Here are 10 inspiring reasons to get things done, for the next time you need a little extra motivation.
And then, do it as well as you possibly can.
Dave from Perth, Australia, emailed me with a great question. He noticed that my blog is almost exactly 9 years old. In particular, Dave wondered how I have remained so passionate about marketing.
Here’s my answer. I hope you find it useful.
It’s a lot more specific than that. My passion is marketing small and medium-sized businesses. These are the businesses, where my work makes the most difference, in human terms. It’s that last part, the human part, which transforms my work from a job, into a passion.
For instance, last week, Kelly completed her year with me, on my 1 year marketing program. It has been exhilarating. Kelly now attracts the right kind of clients, the right kind of projects and earns the fees her work deserves. Moreover, she has a repeatable process in place, to grow her business exactly the way she wants to, year after year.
Kelly can now plan ahead with confidence. She looks to the future with excitement, rather than apprehension. And because she had been working long hours when her business was struggling, she now works fewer hours, which gives her more time to spend with her family.
THAT is what makes me passionate about helping small business owners.
Next week, I start working with a new client. I’m really excited about what we will achieve together. After a couple of days of research, I can already see that their potential is huge. So huge, it makes me tingle inside, just thinking about everything they will achieve. It’s exhilarating to think what their story will be, 12 months from now. I can’t wait.
As well as the work I do directly with my clients, I also get to help thousands of small business owners every day with the free information I offer online. From the emails I receive, I know that in some cases, I get to be a part of their stories too.
Yes, marketing has the potential to improve any business. However, it’s the human stories that matter most to me. That’s where my passion for marketing comes from.
There is a powerful success factor behind every great business, which you can implement starting today.
It can be summed up in just 4 words: It’s all about them!
The most successful business owners have figured it out. They know that their success is always going to be an extension of what they do for their clients. So, they consistently look for ways to be of greater value.
In short: They are more interested in the success of their clients, than they are in their own success.
That may sound counter-intuitive, but it isn’t. Allow me to explain why.
The least effective business owners are focused on what they can get from their clients or customers. This mindset manifests itself in many different ways. Here are just a few common examples.
That approach comes across in everything they do. As a result, their client retention is poor and they get few referrals from their clients. That’s because we don’t recommend greedy, self-obsessed people to our friends.
It starts with an understanding that it’s all about what you do, not what you say. That’s because every business owner claims to be client focused. So, you need to demonstrate that you are passionate about the success of your clients. You need to step up and walk the walk.
For example:
22 Years after starting out in business, I can confirm that Zig Ziglar was right: “You can have everything you want, if you will just help enough other people get what they want”.
This isn’t just an effective way to build a successful business. It’s also a wonderfully rewarding way to build a business you’re proud of, my friend!
This is easily the most valuable post I’ve written this year. It’s one of the most valuable I have ever shared with you. I strongly recommend you read it in full.
How would you like an endless supply of clients?
Moreover, how would you like an endless supply of clients, whilst making your business totally immune to any downturns in the economy?
Well, now you can have all that and so much more. This is not a play on words. I’m being 100% serious.
It’s all about something I call the new proximity. And it can transform your business, if you want it to.
Until recently, the proximity of your business to your prospective clients was measured by their geographical distance from you. As a direct result, your marketplace was limited to those with a need for your services, who were within a certain number of miles of your location.
In 2017, this is no longer the case. At least it isn’t, for the majority of people reading this.
Today, the proximity of your business isn’t measured by how close you are in miles from a prospective client.
Today, the proximity of your business is measured by, how closely you are aligned with their needs, mindset and values.
So, if a prospective client sees your work and wants to hire you, thanks to low cost (or free) global digital communications, they can.
In other words: Geography is no longer a barrier for many business owners. In 2017, human proximity, not miles, is what determines the size of your marketplace.
For example:
What counts today, is how closely a service provider is aligned to exactly what a client needs. That’s the proximity that matters. For example, in the past week alone, I’ve worked with clients in Australia, Canada, the UK and US.
These people are aligned with my work and the way I work, so we share proximity, even though were miles apart geographically.
Yes, if you’re a dentist and you physically must be in the same room as your patient, geography matters. Of course, you could still provide products and services, using the new proximity model. You could create videos for people with an irrational fear of dentists, and sell them globally. If your dental business is successful, you could sell the business model to dentists everywhere, who need to grow their dental business.
Almost every business owner reading this can either switch 100% to the new proximity model or develop products and services for it.
However, in order for it to work for you, you need to adjust your current business model.
You see, it isn’t just a case of doing what you do now, but accepting clients who you’d have previously ruled out, due to the distance between you. If you do that, little if anything, will improve for you.
Why?
Because your marketing will still be the same and your services will still be the same. So, you won’t suddenly attract all those new, prospective clients. If you want to embrace the new proximity, you need to adjust things accordingly. This will change slightly, from industry to industry.
You will also need to make it a core part of your marketing message. Here’s an example of how I integrate it into one of my marketing messages (read this). My prospective clients are fully aware that my services are specifically designed, to be offered worldwide. As a result, I work with far more clients overseas, than in my own country. I’m proud to say this includes every state in the United States.
With hundreds of thousands, maybe millions of new prospective clients, those who fully embrace the new proximity, have almost limitless growth potential. Also, they no longer need to worry about the impact of the economy on their business.
When the UK decided to leave the EU, many UK based marketing providers recorded a drop in business, as the domestic marketplace cut back on spending. My business thrived, because the drop in the value of the UK Pound, suddenly made my service massively more affordable to overseas clients.
You may have also noticed an additional huge benefit of this approach to business: Freedom to live anywhere you want!
My wife and I relocated from London, to a small village in the north of England. Our son was born and raised here, he attended the tiny village school and we love our community. But we could equally have relocated to the mountains, the beach… anywhere.
Yes, it takes intelligent planning if you want to benefit from the new proximity. You need to do the right things, correctly. It may also require you to shift your mindset, if you’re too used to the old proximity.
But it’s worth it my friend. So give it some thought.
Image: Merakist.
Here’s a thought: Instead of simply outsmarting our competitors, what if we decided to outcare them as well?
Think about it.
It’s hard to think of a more effective, profitable and enjoyable way to grow a great business.
We live in an age where businesses work hard to score as highly as possible on their technology based metrics. They try and get as many Facebook likes and Facebook fans as possible. They strive to get as many Twitter followers as they can. They constantly try to increase the size of their Linkedin network, too.
The challenge with chasing those numbers is that we can find ourselves spending too much time focused on digits. And find ourselves spending too little time focused on the quality of our relationships, with clients and customers. Too little time on the people that matter most to our business. This is especially the case with small businesses, where resources are tight. Time spent on improving your social networking metrics, is time you can’t spend delighting your clients, customers and prospective clients and customers.
Because of this we need to choose wisely. We need to invest our time where it will have the greatest, most meaningful impact. A dedication to passionately caring for the people is a wise dedication. It’s time well spent.
P.S: Here’s some advice on how to build a successful business. It contains lots of examples to get you started.
I originally hoped to publish a post today. The challenge was, I couldn’t think of anything useful to share with you. And when I can’t think of something you’ll find useful, I leave it.
Then it hit me… that message, in itself, is pretty useful.
Allow me to explain: It’s useful to know that the only time you should publish a newsletter, podcast, video or blog post, etc., is when you have something useful for your audience.
Which is fine if you’re a celebrity and people want to know all about you. But if you’re just a regular business person, like me, people want something they can use. An idea. A tip. A quick insight. Whatever.
So, before you hit publish, ask yourself: Is this likely to be useful or is it just adding to the noise? If you believe people will find it useful, publish.
Nothing we publish is going to be useful to everyone. But if we start off from the useful mindset, we’re less likely to write stuff just for the sake of it.