Professional development Archives - Page 42 of 54

How a fee increase can attract more clients and boost your profits

By Jim Connolly | January 16, 2018

When marketed correctly, it’s possible to massively increase your fees and attract more clients, than you did at the lower fee.

It sounds counter intuitive. But it makes perfect sense. Allow me to explain.

I was prompted to write about this, after speaking with one of my clients. We talked about what’s happened since she tripled her fees. Yes, it took a lot of courage, however, not only is every client now massively more profitable to her, she has never been busier with new clients.

So, why did a 300% increase in her fees result in more clients, rather than fewer clients?

My client is highly experienced and provides an excellent service. However, her fees used to be around the average for her industry.

In other words, she was claiming to offer a top quality service for what sounded like a bargain basement fee. She was giving people a mixed message. Mixed messages create doubt. And doubt destroys marketing.

The kind of people who seek out excellent service and are willing to pay for it, would have ignored my clients former marketing. They would see the service being offered, compare it to her cheapo fee… and get suspicious. They’d assume she was another bargain basement provider making claims she couldn’t back up.

Of course, those looking for a cheap provider were not attracted to her either, as they shop around for the lowest fee and hers were close to average.

So, my client had previously failed to attract the best clients and the worst clients. She was left with the overcrowded middle of the market, where it’s exceptionally competitive, low profit, and very hard to stand out.

A lesson. A challenge and an opportunity

The lesson: If you genuinely provide an excellent service and want to attract lots of great clients, you need to make sure that your prices match your promises. Remember, people are told from childhood to avoid offers that sound too good to be true.

The challenge: You need to market this correctly. Simply increasing your fees is unlikely to achieve anything much. The value needs to be clear. The marketing needs to be compelling. It needs to inspire prospective clients to trust you and motivate them to hire you.

The opportunity: As my client discovered, if you get the marketing right the rewards can be huge.

Stop trying to build a great business, with low quality clients!

By Jim Connolly | January 12, 2018

marketing scale

You can’t cook an delicious meal with low quality ingredients.

You can’t construct a high quality building with low quality materials.

And you absolutely can not create a successful business, with low quality clients.

Work exclusively with the best clients

The definition of a truly great client will differ somewhat, depending on your industry. However, in general, the best clients are those who give you the freedom to do your best work. They pay you what you’re worth and they pay you on time. They are professionals themselves, so they value your professionalism.

Whilst every human being is created equal, their value to you as a client varies massively. Some are outstanding. Others are not just of zero commercial value… they’re of sub-zero value to your business. In other words, your business is worse off because of them. This includes clients who are late payers, insulting to you or your team, over-demanding, unreliable or dishonest.

This is why you have to be highly selective who you choose to work with. When I share this advice with young business owners, I often get the same reply.

“I hear what you’re saying Jim, but beggars can’t be choosers.”

I remind them that they’re not beggars. They’re business owners. I explain that if they think they can’t afford to turn low value clients away, it’s only because they haven’t seen the huge cost of working for low value clients.

No one sets out to attract low quality clients. It’s simply what happens, when a business isn’t using an effective, focused marketing strategy. Instead of regularly attracting high quality, targeted enquiries from their ideal profile of client, they get sporadic enquiries from a mixed bag of clients.

In short, their ineffective marketing leaves them feeling forced into accepting low quality clients. And that cycle continues, until they choose to take the marketing of their business seriously.

Make 2018 the year you refuse to settle for less than you deserve. Take your marketing seriously. And give yourself the freedom to work exclusively with great clients.

How to avoid low value clients. And you must avoid them. Seriously!

By Jim Connolly | January 5, 2018

Debbie is a freelance trainer. She emailed me with a great question. I said I’d answer it here, as I know many of you will find it useful.

Debbie wanted to know what to do, when someone enquires about her services… then says they don’t have a budget or almost no budget.

Here’s why it happens and how to totally overcome it.

Costs and investments

If a business owner tells you they have no marketing budget, or just a small marketing budget, there’s a reason.

It’s simply this: They believe the service / product you provide is a cost and not an investment.

Think about it.

When a business owner encounters a worthwhile investment, they invest.
When a business owner encounters a cost, they limit or avoid expenditure.

When I explain this to young entrepreneurs, I put it like this:

If Bob says, “I’d invest more in my marketing, if only my business was doing better”, we know Bob’s got things the wrong way around. Nothing in the world works like that. The world works through cause and effect… not effect and cause.

That same guy wouldn’t go to the gym and tell the fitness trainer, “If you transform my body, weight, fitness and health today, I promise I’ll come here regularly for the next 12 months and work really hard”.

So what’s behind this bizarre mindset?

Knowing and accepting are 2 different things

Every business owner knows the difference between an investment and a cost, on an intellectual level. However, many haven’t accepted it on an emotional level. And it’s a long, frustrating, usually fruitless task to try and convince them, when they just don’t get it.

If you have a lot of spare time and a great amount of patience, you could try and change their mindset. I don’t recommend it, though.

You see, even if you manage to change their world-view. Even if you manage to get them to pay you. You’ll almost certainly end up regretting it. In my experience, the end result will be a fear-focused client, who’s a complete pain to work with.

There’s a better solution

Much better in fact. The solution is to attract so many high quality enquiries, that you don’t have to waste time dealing with people who are not willing, ready or seriously interested in what you offer.

So, focus exclusively on marketing to your ideal profile of client. Do this correctly and you’ll build a great business, doing your best work for wonderful people.

In short: If you want to stop attracting low quality clients, you need to stop using low quality marketing.

How to feel inspired every day

By Jim Connolly | January 3, 2018

Though we have entered a new year, January is just another month.

That’s because the whole year presents us with the potential to improve. Every month is packed with possibilities, not just January. Every week is a chance to start anew, not just the first week in January.

Maybe the best resolution you can set for yourself, is to treat every day as a fresh opportunity.

Think about it. Just imagine how much more progress you’ll make, with 365 days to set targets and work on achieving them.

And consider how much more motivated you’ll be, fuelled with the inspiration that approach will bring you… all year long.

Fact: You choose how successful you want your marketing to be

By Jim Connolly | December 28, 2017

There are just 2 things you need in order to attract massively more sales.

The right marketing strategy.
The motivation to put the strategy into play.

With the right strategy and the motivation to use it, you can achieve at levels you never knew you were capable of. Your potential is pretty-much limitless.

Business becomes enjoyable.

Stress is replaced with excitement.

Apprehension is replaced with eager anticipation.

Choices

Every small business fits into one of the following 2 groups.

Group 1: The majority of small business owners choose to have no formal strategy. They want to succeed, but opt for trial and error instead. They dabble. They work hard and hope things will improve. They seem unaware that hard work is not the key to success. (If it was, our grandparents would have been millionaires).

Group 2: Successful business owners choose to follow an effective marketing strategy. This gives them confidence and clarity. They know what to do. So they do the right things correctly. And it works. Not some of the time. But every time.

No business owner intentionally chooses to be in that first group. It’s the default position, when you fail to choose to be in the second group.

So, choose today to get intentional about your business. This means choosing to succeed. Then backing that decision up with intelligent action, based on an effective marketing strategy.

Let’s make your marketing totally irresistible

By Jim Connolly | December 26, 2017

If you want to enjoy massively better marketing results in 2018, you’ll find this really useful. It starts with an important question.

Do you ever wonder why some businesses push dull sales messages at you, over and over again?

The answer is simple: It’s because they are getting a poor response. Then, rather than improve the quality of their message, they increase the volume. Their thinking looks something like this: ‘Maybe if I send another marketing message out, SOMEONE will respond?’ They get another poor response. So they repeat the process.

We need to be smarter than that. You see, more volume isn’t going to help. In fact, it usually does the total opposite. Allow me to explain.

The volume problem

It’s not that people can’t hear what these small businesses are saying. The challenge is that the message isn’t interesting enough. It doesn’t motivate prospective clients to get in touch. It doesn’t grab people’s attention or interest. It doesn’t get people eagerly telling their friends about the product or service. And it’s losing these businesses a fortune.

Increasing the volume of ineffective marketing isn’t just ineffective. It’s also toxic! That’s because it not only fails to generate business, it also damages the reputation of the sender.

Overcoming this challenge

Here are some better places to look, when people are ignoring your marketing messages:

Check that your message is reaching the right people. Know who your ideal client or customer is. Then focus your message exclusively on what matters most to them. Don’t try to be of wider, general interest. That will make your marketing message way too vague. And vague marketing won’t motivate anyone to buy from you or hire you.
Make sure your database is up to date. Always use clean data.
If it’s an advertising message, check that you’re using the correct medium and media.
Then, before you publish your next marketing message, be certain that it’s motivating enough. Ensure it has the power to inspire the reader to take the action you require. Without a powerful message, nothing will happen. This is true, no matter how great your product or service is.

The message here is simple. If you want to massively improve your results, increase the quality, not the volume.

Alternatively, I can do it all for you. And do it really, really well. Here’s how it works.

What every business owner must know about Enthusiasm

By Jim Connolly | December 23, 2017

When you’re enthusiastic about your business, everything improves.

Enthusiasm builds confidence. This is essential if you want people to hire you, buy from you or recommend you. Enthusiasm also builds your self-confidence, as it changes your internal dialogue from neutral or negative, to positive.
Enthusiasm gives you energy. This is essential if you want to have the drive required, to build a great business. It’s impossible to feel energetic and inspired about your business, unless you’re enthusiastic.
Enthusiasm is highly attractive. This is essential if you want to become a leader within your marketplace or community. Your enthusiasm makes others feel positive. It inspires them to believe in you.

So, how enthusiastic are you?

Inwardly and outwardly, how enthusiastic are you?

This may help you decide: If you have lots of energy. If people get excited when you tell them about your plans. If you attract the people and situations your business needs, you’re working from an enthusiastic mindset.

If not, you’re probably like the majority of business owners, who lack energy, but have an abundance of stress.

Here’s the thing: As a business owner you have 2 choices.

You can focus on what you want. This fuels your enthusiasm and leads to all those invaluable benefits above.
You can focus on what you fear. This kills enthusiasm. It’s toxic, both to you and your business.

The power of enthusiasm

The moment you consciously decide to live and work with enthusiasm, everything improves. Your decision making will be based on what you want, so you and your business will move in the direction of what you want. Your energy, drive and determination will soar. You will become a magnet for the very things you need the most.

And it all begins with the commitment to live and work with enthusiasm.

So, what are you waiting for?

Would people miss you?

By Jim Connolly | December 21, 2017

So, would people miss your marketing if it stopped?

That’s a tough question. However, it’s an important one. The reason it’s so important, is that the most effective marketing is value driven. Value driven marketing focuses on the needs of the prospective client or customer. It provides them with what they want and it does so, in an engaging, effective way.

In short, it’s something they want to receive, unlike most marketing, which is an annoying intrusion. I’ll give you 2 examples in a moment, of how people are creating valuable marketing for their marketplace. First, let’s look at what people are attracted to.

We know that people value marketing that delivers:

Useful, targeted information.
Solutions to their most pressing problems.
Helpful advice from trusted sources.
Genuinely special offers, which provide real value based on their wants / needs.
Truthful, honest engagement.

We know that people dislike:

Cold calls.
Being pestered on social networks.
Spam emails and junk mail.
Uninspiring sales pitches.
Selfish marketing pitches, poorly disguised as special offers.
Impersonal outreach.

Great marketing doesn’t really feel like marketing

I was thinking about this recently, after reading a blog post from Evernote. The post was all about how to be more productive with their app. As an Evernote customer, the more value I can get from their app, the longer I’ll remain a client. And not only that, by getting more value from their product, I’m massively more likely to recommend it. (Which I do).

But it goes even deeper.

I follow Evernote on Twitter. This means they have access to me whenever I check Twitter, with my permission. Why do I give them my valuable permission and attention? Simple. Their Twitter feed is filled with useful ideas, tips and advice on how to be more organized and productive. In short, I’d miss Evernote’s marketing if it stopped. Their marketing is useful. It’s permission based. It adds value.

Compare Evernote’s approach, to the usual push and pester style of marketing, used by small business owners. There’s no comparison. One is the opposite of the other.

It works for me too

I’ve used the value driven approach to marketing since the 1990’s. Initially via an email newsletter. Today, via my blog and the email version of the blog. And not only is it effective, it’s increasingly effective. That’s to say, it produces greater and greater results every year.

Plus…

I haven’t had to sell my services to anyone in over 20 years! Yes, people hire me all the time. But I never have to sell to them. The difference is huge. One is about attracting clients, the other is about chasing them.

If you’re not already doing so, make your marketing so valuable in 2018 that people would miss it if you stopped. Put a strategy in place to attract clients and customers. It’s more effective, more fun and less stressful than chasing them!

Marketing Tip: Get your business talked about for all the right reasons

By Jim Connolly | December 15, 2017

Here’s something we know for certain about 2018.

Your clients and prospective clients will carry on having conversations. They’ll continue to chat about the things that grab their attention. They’ll talk with their friends and contacts about the things that delighted them. They’ll carry on recommending products and services.

This means that it’s time for you to start developing a plan for 2018. A plan to ensure your business is a part of these super-valuable conversations. So you can benefit from an ongoing flow of word-of-mouth recommendations.

What’s next?

Don’t worry. I have you covered. This free resource will help you make your business totally remarkable. And remarkable businesses are the ones that people talk about, for all the right reasons. I hope you find it useful, my friend.

Stop trying to appeal to everyone. Really. Stop it!

By Jim Connolly | November 25, 2017

Today, I’d like to show you how to avoid one of the most common (and costly) marketing mistakes.

Let’s go!

One of the cornerstones of successful marketing, is to identify exactly who your customer or client is, then focus exclusively on them. This is the opposite of what we see most small business owners doing. They try and be a little relevant to everyone, only to find they become directly relevant to no one.

Don’t do that.

Really.

Stop it.

It’s hurting your business!

So, here’s a smarter and massively more effective alternative.

Insiders

In order for your marketing to work, you need to determine exactly who you want to provide your services to. These people are your insiders.

Insiders are the ones you should focus your time and effort on. They are the ones you need to have in mind, whenever you make a marketing decision.

Of course, you can’t have insiders without outsiders.

Outsiders

It sounds a little risky to regard some people as outsiders. However, it’s the safest thing you can do. That’s why every successful business has outsiders. For example, if you’re Apple, your outsiders are people who want cheap technology. If you’re Gap, your outsiders are people who don’t care about fashion.

By deciding who your insiders are, you can create marketing that’s directly relevant to them. This is really important.

Why?

Because in order for your marketing to motivate someone to buy from you, it needs to be compelling. This means it needs to talk directly to them. Vague marketing, which tries to appeal to as wide a group as possible, lacks the impact required.

Ironically, this means that the wider range of people you try and appeal to, the fewer people you will reach with the impact required.

Decide what your ideal customer profile is

Then market exclusively with them in mind.

For example:

Compose every piece of marketing as if you were talking directly to them.
Use their language.
Study what matters to them.
Be where their attention is.
Uncover the problems facing their industry.
Offer answers.
Become a useful resource.
Build services that address their specific wants and needs.
Become known as a specialist provider to their industry, rather than a generalist. (Specialists earn more, attract better clients and are always in high demand).

In short, make your marketing directly relevant to your ideal profile of client. This one step, will give you a powerful marketing advantage over the vast majority of your competitors.