Jim Connolly Marketing

Content marketing: How to find all the time you need

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content marketing, marketing tips

People often ask me how I manage to write as many articles as I do. They know how regularly I publish on Jim’s Marketing Blog. They also know I write articles on my creative thinking website and wonder how I find the time.

So, here’s my big secret

Are you ready? My big secret is that I don’t watch television. The average person watches between 3 and 5 hours of TV a day. This changes somewhat from country to country. For example, in the United States, people watch an average of 4.3 hours of TV a day.

This means I have an extra 30 hours a week available to me. I use some of that time to write.

The question is, what could you achieve, if you were to give yourself the gift of another 30 hours a week, every week?

Exciting times for your business

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business development, marketing tips

These are exciting times to be in business. You have opportunities that previous generations could not have imagined.

Think about it:

  • With a laptop and an internet connection, you can tap into an unlimited marketplace. A global marketplace, with pretty-much limitless potential.
  • Your website can be a 24/7 lead generating machine. Not just that, a lead generating machine that sends you highly targeted prospective clients.
  • You can create digital products and sell them while you sleep. I do this here.
  • You can get a message in front of your prospective clients in seconds.
  • Your current clients can use social networks to spread the word about you.

There are outstanding opportunities all around you. Like delicious, ripe fruit just waiting to be harvested.

The question is, what are you going to do with all this potential… what’s your plan?

The café owner whose ignorance is killing her business

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marketing tips, marketing blogs

Why do hard-working business owners often make very little progress?

Here’s a perfect and extremely common example. I hope you find it useful. More importantly, I hope it inspires you to make better decisions.

The café owner who’s killing her business

I visited a great little café yesterday with my wife and son. We stopped for a coffee and a slice of cake. The home-made cake was stunning. So beautiful that I took a photo. I was going to share the photo with the 85,000 people who connect with my various social networking accounts.

I had no signal from my phone, so I asked if the café had Wi-Fi. I was told by the owner that they did, however, it’s not advertised and it’s password protected. She explained that they hide the Wi-Fi, to stop people coming in and using it. The café owner brought me the password. It was super-strong with a huge line of mixed numbers, letters and symbols. After failing to get it right for the 2nd time, it was time for us to leave.

Ignorance of marketing is not bliss

The café owner had it all wrong. She thought she would gain financially by blocking people from using the café’s Wi-Fi. She told me she was concerned people would come in, buy just 1 or 2 drinks and in her words “steal the Wi-Fi”. She hadn’t figured out that there are excellent reasons why the larger coffee chains eagerly offer free Wi-Fi.

  • It attracts paying customers. Given the choice of a place with Wi-Fi or without, most people will choose a place with Wi-Fi.
  • It gives customers a fast and effective way to spread the word about their experience.
  • It lets customers share photos of their coffee, breakfast, lunch etc, on their social networks. This is free, powerful, visual advertising for the café or coffee shop.
  • It allows customers to share where they are on social networks, in case a friend wants to join them. This further increases custom.
  • It makes the café a place where people can enjoy a coffee, whilst reading the news or catching up with their friends on Twitter, Facebook etc.

Like almost every small business owner, the café owner is making basic marketing mistakes that are losing her a fortune. We only went in because the place was almost empty and we were in a hurry. She has no idea of the opportunities she’s missing out on, just from that one marketing error. In the short time we were there, I spotted around half a dozen areas, which are losing her a fortune.

When I asked her, “how’s business?”, it was no surprise when she replied that business is slow. Of course it is. How else could things be going, when her ignorance of marketing is killing her business? That’s a rhetorical question.

Smart and average

Smart business owners identify that their business needs help and they get that help. They refuse to dabble with their livelihood.

The average business owner hunkers down and works hard. They’re unaware that hard work is not the key to success. So they end up frustrated. Why? Because no matter how hard they row their boat in the wrong direction, they never end up where they want to be.

Choose wisely my friend.

Social media marketing: Why platform hopping is a bad idea

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I see a lot of business owners and entrepreneurs making the same, costly mistake with social media marketing. So, I wrote this for you. I hope you find it useful.

Are you platform hopping?

When looking to improve the bankable results they achieve from social media, many people hop from platform to platform. The latest destination for platform hoppers is Snapchat. That’s why it’s packed full of frustrated business owners, trying to be the next Gary Vee.

They think they need to be there.

They’ve heard it’s where all the buzz is.

However, they find it impossible to stand out, attract attention and drive sales. They’re already waiting for the next hot platform. In case that one works.

Here’s the thing:

Platform hopping is like going on fad diets. After a few months of hard work, you’re usually in a worse place than before you started.

Why?

Because the platform is seldom the problem. It’s far more likely that you need to change (improve) your strategy, rather than change your platform. On every platform there are business owners doing great and others who struggle.

The strategy is what makes the difference.

What next?

Decide what you want to achieve. Then, find the social media platform or platforms, which are the best fit. Without knowing your exact situation and what you want to achieve, I can’t give you specific strategy advice.

There is, however, one thing that’s universally true.

If you copy what you see others doing, follow step-by-step guides or rely on social media management software, you will always struggle. For you to get the best results from social media, you need to stand out… which is impossible, via copying, following a guide or using software.
(Here’s how to stand out — no guide required.)

In short, spend less time hopping between platforms and more time improving your strategy. It’s your strategy, which makes all the difference.

How to get a verified Twitter account

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verified twiter account, how to, twitter

If you follow me on Twitter, you may have noticed that my Twitter account is verified. Because of this, I get a lot of people asking if I can show them how to get a verified Twitter account. That’s what this brief message is about.

There are 2 steps to getting verified. I’ll show you what they are and how they work.

  1. Submitting a verification request to Twitter.
  2. Being selected for verification.

How to get a verified Twitter account: Step 1

The first step is very simple. You just visit this link and submit a verified account request. There’s a short form to fill in, plus you’ll need to have some ID (driver’s license, passport, etc.).

It takes minutes. Here’s exactly what you need to do.

How to get a verified Twitter account: Step 2

The second step to getting verified on Twitter is trickier. The person reviewing your application at Twitter, needs to believe that you fit their verification criteria. And yes, the process is still handled manually.

Here’s what Twitter’s website says about the types of account that get verified:

“What types of accounts get verified?  An account may be verified if it is determined to be an account of public interest. Typically this includes accounts maintained by users in music, acting, fashion, government, politics, religion, journalism, media, sports, business, and other key interest areas”.

In other words, unlike a credit card application, you need to do more than verify that you are really you. And this is where the problem (and frustration) comes for most Twitter users seeking to get verified.

verified twiter account, twitter verification

In essence, you need to convince the person handling your verification request that your Twitter account is “of public interest”. I have no idea where their cut-off point is for public interest. Also, judging by some of the decisions these people make, if you want to get a verified Twitter account, you’ll need something else.

Twitter verified accounts… and luck

Also, as the process is based solely on the opinion of an individual Twitter employee, there’s a lot of luck involved. I have seen many accounts that Twitter has verified, which are used by notorious spammers and marketers who pump undisclosed affiliate links to unsuspecting followers. Equally, Twitter verifies accounts that use auto-follow software, which violates Twitter’s own terms of use. Twitter needs to address this. Not only does it devalue verification, it’s extremely frustrating, for those who are rejected.

Since my own verification, I have been approached by many well-respected businesspeople, who have been rejected by Twitter without any explanation. When I look at their credentials, it’s crystal clear they are more “worthy” of being verified than those automated marketing accounts, who use software to follow hundreds of thousands of Twitter users, in order to get more followers.

So, that’s the simple, yet extremely frustrating 2 step process for how to get a verified Twitter account. Please note, I have no way of getting you verified, so there’s no point in asking me. If you have any verification questions, please use the links in this post for more information. There’s lots of answers to common questions.

This post was last updated in July 2017.

Attract sales, leads and new clients

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marketing blogs, marketing help

If you want to attract more clients, sales or sales leads, you’ll LOVE today’s article.

I need to start by sharing one of the cornerstones of great marketing. It’s simply this: Focus on your prospective clients and their needs, rather than your own needs.

Some call it paying it forward.

Others call it contribution.

You can call it whatever you like, but it’s the same thing. Focusing your efforts on the other person and not on yourself.

Why?

Bring the marketplace your seed, not your need

I live in a rural village. It’s coming to the end of harvest time. Ask a farmer about the harvest and she’ll tell you this: If you want a bountiful harvest, you need to bring your seeds to the soil. Not your needs. You can tell the soil how much you need a great harvest. You can pester the soil for months with selfish requests… and nothing productive will happen.

The marketplace is very similar. It doesn’t give a shit about what you need!

This is why pestering people for leads at networking groups is such a soul-destroying waste of your time. It just makes you look needy. The same is true of sending strangers marketing emails they never asked for. Ditto, posting needy marketing messages on social networks. All of these are super-low leverage and reflect poorly on you and your brand.

That’s what self-focused marketing looks like. You see it every day. And it has never been less effective.

Here’s a way better alternative for you to consider.

Attract sales, leads and clients

The thing is, you don’t need to pester anyone. Your prospective clients present you with an opportunity to plant as many seeds of contribution as you want to. [Think about that for a moment.]

For example, I reach tens (and tens) of thousands of prospective clients daily, by giving away as much useful information as I can via my blog and social networking channels. Without pestering anyone, I generate sales, leads and enquiries from new clients every day.

However, to earn that privilege I have to consistently focus on you. I have to uncover your needs, so I can deliver valuable, free information that will be of use to you and your business.

The bottom line is that the process of giving and receiving, starts with the giving part. If you want to receive more, give more. They say: “The best time to plant a tree is 20 years ago. The second best time is today.”

So start today

Give value, not pitches.

Be useful, not annoying.

Offer help, not deals.

Attract attention, not scorn.

Repeat tomorrow.