Jim's Marketing Blog

Marketing tips and ideas to help you grow your business

Record breaking results

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With the media focusing constantly on negative business news, it’s refreshing to see some good news stories coming out; (yes, there are still a lot of businesses doing really well!)

Apple announce record breaking revenue & profits

This article, from my tech news blog, gives some background to yesterday’s announcement by Apple; that their figures for the last quarter are the best in the Company’s history!

Remember; Apple produce an expensive range of high quality products, which are non essential goods. They also operate in a market sector, which is supposed to be among the most challenging right now.

Great marketing + Great product = Great results!

The truth is, whether you love or loath Apple’s products and services, their marketing is superb. With the right kind of targeted marketing and a good quality product or service, there’s still a stack of potential out there, for your business right now!

I will be focusing on some inspiring success stories, from small and medium-sized businesses shortly.  To ensure you don;t miss them, subscribe to my RSS feed.

Recession thinking

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Judging by my inbox and the comments on this blog, it seems that the current recession is having a very different impact on different people.  That’s to be expected, yet I’m seeing businesses of similar sizes, in the same industries and the same region having totally different experiences.

Recession marketing

I wrote a while ago, about how some businesses managed to grow significantly during the last recession – whilst their competitors were treading water or going broke. You can read the secret of their success here!

Time and time again, we see that it’s NOT outside factors that determine our success or failure, but how we choose to deal with them.  As they say;

When life deals you lemons – make lemonade!

One of the advantages that small and medium-sized companies have over larger ones, is their ability to spot an opportunity and quickly get to work on it.  Large companies and corporations move like a cruise liner – small businesses can move like a speedboat.

Make sure you focus on opportunities and when you spot one, take action!

Business success in a recession

With the media spreading nothing but doom and gloom, I have decided to write a series of posts for you; about businesses I know, who are currently enjoying great commercial success.  These are businesses in highly competitive industries, which are thriving.

To make sure you don’t miss out, subscribe to this blog now, using the RSS button on the top right of the page!

Marketing in a recession

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Last month, I interviewed some business owners, who not only survived the last recession but actually grew their businesses; whilst those around them saw their businesses shrink or go broke.

I wanted to know what their secret was, so I could share it with you!

It became apparent very quickly that there was a single, common thread, which was shared by each of the successful businesspeople from the last recession.

Here’s what they told me

The successful businesspeople continued to invest in the key areas of their business, whilst their competitors stopped investing in those same, key areas!

Marketing lessons from past recessions

During the last recession, many of the businesses that went backwards or went broke, decided to invest as little as possible in anything.  They chose to hunker-down and wait for the recession to finish. As a result, they cut back on things like service contracts for their cars, office equipment etc.  They also stopped most or all of their marketing.

Even in a good economy, a business with creaking infrastructure and no marketing is really going to struggle. In a recession, that approach is going to make it almost impossible to survive!

Recession marketing

During the recession, your prospective clients / customers are looking for the best value for money possible.  This requires super-effective marketing, as you will need YOUR message to stand out and then convince people, more powerfully than your competitors, that YOURS is the best value for their money!

Your existing clients / customers will be hurting financially too.  They will be looking for better deals and for ways to reduce their outgoings.  You need to make sure they don’t go to a competitor or simply drop your service, thinking it will save them money.

This is clearly not the time to forget about your marketing.

Marketing opportunities

I believe 2009 will present some amazing opportunities.  The months ahead will be a time of great change and those with the vision and courage to adapt to these changes, will get the rewards.

Use the challenges of the year ahead to position yourself in your marketplace as a provider of answers. During times of flux, people want answers and we are attracted to those who we believe have the answers we need.

Listen to what your marketplace is saying to you.  Keep in regular dialogue with your clients / customers and also your prospective clients / customers.

Find ways to match the benefits of your products or services to their changing needs and ensure that you and your business are an essential resource for them!

Being positive about your business

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By Jim Connolly
In business, confidence is massively important! I’m not talking here about our self-confidence; but rather the level of confidence that other people have in us, our business and our services.

I would like to ask you a question!

When someone asks you; “how’s business?” – what kind of answers do you tend to give them?

If you want people to buy from you, recommend you or invest in you; it’s vitally important that you always speak in positive terms about your business!  If there’s nothing positive to say about your CURRENT business position, then tell people all about your exciting plans for the future!

business confidence sales referrals successWhat a ‘positive’ answer does

Whenever you speak about your business in a confident, positive way, it causes people to feel confident about you and your situation.  This is really important, because your future success will always be in direct proportion to the number of people that ‘feel’ confident or positive about; you, your abilities, your business and it’s products or services.

If you think about it, the current economic situation is a great example of this.  The direction the stock markets take is always determined by the ‘confidence’ of those, who invest in stocks and shares.  If they feel positive about some news or a rumour – they act positively and the market grows.  If they lack confidence in something they act negatively and the market shrinks.

What a ‘negative’ answer does

Whenever you speak in negative terms about your business, you cause people to lose confidence in you.  This is one of the most commercially damaging things anyone can do to their business!

I have lost track of the number of small business owners I have spoken with over the years, who ALWAYS find something negative to say about their business, no matter how well things are going for them! What they seem unaware of, is that these negative comments about their business can spread like a virus.

Soon, their suppliers, competitors and potential clients start speaking negatively about them and BOOM – they can actually ‘talk themselves out of business!’

For example, there are countless companies who have gone broke, PURELY BECAUSE a false rumour suggested they were in financial trouble.  Very quickly, people’s confidence in the company starts to dip; so they stop using them, (fearing they will lose their money.)  Suppliers stop providing credit to them and all of a sudden, that company REALLY does have a financial problem! That’s how important it is to generate confidence in you and your business!

Especially in today’s erratic economy, make sure the seeds YOU plant in the marketplace are 100% positive.  Make YOUR business the one that people feel positive about and want to buy from, recommend or invest in. Talk only about what you want and not what you fear.

NEVER, EVER FORGET you are ALWAYS just one great idea away from your first (or next) million!