Professional development Archives - Page 24 of 27

Are you using the right kind of marketing for your business?

By Jim Connolly | February 2, 2017

immediate Marketing results, fast marketing results

Many small business owners make the mistake of using the wrong type of marketing for their business.

For example, did you know there is a huge difference between Internet marketing sites and marketing sites? Well, there is. If you’re using ideas from the wrong type of site, you’re wasting your time and your money. As you will see from an example I am about to share, if you get it wrong it will seriously damage your business too.

First, here’s what you need to know about these VERY different types of marketing site.

Internet marketing sites

Internet marketing sites focus on how to make money online and have well-known Internet marketing gurus behind them. Here’s how to spot them: They mainly sell (and show you how to sell), software, online marketing courses, digital products, etc. The BIG get rich quick product right now is online courses.

They usually market their products to you… AND show you how to make money, doing what they do. That’s why there are so many of these sites out there. They are intended for people who want to sell low priced, Internet only products or services.

Marketing sites

Marketing sites, including Jim’s Marketing Blog, are a lot less common. They focus on ideas to help you increase sales and grow a successful business. Most, like my own, don’t cover affiliate marketing or make money online products or services at all.

The wrong type of marketing for an accountant

I was prompted to write about this, after being emailed by a new reader. She’s an accountant, who started her business just over a year ago. She contacted me after a marketing consultant identified why her marketing wasn’t working. She wanted me to share her experience with you, to stop others from making the same expensive mistake.

Here’s an excerpt from her email, published with her permission:

“I read a ton of big name marketing blogs and did what they said; at least the things that seemed to make sense to me. Anyhow I invested over $2000 on a bunch of marketing software, on-line courses and forum memberships. None worked for me. Finally I instructed a local marketing guy to get expert help. He took a look at my website and emails and said “woah!!”
[…] He explained that I had been marketing my service like some nasty affiliate product!!”

She ended up with a site that’s hurting her business and damaging her professional reputation. I took a look at her site and here’s what I saw:

Blog comments from affiliate marketers, using SEO loaded keywords instead of their names.
Nasty looking ads for 2 affiliate products.
Sensationalist blog post headlines, designed to attract drive-by readers.
Pinch pages, to sell her services.
An automated Twitter account, which she told me is part of a Twitter resharing network.

All in all, she had wasted thousands and done nothing more than make her site look cheap. She’s now in the process of unpicking a year’s worth of damage to her reputation and her business.

Use the right type of marketing for your business

The type of marketing used to sell cheap software, get rich online crap or affiliate products, is totally different from the kind of marketing required to sell your services. The level of trust required to hire a coach, accountant, lawyer, designer, therapist or consultant is huge.

When a service provider wants to attract new, high quality clients, the make money online approach to marketing is not only ineffective, it’s toxic.

Match the marketing you use, to the type of business you want. Unless you sell Internet marketing products or affiliate products, think twice before using ideas from Internet marketing sites.

How to beat your main competitor

By Jim Connolly | January 16, 2017

marketing tips, marketing advice

Your main competitor is seldom an alternative provider.

Your main competitor is usually apathy — the decision by your prospective clients to do nothing.

Before working out how you compare to competing providers, measure your service against the decision to do nothing.

Why should people give you their attention?
Why should people risk placing their trust in you?
Why should they go through the hassle of hiring you or buying from you? (Tip: This will help you.)

By answering those questions, you’re ready to create clear and compelling marketing. Marketing that works!

Success leaves clues

By Jim Connolly | January 13, 2017

When it comes to marketing, success leaves clues. By following these clues and learning from them, it’s possible to significantly improve your marketing. Allow me to explain.

Consider the following:

The last marketing email, which you were motivated to open because it had a powerful subject line.
The last marketing email you read, which persuaded you to take action. (To ask for information, pick up the phone, make a purchase, etc.)
The last blog post you read, which you were motivated to bookmark, save or share.
The last advertisement you saw or heard, which motivated you to make a purchase.
The last service you experienced, which impressed you so much that you wanted to tell your friends about it.
The last newsletter you received, which you forwarded to your contacts.

How to turn clues into results

Each of those marketing examples motivated you to take action. And they each contain a clue, as to why the marketing worked. To uncover the clue you need to answer this question:

What can I learn from this example of marketing success, which I can adapt and apply to my own marketing?

Next, write your answer down. This is really important, as you don’t want to risk losing your best ideas. Also, by writing your answers down, you’ll start to develop a gold mine of useful marketing notes.

Is this approach as effective as hiring a proven marketing professional? No. Not even close. But if you can’t afford expert help, it’s one way to make better marketing decisions.

P.S: To get you started, here are dozens of proven marketing ideas.

Would people miss your marketing, if it went away?

By Jim Connolly | January 11, 2017

content marketing, content tips

I’d like you to think about the following question for a moment: Would people miss your marketing if it went away?

If your answer is no, then your marketing is almost certainly under performing. That’s because when we receive marketing that fails to engage us, we view it as an unwelcome interruption.

Thankfully there’s a far better alternative.

Instead of using your marketing to sell, push or pitch, you can use your marketing to build relationships with your marketplace. You can gain the attention and trust of your prospective clients. You can become a valuable asset to them before they need your services.

How?

Here’s a clue: The message you’re reading right now… well… it’s marketing. Think about that for a moment.

How to create a new, extremely profitable income stream

By Jim Connolly | January 6, 2017

Would you like to develop an additional, extremely profitable income stream for your business? If you would, here’s a great place to start.

Clients who will pay you 300% more

Imagine your clients were paying you 300% more than your current fee. What additional care and attention would you be able to give them? What additional level of service would you be able to offer them?

Here’s a suggestion: Consider building a new, premium version of your current service, which offers all those amazing advantages.

Why?

Because there is an extremely profitable subset of every marketplace, who are very happy to pay a premium, for a premium service.

And you deserve clients like that.

Stability or impact?

By Jim Connolly | January 4, 2017

marketing blogs, attract clients, customers

Consciously or otherwise, your business development is already guided by stability or impact. And it’s reflected in everything you do.

Marketing and stability

Those seeking stability, market their services predictably. So everything is close to what you’d expect, making their marketing instantly forgettable. They get very few referrals, because no one recommends an average service. They attract fee-sensitive leads, because when a business looks average, its fees are all a prospective client has, to determine the value.

As business owners, we need to consciously determine whether we’re willing to embrace impact over stability. And if we are, we need to decide what we’re willing to do about it, in real, actionable terms.

That’s a great place to start, if you’re working on your plans for the year ahead.

New Year’s resolutions: How to make them work

By Jim Connolly | January 1, 2017

You know the story.

Your local gym will have 300% more members, because it’s January.
Thousands of abandoned blogs will have new posts published, because it’s January.
Business owners worldwide will set new targets, because it’s January.

And by March, almost all of these will revert back to their old ways.

That’s because setting a target or goal, simply because it’s January, brings very little motivation. Once January passes the motivation fades. Gyms are emptier, blogs are quieter and business owners slide back into their comfort zones.

However, some will succeed! These are the people who make a resolution to improve… a powerful and highly motivating resolution.

New Year’s Resolution?

The Oxford Dictionary defines resolute as: Admirably purposeful, determined, and unwavering. When you set yourself a target or goal, with purposeful, determined and unwavering commitment, you succeed.

So, if you want to be one of the magnificent minority, who set and achieve their New Year’s resolutions, don’t set them just because it’s January.

Instead, give yourself some BIG, compelling, inspiring and motivating reasons to achieve your goals. Then resolve to achieve each of them with purposeful, determined and unwavering commitment.

IMPORTANT: Don’t set puny goals. The more exciting your goal is, the greater your motivation to succeed will be. Here’s a short post, which explains how this works. It’s from one of the greatest minds that ever lived: A Goal Setting Tip From The Genius Of Michelangelo.

Once you’ve set and achieved these exciting goals, set some more. Remember, there’s no need to wait until January!

Finally my friend, I wish you and your family, health, happiness and peace in 2017 and beyond.

How to stop stalling and do your best work

By Jim Connolly | December 31, 2016

No, it doesn’t really matter what brand of computer you choose to work with. The same is true of the software you use. Leonardo da Vinci changed the world, writing with a quill.

No, it doesn’t really matter how you plan what you write. Best-selling author John Boyne, like many, doesn’t plan at all. He doesn’t even know where the story is going, until after he starts writing it.

No, it doesn’t really matter how inspired you feel. You don’t wait for inspiration to appear… you command it to appear.

What matters

What matters is that you get started. So learn to identify your stalling tactics. Then, call them out for what they are.

Now you’re free. Free to focus on doing your best work in 2017 and beyond.

12 Ideas to make 2017 your best year ever

By Jim Connolly | December 27, 2016

Let’s get started.

Yes, outsmart your competitors. However, make sure you outcare them too.
Think big. Average ideas bring average levels of motivation. Big ideas bring big motivation.
Be a source of encouragement. Highlight people’s strengths rather than their weaknesses.
Take a 30 minute walk (or longer) every day. Here’s why.
Eat right. A high performance machine requires high performance fuel to operate optimally.
Be a student. Not a follower. The difference is huge.
Decide to solve trickier problems. There’s a direct link between what you earn and how difficult it is to replace you.
Deliver on your promises. This is a great way to build a world class reputation.
Fail more often in 2017 than you did in 2016. Why? Because if you’re not failing often enough, you’re sticking to things you already know and no longer growing.
Decide to personalize your business, so it’s uniquely yours. One of a kind. Rare and valuable.
Start your projects with the end in mind. Get crystal clear on your outcome, before you start the work.
Be fast to forgive others. While you’re holding a grudge, they are out dancing!

I hope you find these useful. More importantly my friend, I hope you put at least one of these ideas into action.

Your recipe for success

By Jim Connolly | December 22, 2016

Achieving the success you want in 2017 is a relatively simple process. It’s a matter of doing the right things correctly.

It’s a little like baking a cake

If someone gave you the recipe for a delicious cake and you followed it closely, you would end up with a delicious cake.

No one would claim you were lucky to have baked the cake so well. It would be the natural end result, for someone who has studied the recipe and followed the instructions.

Growing a successful business works in a very similar way. To succeed, you need the correct recipe, though we call that recipe a strategy. And this is exactly why so many business owners screw it up. Instead of following the right strategy, they dabble.

Could this be happening to you?

If your business isn’t growing the way you want it to, here are some useful points to consider. It will help you identify if you need a better strategy.

What recipe for business success am I using, to ensure I’m doing the right things, correctly?
What experienced, highly credible source gave me the recipe for business success, which I’m currently risking my entire future on?
Was my recipe developed for me and my unique needs, experience, resources and goals – or am I dabbling with general info I grabbed from webinars, blogs or books, etc?
If things are not working out, how much more time and money am I going to waste, before I invest in the help I need?

Get the exact recipe for success, which you and your business need. Then follow it. Don’t waste another year dabbling, hoping or worrying.

The bottom line: When you’re rowing your boat in the wrong direction, working harder simply moves you further and further off target.

Stop offering freebies. Seriously. Stop it!

By Jim Connolly | December 10, 2016

Time. It’s our most valuable commodity. So why is it that business owners tend to massively undervalue it, by offering freebies?

Freebies send a toxic message

Offering free consultations is an extremely risky marketing strategy. That’s because so-called free offer marketing carries a damaging subtext.

It tells people that you are under-employed. That you have too few clients and too much dead time. This causes prospective clients to wonder why… why you’re not attracting enough new clients or enough paid work from delighted, ongoing clients.

Free consultations, free assessments, free advice, free 30 minute evaluations — they all have one thing in common. FREE.

When you use free as bait, guess what you attract?

Yes, you attract freebie hunters. These never-to-be-clients are attracted to freebies, like moths are attracted to flames. Freebie hunters generally fit into one of the following:

People who have no intention of paying anyone for advice.
People who have no way to pay because they’re broke.

Here’s the thing: Neither of those groups provide a fertile marketing environment.

Yes, it’s entirely possible you will attract a paying client by offering freebies. However, you’re unlikely to attract the kind of client you want, deserve or need.

Tip: Read this, it will show you how to market your services effectively, by giving value away.

Your January opportunity

By Jim Connolly | December 7, 2016

We’re just a few weeks away from January. And January is an extremely important month for your business.

Why?

Because January is when your most savvy competitors will launch their New Year marketing campaigns. It’s the time of year when people are most motivated to embrace change. Making your clients or customers much more likely to switch providers.

You can treat this as a threat or as an amazing opportunity.

To make January work to your advantage, I’d like you to ponder the following 2 questions:

What are you going to do, to ensure you retain as many of your clients in 2017 as possible? Remember, marketing is not only about attracting new clients. Marketing is also about client retention. In fact, everything your business does is marketing. Read this to see why.
What are you going to do, to benefit from the January opportunity? You can choose to be one of the savvy business owners, who benefits from a valuable surge in new clients. You can start 2017 on a real high. You can create a wave of momentum to carry you through the year ahead.

I strongly recommend you put a plan in place, to cover both of those opportunities.

Don’t let January just happen. Get intentional. Consider ways to engage with all those prospective clients or customers, who will use January as a catalyst for change. Position yourself as the obvious choice for them. And look for ways to render greater value to your existing clients in 2017. Then communicate all that extra value to them in the weeks ahead.

Get this right and it will provide you with an opportunity to strengthen your core client base and build upon it.

That’s a super-effective way to create unstoppable momentum in 2017.

How to unlock your amazing creativity

By Jim Connolly | December 2, 2016

Would you like to become a creative thinking powerhouse? Would you like to be able to come up with answers, to the challenges facing you and your business? If you would, then today’s post may be just what you need.

I used to work with a guy who had a thinking cap. He said that when he needed to be creative, if he put his thinking cap on, it would help him generate the ideas he needed.

Did it work? Yes. Absolutely!

But here’s the thing: If you wore his thinking cap, you may not find it so effective. That’s unless you too believed all the things he did about that old cap. Otherwise you’d quickly figure out that it was, in fact, just a normal cap and that he generated all those ideas himself.

Similarly, if you used the same tools as me for generating ideas (coffee, long walks and music), you’d be unlikely to get the same creative flow that I get from them.

It’s not platitudes: You truly are unique

You think like no one else who has ever existed. Your unique mind and all those experiences you have lived through, have created an astonishing, unique, creativity machine.

If you want to tap into that creativity, do what feels most natural to you. It may involve a thinking cap. However, it’s just as likely to involve meditating or using a mind map or getting on an exercise bike or dancing to James Brown!

Sadly, many people wrongly believe that they are not creative, because they followed a creativity strategy from a book or a course, which didn’t work for them.

Ironically, the very fact that generic “how to get creative” bullshit doesn’t work for you, only confirms how original your own mind truly is!

Here’s a suggestion: Try 1 new way to inspire your creativity each day. Rule nothing in or out (and that includes having fun!) Then, put the ideas that worked together, to build YOUR very own creative toolbox.

Tip: I recommend you read this, What Is Inspiration?

Uncovering the pattern for success

By Jim Connolly | November 30, 2016

business development, biz dev

There’s an interesting pattern, which predictably repeats itself in business. Once you see it, you can’t un-see it. And you wouldn’t want to, because it points to a valuable business lesson.

Here’s a tiny sample of the pattern in action.

Just a small minority of business owners look for opportunities to encourage others.
Just a small minority of business owners genuinely go the extra mile.
Just a small minority of business owners are prepared to invest enough in their ongoing education.
Just a small minority of business owners are willing to lead.
Just a small minority of business owners can be bothered to make tough decisions.
Just a small minority of business owners are motivated enough to eat well and exercise regularly.
Just a small minority of business owners care enough to share a useful blog post.
Just a small minority of business owners are willing to truly stand out from their competitors.

That pattern matters. It matters because it’s also just a small minority of business owners who succeed in any meaningful way.

And that’s no coincidence.

What everybody needs to know about focus

By Jim Connolly | November 26, 2016

You tend to attract whatever you focus on.

Those looking for opportunities tend to find them.
Those looking for answers tend to find them.
Those looking for resources tend to find them too.

Of course, it works both ways.

Those looking for excuses tend to find them.
Those looking for distractions tend to find them.
Those looking for problems tend to find them.

The message here is simple. Focus on what you need. Focus on what you want. Focus on progress.

Your customers are telling you something important, which you’re probably missing

By Jim Connolly | November 23, 2016

marketing tips, marketing ideas, marketing tips and ideas

In business, it’s easy to confuse silence with satisfaction. The thinking looks like this:

No one’s complaining, so everyone’s happy.

That’s 100% incorrect! It’s not only incorrect. Thinking that way can destroy your business. Allow me to explain.

When a customer receives an average service, they don’t tend to make a noise. That’s because an average service isn’t good enough to motivate them to praise you and it isn’t bad enough to motivate them to complain.

Silence equals indifference

As a business owner, you need to understand that silence is a sign of indifference. And indifference kills businesses! If you have too many indifferent customers it’s impossible to succeed in any meaningful way. That’s because a customer who feels they receive an average service will switch as soon as an above average provider or outstanding provider approaches them.

Now, if only a tiny subset of your customers never recommend you or thank you for going the extra mile, you’re fine. However, if too many of your customers are silent, take heed. Figure out why they’re not occasionally taking 2 minutes to thank you and why they’re not telling their friends about you. Then put a plan together to switch them from indifference to delight. From silent customer to passionate advocate.

In a nutshell, give them something extra to care about before someone else does.

How to crush the feast or famine cycle

By Jim Connolly | November 16, 2016

If your sales results are too erratic or you find yourself in that feast or famine cycle, this post is written just for you.

Most businesses offer products or services, which people are only interested in when they have a problem. If your business provides the answer to a problem, there’s a very good chance you’re using the wrong marketing approach.

I’m going to explain why and also show you how to get it right.

Knowing you before they need you

Coaches, accountants, designers, dentists, trainers, financial professionals, lawyers, translators, consultants, etc., are only sought after, when someone has a requirement.

Here’s the thing: If they already know who you are, before they need you, you are massively more likely to earn their custom, than some provider they have never heard of. For instance, my most recent client had been a subscriber of mine for months, before hiring me.

I once heard Mercedes’ head of advertising say, that if Mercedes focused on showing people advertisements, the week before they were about to buy a new car, it wouldn’t work. So, Mercedes focus on getting their marketing messages in front of us when we’re kids. Then, when we’re 35 and are thinking of buying our first luxury car, we think of Mercedes.

Whilst that approach is too long-term for most small businesses to consider, the advice is sound. It’s all about the client or customer knowing who we are, before they need us.

Switch from short-term gambits to a long-term strategy

Make marketing an ongoing part of your business, not something you do when you lose a client or when sales are down. Remain relevant to your marketplace. Stay in their mind (sometimes called ‘front of mind’). Keep earning their attention, through strategic, useful, permission-based marketing.

In a nutshell: If you want great, long-term results, you need to make great, long-term plans.

10 Things to start today, which your future self will thank you for

By Jim Connolly | November 4, 2016

Here they are in no particular order.

Dream bigger dreams. Big, inspirational dreams are far more motivating than puny goals.
Get into the habit of walking daily for 30 minutes. It will improve your life in so many ways. This Stanford study agrees.
Too busy for a 30 minute walk? Get serious about solving your time management problem. This will help you.
Focus on what you want. Not what you fear.
Stop aiming for perfection. Instead, strive to be better than you were yesterday.
Look for opportunities to step up and lead. Your marketplace desperately needs leaders.
It isn’t the 1980’s — So, instead of focusing on closing sales, focus on opening relationships.
Start a blog or a newsletter. If you already have a blog or newsletter, start taking it seriously. Here’s how to become an overnight blogging success.
Avoid toxic influences. Everyone and everything you connect with has an impact on you. Choose wisely.
Stop waiting for things to improve. Instead, plan for improvement, then work the plan.

I hope you found those suggestions useful. More importantly my friend, I hope you do something with them.

What this means to you and your business