Professional development Archives - Page 74 of 91

How to get your marketing in front of people at exactly the right time

By Jim Connolly | September 27, 2017

When is the best time to market your services to someone?

That’s what today’s post is all about. I’m going to show you how to get your marketing message in front of people at exactly the right time. It’s based on my newest client.

I was prompted to write about this, after Jennifer joined my Marketing Mentor Program. Jennifer’s experience shows the importance of timing. She explained how she’d reached a tipping point. She wasn’t prepared to waste another year, working hard and making too little progress. So, she decided to get in touch with me on Friday and hire me.

There’s a lesson here for you and the way you market your business. And it becomes obvious, as you look behind Jennifer’s actions.

What does this have to do with timing?

Jennifer’s desire to own a better, more profitable business is what motivated her to take action. However, in order for her to consider me as the obvious choice, I needed to be where her attention was, at the point where she was motivated to take action.

You need to do the same. You need to be where your prospective client’s attention is, when they need what you have to offer.

Most small business owners only market their services intermittently. There’s usually weeks and often months between their marketing efforts. And because of the importance of being there precisely when their prospective clients need them, this stacks the odds against them.

If you’re getting low response rates from your marketing, you’ll already know exactly what I mean. Because no matter how great your services are, if you catch people at the wrong time, they won’t hire you.

Thankfully, this doesn’t need to happen to you ever again!

Here’s a proven, extremely effective alternative.

It works like this

Instead of seeing marketing as something you do occasionally, start treating it as an ongoing part of your business. This is how you ensure your name is front of mind, when a prospective client needs you. This is critically important, if you want people to hire you.

For example, Jennifer had been a reader of mine for months, before she hired me. She already knew who I was and she knew my work. So, she trusted me. Then, one of my posts landed in her inbox at the point when she was looking for help.

I became, in her words, “the obvious choice”.

Be there when they need you

Quit marketing like it’s a decade ago. Instead, turn up often, with something useful… not just a series of ads, offers and pitches. Consider newsletters, vlogging, blogging via email, podcasting etc, to share your expertise with your prospective clients. Demonstrate your knowledge. Share your passion. Build a connection with your marketplace.

If you do, you’ll be where their attention is, when they need your services.

IMPORTANT: None of those marketing suggestions cost you a dime, unlike; print ads, mailing lists, mail shots, networking groups, Facebook ads, Google pay-per-click, adwords etc.

In other words, so long as you do the right things correctly, there’s no financial barrier to continuously marketing your business. There’s no barrier to being where your prospective client’s attention is, at the point where they’re actively seeking the services YOU provide.

Think about that for a moment.

Is it easy? Yes. Once you know what to do and how to do it correctly, it’s extremely easy.

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Discover the safest, least risky way to grow your business

By Jim Connolly | September 18, 2017

Kelly emailed me with a great question. I know her challenge is something many small business owners encounter, so I thought you might find it useful.

Here’s an excerpt from Kelly’s email, shared with her permission, along with my answer.

“I started my business in 2009 and though it grew for the first 4 years things have been flat ever since. […] My main problem Jim is that I know I need to grow my business but that means changing things and it feels too risky. I carry on doing what I do because the risk factor stops me doing what I need to do. Why am I self sabotaging?”

Understanding risk

Like many, (perhaps most), small business owners, Kelly fears making some of the improvements needed for success. It’s easy to see why: Improvements require change and change feels risky. So, she repeats what feels comfortable, she works hard and hopes things will improve.

The challenge with that approach, as Kelly has discovered, is that it doesn’t work. It’s limited. Extremely limited.

Here are just some common examples of what happens, when we try to avoid risk:

We fail to get noticed. To get noticed we need to stand out, which feels risky. Riskier than simply working hard and staying in the background.
We fail to be remembered. To be remembered, we need to do something extraordinary. The ordinary is within our comfort zone. The extraordinary is, by default, outside our comfort zone. And leaving our comfort zone feels risky.
We fail to attract word of mouth referrals. People only remark on a business when it does something remarkable. It feels risky to deviate from the norm.
We fail to attract the best clients and the highest fees. Offering a premium service and charging a premium fee, feels risky. Risky enough for just a tiny percentage of business owners in your industry to even try.
We fail to deliver exceptional work for our clients. To do exceptional work, we need to risk delivering something different.
We fail to work on the best projects. The best projects go to those who operate at the top end of their marketplace. These are the providers who are daring enough to tackle the trickiest challenges. The mavericks. Maverick work feels way, way riskier than doing average work.

When I work with a client on this challenge, I start by explaining how change is essential, if they want to grow a great business. Because no change equals no improvement. I then work out what’s blocking them and show them how to overcome it.

If you know there are things you should improve, which you’re not doing because the change feels risky, press pause!

Find out why you associate risk to the safest thing you can possibly do. Then develop a strategy for growth. That’s how you start the process of taking your business to another level. And another level…

Who’s responsible for your results?

By Jim Connolly | September 13, 2017

I spent some time recently with the former owner of a local high street store. He explained that the reason his business flopped, was that the “economy was too weak”.

And he was wrong.

I know a number of the people whose retail outlets are on the same high street as his and although a few have flopped, they are a very small minority. Most are doing fine, others are expanding. Including those with the same target customer profile as him.

Not his fault?

He was blaming the wrong culprit. The reason that guy’s business failed, was that he did too few of the things required for success. In other words, he made it impossible for his business to succeed.

For example, he was trying to compete based on price, against online retailers who had a fraction of his overhead; so he was playing to his weaknesses, rather than his strengths. His in-store experience was also very average. He got way too few customer referrals. There was no buzz about his business.

As you’ve probably guessed, he did all his own marketing himself. He did it himself, because like most small business owners, he lacked the business sense and the confidence to get expert marketing help.

The sense, because he thought it didn’t matter.
The confidence, because he saw only risk and it scared him.

He told me, “Finding the right expert help isn’t easy, Jim”.

Yes it is!

Check their credentials. If they stack up, hire them. If not, don’t. If someone lacks the judgement to know good from bad, they won’t be in business very long.

Blaming the economy for the failure of his business is like a bank robber blaming the police for being in jail, rather than taking responsibility for having robbed the bank.

We need to be smarter than that. Which, let’s face it, isn’t hard.

You see the blame game everywhere

Listen to the coach of a losing team after a game and you will often hear all kinds of blame being dished out. Listen to the winning coach and you will hear them talking about how effective the planning was and how committed the team was.

The most effective people in any area of life take responsibility for their actions and inactions. The buck stops with them.

They wouldn’t have it any other way.

Why?

Because accepting responsibility gives them complete freedom. It motivates them to do the right things, correctly… knowing that the right results will surely follow. So, if you want more sales, get a better marketing plan and work that plan.

Every business owner is faced with just 2 choices, when it comes to the development of their business:

Take responsibility. Decide what you want. Get the help you need. Then do the work.
Or find an excuse not to.

Sure, that’s not much of a choice. In fact, if you want your business to thrive, it’s no choice at all.

10 Habits of highly effective business owners

By Jim Connolly | September 8, 2017

Here they are in no particular order.

So, let’s get started.

They value their time. Time is your most valuable asset, yet many people surrender control of it. Guard your time. If you do, you’ll always have enough time to do all the things that matter each day.
They are approachable. If you want people to get in touch with you, they need to feel comfortable doing so. Some business owners are distant. Others are snarky. Warm and approachable is way more effective.
They are brave enough to risk being wrong. They know that the only people who never fail, are the people who lack the courage to try, (which is failure in itself).
They avoid costly detours. Don’t waste your time on shortcuts or growth-hacks. Shortcuts to success fail you on 2 fronts: Firstly, they’re seldom shortcuts. Secondly, they never lead to meaningful success. Instead of looking for shortcuts or hacks, look for the most direct, proven route.
They demonstrate leadership. Leadership is something you do. It isn’t something you self-proclaim. It’s an ongoing habit. So lead. And be very suspicious of anyone who calls themselves a leader.
They listen with intent. They listen to their clients. They listen to their marketplace. They’ve figured out that the more they know, the better their decisions will be. This allows them to create better products, better services and massively better relationships with their clients and future clients.
They are useful. They’ve figured out that the more useful they are, the more the marketplace will value them. This is closely linked to number 9.
They know that they can either be criticized or be ignored. There’s no middle ground. Every decision you make either helps your business stand out or camouflages it.
They turn up. If you want to remain relevant to your clients, customers and marketplace, you need to turn up regularly with something useful. A newsletter, blog, vlog or podcast are proven ways to achieve this. Bonus: By showing you can be relied on to regularly share ideas, you start earning the trust of your marketplace before they even speak with you.
They commit to lifelong learning. They read the books. They get expert advice. To see the effectiveness of this approach, we only need to look at those who take the opposite route. Those who don’t study and think they can do everything themselves, place a very low ceiling on their potential.

I hope you found these ideas useful, my friend. If you did, get to work on at least one of them today.

How to make the right choice for your business

By Jim Connolly | August 16, 2017

Would you like to get far more, highly targeted client/customer enquiries?

If you just answered yes, then I have a suggestion for you. I want you to consider a more deliberate approach to your marketing. It’s about intentionally choosing what your business stands for, then acting in accordance with it.

Here are just a couple of examples.

Do you want your business to be known as a reassuringly expensive, high quality brand or a no-frills provider? Choose. Then set your prices and quality accordingly.
Do you want your business to be remarkable or do you want it to be similar to your competitors? Choose. Then either offer something amazing or do what’s expected.

The thing is, you need to choose

In the examples above, both options can be amazingly successful.

There are billion dollar luxury providers and billion dollar no-frills providers. These successful brands intentionally choose which end of the market they want to serve. Then, they market their brand accordingly.

There are remarkable and unremarkable businesses, who make billions.

The remarkable brands put their time into developing something spectacular, which people will talk about, recommend and share.
The unremarkable brands invest their time developing high-return advertisements, introducer networks and hustling.

Both approaches work extremely well, when done correctly.

What doesn’t work well, is either failing to choose what your business stands for, or choosing, but acting inconsistently with your choice.

Overcoming the main challenge here

Over the years, I’ve found there is a major reason why small business owners get this wrong. It’s that they almost always feel as though they MUST be a high price or remarkable provider. And that if they aren’t, they’re somehow setting their sights too low.

This thinking is totally, utterly incorrect! Your business can thrive whatever end of the market you choose to serve.

McDonald’s, globally, will generate more income and profits today, than the most expensive, high class restaurant in your city will manage, in the next year or 10 years.

So, get intentional. Choose what you want your business to stand for and market it accordingly. This 1 step alone, will give you a huge advantage over your competitors.

And that’s not all my friend.

It will also provide you with massively more clarity and allow you to make better decisions.