Jim Connolly Marketing

Attract. Don’t sell

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Creative marketing, attraction marketing, don't sell, attract

Photo by Eva Bronzini on Pexels.com

It turns out that everybody in your marketplace has at least 2 things in common.

  1. They hate being sold to.
  2. They hate having problems.

Think about it, your business exists in order to solve a problem or a number of problems. Every business does. Therefore, business owners should be approaching prospective clients as a problem solver.

Not as an accountant, courier, retailer, IFA, designer, trainer or whatever. But as someone who can make the prospect’s life easier, less stressful, or both, by solving at least one problem for them.

This means talking to them, instead of pitching to them. It means focusing on their needs, so we get a clear understanding of their problems. Then, explaining how we can help them.

When your marketplace sees you as a source of answers, they’ll regard you as a useful asset. And that changes the whole dynamic of how you do business. You become a vastly more attractive proposition.

Why? Because we’re drawn to those who can help us. Those who can make things better for us. Those who can reduce our stress.

In short, doors that were closed to you when you were trying to sell stuff, will fly open when you approach them as a problem solver. And you’ll find people start hiring you or buying from you, without you having to sell anything.

How to make more sales, in uncertain times

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As I promised recently, here are some more ideas to help you and your business through the uncertainty of the current economy.

As things change, we need to adjust our marketing to the new wants and needs of our customers or clients. That’s what I’m focusing on today.

Plan with flexibility

Typical marketing plans run for a year and make the mistake of assuming conditions will remain roughly the same. As a result, these plans fall to pieces when faced with a period of rapid change. That’s why your marketing plan needs to have flexibility built in.

I recommend creating 90-day marketing plans, to run alongside your overall business plan. These need to be regularly reviewed and adjusted, based on real-time feedback. What’s working better than before? What are your prospects suddenly asking for? What’s no longer working as well as it used to? You get the idea.

Pay extra close attention to your customers

One of the best pieces of business advice I’ve ever received is this.

‘Your customers will show you where your market is going’.

Customers do this through their actions and their words. Here are some questions to ask yourself, so you can see where your market is going.

  • Have your customer enquiries changed recently?
  • Have your customers’ buying habits or preferences changed recently?
  • Are customers mentioning any new concerns during the sales process?
  • Is there a meaningful increase or fall in customer spending?
  • Have you noticed customers becoming more price-sensitive?
  • Are customers engaging with you differently online, perhaps interacting more through social media, direct messages, or emails?
  • Have your customers started recommending (or requesting) new products, services, or features you previously hadn’t considered?
  • Is there a noticeable increase in customers asking you for personalised or customised offerings?
  • Are there specific fears or uncertainties customers are expressing more often?
  • Have customer priorities recently changed?

Now ask yourself, are there new opportunities emerging, or new concerns emerging, which I need to take action on?

Focus on your new opportunities. Think positive

Rapidly changing conditions often cause stress or anxiety for small business owners. We need to be aware of this, and turn it around. A positive, proactive mindset helps us adapt quickly, confidently, and effectively. That’s exactly what we need right now.

So, focus on opportunities rather than obstacles.

Also, encourage yourself, and your team if you have one, to innovate. Innovating puts you in control. It immediately gives you a lift and causes you to think far more positively.

And remind yourself regularly of the challenges you’ve overcome in the past. You’ll overcome future challenges too, if you use the right approach. In fact, you may well come out of this wiser and wealthier than you were before. I saw this with 100% of my clients during the pandemic.

I hope you found this useful. If you did, share it with your friends.

From rags to riches?

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rags to riches, richard branson, self made, rags to riches story, 2025

Photo: Shutterstock 

This article gives you a behind the scenes look at those rags to riches stories we love. Plus, why they’re not always quite what they seem!

People love a good story. So much so, that facts are often changed in order to make the story more compelling.

Now, with some types of story, it’s unlikely to cause us any problems if the story we hear has been embellished. If that prince was a little less hunky in real life than in the story, it’s okay. Similarly, if the fish Bob caught wasn’t quite as big as he told us, that’s fine. But what if it’s a fact that Sir Richard Branson was actually born into a very, very rich and influential family?

Rags to riches… really?

Where we have a challenge, is when the stories we hear are intended to provide us with a business lesson, yet they have a key piece of information missing. Like the rags to riches stories, which contained no rags!

2 Types of business story

There are 2 types of story, which are commonly highlighted in business books, self improvement seminars and business blogs:

  1. The first kind of story is by far the most popular. It’s where we hear about the kid, who is born into poverty, yet goes from rags to riches. We love these stories, because many of us start off with nothing and aspire to make a success of our lives. As the son of penniless immigrants, I know I found these stories inspirational. They helped me believe anything was possible, even starting from zero.
  2. The second kind of story is also powerful and used as a warning. It’s the story of those wealthy business owners who self destruct.

However, there is a third type of story: a story which is seldom told, because it seems to lack the obvious impact of the other two.

Today, I’d like to salute a third group of people, whose stories don’t neatly fit into either of those 2 popular stereotypes. I’m talking about those who come from a super-wealthy or privileged background, but elect to use it as a springboard for something even greater.

Wealth to extreme wealth

Such is the demand for rags to riches stories that many riches to greater riches stories have been incorrectly retold, usually for the sake of emphasis.

I remember listening to the charismatic Easyjet founder, Stelios Haji-Ioannou being introduced on a radio program as ‘a poor kid who did good‘. Stelios politely interrupted the interviewer, to remind her that he was in fact, the son of an extremely wealthy shipping magnate. Stelios’ father gave him £30MILLION to start up his shipping business.

However, our desire to believe that hard working people like Stelios, must have come up the hard way, means these stories often mutate into one of rags to riches.

Sir Richard Branson is no rags to riches story. FAR from it!

Like Stelios, Sir Richard Branson’s success story is often referred to incorrectly, as rags to riches. Nothing could be further from the truth. Sir Richard was actually born into a wealthy, extremely influential family. He is the grandson of The Right Honourable Sir George Arthur Harwin Branson and the son of a leading UK barrister. Sir Richard’s story is one of wealth to extreme wealth. His achievements have been impressive, but we gain nothing in learning from his achievements, if we change the facts to make the story sound better.

Back in 2020, Sir Richard Branson’s family home was valued at over $5Million. Even that was a low, pandemic valuation. His parents bought the home in 1963 from a viscountess!

Sir Richard Branson childhood home
Sir Richard Branson’s childhood home

As we all know, many people born into that kind of wealth, choose to sit on their butt or self-destruct. Others spend their lives travelling the world spending their trust fund and then their inheritance, which is their prerogative. Few have done as Branson did (starting at age 16) and put their unearned assets to work for them, to grow multiple successful businesses, in many different industries worldwide. That should be a good enough story, without story tellers inventing a rags to riches beginning to the storyline.

Seth Godin is no rags to riches story

Seth Godin’s business career started with a superb business education at the best place possible. Seth’s late father, the highly-respected businessman William Godin, was the multi-millionaire owner of the largest business in its niche, in the whole USA. This saw Seth educated at the world famous Stanford Business School (see Stanford Graduate School for Business). For those who don’t know, Stanford is regarded by many as the finest business school in the world. Seth’s fellow Stanford students went on to become CEO’s of; Microsoft, eBay, Paypal, Trader Joe’s, Gap, Nike, Wells Fargo, Ford and countless other multinational corporations – plus at least 1 President of The United States. It’s a great place to get a world class business education and build a priceless network of super-influential, super-wealthy contacts.

Seth started his blog with a bang, thanks to super-influential contacts. For example, he wrote his first blog post, sitting next to Google’s co-founder, Sergey Brin: a fellow Stanford student. Seth’s story is regularly shared as one of rags to riches. The reality is very different, with Seth enjoying access to many of America’s most influential people and starting off with the support of his extremely wealthy family.

We learn nothing from incorrect information.

The true stories behind the success of people like Stelios, Sir Richard and Seth Godin, contain lessons we can learn from. My point, is that these stories do not need to be repackaged. Godin never needed to say he didn’t grow up in a rich family. He didn’t need to say he was so broke when he started his business that he couldn’t afford to eat healthy food. Branson didn’t need to say he came from humble beginnings. Their past doesn’t need to be retrofitted with poverty, to make their success more relevant. They stand up as they are.

This is really important

On a more serious note, by repackaging those stories, so they sound like rags to riches, the stories can become toxic.

New entrepreneurs often find themselves stuck, wondering why they are not seeing the kind of results that their inspirational, rags to riches role models did. They do this because they’re unaware that their role model may have started off with a world-class business education, the most influential contacts imaginable, the support of wealthy family and friends – or all of those assets.

For instance, it’s easier to sell a company for millions, when you have contacts who have budgets worth millions, which they need to invest.

In short: Be careful measuring your progress against anyone, but especially people you do not know. Rags to riches stories are often not what they seem.

Working in. Working on

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work your plan, an image of an arrow pointing right, white on a blue background

I shared an idea recently with some entrepreneurs, which I think you may find useful. It’s a powerful, yet very simple difference in how the most successful business owners run their day.

I’ve also included a tip, which you can use to accelerate the growth of your business.

Let’s go!

It starts with an observation

When I speak with business owners who are frustrated with their progress, I find they spend a lot of time reacting. Specifically, reacting to the demands of their customers and colleagues. As such, they spend too little time developing their own business.

This scenario is most commonly expressed in that often-repeated business advice; You need to spend more time working on your business and less time working in your business.

Of course, every business owner needs to respond to the needs of their business. What I’ve discovered is that the most successful business owners respond differently from their average counterparts.

It looks like this.

The most successful business owners remain focussed on their plans. This means they do what’s required for their clients, colleagues etc., BUT they then refocus like a laser on their own plans. They plan their work, and work their plan. As a result, each day brings progress. Some days more than others. The key thing is they move their business forward every single day.

The average business owner also has a plan. However, they find their plans are often derailed by the demands of others. This means that although they start their day correctly, their plans go out the window. They work hard, but make little if any progress on their plans. Before they know it, a day of too little progress becomes a week of too little progress, a week becomes a month… repeat.

What’s the answer, Jim?

The short answer is that we need to plan our work and work our plan. It’s the second part that’s tricky. As I mentioned a moment ago, most business owners have a plan of some description.

The challenge is sticking with the plan, when the day-to-day needs of their business come along.

A valuable reminder

Here’s what worked for me, to ensure my focus always returned to my plan for the day. I set a reminder on my phone, which went off every 3-hours during the work day. When the alarm went off, a message would appear saying work your plan.

Did you notice how the previous paragraph is in the past tense?

That’s because after a couple of weeks, I didn’t need the alarm. I learned to automatically refocus on my plan for the day, as soon as I’d completed an off-plan activity. It’s hard to overstate what a huge, measurable improvement this can make for you and your business.

Give it a try.

Four questions that helped a subscriber boost sales by 68%

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building business contacts, better contacts

When I ask a business owner who their ideal customer or client is, they almost always reply with demographics; average age, location, income level, etc. 

Whilst demographics are certainly useful, they’re just a piece of the picture.

Demographics will tell you who to target with your marketing.

However, to get that demographic to buy from you, you need to know what matters to them. That’s their motivation. That’s what drives their decisions. That’s what drives their actions. That’s what determines whether they buy from you… or don’t.

Demographics alone can be problematic. There are wealthy people who spend the lowest possible price for a reliable product. They’d happily buy a £5 pen, but wouldn’t dream of buying a £500 pen. There are also those on low incomes who would take a loan out, just to own that £500 pen. Income level is only part of the picture.

I was inspired to share this with you, after learning that one of my newsletter readers increased her revenues by close to 70% last year, partly by focusing on 4 of the questions I shared in one of my newsletters. By honing in on the right things, she was able to improve her marketing, so that it spoke directly to what matters to her marketplace.

These are the 4 prospective customer questions that worked for her.

  • What improvement are prospects looking for, from my services or products?
  • What do they primarily place their security in?
  • Which do they value the most, quality they can rely on or low-prices.
  • What do they give most of their attention to commercially?

By talking with current and former customers, we can get a good idea of what matters most to our typical buyer. Often we don’t even need to ask! For example, if our customers tend to wear designer names, quality and style are more important to them than the lowest-priced/reliable alternatives. 

Through observation and conversation, we can get a clear picture of what our prospects are attracted to. That’s an essential part of attraction marketing; marketing that attracts sales and enquiries from our ideal customer. 

I hope you found that useful.

Marketing 101: Vigorous, written marketing

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vigorous written marketing, marketing copywriting, content marketing

Most of the marketing copy I see is at least 75% too long. Overlong copy lacks impact. It also lacks clarity and fails to motivate prospective customers or clients.

I want to help you avoid this expensive mistake, which is why I wrote this for you.

Vigorous, written marketing

And it starts with one of the best-known quotes on the subject.

“Vigorous writing is concise. A sentence should contain no unnecessary words, a paragraph no unnecessary sentences, for the same reason that a drawing should have no unnecessary lines and a machine no unnecessary parts. This requires not that the writer make all his sentences short, or that he avoid all detail and treat his subjects only in outline, but that he make every word tell“.

Professor William Strunk Jr. – The Elements of Style.

The vigorous writing referred to here, is writing that is strong and full of energy. That’s the kind of writing that moves people to take action; to contact you, buy from you or hire you. It’s the kind of writing that gets the results you need.

How can you and your business benefit from the power of vigorous, written marketing?

The answer comes from understanding why the problem exists.

Google usually gets the blame

That’s because Google’s search algorithm rewards overlong, written content. It prefers 2500 words to 250. So, for over 20 years, online marketing writers have been rewarded for high word counts. That’s certainly not what’s needed for vigorous, written marketing.

But Google isn’t responsible for the wider problem.

Email marketing and off-line media is just as ruined by overlong content. Neither of those formats have ever required the writer to dance the Google dance.

The problem exists because most written marketing is created by people who lack sufficient training. It’s either written by business owners who ‘dabble’ or by below-par copywriters.

The solution?

The business owner wishing to switch to vigorous, written marketing has two options.

  1. Learn how to do it effectively.
  2. Pay someone who already knows.

How to decide?

  • The cost (in time) of learning is considerable. It takes years of practice. However, you’ll start seeing improvements relatively quickly.
  • The cost of hiring an expert is lower. And it’s a lot faster.

The price you pay for starving your business of vigorous, written marketing is far higher than either of those options. So pick one of them and run with it.

Photo by Cherrydeck on Unsplash