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AuthorIan Brodie

Ian Brodie

https://www.ianbrodie.com

Ian Brodie is the best-selling author of Email Persuasion and the creator of Unsnooze Your Inbox - *the* guide to crafting engaging emails and newsletters that captivate your audience, build authority and generate more sales.

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Authority Marketing

Are you the authority your clients want?

Posted by

Ian Brodie on January 17th, 2018.

Or more exactly, are you the type of authority your clients want?

What I mean by that is that we all tend to respect a certain type of person and see them as “real” experts.

Some of us look at published authors and see them as the “real” experts.

Some of us see qualifications or academic credentials as denoting “real” expertise.

Others look to those with practical experience or who've got a track record of successfully helping others.

And very often the type of person we tend to see as an authority isn't necessarily the type of person our clients would see as an authority.

As consultants and coaches, for example, we tend to spend a lot of our time on self-improvement. We know all the top authors and academics in our field because they're who we learn from to stay at the top of our game. So naturally, those are the sort of people we see as authorities.

But typically our clients are a different breed. They spend more of their time “doing”, not learning. And so the type of people they see as authorities tend to be those with experience. People who've achieved the things they want to do themselves or who have helped others do it.

This rift between the type of people we might see as authorities and the type our clients might see as authorities creates all sorts of problems.

It causes us to worry unduly about whether we've got the right qualifications or whether we need to spend ages writing a book when in truth our clients really don't value those things.

Or perhaps we worry about not having been an ultra-successful businessperson ourself when in fact our clients care more about our track record helping others achieve success.

So the first step to becoming seen as an authority is to truly understand what type of people your ideal clients see as authorities.

That doesn't mean you should try to be something you're not. If your strength is your experience and track record, don't try to write a book just because that's what your clients value.

Instead, it means that you should bring to the fore and highlight those areas where you match what your clients look for in an authority. If they value experience and you have experience and qualifications, highlight the experience first.

And you should target those clients who appreciate your authority strengths. If you have comprehensive knowledge based on an extensive research project you did, don't target “practical” people who value experience and write off “academic” knowledge.

Above all remember that whatever your source of authority, there will be someone who values it. It's a matter of finding them and getting your positioning right so they instantly see your authority.

Next tip: the “Trailblazer ” path to Authority.

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More Clients Memorandum

Don’t stoop to their level

Posted by

Ian Brodie on January 14th, 2018.

I sometimes despair at the outrageous claims I see others in my field making.

Like how consulting is an easy path to freedom and high income, and you don't even need any experience or qualifications.

Or that coaching is such a fast-growing business all you need are some Facebook ads, a sales webinar and a group program and you're set to make a million.

I bet you have people making outrageous claims in your sector too.

It's really frustrating when you see it and you know it's just not true. And there's a huge fear that you need to make similarly outrageous claims or no one will be interested in what you have to offer.

Don't stoop to their level.

Think about the sort of client those types of claim will attract.

Sure, even the best of us get suckered in from time to time by hopes of quick and easy success.

But most of us learn what's real and what's not after a few bad experiences.

So the vast majority of people who respond to outrageous claims are people who are brand new to the field and don't realise how unrealistic the hype is. Or they're people who are desperate and need something miraculous to pay off for them. It's their last roll of the dice. Or they're serial buyers of “stuff” and not do-ers.

These really aren't the people you want as clients.

Be confident that your ideal clients will usually see through hype. Keep your marketing honest and realistic and sensible clients who've been around the block a few times will respond well.

And those clients are way better to work with than the inexperienced and the desperate.

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Authority Marketing

Lots of ways not to win a client

Posted by

Ian Brodie on January 11th, 2018.

On Tuesday I told you about how I flew to Geneva to attend a conference just to “accidentally” bump into a potential client so I could ask for a meeting.

And inevitably, although I got the meeting, it didn't result in winning a client.

I did a whole bunch of other stuff that didn't result in winning clients either.

I tried cold calling: no clients.

Networking: no clients.

I got interviewed on the BBC World Service, got quoted in newspapers like the Independent and the Telegraph. Even got quoted in International Business Week.

No clients.

Now I'm not saying those methods don't work. They absolutely do for some people.

I know people who love getting on the phone and calling people – even people they don't know. They're good at it and they get results from it.

Others are great at networking and really enjoy it.

Pretty much every method of marketing works sometimes.

The problem for most of us is we don't have enough time to wait for “sometimes”. We need something with more certainty.

That's where authority comes in.

Authority amplifies any form of marketing.

No matter what method you use to contact someone, you're far more likely to get a positive response from them if they've already heard your ideas and buy in to what you have to say.

If they know they'll get value from talking to you they're much more likely to agree to a call or meeting than if you're someone they’ve just bumped into or who's called them out of the blue.

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Authority Marketing

A long, long way to win a client

Posted by

Ian Brodie on January 9th, 2018.

There's a story I like to tell about the time I flew to Geneva to attend a conference that my #1 target client was speaking at, just so I could “accidentally” bump into him and try to arrange a meeting.

One the one hand it's a success story. I did indeed bump into that potential client and we did agree to have a meeting a few weeks later.

It's the kind of story macho salespeople like to tell about how far they're prepared to go to do what's needed to win clients.

But it's also a story of failure.

Although I ended up meeting the client, at our meeting the client told me that they intended to do a big project with someone else.

It was a project my firm at the time could easily have done. And we had a track record of successful work with them. But they had already decided to go with a competitor.

Had the competitor “out worked” me and gone to even further lengths to get their meeting?

Not a bit of it. They'd done the opposite.

Instead of spending their time chasing after clients desperately trying to get meetings to persuade them they could help them, they invested their time in building their intellectual property and positioning themselves as deep experts in what they did.

My client called them to ask for a meeting, not vice versa.

That makes a massive difference.

It was a much easier path for them to convince the client they were the right people to work with. In fact, they didn't really need to do any convincing. It was more a matter of confirming that they'd be a good fit for working together and agreeing on the plan.

Meanwhile, I was still desperately trying various backdoor routes to getting a meeting.

It was a big lesson for me.

Back then, the way to establish yourself as an expert was to write a book or get out on the conference circuit and do presentations.

These days it's much, much easier. There are a lot more ways of reaching the right clients for you – if you have something interesting and valuable to say.

The same principles apply, but more so. Getting your clients to come to you is 10x more effective than jumping on a plane to Geneva hoping to bump into them and persuade them to meet you.

And the best way to do it is to become seen as an Authority in your field.

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More Clients Memorandum

Who do you follow?

Posted by

Ian Brodie on January 7th, 2018.

Who do you pay attention to? Especially online?

Me, I hope, of course :)

But think about the common characteristics of the people you pay attention to and are influenced by (because you want your audience to pay attention and be influenced by you).

For me, I used to pay a lot of attention to “big names”. Big name authors. Big name business people. Big name “gurus”.

As I got more experienced though, I began to realise that the real ideas and insights I needed weren't really likely to come from people 10 steps ahead of me. Or from people with an agenda to either sound smart or to sell me something. They were much more likely to come from people like me, but a few steps ahead.

And that's who I tend to follow mostly these days.

Sure, I still enjoy reading things from big names. But I get the most from people with shared experiences to me. Who can remember what it was like when they were in the same position as me and what they did that worked for them then.

And I look for people who are honest. Who share what things were really like. Who don't sugar coat how easy things were with “one simple trick”. But who also don't play the whole “oh no, things were so tough for me, it was almost the end of the line, but then I…” game.

Perhaps that's what your audience are looking for from you?

Or perhaps it's something else.

Either way, you'll benefit from thinking about what your audience want from you and who they want you to be.

Not so that you can fake it.

But so that you can be honest. So that you don't hide the things you think they might not be interested in or might not show you in the best light – but in fact are exactly what they want to hear and will help them bond with you.

My feeling is that most of us these days follow people we can relate to like this. Is that true for you?

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Get Clients Online

Why I ignore my own sales tips

Posted by

Ian Brodie on December 31st, 2017.

Over the years you've probably had a bunch of sales tips from me.

I'm sure I've told you that you need to sell the client on the problem before you sell them on the solution.

That you need to explore the impact of their issue so they see that it really is worthwhile hiring you.

That you need to pre-empt possible objections before they arise…and lots of other good stuff.

But truthfully, I hardly do any of that myself.

Not that there's anything wrong with the tips. Far from it: they're rock solid.

It's just that, well, I don't enjoy selling.

I can do it. Pretty well in fact.

But I don't like doing it. And over the years I've got to like it less and less.

I don't want to have to convince people they need to do something and that I'm the guy they should do it with. That's just not my idea of a fun conversation.

So over time, I've focused more and more on making sure my marketing nurtures relationships with the right people and gets the right messages across so that they've 90% decided they want to work with me before we ever speak.

That way our discussions become much more about me asking questions to make sure I can help them and that working with them is going to be something I'd enjoy too. I don't need to use all the sales tips you would normally use if you need to convince someone to work with you.

Is there some kind of magic I do that gets me talking to these sort of wonderful people who are 90% ready to buy?

Not really.

I start by talking to people who are 10% ready to buy in emails like this one.

Then I keep on sending my best ideas, thoughts and tips.

The people who value them eventually get ready to buy. The people who don't, drift away.

All it requires is consistency, giving your best and a little bit of insight into what sort of valuable information gets people ready to buy.

For me, its a lot better method than trying to “sell” people.

Maybe it will work for you too.

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More Clients Memorandum

Do this one simple thing to stay ahead of your competitors

Posted by

Ian Brodie on December 24th, 2017.

I'm forever telling clients that the people most likely to hire them are the ones who either hired them before or the ones who came close to hiring them but didn't quite pull the trigger.

Pretty much no one ever disagrees with me when I say this.

“We know, we know” they all answer.

But when I ask how much time they put into marketing to those people vs marketing to strangers, the numbers tell a different story.

The truth is, we tend to take our ex-clients and “almost hired me”s a bit for granted.

We assume that because 3 years ago we did some great work for them that they'll think of us first when they have new needs in an area we can help with. Or we assume that the people who eventually decided not to hire us last year (even though we came close) will never ever hire us.

The end result is the same in both cases: we don't do enough to communicate with and nurture our relationships with the very people who are the most predisposed to hire us.

And so we gradually lose touch with them until they're pretty much strangers again.

All it takes is an email or a call. A message on social media. Ideally, send them something they'd find useful or interesting.

15 minutes a day is all you really need to re-establish contact with one person that day. That's about 20 of your very best potential clients being nurtured every month.

Yet so few of us do it.

That's actually great news because it means your competitors probably aren't doing it.

So if you can just instill a little discipline in your life to make sure that every day you're keeping in touch with ex-clients and “almost hired me”s you'll really stand out.

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More Clients Memorandum

Frank Sinatra marketing

Posted by

Ian Brodie on December 17th, 2017.

As I sat down to write this weekend's email, I could hear Frank Sinatra's “In the Wee Small Hours of the Morning” playing on the TV in our living room, presumably from a show Kathy was watching.

(I just checked. It turns out the show is “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel” which looks quite good).

When I was young I was into punk rock and goth music. You'd never have caught me listening to ol' blue eyes.

As I've got older I still like a bit of noisy, spiky music. But I appreciate the classics rather more now.

And I'm sure it's the same with marketing.

It's fun to play with newfangled ideas and tools. And basing your marketing on new trends and current issues helps it seem fresh.

But just like with music, your clients will always return to the “classics”. The big problems or goals that keep them up at night year-in, year-out.

My gut feel is that your marketing should focus on 80% “classics” and 20% “news”.

In my case, for example, all my Sunday emails are on classic topics. So I can put them in an autoresponder and reuse them for years. That frees me up to do more topical broadcasts during the week (though usually, I focus on classic topics there too).

How much of your marketing is focused on your “classics” and how much are you having to scrabble around each week looking for new things to focus on.

My guess is we'll still be listening to Frank next millennium. Your marketing doesn't need to last that long, but I'd aim for years rather than weeks.

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More Clients Memorandum

Don’t make this costly assumption

Posted by

Ian Brodie on December 13th, 2017.

Because we spend lots of time thinking about our field of expertise – be that sales, leadership, supply chain or whatever – it's easy to assume that our clients have the same level of awareness as us.

And if we've got experience working with a major corporate who knew that coaching (or whatever your particular way of working is) was an incredibly effective way of improving the performance of their managers, it's easy to assume that all our potential clients know that too.

But it's always a huge and costly mistake to assume you know what your clients want.

No matter how much you can see that the issue behind all your client's problems is the way they lead their team, don't assume they see it too. Probably what they see is simply that their organisation or team just doesn't achieve what they want them to achieve.

No matter how much you know that the real problem with a lack of sales is the client's “marketing funnel” not the skills of their salespeople, don't assume your potential client sees that too.

No matter how much you know that coaching (or training or consulting or an online program) is the perfect way of helping them, don't assume they see that too.

Always start from where the client is.

If the issue they see is low sales, don't jump straight to your solution for improving sales, assuming they know it's the best answer. Start with the problem itself then show them why your solution is the best for them.

If they've never hired a coach or consultant before, don't assume they know the value of using one. Start by talking about the results they'll see, then show them how they can best get that through coaching.

Always start with the problem the client sees. Not what you think it is or the solution you know will work. Get on the same page as your potential client before leading them to the right answer.

Because assuming they know what their problem really is and what the right solution is will kill your sales.

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More Clients Memorandum

A surprise reunion

Posted by

Ian Brodie on December 10th, 2017.

I met up with an old friend I'd not seen for nearly 30 years recently.

It was one of those weird coincidences as it happened just a few days after a mutual friend from back in the day had asked if I knew how he was doing.

Very, very well it turned out.

Which would have surprised our mutual friend as she was actually worried about him. In her view, he “didn't really have any skills”.

What she really meant was that he didn't do well at school.

The thing is that school rewards good all-rounders academically. And people who don't rock the boat.

But life is very different. Life rewards people who are really good at one in-demand skill. There's no need to be good at many things.

And sometimes in life, you've got to rock the boat to make waves.

In John's case, he'd tried a number of jobs after school, but had eventually harnessed his natural grasp of mechanical things and ended up setting up his own business around it. And the business had been a great success.

I'm smiling thinking about his success right now because he's a nice guy and thoroughly deserves what he's got.

And it's a nice reminder that you don't have to be a great all-rounder to be a success at marketing too. All it takes is one brilliant lead magnet, one reliable way to get that lead magnet in front of potential clients, one method for nurturing relationships and one way to turn those relationships into paying clients.

(And frankly, you don't have to be great at all of those – just OK at them all and great at one of them).

You don't need half a dozen different ways of generating leads or a myriad of complex nurture “funnels”. Just get something simple to cover each step. Then repeat.

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