Jim Connolly Marketing

Don’t expect top end results using a butt end strategy

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There are many ways to gain the attention of a prospective client or customer.  In business, it seems there are 2 ends of the scale:

The top end of the scale: Attracting attention and earning interest

This is rare and is based around doing work that matters.  It’s about standing out for all the right reasons, so people want to follow you, subscribe to your blog or newsletter or connect with you at events.  It’s about a commitment to delivering value.  It’s about applying your craft, rather than being generic.  It’s about understanding the importance of permission.

When this approach is applied correctly, the results are amazing.  In my case, they were life changing.

The butt end of the scale: Pestering people for their attention & irritating the crap out of them

This is a common approach and is based around interrupting people, without permission, to push a message at them that they never asked for.  We see it every day in our email inbox, on our voice mail and across our social networking accounts.  It’s all about pestering people.  It’s the approach that says it’s fine to piss off 999 people with unsolicited junk, if 1 person clicks through.

In summary

You can’t expect to get top end results, using a butt end strategy!

This is because the way we attract the interest of others has a massive impact, on how they feel about us.  For example, if you walk up to people in the street and poke them in the chest, you WILL get their attention – But you don’t need that kind of attention!

The big secret behind successful blogs

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blogging tips, blogs, content marketing

One of the most common questions people ask me, is: “What laptop / notebook is best for blogging?”  As I get asked this so often, I decided to answer it here AND share the big secret behind this blog with you.

First things first:

  • Using Rafael Nadal’s tennis racket will not make you a Grand Slam winner.
  • Using a top of the range MacBook Pro, probably won’t improve your blogging.

That’s because those items are simply tools.  They are beautifully designed tools, but tools nonetheless.  It’s what we do with them, which counts.

I fully understand the value of using great tools.  However, when I write a blog post using my Mac, Samsung or Dell, the reader can’t tell the difference.  Similarly, if Seth Godin wrote his posts using a 5 year old Toshiba laptop, he’d still be successful.

Here’s my secret blogging sauce!

If you really want to massively increase the value of your blog, (and your business too) you need to embrace your inner freak!  THAT’S what makes the difference.

Who are you?

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As far as the marketplace is concerned, who are you?

I mean, if I were to read the information about you on your website, blog and social networks, what would I know about you?  Typically, people share very little of their uniqueness and instead, use generic drivel to describe who they are and what their business is all about.  They lack the kind of narrative that inspires people, then wonder why prospective clients aren’t motivated enough to contact them!

As your prospective client, I need you to show some passion.  Some energy.  Some creativity.  I need you to tell me what sets you apart from the thousands of others in your industry.  If you can’t do that, you will really struggle to attract clients; let alone high quality clients.

Keeping it human

Take a look at the areas of your marketing, where you describe who you are and what your business does.  Remove any references to “providing client focused solutions” or “strategic implementation.”  Talk to people like humans and tell them what value YOU and YOUR business bring, in real, quantifiable terms.

You see, if you don’t give people enough information about you and your business, you will have no outsiders.  That may sound like a good thing, until you realise that you can’t have insiders, without outsiders.  These insiders are the ones you need, in order to grow your business.  (NB: I wrote all about this in detail, in this post.)

In short: The less you sound like everyone else, the easier you will find it to capture the marketplace’s attention and earn their custom.

The money is not in the list!

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The most successful businesses in the world, large and small, have something in common:  They build relationships with their clients on an emotional level and then nurture those relationships.

Many small business owners get this wrong.  They use their marketing channels almost exclusively, to send sales messages to the marketplace.  You are more likely to find them on Twitter sending out links to their sales pages, than reaching out to clients and future clients, with help and ideas.  They are so short-sighted that they see social networks simply as a free way to push sales pitches and broadcast.

The money is in the relationships

The enlightened small business owner has figured out that the money is not in “the list.”  The money is in the relationships.  They know that before they can expect the marketplace to care about them or their business, they must first earn that privilege.

  • This means communicating rather than broadcasting.
  • It means understanding that when you refer to your COMMUNITY as your LIST, you have just transformed them from PEOPLE into ITEMS on some database.
  • It means offering your marketplace independently valuable information (like this brief blog post), rather than sales pitches.
  • It means listening.
  • It means understanding, really understanding, that behind every name, handle, photo and avatar, is a fellow human being.
  • It means understanding that you need to play the longer game, if you want to stay in business long term.
  • It means humanizing what needs to be human and automating what needs to be automated AND knowing the difference.
  • It means understanding that the process of giving and receiving starts with giving.

In short:  Business is all about people, so keep it as human as possible.

Word of Mouth: Why your business needs a story

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marketing tips, content marketing

Word of mouth is all about storytelling.  If people are not talking about you in the marketplace, it’s because you have not given them a story, which is worth sharing.  Today, I am going to recommend you change that!

With around a billion people connected on social networking sites, it has never been easier for your clients or customers to share how great you are with their friends.

All YOU need to do is give them a story worth sharing and make it easy to share.

Winning stories

When someone has spent a week or 2 being wowed at a Disney resort, they have a story to share, which they tell to anyone who will listen.  When someone has bought a coffee from Starbucks, the people serving them are tasked with the job of ensuring the experience is worth talking about.

The companies with the best stories get the most word of mouth recommendations, because people love to share their experiences.

Losing stories

So, the stories that spread are the ones worth repeating.  This is true of negative stories too.  If a service provider in your town has a habit of under delivering on their promises, the story spreads.  Disgruntled former clients or customers will often feel the need to share their disappointment with their friends.  This is especially the case, if their experience of a provider is so poor, that they believe it will stop others from using that provider and suffering the same experience.

Fake stories

A Chinese restaurant close to where I live was the victim of a fake story and now faces going out of business.  Someone decided to start a rumour, which spread on Facebook and resulted in the restaurant losing a lot of money.  The story was short and had a twist at the end, which caused it to spread into the national press in the UK.

The fact it was fake didn’t stop it spreading, because people tend not to fact check, before sharing stories.  Even one as unlikely as a lady going to the restaurant, who gets taken to hospital because of pain in her throat, which was caused by a microchip lodged in her throat that had been in the Chinese food she had eaten.  The twist in the story, is that the microchip gets scanned and turns out to belong to… a missing greyhound dog!  According to this report in the national press, the restaurant is now facing bankruptcy.

Your stories

So, what stories do you have, which your clients or customers can share?  What have you done for your clients, which is so jaw-dropping awesome that they feel compelled to tell everyone they know?

You see, it’s not enough to “just” provide a great service.  People expect great service.  Offering a great service may be enough to retain their custom, but it takes something extra, to get them talking about you.

You have a voice, so let’s hear it!

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When was the last time you initiated something?

It’s easy to join in, but far more challenging to initiate.  The temptation is to wait for someone else to get something started, then, for us to echo their views or copy what they did.  This is why the Internet is full of me too content; people writing the same safe viewpoints.

It’s also why Twitter is overflowing with retweeted links and famous quotes.

  • It’s easy.  It takes a split second to hit the retweet button.
  • It’s safe.  As someone sharing content rather than creating it, you can’t be directly blamed if your followers think what you shared is a piece of crap.
  • It’s simple to justify.  “Hey, I’m just passionate about sharing!”

Your voice and visibility

Many extremely bright people struggle to get their voice heard, because they initiate too little.  They have great ideas, yet fail to share them because they haven’t seen anyone else expressing that idea or viewpoint yet.  Conversely, we have all seen some pretty average people gain impressive visibility, because they have the courage to initiate, then share, an idea or viewpoint.

Today, we have all the marketing tools we need in order to reach a massive, targeted audience.  However, before we can hope to capture a worthwhile share of our marketplace’s attention, we need to be prepared to earn it!  We need to push through the fear of being challenged for what we say or (heaven forbid) being wrong.

Why?  Because on the other side of that fear, is something of great value.  Maybe the missing piece to your marketing puzzle?