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Better advice than Woody Allen gives

Posted byIan Brodie on February 7th, 2016.

Woody Allen famously once said “90% of success is showing up”.

(Except he didn't. The closest he came seems to be a 1971 New York Times quote where he says “Showing up is eighty percent of life” and then the quote seems to have morphed and taken on a life of it's own).

Historical accuracy aside, there's a lot to the saying. So many people just don't manage to keep going with their blog. Or keep out on the road presenting. Or keep contacting people and trying to add value.

Most people give up too soon.

But I think there's a more powerful rule than “90% of success is showing up”.

In my experience, the real rule is:

90% of success is following up.

Not scuzzy “are you ready yet?” follow up. Not ineffective “just touching base” follow up.

But regular “adding value” follow up.

Thinking through what will be useful for your high potential prospects and clients on a regular basis and giving it to them. Making connections for them. Sending them useful information. Inviting them to useful events.

Or like me, sending them useful tips and ideas in emails like this.

Back when I did live training and consulting I'd regularly end up working with clients where I'd been building a relationship with them for six month, 12 months, 18 months or more.

I'm sure you've had similar experiences.

In many cases your first interactions come to nothing – other things like reorganisations, changes of priority and budgets get in the way.

But if you continue to communicate and add value – like with my regular emails – then eventually something will click. You'll be top of mind when they need you.

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A powerful way to reinvigorate yourself

Posted byIan Brodie on January 31st, 2016.

I know what it's like.

It's easy to become jaded with the day to day.

I'm super privileged to do something I truly enjoy and I know just how lucky I am to be in that position.

But every now and then, pouring your heart and soul into everything you do can be just a little bit wearing. And sometimes you feel like you just don't have anything left to give.

I hear something similar from a lot of people. Sometimes the joy just goes out of what they're doing. 

Here's what I've found helps a lot: talk to your clients.

Ask them what results they're getting with the things you've helped them with. Ask them if they've found working with you valuable.

There's nothing reinvigorates me more than hearing about how the hard work I've done has made a real difference for my clients. I bet you'll feel the same way too when you hear from yours.

Most of us aren't just in it for the money. Hearing directly how our efforts have done some good in the world makes a huge difference. So ask :) 

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This could be what it takes to succeed

Posted byIan Brodie on January 24th, 2016.

As I write this email late on a Saturday evening I'm sitting next to our youngest, Robert, who's decided at the age of 16 that he's going to be a global tycoon selling on Amazon.

Right now he's looking at a bunch of websites to find products he can ship in from China in bulk to sell on. He's been at it solid for about 5 hours now. 

In total he's probably spent about 30 hours researching in the last week. A couple of hours ago he had no idea how to make a spreadsheet. Now he's doing a basic P&L for the products he's identifying.

It's hard work. There's a ton of to-ing and fro-ing and dead ends as he finds something that looks viable, but then it turns out it's got the wrong plug or the shipping is too much or whatever.

But he's got the bit between his teeth, so I reckon he'll find something.

As I look over at him tapping away at the keyboard on his hand-me-down macbook I'm struck by just how much work he's putting into this.

He's basically starting from scratch with no assets,  no contacts, no knowledge. But he's making up for it with hard work and learning fast.

I wonder how much better those of us who already have assets, contacts and knowledge would do if we applied the same level of hard work and learning to our businesses.

My guess is a lot.

Frankly, I see a lot of people give up at the first hurdle when they try something with their marketing and it doesn't work first time out. Or if they don't know how to do something they won't invest the time in learning how.

No matter what advantages you start out with, if you aren't prepared to work and learn then someone who is will catch you up and overtake you. Even if they start out way behind.

Building a successful business doesn't take genius or luck or a rolodex to kill for (though all of those will help). What ot really takes is hard work and continuous learning.

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The most powerful emotion in marketing?

Posted byIan Brodie on January 17th, 2016.

People talk a lot about getting emotion into your marketing. People buy based on emotion we're told, so you've got to use that somehow.

So marketers try to harness fear, envy, joy, desire. All to get you to part with your hard earned cash.

But I think there's a more useful and perhaps more powerful emotion than any of these. Particularly when it comes to the type of marketing you and I do.

It's surprise.

Surprise is the power behind much great art and entertainment. The punchline in comedy gets its bite by subverting the setup. And nobody pays much attention to dramas they can guess the ending of. It's the expectation of surprise: the revelation, the twist and the end, the whodunnit that keeps us watching.

Surprise grabs your attention. Surprise releases dopamine and enhances your senses. Surprise is memorable.

It's the expectation of new and surprising information that causes us to read something. And it's the payoff from that surprise that makes us feel good and remember it.

Most of us do some form of content marketing. Our goal is to share our expertise to build credibility and trust with potential clients.

But no matter how great your content or expertise, if you only say things that people already know, you won't stand out and you won't be remembered.

You've got to focus on the areas of your expertise that are different and unusual. That your audience won't expect.

You've got to surprise them, or frankly, you'll lose them. 

Now you don't necessarily have to shock them every time. The kind of surprise I'm talking about often shows up as a raised eyebrow or a knowing nod. 

It happens when a little lightbulb goes off in the head of your reader. Or their perception shifts just that little bit. Or they see things that bit more clearly than before.

Whenever you're thinking of writing an article or blog post or making a video, podcast or other piece of content, ask yourself what new and surprising information you have to share and focus on that.

You'll get a lot more interest as a result.