketing challenges.

Check your marketing promises and guarantees

I’d like to start by drawing your attention to the various benefits of buying from you or hiring you. Specifically, the guarantees and promises you offer. That’s because almost every business makes promises in their marketing, which they can reliably keep in normal times, but can’t achieve in the current economy.

These vary from industry to industry and may include things like:

  • Guaranteed delivery times.
  • Payment terms.
  • Guaranteed results.
  • Price match promises.
  • Enquiry response times.
  • Opening hours.

Obviously, if you’re no longer able to fulfil any of the promises or claims in your marketing, make the required adjustments. Also, look for new, attractive promises that you can deliver on.

What’s new with your competitors?

I also very strongly recommend you take time to do a little research on what your competitors are doing right now.

That’s because it’s entirely possible some of them will have made significant changes, which could impact your business. Even those competitors that seldom change their marketing may be forced into action, as they try new things in order to adapt to the current challenges.

Again, these adjustments will change from industry to industry and may include:

  • Discounting their prices or fees. Many will start discounting, because they have no expert marketing help, are panicking and assume slashing prices is the right thing to do. (It absolutely isn’t for a number of very good reasons).
  • Changes to their payment terms.
  • New bundling of products or services together, in a way that makes them more attractive to prospective clients (your prospective clients) than they used to be.

Once you know what you’re competing against, you can look for ways to regain your competitive advantage.

I hope you found these ideas useful. If you did, please continue to share them with your friends. We’re all in this together.

Thrive: Problems, possibilities and potential

By Jim Connolly | April 3, 2020

marketing risk progress

Photo: Shutterstock.

I wrote recently that there are many, many businesses that should be thriving right now, rather than struggling. Your response was huge. Many of you asked me to share more of the thrive strategies I work on with my clients. So, that’s what today’s post is all about. I hope you find it both useful and eye-opening.

Let’s go.

The mass market right under your nose

Everyone is experiencing problems today, which they couldn’t have foreseen in January.

Let that sink in for a moment: EVERYBODY is dealing with one or more unexpected problems. That includes your clients, your marketplace and the people who live next door. They all need solutions to whatever problems they’re currently facing. And the bigger their problem, the more valuable the solution is. Hold that thought for a moment.

The thing about problems is that they lead to commercial opportunities.

For example, the problem of vermin infesting people’s property, led to the pest control industry. The problem of waiting too long for hot food on the go, led to the fast food industry and the problem of criminality, led to the legal profession. These multi billion dollar industries couldn’t exist without the problems they solve.

So, no problem = no opportunity.

Today, with an unprecedented surge in problems, there’s an equally unprecedented surge in opportunities; some of which you and your business can solve.

This amazing opportunity is easy to miss, if you allow yourself to dwell on, and worry about, your own problems. The key is to focus on how you can grow your business and create additional streams of high-profit income, by solving other people’s problems.

You and your business

Think for a moment about the capabilities of your business. I’m not talking about the range of services you provide. I’m talking about the range of skills and assets you have.

Then look at the problems your clients, prospective clients and wider marketplace are struggling with right now. How can your combined capabilities and experience be applied, in order to create a solution?

For example, at the start of February, I didn’t even provide a thrive strategy service. Today, it accounts for the vast majority of my work. That’s because it was developed as the solution, to the business problem of growing successfully during today’s unprecedented economy.

Look around you for problems to solve. There are many. Some are extremely pressing. And every one of them, which is within your capabilities, has the potential to help others… and help you and your business to thrive, at the very same time.

Note: At the moment, my thrive strategy service is only available to my clients and former clients.

As things return to normal

By Jim Connolly | April 2, 2020

marketing,

Photo: Shutterstock.

A few months from now, we will all know a lot more about our business, our marketplace and the people we rely on.

That’s because when times are tough, we learn what people really think. We learn what standards they have and what their priorities are.

  • We’re learning how strong our relationships are, personally and professionally.
  • We’re learning who we can trust in the future.
  • We’re learning how honest our service providers are.
  • We’re learning who we can recommend.
  • We’re learning who the real leaders are.
  • We’re learning how people, systems and businesses perform under stress.
  • We’re learning who really does go he extra mile.

And our clients, customers and marketplace are learning this too.

Warren Buffett famously said, “It takes 20 years to build a reputation and five minutes to ruin it. If you think about that, you’ll do things differently”.

As you have almost certainly seen by now, a lot of business owners are not taking his advice. They’re thinking very short-term and creating a far bigger problem for their business, than the coronavirus.

In a few months

Long before the pandemic ceases to be the main news story, business restrictions will start to ease. People will be able to move around more freely. Things will start to feel closer to ‘normal’ than they do right now.

As this happens, the marketplace will start regaining confidence. Spending will increase. Cash flow will improve and increase.

It’s at this point that many business owners will pay the price for short-sighted decisions.

We have to be smarter than that.

We need to be very aware that every decision we make has consequences. The marketplace is watching us. And it will remember. As Buffett said, one short-sighted move and a 20-year reputation can be destroyed in minutes.

The only way forward is to think ahead, because things will improve commercially, and a lot sooner than many business owners seem to imagine. Only then can you plan effectively and make decisions that are best for the medium and long-term.

How to grow your business and thrive, during a pandemic

By Jim Connolly | April 1, 2020

Photo: Shutterstock.

I want to share something with you today, to help you grow your business. It’s something to help you thrive, whilst many of your competitors fail to even survive. And it’s based on work I’m doing right now, with thriving service providers worldwide.

Allow me to explain.

I’m writing this on Wednesday morning, in lockdown because of the coronavirus.

Between now and the end of business on Friday, I have meetings scheduled with business owners in.

  • Nebraska, USA.
  • Melbourne, Australia.
  • Pennsylvania, USA.
  • Dublin, Ireland.
  • Alabama, USA.
  • Brisbane, Australia.
  • London, England.

And my son is currently having his guitar lesson via Skype for the first time.

Here’s the thing

Working during a period of lockdown does NOT mean you’re isolated. And it’s vitally important you are aware of this in very real terms.

Why?

Because if you operate from an isolation mindset, your thinking will be drastically limited. Limited thinking produces ineffective outcomes. It’s almost literally “thinking INSIDE the box”, massively reducing the vision you need, to successfully navigate the coming months.

Think about it

Many service providers, probably most, can grow their business very effectively right now. You can thrive, let alone survive! These include almost every consultant, coach, trainer, accountant, lawyer, designer, PR agency, communications agency, web developer and marketing provider.

Growth: You can speak with new, prospective clients via voice or video, whichever they prefer. You can invoice the new client via email as usual, and receive money via bank transfer almost instantly.

Retention: You can also render outstanding service to your current clients and help them, thus retaining them.

Now consider this

The vast majority of your competitors are in panic mode right now.

  • Their thinking is about isolation; “when will it end!?!”.
  • They’re fear-focused.
  • They’re wondering how they’re going to get through this.
  • They’re not looking to expand, they’re desperately trying to contract.
  • They’re seeking ways to limit their overhead.
  • They’re refusing to pay key people to their business.

In short, their focus is limitation, lack, fear, reduction, loss, contraction. And as people tend to move towards what they focus on, they’ll really struggle.

But not you, my friend.

Because with the right growth strategy, the sky should be your limit.

Whilst your competitor’s limit is the inside of their isolation box.

Grab your cape it’s time to lead

By Jim Connolly | March 31, 2020

marketing motivation, take action

Photo: Shutterstock.

Anyone with even a tiny interest in history knows exactly what happens in times of crisis. The vast majority of people wait and hope… hope that someone will come forward and lead.

For the marketplace you serve, that someone is you.

  • They need you to help them remain solution focused.
  • They need you to motivate them. Especially those who are most impacted by the coronavirus pandemic.
  • They need your fact-based optimism.
  • They need you to connect them with useful resources.
  • They need your outreach. Most providers are failing to remain in regular contact with their clients and marketplace. That’s a terrible strategy at the best of times. It’s massively damaging right now.
  • They need you to demonstrate calm thinking.
  • They need your ideas.
  • They need to know you’re there for them.
  • Plus all the areas of leadership, which are specific to your industry.

Leading in a time of crisis isn’t easy. Which is why your leadership is in such massive demand.

However, it becomes a lot easier when you accept that leaders, and those who choose not to lead, both feel the fear. It’s how they choose to respond to their fear that determines whether they step up and lead or step back and wait for someone else.

So grab your cape, my friend. Because your clients and your marketplace needs you right now. Maybe more than ever before.

Your 2020 marketing plan is now toast

By Jim Connolly | March 27, 2020

marketing, set sail

Photo: Shutterstock.

The marketing plan you developed in January is now toast. That’s because your marketplace is thinking differently today, than it did just a few weeks ago.

Very, very differently. And this will continue, until the pandemic has passed and the economy eventually returns to normal.

From a marketing perspective, this means the way you have traditionally sold your services or products needs to change. It needs to change, because the way your marketplace makes purchasing decisions has radically changed. Here is just one example, which is already having a massive impact on almost every industry.

  • In a typical economy, people don’t have to think too hard about making a purchase. As such, even poorly marketed businesses are able to generate a level of sales; just by ‘being there’ or contacting prospects at the right time.
  • When economies are plunged into crisis, people think far harder before they buy anything. Your prospective clients are anxious. They’re making fear-based decisions. As such, pre pandemic marketing and ‘being there’ just won’t cut it. Literally every marketing or business development decision you make, needs to take this into account.

Adjust and get the wind in your sails

The way we set our sail, determines whether we get the wind behind us and excel or end up on the rocks. We set our sail commercially, with the decisions we take (and the decisions we avoid).

A few areas to consider.

  • Reduce the risk attached to hiring you or buying from you.
  • Adapt your business, so that it’s more relevant to the current needs of your marketplace.
  • Increase the value of your services or products.
  • Introduce flexible payment options.
  • Grow bigger ears. (This one is really important).

Faced with what now seems to be a long-term challenge, it’s essential to adapt as early as possible. It’s what your agile competitors are already doing. And it’s what your marketplace demands.

You responded: Boosting cash flow during coronavirus restrictions

By Jim Connolly | March 22, 2020

marketing cash flow

Photo: Shutterstock.

Just 5 days ago, I shared some ideas about how to boost your cash flow during the coronavirus restrictions.

Here’s some of the feedback you gave me, on how you’re tackling the impact of the virus. I also share a very important observation for business to business service providers.

Anita runs a vegetarian restaurant. “We were basically waiting for the order to close and figuring out how to survive with no money coming into the business”. […] “After your email I started thinking on things we could do and nothing came to me. I asked Joe my partner and he said why not provide a takeout service so we asked around our friends on Facebook to see if anyone was up for it. They were and we started 2 days later and today we’re getting some thermal bags for home delivery starting next week”.

Grant is a financial advisor. In his email he explained that he had built his reputation around a very personal level of service. “The thought of working remotely with clients left me cold plus I hate cameras”. […] I read your blog and decided to call around some clients to check if they’d like next weeks meetings via video and only one client said no. That’s because he didn’t have video set up on his home computer yet. I’ll call everyone next week and am hopeful about the future for the first time in a month.”

Alan runs a hair studio and liked the idea of offering vouchers, which can be bought today, to secure your place in the queue, when the coronavirus restrictions are lifted. He explained that a lot of his clients were due an appointment, so he emailed them. “Around 35% snapped the vouchers up and I think more people will buy them over coming weeks as hair gets longer and greyer”.

I was also contacted by a piano teacher, a fitness instructor and several business advisers who have offered their first video sessions, or plan to, next week.

Okay. I’m going to pivot slightly and focus on a specific section of readers.

Your marketplace needs you more than ever before

There’s something huge that I’ve noticed increasingly over the past few weeks. And it’s echoed powerfully in many of your emails.

Those who provide B2B (business to business) advice of any kind, are finding they are more needed by their clients now, than ever before. Their clients are worried, uncertain, in real need of answers and support.

However…

This surge in need is being totally missed, by providers who are scaling their services back, rather than ramping their services up.

I can’t help but think that many providers in; marketing, HR, recruitment, finance, training, PR, coaching etc., are missing a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to serve their marketplace, by refusing to adapt to the new needs of the market they serve.

If you’re one of these B2B providers, your marketplace needs you. And it needs you like never before. This is not the time to step back. It’s the time to step forward and adapt to the new landscape. Because your expertise has never been more needed. And in helping your clients and wider marketplace, you’re going to help your own business.

Just don’t expect to be able to carry on with a business as usual approach. If your marketplace doesn’t know you have the answers, support and ideas they need for this crisis, they’re not going to ask you for help.

Stay safe and remember, we’re all in this together, my friend.

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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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