Jim's Marketing Blog

Marketing tips and ideas to help you grow your business

List building: How to build a list that builds your business

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list building, build a list

Photo: Shutterstock.

People often ask me for tips on how to build a bigger list. They want more subscribers, more readers, more listeners, more viewers, more followers, etc.

The short answer is simple. It’s this.

Create useful content, which is worthy of people’s attention and make it really easy for them to subscribe.

If you do that, you’ll attract more people and because your content is useful, many of them will subscribe. Think about it. That’s the exact process, which motivated you to subscribe to every list you’re on. Something attracted you, you found it useful, you subscribed.

This begs the question: If the answer is so simple, why is it so darn hard to build a large and valuable list?

Here’s the slightly longer answer.

The advice is simple. The process is tricky

There’s some tricky stuff between you and that massively valuable list you want.

Finding something useful to share, on a regular basis, is tricky. Remember, if you just churn out the same stuff as others in your industry, you won’t attract subscribers or retain them. This means you’ll need to be willing to do some research. You’ll need to become a regular note taker. A collector of ideas. It’s interesting work, but if you’re not already someone who studies and takes notes, it can take a while to transition.

Finding the time to create content is also tricky. You’re already busy, right? Developing content around all that interesting material you have, takes time. That time is easy to justify when you have a huge list. It’s harder to justify, when your hard work is being consumed by just a small number of people. You’ll need to push through the tumbleweed and crickets of the early stages. And I know from personal experience, that can be a real challenge.

Summoning the courage to publish your stuff is also tricky. Why? Because if you do it right, you’ll attract critics. Someone once told me that we have a choice to make. We can either be criticized or be ignored. If we’re being ignored, we’re invisible. That’s not good for any business.

The alternative is to not only expect criticism, but to welcome it as a positive sign that we’re no longer being ignored. Don’t set out to attract critics. Set out to be useful and worthy of attention. But see criticism as an inevitable part of becoming visible and successful.

Note: Here’s why people criticize you and how to deal with it.

Once you know what’s involved, building a valuable list is pretty easy.

And the rewards are huge

Picture this: Just imagine what a difference it would make to your business, if you were in regular contact with thousands of prospective customers. Not via advertising, which is usually seen as an unwelcome interruption. But via a subscription to your content, which people proactively requested because they WANT to hear from you. It’s almost impossible to overstate just how valuable your subscribers are.

The opportunity is amazing. And it’s right in front of you. Right now.

Marketing success: Reactive versus proactive

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jim connolly marketing

Today, I’m sharing a marketing idea to help you achieve long-term business success.

It starts with an extremely useful question.

How many of today’s business activities will make my business stronger in 6 months’ / 12 months’ time?

That question provides us with a useful perspective. Especially if we ask it every day. It gives us an insight into how much of our time and focus is invested in the middle to long-term future of our business. Equally important, it shows how much of our time and focus is short-term.

When we look at our results 6 months or a year from now, they’ll tell us if we got the balance right. We’ll know for sure. Of course, by then, it’s too late to change things if we got it wrong.

How do we get the balance right, ahead of time?

Here’s what I’ve discovered

From experience, small business owners are likely to invest too heavily in the short-term. Most small business owners will openly tell you; they spend too much time working IN their business, and not enough time working ON their business.

A short-term focus in business manifests itself in multiple ways. As a marketing bloke (hey, I think I’ve just found a new job title), I see the following 2 examples most often.

1. Small business owners will fail to create an ongoing conversation with their prospective clients; via a newsletter, non-automated social media account, etc. So, when they need to significantly increase sales, they’re forced to interrupt strangers with paid ads, instead.

It takes a little time to write a newsletter or to connect with your prospective clients on your preferred social network. But it’s a spectacularly valuable medium and long-term investment.

2. Another common manifestation of too heavy a focus on the short-term, is reactive marketing. The small business owner waits until something bad happens, THEN they respond. This forces them to start marketing from a position of weakness, and in need of an urgent win. Either one of those is a tricky challenge. But needing fast results from a weak position is really tough to pull off.

It takes a little time to proactively do some regular marketing. But as I said a moment ago, it’s a spectacularly valuable medium and long-term investment.

Moving forward

Long-term success doesn’t come from short-term thinking. We need to be aware of the bigger picture. And even though we are busy, we need to invest some time in longer-term marketing activities.

So, how much of our time do we need to invest?

Obviously, not all of it.

Not most of it, either.

In fact, all it takes is a small amount of time. Repeated most days.

Why your subscribers aren’t hiring you (and how to fix it).

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Hannah has almost 2000 newsletter subscribers. Her open rates are always between 80% and 85%. And yet she’s attracted just 4 paying clients since 2019, directly from her newsletter readership.

She asked me what she was doing wrong. I suggested, (with her permission), that as this is a really common problem, I’d share my answer with you.

why wont people hire me

Accurate marketing data can cause us problems

We’re now able to test and measure our digital marketing with great precision. And it’s causing hard working small business owners to make very expensive marketing mistakes.

For example. Service providers like Hannah, often look at the open rates / clicks / shares data of their newsletters or blogs, then write certain styles of headline or content, based on what’s popular.

That seems to make sense.

Until we look at the massive difference, between what’s popular with readers… and what generates bankable income for our business.

The key point here.

  • Readers are mostly just that. They’re readers. They read our free stuff. That’s it.
  • Only a subset of readers are prospective clients. This is usually a relatively small percentage; especially if we use the content marketing model, (which Hannah uses, I use and you should be using too).

In short: The vast majority of people who subscribe for useful, free business information have zero intention of spending a dime with us. They’re looking for free information. Period.

Oh yeah. They really mess with your marketing data

That’s because the free stuff crowd are also the people most likely to open newsletters and click links.

They especially love sensational headlines, free special reports and free white papers, etc. They are attracted to them because they dabble rather than hire expert help, so their businesses are constantly struggling. Over-hyped headlines give them hope that they’re one ‘killer free idea’ away from solving their latest problem.

It’s not a coincidence that none of the 4 readers who hired Hannah directly from her newsletter, had high open rates or click rates. They almost hired her in spite of being on her list. This is because our ‘prospective client readers’ behave very, very differently from the ‘free stuff readers’.

The same over-hyped approach that gets opens and clicks from freebie hunters, leaves our prospective clients rolling their eyes!

Allow me to explain.

Yes, our prospective clients are certainly looking for great, useful information. And that’s a fact.

The BIG difference, is that they are also looking to provide their businesses with the resources and expertise it needs. This means when they consume our newsletters, blogs (podcasts, YouTube broadcasts, whatever), they do so with a prospective need for our services and are building a picture of us.

And unlike the freebie crowd, they’re looking for clues.

For example.

  • They’re looking to see how reliable we are over a period of time. If we regularly show up with ideas or go missing unexpectedly for long periods.
  • They’re also looking for clues as to whether we’d work well together or not.
  • They want to see if our communication style is consistently clear and easy to understand.
  • And they want to see just how informed we are; the depth and breadth of our knowledge.

Plus a ton of other things they pick up on, which guides their decision to hire us or not.

The freebie crowd don’t give a rat’s ass about any of that!

In a nutshell: For a service provider, the most valuable feedback from your content marketing, is if it’s generating high quality paying clients or not. So please, don’t chase the numbers that have little or no, real-world commercial value.

A list of business experts you absolutely must avoid

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marketing stop

In life there are certain people who you absolutely need to avoid. The same is true in business.

Some are easy to spot

  • The web designer whose website is a piece of crap.
  • The marketing expert, who embarrassingly needs to pester people on Linkedin because their own marketing doesn’t work.
  • The consultant or adviser who claims to be in high demand, yet offers free consultations.
  • The self-proclaimed leadership guru, who clearly isn’t leading.
  • The copywriter whose content is poorly-written and lacks impact.
  • The creativity expert who’s just like all the other creativity experts. (Think about that for a moment).

Others are trickier to spot

  • The marketing consultant, who used tricks to attract a million social media followers.
  • The accountant who understands numbers, but can’t clearly explain what they mean to their client’s business.
  • The strategist whose own strategy is failing.
  • The business development adviser who has never built a successful business of their own.

Protect your business from bad advice

The personal recommendation of a trusted friend is usually the least risky way to find an expert provider. Just make sure the friend has recent, first-hand experience of the quality of the provider’s work.

Another option is to hire someone whose work you’re already familiar with. For example, if you subscribe to a provider’s podcast, YouTube channel, blog or newsletter and they regularly share useful information, they’re giving you some powerful clues.

  • The fact they have turned up consistently, demonstrates a degree of reliability. This is especially the case if they have many years worth of material available.
  • You get to experience first hand, how knowledgeable they are from the quality of information they provide.
  • In addition, you’ll know in advance if they share information with the clarity you need.
  • You also gain an insight into their personality and mindset, which can help you determine if they’re the kind of person you work best with.

With an attractive looking website and some testimonials, anyone can claim to be an expert at anything. And that’s why you need to look deeper.

Because the cost of taking bad advice is far, far higher than the person’s fee.

He’s after you! And that sounds scary

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writiing short, writing for business

Imagine it.

You find a Twitter account and it has a very short profile message. It’s just 3 words long.

It rather menacingly says: I’m after you!

This was a genuine Twitter profile from a marketing adviser.

So, what happened?

The profile’s owner intended the message to suggest, that he puts everyone before him. However, it read very differently.

His unsmiling profile photo only added to the likelihood it would be interpreted in the literal sense. That he’s pursuing you. That you are his intended prey.

The person in question is one of my newsletter subscribers. He explained that he was trying to write short, having just read one of my articles. Apparently, it was only after he noticed an increasing number of abusive tweets, which made no sense to him, that he figured out his mistake.

He went on to say that the offending profile message had been live for well over a month, and he’s still suffering the reputational damage. (Screenshots of his original profile have circulated in his local area).

Writing short

Writing short is about impact. From a word-count perspective, this means using as few words as required, but no fewer.

And writing for business in general, requires attention to detail. This includes looking for possible misinterpretations. Especially those that could be embarrassing or, as with this case, embarrassing and highly toxic.

Get more client enquiries by being approachable

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marketing approachable

How easy is it, for your prospective clients or customers to get in touch with you?

I’m not talking about how visible your phone number, email address or contact form are. I’m referring to something that is just as important and yet seldom written about: How approachable you seem to be, to a prospective client or customer.

For example.

  • When a prospect is reading your newsletter, how approachable do you sound to them? The best newsletters are written, so that the author comes across as friendly, informed and interested in helping you. The least effective are written by people who come across as impersonal, distant and only interested in what’s in it for them.
  • When a prospect reads your comments on social media, how approachable do you sound to them? Some business owners can appear patronising or sarcastic when people dialogue with them or ask questions. This is a really, really bad move, if you want prospective clients to feel comfortable contacting you.
  • When a prospect reads the about page on your website, how approachable do you sound? Many small business owners write their about page in the 3rd person, rather than speak directly to their reader. Instead of saying; ‘Hi, thanks for stopping by. My name is Jack and…’ they start with ‘Jack has worked in web design since 2012 and… ‘

Why does this matter to you?

Here’s what we know for absolute certain: The less comfortable someone feels about approaching a potential service provider, the less likely they are to contact them.

By building the human touch into your marketing, you start to nurture a positive relationship with your prospects long before you ever speak with them. This helps them feel far more comfortable contacting you, hiring you or buying from you.

The huge Google problem, which they don’t give a rat’s ass about

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Goolge content theft, crooks

Image: Pawel Czerwinski  

This brief post is unlikely to be indexed by Google. Although it’s written for humans (like you), it’s value will be determined by Google’s famously incompetent bot. The bot needs a minimum of three hundred words in order to get a handle on what the topic is.

That’s why lots of blog posts and articles read so poorly. They’re deliberately written over-long. The author is playing the Google game. If they want search traffic, they have to add unnecessary fluff. They also need to keep repeating certain words and phrases, or Google’s bot won’t know what to rank them for.

Google’s stolen content problem

The Google game is like most games. The vast majority play by the rules. Others don’t.

My posts are stolen by criminals within minutes (sometimes seconds) of publication. They use software to publish them and submit them to Google’s index.

In many cases, their illegal copy of my copyright protected work is chosen by Google as the original ‘canonical’ version. My original is then seen as a copy. I could even be penalized by Google, for Google’s own mistake. There’s no workable recourse. The bad guy wins.

Google search is broken. And for the foreseeable future it will stay like that. They’ve trained writers how to write for their extremely limited Google bot. The bad guys know how to profit on autopilot. It costs Google nothing. So, there’s no motivation for them to put their house in order.

When an service is as huge as Google, it’s beyond reproach. Yes, if a major publication complains, Google takes immediate action. The rest of us need to live with it. We need to play the Google game and accept theft of our work. That really sucks, but they’re Google… so!

BTW: This was 299 words.

Here’s an update: Google indexing scraped content from my blog: Part 2

A little known tip that helps service providers attract massively more clients

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Marketing clues easy

Image: Sigmund

Before someone decides to hire you or buy from you, they need to feel confident. So they start looking for clues. Clues that will tell them whether they should hire you or avoid you.

Why?

Because your prospective clients have all made bad decisions before.

They’ve been let down.

They’ve had promises broken.

Some will have even been ripped off.

This time they want to get it right. And that’s why, before they invest in you they need to know:

  • If you’re reliable and likely to keep your promises.
  • If you’re experienced at solving whatever problem or problems they have.
  • If you offer value for money.
  • If you’re approachable.
  • If you offer the flexibility they need.
  • If you make it easy to do business with you.
  • If your fees match your promises. (Promising great service for an average fee is the main way to scare them off).
  • If you seem to love what you do. Note: This is easy to overlook – but it’s really important. Here’s why.
  • If your customer service is up to their standard.

You get the general idea.

They’re looking for clues that help them build the right picture. And here’s why this matters. If it’s a picture they trust, you’re hired. If not, you lose. People are making these decisions all the time, based on the clues you have left. Let that sink in for a moment.

Where do your prospective clients look for clues?

Almost all will do the following as a bare minimum. They’ll visit your website. They’ll check your social media profiles. They’ll search for your name and company name on their preferred search engine, to see what others are saying about you. If they speak with you, they’ll obviously be looking for clues in what you say. Most will go several levels deeper. This is especially the case if there’s a lot of trust involved in the services you provide.

Depending on your industry and how cautious the prospective client is, they may dig even deeper.

What kind of picture do your clues paint?

For example, every business owner claims to offer a professional service. However, as you know, many operate from a cheap looking, outdated website. This instantly turns prospective clients a way.

Does it really matter?

Yes. It’s extremely important. And here’s why.

I’ve met with some superb service providers over the years, who leave lousy clues. If you didn’t already know them, you’d never hire them. Even if people recommended them to you, after checking them out online for a few minutes, you wouldn’t consider contacting them. They just don’t look like serious professionals. And it’s costing them a fortune.

Here’s the thing – – No business can afford to leave money on the table like that. You know you’re a capable professional. You also know you care deeply about your clients and deliver an excellent service.

But unless your clues leave prospective clients feeling confident about contacting you, you’ll lose a fortune. And it’s 100% avoidable.

Now what?

Try looking at your business through the eyes of a stranger. A stranger who eagerly wants to hire a service provider in your industry. Unless you’re fully confident that your clues paint the right picture, start leaving better clues. Make hiring you easy.

Give your best ideas away for free. Here’s why

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content marketing

What I’m about to share with you may sound a little counter-intuitive. It isn’t. In fact, it could help you achieve breakthrough results.

Allow me to explain.

I come across the following problem a lot. Mainly from service providers, who are struggling to attract new clients with their content marketing. Their primary concern looks something like this:

I know I need to provide good, free advice via my content. Surely if I give my best ideas away for free, no one will pay to hire me?

I’ve already explained why you should be stingy with your time, but not your ideas. However, there’s another, excellent reason why you should provide outstanding, free advice.

And it’s this…

Think for a moment about the alternative. Imagine you publish a newsletter, videos, a blog or a podcast. Now let’s also imagine that instead of sharing great advice, you share weaker information. Average free stuff. Nothing special. Nothing that really stands out.

Guess what?

You’ve just given your marketplace a weak, low-impact insight into your work. You’ve painted a lousy picture of how good you are. So, not only will people be highly unlikely to hire you, they’ll also be unlikely to share your newsletters, videos, podcasts, blog posts or subscribe to you. That’s a huge lose, lose. (Actually, that’s wrong; it’s a lose, lose, lose, because you’ll also be damaging your reputation as a knowledgeable professional. Ouch!)

Here’s what really happens when you give great free advice

Yes, freebie hunters will certainly gobble up all your free advice. But that doesn’t lose you a penny. Why? Because they were never going to hire you anyway. Freebie hunters are the dabblers. The DIYers. So, they were never a prospective client.

Yes, a subset of genuine prospective clients who take your free advice will do (whatever) themselves. Of course, if they find your ideas so powerful that they actually use them, they’re highly likely to subscribe to you and share your work. That’s how every successful resource spreads. Also, I know from experience that many of them will later hire you.

However… there’s also a hefty subset of prospective clients who will find your high quality advice extremely valuable. Now, this subset of prospective clients are the ones who value their time. They love the peace-of-mind that comes from getting expert help. They value professionalism.

These prospective clients will hire you, so you can do the job properly for them. And yes, they’ll also share your newsletters, videos, podcasts, blog posts and subscribe to you.

How do I know for 100% certain that this works?

Simple: It’s how I grew my own business!

It’s why I get enquiries from prospective clients, multiple times, all day long, every day. And if it works for me, it can work for you too. Just make sure to offer as much value as you can, as often as you can. Hold nothing back.

Marketing 101: Never sell to a stranger again

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marketing, content

Smart people speak, because they have something to say.

Dull people speak, because they have to say something.

And the difference between those approaches is huge!

The same is true in business

When smart business owners connect with their marketplace, they have something interesting to share. When the average business owner connects with their marketplace, it’s usually a sales pitch or special offer.

Most small business owners connect with their marketplace when they need something. They need more clients, customers or sales… so they interrupt strangers with a needy message. They have nothing of interest to say.

Yes, the business owner is interested in gaining clients, customers or sales, but that’s only of interest to the business owner.

The marketplace just sees another sales message from a stranger and ignores it.

Here’s a far more successful approach

Successful small business owners do things very differently. They remain in contact with their marketplace on an ongoing basis. They use their newsletters to create and share useful articles. Some also produce videos or podcasts. The point is, they share VALUABLE, USEFUL ideas and information… rather than broadcast sales pitches and needy requests.

This keeps the smart business owner ‘front of mind’ and showcases their knowledge.

But it does WAY MORE than that.

It also causes their marketplace to think of them as a valuable asset to their business. And if a business owner keeps delivering value for long enough, the marketplace will regard them as reliable, too.

So, the business owner is no longer a stranger. They’re a known, reliable, valued source of knowledge.

Now, when the smart business owner DOES have a marketing message to share, it’s received with enthusiasm. It’s received by people who, before they even read it, already know and value the source of the message.

Just stop for a moment and consider this: Think of all the additional clients you’d attract, if the already knew who you were, already knew you were helpful, already knew you were reliable and already knew you were extremely knowledgeable… the next time they need a provider from your industry.

I’m telling you, it changes everything.

I haven’t sold my services to anyone in decades. But small business owners, freelancers, advisers, photographers, accountants, trainers, etc., hire me all the time.

And they always feel like they already know me.

Because they do!

You deserve the same.