Jim Connolly Marketing

3 Fantastic opportunities

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Here are 3 fantastic opportunities, which are available to you today.

  1. The opportunity to make promises and deliver on them. Set deadlines. When you tell a client; “It will be with you at 3pm Thursday”, it has a much bigger impact than saying, “It will be with you later this week”. This is a powerful way to earn trust and build a great reputation. (More here).
  2. The opportunity to invest in others. In short, leave people better than you find them. It doesn’t have to cost you a dime. If you find an article, which you think a contact or client will find useful, share it with them. Even something as simple as a smile from you, can have a positive impact on another person. It could be the only sunshine they see today.
  3. The opportunity to learn something new (and useful). Access to knowledge has never been easier or less expensive. Here’s why this is such a great opportunity: There’s a direct link between what you know and the size of the problems you can solve. Those who earn the highest fees, solve the biggest problems.
  4. The opportunity to do more than people expect from you. Those who over-deliver are always in short supply. That’s why there are no traffic jams on the extra mile.

Opportunity is knocking. Today and every day.

16 Examples of how the most successful business owners think differently

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When we examine any industry, including yours and mine, we see something extremely valuable. And today, I’d like to share it with you.

Marketing different

It’s a pattern.

  1. Only a small percentage of business owners build a valuable community around their work.
  2. Only a small percentage of business owners look for opportunities to inspire and encourage others.
  3. Only a small percentage of business owners create a story worth sharing.
  4. Only a small percentage of business owners proactively look for big problems to solve.
  5. Only a small percentage of business owners invest enough in their education.
  6. Only a small percentage of business owners are eager to lead.
  7. Only a small percentage of business owners listen to their marketplace and build experiences around what they hear.
  8. Only a small percentage of business owners are truly committed to go the extra mile.
  9. Only a small percentage of business owners selectively choose their clients and ignore the rest.
  10. Only a small percentage of business owners are willing to make tough decisions and back them up with action.
  11. Only a small percentage of business owners refuse to surrender their focus to the never-ending stream of interruptions.
  12. Only a small percentage of business owners strive to out-care their competitors.
  13. Only a small percentage of business owners intentionally take time, every day, to look after their mind and body.
  14. Only a small percentage of business owners care enough to create or share a useful blog post, newsletter, vlog or podcast.
  15. Only a small percentage of business owners are willing to visibly stand out from their competitors.
  16. Only a small percentage of business owners are committed to do work that matters, rather than work that pays the bills.

I could go on.

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

And that’s no coincidence my friend.

7 Proven ideas to help you attract more clients

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Look at the 7 ideas below. Each one represents something, which your clients and future clients are attracted to.

If you currently attract too few sales or client enquiries, you’ll almost certainly be missing one or more of the following.

  1. People love to succeed: What are you doing, to help them achieve their dreams?
  2. People love to feel secure: What are you doing, to help them avoid risk?
  3. People love to learn: What are you doing, to educate them on something important to them?
  4. People love to belong: What are you doing, to create a community for them?
  5. People love to save time: What are you doing, to help them reclaim wasted time?
  6. People love to talk: What are you doing, to give them a story worth sharing?
  7. People love to relax: What are you doing, to reduce the stress in their lives?

Are any of those areas missing from your marketing message? If they are, look for ways to incorporate them.

Business development 101: Success leaves tracks

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marketing, success leaves tracks

Following this post, a number of readers asked if I had any business predictions for 2019.

There’s one prediction I can make with a massive degree of certainty. The business owners (and leaders) who thrive in 2019 will be the same as those who thrive every year.

These include.

  • The business owners who do all the work. Not just the stuff they feel comfortable with. They know that when you’re just 1% away from switching a light on… you’re still in the dark!
  • The business owners who persist intelligently. Here’s what that looks like: They persist with what’s working. They desist what isn’t.
  • The business owners who back themselves. When they believe in something, they take decisive action.
  • The business owners who focus on what’s important, rather than what’s noisiest. They’re very aware that when you flitter your focus away, you flitter your time away, too.

Thankfully, we don’t need to guess what works. That’s because success leaves tracks. And when we follow the tracks, we see the same core methods of operating, again and again and again.

Content creation: Music, coffee and prayer

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marketing ideas

People often ask me if I follow a routine for content creation.

I do. It’s pretty basic. It’s built around music, coffee and prayer.

  • Music: When I write, I always have music playing in the background. I find lyrics distracting, so I listen to instrumental work. Right now, I’m listening to Kind of Blue by Miles Davis. Other writing companions include John Coltrane, Moby, Bach, Skrillix and Tchaikovsky.
  • Coffee: Once the music is on, I grab some coffee. (By the way, most of my blog posts are 2 coffees long). I’ve seen various studies regarding how coffee works on the brain. I’m not sure there’s any neurological benefit whatsoever. I drink coffee because I love the taste. As a type 2 diabetic, I don’t add sugar. Just a splash of cream.
  • Prayer: This is obviously a very personal part of my routine. Before I start, I say a very simple prayer, asking God to inspire me. I used to try and do everything myself and found it a lot harder.

That’s pretty-much it.

Your content creation routine

Obviously, you need to find something that works for you. And one size does not fit all.

For example, many of my friends can’t have music playing when they work, they don’t drink coffee, and most of them are atheist. There are others I know, who have to write from a coffee shop or café, because the atmosphere gets them into a resourceful state.

The key is to experiment. Try different inputs and atmospheres. Keep what works for you. Discard the rest. You’ll be amazed how much easier your content creation becomes, when you have an effective routine.

By the way, a lot of you have told me that you found the 6 Idea Trick extremely useful, for generating content ideas. If you haven’t tried it already (or you read my stuff via Gmail and never saw the post), give it a try.

NOTE: Gmail users typically miss over 40 percent of my posts. Here’s how to stop that from happening to you.

Viral marketing 101

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viral marketing

Every piece of viral marketing you’ve ever experienced, consisted of 2 things.

  1. It went to you. (You received it).
  2. It went through you. (You shared it with your friends or contacts).

For both of those to happen, your marketing message or story, needs to be easy to share and remarkable in some way.

How easy is it?

The marketing message from Kentucky Fried Chicken is simple. Just 3 words long. Finger lickin’ good. That’s easy to remember and easy to share. Regardless of what you or I may think of their food, they’ve given their most dedicated customers a simple message, which speaks powerfully about the taste of their food.

The marketing message from Apple is even easier to share. When someone is using one of their products in public, there’s a highly visible Apple logo pointing at everyone who can see them. Until recently, the Apple logo on MacBook Pro and MacBook Air models was illuminated on the lid. Today, those logo’s are (like those on their phones) highly polished mirrors.

How remarkable is it?

Remember Jennie? I wrote about her recently. Jennie knows I take lots of handwritten notes. When she discovered a note-taking app that did everything she wanted, and more, she emailed me. She also told all her friends about it. Jennie’s remarkable experience turned her from a customer into a raving advocate.

When Greg recommends my services to his friends, he tells them; “Jim doubled our turnover in 5 months”. Greg’s success was remarkable to him, so he shares it. His experience of my work is what motivates him. And his message is just 7 words long, meaning it’s easy to share.

Why not take some time today, to consider how you can make it easier for your message to go to people and through people. Consider how clear your message is. And how remarkable it is. Then look for ways to improve it as much as you can. It’s impossible to overstate the power of clear, easy to share, remarkable stories.