Jim's Marketing Blog

Marketing tips and ideas to help you grow your business

Are you marketing with a hammer, an axe or a chainsaw?

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How would you describe the way you market your business?

When I used to speak with marketing students, I would explain the three basic small business marketing approaches like this.

Marketing approach 1: Chopping down a tree with a hammer

Yes, you can chop a tree down with a hammer but it will take days of needless, backbreaking work.  This is what happens when you use the wrong tool for the job.

Most of the small business owners I hear from fit into this category.  Instead of using the correct marketing tools for what they want to achieve, they use the tools they are comfortable with.  They complain about their lack of success, but keep repeating the same old errors.  If you are not getting the results you want from your marketing, stop whatever you are doing and make sure you are using the right tools for what you want to achieve.

Marketing approach 2: Chopping down a tree with an axe

Yes, you can chop a tree down with an axe and instead of it taking you a few days, as it would with a hammer, it might only take you a couple of hours of hard work.  This is what happens when you use a tool that’s designed specifically for what you want to achieve.  It’s massively more efficient.  You get better results, for less effort.

From a marketing perspective, a far smaller group of small business owners fit into this category.  These are the people, who have invested their time refining how they market their business and thus eliminated what didn’t work and embraced what did.  What’s left is a shiny set of effective marketing tools.

Marketing approach 3: Chopping down a tree with a chain saw

You can chop a tree down with a chainsaw in minutes; without even breaking into a sweat.  Like an axe, it’s a tool that’s specially designed for the job.  Unlike the axe, which was designed hundreds of years ago (or more), today’s chainsaws use the very latest technology.  So, not only will the chainsaw do the job, it will do it better, more accurately and  in a fraction of the time.

From a marketing perspective, very few small business owners fit into this category.  These rare people are the ones who have not only discovered some marketing tools that work; they have also discovered the perfect tools for what they want to achieve and the most effective way to use them, so they get the best possible results.  They plan their marketing ahead of time and make far better decisions.

Compare that approach, to the more typical small business owner’s attitude to marketing. Marketing is something these guys do when there’s a problem; like the loss of a major account or the sudden realisation that they are not making any real progress.  So, for example, they might decide to “try a mail shot” and send a poorly written letter (which is essentially a sales pitch) to an out of date list of people, who never asked to be contacted.

They then usually proclaim; “we tried mail shots – they don’t work!”  I’m assuming they are the same people who think “cars don’t work” because they don’t know how to drive! ;)

Most people reading this, will see themselves primarily in one of those three general groups.  The best advice I can give you, is to get yourself into that third group, as quickly as you can!

The right answers to the wrong questions?

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One of the problems with people who use a DIY approach to marketing, is that they often waste time and money, looking for answers to the wrong questions.  As a result, the very best they can then hope for, is that they learn how to do the wrong thing, correctly.

I was prompted to write this, after hearing someone talking earlier about the problems they have, because of the URL they are using for their website.  It is hard to spell and apparently, even the site owner’s friends often misspell it.  The URL also has no SEO benefit, as it does not contain anything that a potential customer would associate with the actual products offered by the site.

One of the reasons this blog is on page 1 of Google (and has been for a year) for the term “marketing blog” or “marketing blogs” is that the words marketing blog appear in my URL.  As a result, almost 100% of the 20,000 links that point here, have anchor text that tell Google this site is related to the term marketing blog.

The site I mentioned earlier is pretty new, has just a handful of links pointing to it and apparently, it gets very little traffic.  So, the solution to the guys URL issue is simply to get a more people-friendly and seo friendly URL – and THEN to market the site effectively.  However, the site’s owner was focusing on how to overcome all the problems with the existing URL.  In other words, he was looking for answers to the wrong question.

This is easily the single most common marketing problem I see among business owners and entrepreneurs.  To quantify that, I would guess that well over 95% of the marketing questions people ask me, fit into this category.

Of course, the reason this is such a widespread problem, is that the people who are right now wasting their time and money looking for answers to the wrong questions, are totally unaware.  They will think that I wrote this post for someone else.

I produce a great deal of free marketing material, in an effort to help as many people as possible.  As someone who’s passionate about helping people, this conundrum is perhaps my biggest frustration.

Blowing the lid off your potential!

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What limitations have you attached to your business?

I often speak with business owners, who have restricted the growth of their business because of limitations they have placed on themselves, often without knowing.  Interestingly, in the majority of cases, these limitations are groundless.  In other words, a lot of business owners are missing out on countless opportunities, needlessly!

For example, I spoke with a business coach last week, who currently limits herself to working with businesses that are based within a hundred miles or so of her physical address; even though she delivers her services remotely, via email, the phone / Skype etc.  In other words, there’s no need for her to place that restriction on herself.  As a result of this pointless, self-imposed limitation, she has placed a very low ceiling on the growth potential of her business.

I’m not suggesting for one second that business owners should just randomly offer every service they can possibly think of to everyone.  I am simply saying that it’s crazy to ignore the benefits to your clients and yourself, of offering a more complete and valuable service, based on what makes good, commercial sense.

This reminds me of a software company I met a few years ago, which produced specialist software for the chemical industry.  They had introduced a training package, aimed at helping users of their software, who wanted to get the absolute maximum from it.  Within 18-months, they had created a new, six figure income stream for their business.  They spotted the need and decided to do something about it, rather than say; “we’re not a training company!”

I think it’s a good idea from time to time, to take a fresh look at our business and check that we are not offering a range of services today, based on the way things were 6-months, 12-months or even a few years ago.  Times change, and as they do, new opportunities and possibilities are unearthed.  However, unless me move our thinking forward, it’s way too easy to miss all that great potential.

By the way, there are 32 questions here, which are designed to stimulate your mind and help you spot new opportunities to develop your business – Check them out!

Never, ever, settle for less than you deserve!

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Here’s a quick question for you:

“Do you fit your business around your lifestyle or your lifestyle around your business?”

Many people start a business with big plans and dreams.  They want to get out of the rat-race and start earning what they are really worth; not what their boss pays them.  They want the freedom that comes from running their own business.

They know that better financial rewards and more freedom will give them a better quality of life or lifestyle.  It will allow them to live where they want to live, drive what they want to drive and more importantly; it will allow them to be the master or mistress of their own destiny.

So why is it that years later, most small business owners still work long hours and live an uninspiring lifestyle?

I believe these business owners make a subconscious decision:  They decide to fit their lifestyle around their business.

Their business grows to a certain point and then, usually after 2 or 3 years, it levels off.  They then adapt their lifestyle, to fit the limitations of their business.  Whether they know it or not, they are in just as big a rut as they were, when they worked for someone!

The answer? Fit your business around your lifestyle

I believe the answer is to turn the model on it’s head and fit our business around our preferred lifestyle.  In other words, we need to decide the income we want and the number of hours we want to work and draw up a new plan to take us from where we are right now, to the quality of life we deserve.

I meet people all the time, who have seen their business results reach a plateau.  Their business may have grown a little or shrunk a little, but it’s not growing in the way they originally planned, when they were inspired to start their business at the beginning.  Those dreams of the good life are a distant memory.

For example, they live where they can afford to live – not where they want to live.  They find themselves having to constantly settle for less.  They also have to spend too much time away from their families and friends – because their whole lifestyle is designed to fit around their business – which is NUTS!

Instead of being on top of their business, their business is on top of them!

So, right now, decide to reclaim your dream

Right now, if your business is not rewarding you with the results you need, in order to enjoy the lifestyle you want, CHANGE IT!  Reclaim your dream – get back in the driving seat and plan for what you want.  I suggest your new plan is based around developing your business, so that it generates the income you need, in order to give you freedom of choice.

Money is very definitely not everything, but it does give you options.  It gives you the option to decide how many hours to work, and with whom you work.  It gives you the option to decide where you live and in many cases, it can help you live a longer and healthier life too.

Don’t allow yourself to settle for less than you deserve and don’t be fooled into thinking that the good life is for others and not you!  With the right plan and the motivation to put that plan to work, you can achieve anything you want to.

Your true voice

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Here’s a quick question for you: Think about the websites, blogs and newsletters that are most valued. What do they all have in common?

The answer is that they all have something to say, which is not just a generic rehash of popular opinions. They dare to be different. The writers have the courage to state an opinion, which is not always in line with popular thinking.

bloggingAs soon as you think about it, it makes perfect sense.  After all, no one is going to recommend a website to someone if it’s just saying what everyone else says.  These recommendations are how blogs like this one grow. I rely on you sharing my content for the vast majority of my readership.

The technology blogger Louis Gray is a great source of original ideas and insights. As a result, his blog is one or the most respected in his field.  Louis has a new feature on his blog, where once a month, he recommends a small number of less well-known blogs to his readers.  He told me recently that a key part of his selection process, is that the blog must have something original to say. If it hasn’t, no matter how cleverly it’s written, he won’t waste his readers time recommending it to them. He’s totally right – I mean, how many times does someone want to read the same opinions?

I have written a few times recently about the importance of having the courage to be yourself – to have your own authentic voice.  I believe that when it comes to developing a readership or even a community, it’s essential to let the real you shine through.

In a recent blog post, Seth Godin says:

In our desire to please everyone, it’s very easy to end up being invisible or mediocre. Far better to please the right people.

The majority of small business blogs, websites and newsletters are all-but invisible; because they are so similar to one another.  Their similarity acts as camouflage, which ensures they blend into the background and don’t get noticed.

Whilst I don’t advocate being ‘different’ just for the sake of it, I very strongly encourage fellow newsletter providers and bloggers to have the courage to be themselves and plough their own unique furrow.

Marketing tip: The value of feedback

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One of the most powerful tools in marketing is also one of the least mentioned. Ladies and gentlemen, I am talking about the marketing value of feedback.

Marketing feedback

The fastest and most accurate way to guarantee you are giving the marketplace what it wants, is to ask the marketplace what it wants! This feedback is gold dust for your business, if you use it.

Of course, rather than actually get a discussion going with their prospective clients or customers, most small businesses simply copy what their competitors are all doing.  It’s easier and feels safer.

Here’s the problem with that approach: It doesn’t work!  You see, the only way you will ever uncover that great niche product or service, which will triple your profits and get you that big house you’ve always wanted, is if you stop copying what the others are doing and start offering what the marketplace actually wants.