Jim Connolly Marketing

Why your hard work isn’t working and how to fix it

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marketing blogs, marketing help

Every failing small business I have ever encountered had the same problem. Here’s the problem and more importantly, how to avoid it happening to you.

I need to start by asking you a slightly odd question: What do you do if you have a problem with one of your teeth?

OK, the answer is easy. You visit your dentist. The dentist will then either treat the tooth or as a last resort, they will remove it. Simple.

It looks like this:

  • The small business owner notices that they have a problem [toothache].
  • They then arrange to go and visit a professional for the help they need [a dentist].
  • Finally, they have their problem resolved [the treatment].

Now look how differently that same small business owner acts, when they have a business problem. They apply none of the logic above.

It looks like this:

  • They identify their business has a problem. They start by hoping the problem will go away. Whilst hope is essential, it isn’t a business strategy. So their problem remains.
  • Next, instead of getting expert help, they dabble with their problem. They look online for answers, even though they have no idea what they’re actually looking for. They ask friends and contacts for advice, even though these people lack the expertise they need.
  • Their problem then gets progressively worse. They get the commercial equivalent of severe toothache.

With even the most extreme toothache you can get pain free by having the tooth extracted. That pain is nothing, compared to the pain the business owner suffers when they slowly go broke.

Their commercial toothache is numbed with painkillers, rather than professionally treated. The painkiller of choice is to tell themselves that business will just get better if they hunker down and work harder. Things will magically improve next month, or when the economy picks up or after the next election, etc. This self-talk acts as a narcotic, to ease the pain of the reality of their situation.

The answer is simple

We need to treat the health of our business with the same care we give to our teeth!

It starts with accepting that there’s a problem and that it won’t just disappear. Burying your head in the sand does nothing to help the situation. It just makes things worse.

The first step is to get the expert help you need. If cash flow is a problem or you have a tax problem, talk with an accountant. If you need more customers, more sales and bigger profits, speak with a marketing expert. If you have a legal problem, discuss it with a lawyer.

The barrier here for non-entrepreneurial business owners is money… or rather, how they feel about money.

In short: They’re scared of investing. That’s because they run their business with an employee mindset. They genuinely believe it’s safer to starve their business of essential investment. That’s because they still have not emotionally understood the difference between spending money and investing it.

So they see the riskiest thing possible [failing to invest] as being safe, and the safest thing possible [investing when needed] as being risky.

Think about it: If a business isn’t growing the way the owner wants it to, all they need to do is get the correct strategy and work that strategy. It isn’t rocket science. When a business owner works hard for too little reward, it’s because they have deliberately chosen to do so, by choosing not to invest in the help they need.

When I speak with entrepreneurs, the picture is very different.

Entrepreneurs get it

Entrepreneurs never have this problem. When an entrepreneur sees an area of their business needs help, they take intelligent action. They speak with an expert. They get the right strategy. Problem solved. They treat their business the way they treat their teeth.

In short: If your business needs help, think DENTIST not DABBLE.

How to overcome Writer’s Block

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Have you ever suffered with Writer’s Block?

If you write a newsletter, produce scripts for podcasts, YouTube or you publish a blog, it’s likely you struggle sometimes to produce the volume and quality of written content you need. Here are some proven ideas to unblock your writing and make you massively more productive.

I hope you find it useful.

People who struggle with Writer’s Block tend to fit into one of the following groups:

  1. Some of them struggle to find things to write about. They need ideas or inspiration.
  2. Others know what they want to write about, but find it hard to get their thoughts on the page.
  3. And some people have challenges with both of the above.

Let’s take a look at those challenges and how you can overcome them.

Writer’s Block: Finding something to write about

Here’s some good news: There’s no excuse at all for business writers, who say they can’t find topics to write about.

At least there won’t be, after you know what I am about to tell you!

To uncover a limitless supply of relevant topics to write about, you simply need to do the following:

Look in online business forums or Facebook Groups and Linkedin Groups, for the most frequently asked questions from your marketplace. Then write about your answers to these common, pressing questions. Obviously, you should stick to questions related to your industry. This will provide you with countless, relevant topics.

If finding things to write about was causing your Writer’s Block, that will get you unblocked.

Writer’s Block: Finding inspiration

What if you need inspiration to write, yet you work in a small niche where there are no forums or groups discussing common problems? When this happens, we can learn a lot from artists.

Think about it: Unblocking Writer’s Block is not so simple for artists. How does a poet, storyteller or lyricist find inspiration for what to write next? Fortunately, there’s an answer. When we examine the most successful and prolific writers, we find they are driven to write by their passions. Anger, bliss, love, loss, loneliness, confusion, fear… these are all powerful subjects that have inspired writers for centuries.

When my pal Nile Rodgers and his friends were refused entry to Studio 54, they wrote a track about it. Initially called “F*#k off!”, it was later renamed “Le Freak” and became one of the biggest dance tracks in history. See below. [If you can’t see the video, click here.]

Focus on the things about your business, which you are most passionate about. A great place to start is to look at the problems that your product or service solves for your customers. For example, if you save them money, save them time, help them be more productive, make them healthier or wealthier… write about it. And write with passion. Regularly!

Tip: You don’t wait for inspiration to arrive. You command it to appear!

Writer’s Block: Getting your words “out there”

Some people fear what will happen when they share or publish their work. They often disguise this fear by calling themselves perfectionists. All perfectionism is rooted in fear. Fear of criticism, to be precise.

This fear leaves them seeking a perfect scenario; where everyone likes what they produce and no one criticises it. Because this balance is impossible to achieve, they produce nothing or play it safe and produce nothing worth reading. That’s what causes their Writer’s Block.

Thankfully, there’s a way around this too. Those who fear criticism need to start by accepting that nothing of value is universally liked. They need to understand that as creators, they have a decision to make.

Here’s the decision: They can either be criticised or they can be ignored. And in business, being ignored is not a viable option. The most successful business owners have learned to dance with criticism. They can’t ignore it, but they know it’s an inevitable part of being successful; both as a writer and business owner.

For example, most people do not own an iPhone. They don’t watch the number 1 TV show and haven’t bought this year’s number 1 bestselling book. All of those things also have critics, who vocally dislike them. However, it doesn’t stop them from being successful. That’s because you can’t have insiders [buyers / clients / readers], without outsiders [critics].

Writer’s Block be gone!

For most people reading this, the answer is simple: To beat Writer’s Block, write about the things your marketplace wants to know and the things you’re passionate about. And do it regularly. What you will find is that the more you write, the better you become and the easier it gets.

Yes, if you’re doing it right you will be criticised. So embrace criticism as an indicator that you’re on the right track and that people are noticing you. When you see criticism this way, it becomes something you welcome, rather than something you strive to avoid. This also makes writing a great deal easier.

I hope you find these ideas useful. More importantly, I hope they inspire you to get writing and overcome Writer’s Block.

Useful tips that every business owner should know

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marketing blogs, marketing help

Here are 7  success tips that every business owner should know.

  1. Be stingy with your time, but not your ideas. Once you give an hour of your time to someone, that hour has gone. If you give an idea to someone, you still have that idea. Plus, you just helped someone. Read this.
  2. Be quick to forgive. While you’re holding a grudge, they’re out dancing.
  3. Exercise regularly and eat well. Running a successful business takes energy and clear thinking. A lot of business owners fail, simply because they lack the energy and clarity required. Here’s what happens to your brain when you exercise.
  4. Learn to become a better decision maker. Remember, the decision to be indecisive is also a decision. Read this.
  5. Look for the gold dust in every situation. It’s always there. You just need to find it. Here’s where some of your gold dust is waiting.
  6. Consider firing your worst clients. Then invest the time you spent with them, delighting your best clients. [I got that tip from Seth Godin. Thanks, Seth.]
  7. Be choosey who you associate with. It’s hard to feel positive or make meaningful progress, when you’re associating with negative people. Spend time with people who are going nowhere, and one day, everything they have will be yours!

I hope you found these quick tips useful. More importantly, I hope you do something with them.

Hurry while stocks last

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how to set prices right, get prices right

Is your business benefitting from one of the most powerful principles in marketing?

You’ve seen it happen again and again. The media reports that something is about to be in short supply. Then, all of a sudden, we see footage of people standing in line… just so they can get it before it runs out.

Whether it’s the new, must-have smartphone or the latest hot Christmas present, demand shoots through the roof as soon as people think they could miss out. It happens because of something Dr. Robert Cialdini calls the principle of scarcity.

So, here’s my question for you:

Is there a product or service you offer to your clients, which has limited availability built-in?

If not, create one now. Otherwise you’re leaving money on the table.

Marketing tip: Finish strong. Always!

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marketing delivery

My friends Colleen and Matt went for a meal recently. It wasn’t a pleasant experience. Matt’s dessert arrived on a dirty plate. They told me that from that moment onward, their dining experience was ruined.

That restaurant could have the best chef. It could use the freshest ingredients and have the highest hygiene standards. Their staff could be top of the pile, too. It doesn’t matter. It doesn’t matter because they allowed food to be served to a diner on a dirty plate.

Imagine you decide to send flowers to a loved one. It doesn’t matter that the florist picked the most beautiful flowers and arranged them with amazing artistry… if they fail to deliver them with care and your loved one receives flowers that were damaged in transit.

The lesson here is simple: We can ruin a great deal of hard work and maybe lose customers, if we fail to pay close attention to the way we present the end product.

This made me cringe: Misleading advertising

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marketing help, crisis management

I listened this morning, as the Managing Director of a broadband company answered a horrible question. It was one of those interviews that makes you cringe.

The interviewer asked her, on national radio, why her company had misled consumers with their advertising. Rather than answer the question, she sidestepped it. Instead, she talked about her commitment to improve their future advertising. It’s a tactic that politicians use to avoid answering tricky questions.

Tip: The worst possible approach to dealing with a charge of being misleading, is to mislead people with your answer. At best, it eventually stops the interviewer from asking you the damaging question. However, it also makes you sound evasive and suggests you’re hiding something, which is exactly what you don’t need when dealing with a situation like this.

A missed opportunity

The reason I have not named the company in question, is that the charge against it by the UK’s Advertising Standards Authority, is aimed at the whole UK broadband industry.

With the entire industry coming under fire, this would have been a great opportunity to show some leadership and earn some credibility. To stand up, own up, say sorry and explain the commercial reality behind the misleading advertisements. That opportunity was missed.

It’s always a choice

When it comes to situations like this, prevention is better than cure. And we can prevent this kind of problem by making better choices.

Regardless of the industry we find ourselves in, it’s down to us to decide what strategies and tactics we use. We don’t need to follow the flock. If, as in this case, we’re in an industry known for misleading advertising, we can choose to stand out by being transparent, honest and consumer focused. It’s our choice, whichever route we decide to take.

Honesty, integrity and leadership have always been highly valued in business. I believe this is truer today than ever before.

Recommended reading: 21 Powerful habits behind highly successful business owners.