Jim Connolly Marketing

Bring me your problems

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bring me your problems, marketing

There’s real power in the following 4 words: Bring me your problems.

Why?

Because everyone has problems. And nobody wants them. That includes your prospective clients. What they want (and need) are answers. They want to get unstuck. They want to free themselves from frustration. They want reliable service providers, who they can trust. And this is extremely important to them.

In short, your prospective clients are highly motivated to get their problems solved.

Okay. Hold that thought for a moment.

Now let’s look at the service you provide

Your service is the answer to a problem. Or a series of problems. How do I know this? Simple. Every service provider is a problem solver.

So, I’d like you to answer a question: When was the last time you asked people to bring you their problems?

Sure, every service provider markets the services they provide. They have them listed on their websites, they mention them when they speak with prospective clients, they may even mention them in a newsletter, blog, vlog, podcast or on social networks, etc.

But that wasn’t what I was asking.

My question was a lot more literal than that.

In very literal terms, when was the last time you used these four words [bring me your problems] in your marketing?

Bring me your problems is a powerful, direct request. It bypasses all the fluff. It cuts right to the chase. It strikes at the core of what your prospective clients want and need. And this is especially the case when those 4 words feature prominently, in the right place.

Here’s how it works

It looks a lot like this.

  1. Your prospective client has a problem.
  2. She finds your website (or any of your marketing assets).
  3. She can see that the services you provide are related to her problem.
  4. She then sees a direct request, asking her to bring you her problems.
  5. Boom! Your message has engaged with her needs like a laser.
  6. You’re now massively more likely to have motivated her to contact you and hire you.

Is it really that easy?

Absolutely.

Something important just happened

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comfort zones, what if

Something important just happened. Today, you and you’re business crossed the 2021 half way mark.

You now have 6-months of 2021 data to review and learn from. Data that when acted on correctly, will help you finish the year massively stronger.

For example.

  • You know what the new needs and wants of your marketplace are.
  • You know how your clients, your team, your competitors and your suppliers act in times of great uncertainty.
  • You know the real commercial value of your trusted advisers; those who were there for you with rock solid advice and those who were not.
  • You know whether your business growth strategy needs to be adjusted a little or radically improved.

So, what if?

What if you were to determine the improvements you need to make; how to adapt, who to replace, who to reward and how gently or rigorously to adjust your strategy… and than make all the changes? Even the uncomfortable, scary changes?

What if you were to use this as an opportunity to radically improve your business, so that it’s set to absolutely thrive before the end of the year?

I’m just asking you. What if?

Why?

Because of the thousands of business owners and C-suite leaders reading this, some will never have given themselves the opportunity to see just how high they can fly.

They will often have wondered what they’re truly capable of. But they won’t yet have ripped the lid off their potential, by examining the data around them and doing what they believe is required, for them to achieve the biggest rewards. I’m talking about the tough decisions. The decisions that ruffle feathers… the decisions that force them out of their comfort zones.

If you’re not that person, I’m sorry to have just wasted 5 minutes of your time.

But if you are that person, please take a moment today to ponder on this: What if?

Seriously. What if?

The marketing power of ‘why?’. Includes 15 examples you can use today

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Marketing power why

Image: Emily Morter

My first business mentor shared something with me, which I will never forget. I think you’ll find it useful. He explained that the most successful business owners think in a similar way to young children.

I asked him what it was.

He said:

“Like children, they’re always asking why?. But unlike children, their why questions are focused. They’re specifically seeking ways to improve their business”.

The marketing power of “why?” questions

With that in mind, here are some marketing ‘why?’ questions you might find useful. They’re in no particular order.

  1. Why do too few people know how amazing my business is?
  2. Why isn’t my business a lot more fun?
  3. Why doesn’t someone from the top media outlets come to me, when they need expert opinion for a news story?
  4. Why am I still working for some clients, even though they’re assholes?
  5. Why are some of my competitors doing so much better than I am?
  6. Why isn’t my website a sales generating machine (or super effective lead magnet for my services)?
  7. Why haven’t I created a premium version of my service, so I have something great to offer the most valuable clients in my marketplace?
  8. Why have I settled for (whatever you’ve settled for)?
  9. Why do I rely on an expert to repair my car or style my hair, but rely on DIY when it comes to growing my business?
  10. Why do I charge my current prices or fees?
  11. Why do I leave my best ideas unused?
  12. Why do I let (whoever) influence my business decisions?  
  13. Why aren’t more people talking about my business? Try this.
  14. Why don’t more of my clients recommend me?
  15. Why am I using a  similar marketing strategy during this economic crisis, to what I used when the economy was a lot more stable?

Your questions will obviously depend on your unique situation, but hopefully something there got you thinking.

If it did, don’t just brush it off. Take some time today to answer the question. Then, take at least one step to putting your answer into play.

Remember, it isn’t what we know that determines our success, but what we do with what we know. That’s why in business, the winners get moving.

What I learned, after making two massive mistakes

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business lesson, mistake

Image: Sarah Kilian

I made a couple of epic mistakes when I started out in business. Here they are, along with a powerful lesson that you may find useful.

I was prompted to write this after a talk I gave to a group of young entrepreneurs. One of them asked me a great question. They wanted to know; what was the most valuable lesson I learned, from my first year in business?

The answer was easy.

I remember it well.

Because it was so painful.

Sincerely wrong

My answer began with a quote from Jim Rohn:

“Sincerity is not a test of truth. We must not make this mistake: He must be right; he’s so sincere! That’s because, it’s possible to be sincerely wrong.”

I explained that during my first year as a business owner, I’d made 2 extremely bad decisions. I made them based on feedback from a couple of people I trusted. I was in my twenties at the time. They were 20 or 30 years older than me. They were also good, genuine and sincere people.

Making decisions based on their advice seemed sensible.

It wasn’t. Oh man. It really wasn’t!

One of those decisions lost me an amazing opportunity. Another cost me a fortune and almost left me broke. I quickly learned that I had to be a lot more discerning, regarding who I went to for important advice. It was around that time that I discovered the above quote from Jim Rohn.

From that point onward, I decided the best source of business advice was from people, who’d already achieved what I wanted to achieve. I’ve followed that rule ever since and have never once regretted it.

My original approach failed me in 2 important ways

Firstly, their geographical proximity to me was not a useful way to determine the value of their feedback. I rely on experts today, who are located all over the world.

Secondly, they were knowledgeable, but they were not entrepreneurs.

  • One was the branch manager at the bank where I opened my first business account.
  • The other was the practice manager at my accountant’s office.

They remained salaried employees for the remainder of their careers; never actually going into business for themselves. They operated from the employee mindset.

They saw risk in everything. They’d advise me against doing anything, unless there was a guarantee, in advance, of success.

Business doesn’t work like that.

In fact, life doesn’t work like that. And it never has. Otherwise no one would ever start a business, or get married, or start a family, or buy a new home, or travel the world or do anything. Success comes from minimising risk. Not from avoiding potential risk. Both of the people advising me were sincere. But the advice they were giving me, as Jim Rohn said, was sincerely wrong.

Who is currently influencing your decision making? That’s a question worth considering. Especially if your business isn’t making the progress you want or need.

How to be one of the highest paid people in your industry

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Marketing high fees

Image: Isaac Smith

A reader emailed me with a great question. She asked: “What’s the most direct route to becoming one of the best paid service providers in my industry, Jim?”.

I told her I’d share my answer here, as I know it’s something many of you will find useful.

Sometimes, the best answer to a problem seems too simple to be correct. Too good to be true. Thankfully, when it comes to attracting the very best clients and fees, the simple answer is also the right answer.

Drum roll please…

You attract better clients, better projects and better fees, when you solve better problems.

What do I mean when I say “solve better problems”?

I’m suggesting you deliberately choose to apply your skills (in whatever area of business you’re in) to the most challenging work. I’m talking about the really tricky stuff. The demanding work, which requires more thinking, deeper problem solving and greater effort.

Here’s why this approach is so powerful

Very few service providers deliberately choose to solve the most pressing and valuable problems. The vast majority do what’s expected. In other words, they work hard doing their best possible version of what their marketplace expects from someone in their industry.

If you’re willing to embrace solving better problems, it presents you with a double opportunity.

By seeking out the most challenging work, your fees are not only higher, you also find yourself with very little (often zero) meaningful competition.

Hold on. There’s another benefit.

The providers who focus on solving the best problems aren’t only (by far) the highest paid, with the least competition. They also get to work every single day, on the most interesting and professionally rewarding projects.

Let’s recap. By shunning the middle ground and choosing to solve better problems you get:

  • The best clients.
  • A chance for you to earn the highest fees in your industry or profession.
  • Far, far less competition. Read this.
  • The most interesting type of work.
  • Bigger and better rewards on every level.

Easier said than done?

Yes, of course it is.

But that’s precisely why this opportunity exists for you today.

The BIG marketing problem that no one talks about

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Marketing silence, feedback marketing

Image: Nick Fewings

You’ve probably heard the old phrase; “Silence is golden“?

Well, that’s not the case when it comes to the marketing of your business. In today’s post, I’ll show you how silence can have a devastating effect on your results, plus how to avoid it from happening to you.

I was in a coffee shop once, when a guy with a very obvious hairpiece came in. He had natural, thick brown hair around his ears, with a jet black hairpiece on top. Of course, no one mentioned it to him. People just smirked when he wasn’t looking. Whether this guy needed the hairpiece for vanity or medical reasons, it’s entirely possible he has no idea that it’s so poorly matched to his natural hair.

A very similar kind of silence happens regularly in business. And when it does, it costs you a fortune.

Allow me to expand on that.

  • We check out the social media accounts of a potential vendor. We notice their updates are mostly just a series of sales pitches or automated quotes from famous people. We don’t tell them their social media activity is so dull that we leave in seconds. We silently move on.
  • We go to a website to check out a potential service provider. We then see that their site looks amateurish and decide not to consider them. We don’t email them to let them know their site created such a bad impression. We silently move on.
  • We start reading a poorly-written piece of marketing and quickly discard it. We don’t call the company and tell them their content is losing them business. We silently move on.

Faced with all this silence, how do you figure out if what you’re doing is working for you?

You ‘listen’ to what your results are saying. That’s where the most accurate signal is.

Don’t wait for someone to tell you your marketing sucks. Because they won’t. Your friends don’t want to upset you. Your competitors don’t want you to become a threat. And strangers don’t give a rat’s ass.

In short, the silence of your marketplace is easy to miss. If things are too quiet, for too long, take action.