Jim Connolly Marketing

Give your business an immediate boost with these 3 great questions

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Here are 3 things you can do right now, to help you attract more great clients.  Simply ask yourself the following 3 questions and put the answers into action:

  1. What was the last service you recommended to someone and what motivated you to recommend it?  When you uncover why you recommend other people’s services, you can incorporate that into your own business, to attract more word of mouth referrals.
  2. Who was the last person to leave an extremely positive impression on you, and what was it that impressed you?  By learning from those who left a great impression on us, we can improve our own professional impact.
  3. What was the last website or blog you shared with your social network, and why did you share it?  Think about what it was that motivated you to share that site.  Look for ways to use a similar approach, to encourage more people to share your site.

Those 3 questions are typical of the kind of questions we need to be asking ourselves all the time.

What would you add as a 4th question?

How come I do it so often?

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content marketing

It seems that some readers have noticed that many of their favourite blogs didn’t publish anything, over the recent public holidays.  I’ve had a few people on Twitter and several emails, asking why I thought it was, that many of the bloggers who say they schedule weeks worth of content in advance, always seem to miss the days when they are away from the office.

I can only guess why they didn’t publish on those days.  Maybe they simply didn’t have anything finished in advance and were spending some time away from work.  Good for them! Others may have had some posts pre written and ready to go, but maybe wanted to save them for higher traffic days.  Lots of business bloggers have told me they see no value posting on public holidays.  They find they get little engagement with so many people away from the office, so it makes more sense for them to hold onto their posts for regular work days.

Those are just educated guesses.  I can, however, explain how come I was able to post each day.

Here’s how I do it

It’s actually extremely simple:  I prepare my posts well in advance.  I write 3 or 4 blog posts, twice a week.  Plus, I occasionally dedicate a whole day to writing posts.  This means I am always at least a month ahead of myself with content.

These posts are about 95% written, so once a week I grab a handful of them and complete them, before scheduling them to be published.  It works.  It means I can show up here without having to write during the holidays.  It means I only need to write a couple of times a week, so it never gets in the way of my family time or my fee-paying work.  It also means I don’t have to rely on “guest” bloggers to provide me with content, as I always have far more content than I actually need.

Sometimes, like over the past few weeks, I publish something every day; occasionally, like today, I publish twice in a day.  For example, the post I published this morning was written weeks ago, then I decided to write and publish this post today, because of the time sensitive nature of it. (Today is a public holiday in the UK.)  So, if it’s a time sensitive post, I will often publish the post the same day it’s written, otherwise it’s a scheduled post.

From a content marketing perspective, there’s no real need for me to publish as often as I do.  I’m driven to share ideas with you here on the blog, because I know many people find these posts as enjoyable to read, as I do to write them.  A genuine win-win!

I’d like to know what you think about blogging on a regular basis.

Do you enjoy reading certain blogs regularly?  Do you find it challenging to produce posts as often as you would like?  Do you think it’s better for bloggers to write less often?  Please take a moment to share your feedback!

Blogging, giving and receiving!

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I wrote last week about the power of giving.  In that post, I said; By helping other people, we begin the process of giving and open the channel for receiving.

One of the ways this manifests itself to me, is through the feedback I get from readers here on the blog.

As well as the comments you see, I also receive emails almost every day, from people who want to thank me for something I have shared here, which has helped them.  These range from a quick “thank you,” to detailed information on how they used an idea from one of my posts, to achieve a business breakthrough.  I love to receive them.

Readers also send me gifts to show their thanks for the fee information I provide here.  These are usually business books, which is great as I am a ferocious reader.  I get 1 or 2 books sent to me every week.

However, I also get gifts from readers, which are completely unrelated to business.  For example, Irene Koehler from almostsavvy.com sent me a Winnie The Pooh storybook, all the way from California.  She did that after reading a post, where I mentioned how I love reading with my young son.

I’ve also been sent cards, flowers, balloons and fruit baskets etc – An extremely diverse range, from great people who simply wanted to show their thanks.

Picture this

I was prompted to write this post today, after Robin Dickinson from Sydney, Australia sent me the amazing charcoal picture you see in this post.  As well as being a gifted artist, Robin is also a business consultant and trainer.  The picture is Robin’s interpretation of my new Twitter avatar image.

What makes this picture even more amazing, is that Robin has managed to produce a very close likeness, working from just a low quality photo I shot with my camera phone.  I believe Robin’s picture is actually closer to the “real” me than the original photo!

Thank you!

Many people only see the blogger giving away his or her expertise, however, that’s just half the story! By working hard to help as many people as possible with this blog, I am repaid every day for what I do and in many different ways.

To everyone who has contributed to this blog in any way, either through; sharing the posts on their social networks, commenting, emailing or sending tokens of appreciation, I’m extremely thankful.

Picture: Robin Dickinson

Show them who YOU are and what YOU stand for

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In business, do you lead or follow?

Leadership is one of the most used words in business, yet it is one of the least practised disciplines. It seems the massive majority of business owners prefer to blend into the background.  Ironically, this includes many of those who refer to themselves as leaders.

This presents those business owners with the courage to confidently be themselves, with an opportunity to gain the visibility essential for commercial success. If you can fully appreciate the value of what I am saying here and then act on it, you can gain a huge commercial advantage in your marketplace.

The marketing power of being yourself

It was my late mother, who explained to me the importance of standing up for myself and what I believed in. It’s a lesson that has served me very well and one that paradoxically, has made my progress through business (and life in general) a lot easier.

By having the courage to be myself and the confidence to share my own thoughts, I have developed a unique, very visible position in the marketplace. This has helped me build a very successful business and attract amazing clients for my services.

I want you to enjoy the same results, hence this post.

The world of the invisible sheep

Amazingly, even in my own profession many people get it wrong. They copy what each other are doing like sheep, and become camouflaged. As a result, they constantly struggle to attract clients.  That’s why you see marketing people attending networking events, frantically handing out business cards to strangers. It’s why you see marketing (and PR) people on social networks, ass-kissing those they think may pass them traffic or leads. It’s hard to look both competent and needy!

Camouflage is self-sabotage

In an overcrowded marketplace, sheep-like business owners will always struggle. Whilst it may feel comfortable to be part of a flock, that same camouflage will make you invisible. Taking what seems like the easy route, will simply sabotage your chances of success.

Camouflage is useful if you are a chameleon, seeking to avoid being eaten by a predator, but it’s a stupid move for the business owner, seeking to be discoverable.

Here’s an alternative approach, for the courageous business owner:

  • Be yourself. You are just as good as that guru, author or social media rock star!
  • Share your own ideas. This is what makes you unique.
  • Stand up for yourself and what you believe.
  • Don’t suck up. Suck-ups lose the respect of everyone, especially those they suck-up to.

Show your marketplace who YOU are and what YOU stand for!

Reliable?

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How reliable do your prospective clients think you are?

  • If you use social networking sites, can they rely on you to show up regularly and contribute?
  • If you write a newsletter, can they rely on you to get each edition out on time?
  • If you write a blog, can they rely on you to publish posts on a regular basis?

Until they have the opportunity to work with you and discover how wonderful you are, prospective clients only have your marketplace facing activities, like those I just mentioned, with which to assess how reliable you are.

Building a reputation for reliability is extremely valuable, as it helps you earn the confidence of your marketplace.  Use your most visible marketing efforts, to show them that no matter how busy you are, you can be relied upon to show up.

Revealed: The marketing idea that changed my life!

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Almost 25 years ago, I discovered a marketing idea which changed my life.  It allowed me to go from being broke at the age of 21, to financially secure for life in around 8 years.

Today, I am going to share it with you!

Marketing and me: 1987 style

When I started out in marketing, one of the many marketing experts I studied was Jay Abraham.  Unlike most of today’s top marketing authors, who tend to focus on sharing interesting concepts, Jay focused on making money.  Jay would give you a nugget of information, which you could pick up and use there and then, to start making more sales.

Ironically, although Jay was working in content marketing a decade or more, before today’s Internet marketing gurus appeared, he hasn’t embraced social media and many of you will never have heard of him.  It was one of Jay’s real world marketing ideas, which started me off in content marketing:  Though back in 1987 we called it consultative selling.

The idea behind consultative selling was simple:

  • You operated as a consultant – Not as a salesperson.
  • You shared knowledge – You didn’t sell.

I focused on building a reputation as a knowledgeable expert, by sharing valuable information or content.  I did radio interviews.  I wrote articles for business magazines.  I spoke to groups of business people.  Remember, this was pre Internet.  It’s a lot easier today!

Pretty soon, I had influential decision makers calling me, because they automatically associated me with whatever industry I was working in at the time.  I was able to meet with people that the sales guys couldn’t get near.  I was also able to build a huge referral network, because people were always happy to refer me to their contacts; knowing I didn’t push anything on anyone.

By the age of just 29, I had made so much money that I was able to leave a highly paid job, to set up my marketing business.  Of course, 16 years on we now have; blogs, newsletters, webinars, podcasts and social networks to share knowledge and consultative selling has been rebranded as content marketing.

I can honestly tell you that since the day I started this business, have never had to actually sell anything to anyone or spend a penny on advertising.  I have always attracted 100% of my clients via content marketing and today, I show business owners like yourself how to do the same.  It’s a great way to build a highly successful business.

The name may have changed from consultative selling, to content marketing, but the results have remained consistently amazing.