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Posted by
Ian Brodie on 6th May 2018.
I've come over all philosophical today.
In particular, I was musing on how strange a world it is where we can all, no matter how small our business is, reach an audience interested in what we have to say (as long as it's interesting).
And we can all, within reason, find a market willing to buy what we want to sell.
It's not easy, of course. But with work it's possible.
And strangest of all, we can market in ways that those of us who aren't so outgoing can enjoy.
And that's very different to what business was like even just a decade ago where you almost always had to market in traditional ways to traditional customers with traditional products.
Nowadays it's no big deal to do something different or be someone different. In fact it can help you get noticed.
All it takes is a little bravery to try something off the beaten track. And a little application and persistence to keep at it to make it work.
Because when it works, doing what you really want to do rather than the “same old same old” as everyone else is hugely rewarding.
How strange then, that more people don't do it :)
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Posted byIan Brodie on 19th April 2018.
Of all the problems I hear from people struggling to win enough clients, probably the most frequent is “I just can't find the time for marketing”.
It's an insidious problem. No matter how smart you are, no matter how brilliant the marketing strategies you're trying to implement: if you can't find the time for them then you won't get results.
And it's such an easy trap to fall into. If we're not naturals at marketing we probably don't know how to do it efficiently. And we probably don't enjoy it, so we kid ourselves that we're doing OK, we have enough clients for now, something will turn up anyway…and so we avoid doing the marketing we really need.
But it absolutely is possible to fit effective marketing into a busy schedule. What it takes is a combination of mindset, ruthless prioritisation, scheduling and techniques for doing your marketing efficiently.
And those four factors are exactly what you'll learn in my new “Ultimate Guide” – How To Make The Time For Marketing.
If you're struggling to find the time to do the marketing you need to win clients then it could be a real help.
>> Click here for details <<
And, of course, please do comment and share if you find it helpful.
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Posted byIan Brodie on 16th April 2018.
Of all the problems I hear from people struggling to win enough clients, probably the most frequent is “I just can't find the time for marketing”.
It's an insidious problem. No matter how smart you are, no matter how brilliant the marketing strategies you're trying to implement: if you can't find the time for them then you won't get results.
And it's such an easy trap to fall into. If we're not naturals at marketing we probably don't know how to do it efficiently. And we probably don't enjoy it, so we kid ourselves that we're doing OK, we have enough clients for now, something will turn up anyway…and so we avoid doing the marketing we really need.
But it absolutely is possible to fit effective marketing into a busy schedule. What it takes is a combination of mindset, ruthless prioritisation, scheduling and techniques for doing your marketing efficiently. And that's exactly what you'll learn in this guide.
Click here for the Ultimate Guide to Making the Time for Marketing » Featured
Posted byIan Brodie on 31st December 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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Posted byIan Brodie on 3rd December 2017.
Have you ever heard that phrase “No one ever went broke underestimating the intelligence of the American public”.
(It's actually a paraphrase of something that H.L. Mencken wrote in 1926).
And while the phrase is kind of funny, I don't believe it's a good one to follow. I rather prefer David Ogilvy's comment that “the customer is not a moron, she's your wife”.
The thing is, both these phrases are true. Because there are both intelligent and less intelligent customers in every market.
Which ones would you rather have?
If you'd like intelligent clients, then treat them as intelligent in your marketing. Don't make ridiculous claims of all the wonders that will befall them if they hire you. Be realistic.
You'll lose a bunch of potential clients as a result. But do you really want clients who expect unrealistic results?
Similarly, you see many “personalities” complaining or ranting about others in their marketing. They're doing it to polarise their audience, of course, which is generally a good thing. Better to be loved by a few than seen as just OK by everyone.
But the problem with being a “shock jock” type personality is that the people you attract tend to be the sort of angry, complaining people that most of us wouldn't want as clients.
So whenever you're thinking about trying a new marketing technique, don't just think about how many clients it will get you. Think about what sort of clients they'll be.
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Posted byIan Brodie on 12th July 2017.
Back in the late 1990s I had one of those “duh” moments.
I was attending a workshop on selling consulting services run by my employer, Gemini Consulting. One of the core lessons from the workshop was the observation that your sales processes should be based on how your buyers buy, not on how you want to sell.
“Duh”.
Simple. Obvious. Yet I hadn't thought of it like that at all.
Fast forward to today and that simple observation still applies to sales processes both offline and online.
But does your website really match how your buyers buy? In particular:
- What phases do they go through in their decision-making process?
- What do they look for at each stage?
- Have you made it incredibly easy for them to find what they're looking for on your website at each stage?
From a hard-nosed commercial perspective, you want the visitors to your website to do what you want them to do. But in the real world, they're only going to do what you want them to do if it matches what they want and need to do.
Or to use Zig Ziglar's more positive version, “You will get all you want in life, if you help enough other people get what they want.”
In the current frenzy of excitement about designing complex “marketing funnels” to maximise our sales we seem to have lost sight of the fact that your clients have their own objectives. And if your website doesn't help them achieve those objectives then they won't stick around, no matter how clever your funnels are.
So what is it that our clients want when they visit our site?
To find out what clients want and how to give it to them, click here »
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Posted byIan Brodie on 2nd May 2017.
Probably the question I get the most emails on is some variant of “what's the best X?”.
What's the best email marketing system? What's the best landing page builder? What's the best shopping cart?
And, of course, there's no one right answer for everyone. What suits a full-time online marketer with a team behind them isn't the same as what suits a small solo business with limited time to do their marketing in. And personal preferences play a role too.
But what I can tell you about are the tools I personally use. These are the ones that I've tested and I feel are the best to help me run my online business without being too complex or too time-consuming. They might well be a good fit for you too.
Click here for details of the tools I use to run my online business »
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Posted byIan Brodie on 19th March 2017.
One of Kathy's business contacts asked her out for a coffee recently.
She ummed and ahhed. Said yes so as not to be rude, then we chatted about how she could minimise any time wasted at the meeting.
Not that there's anything wrong with “meetings over coffee” – if it fits your business model.
If you get lots of work via referral. And if individual clients are worth a lot to you. And if the people who want to have coffee with you are the right connections – then great.
But often I find there's a mismatch of business models. Because many people still only get clients through personal connections, they kind of assume everyone else's business revolves round time-consuming “get to know you” meetings.
For those of us who've learned how to get clients online, those face to face meetings are rarely a good use of our time. So frankly, we need to learn to be a bit ruthless and say no rather more often.
I've learned to be quite tough and say no pretty much all the time. Sometimes people get rather upset and tell me “networking is all about relationships” and try to convince me that they would have been able to refer business to me.
But my best clients come from people who've signed up, get my emails, and “get” me. It's a very different business model.
Your model might be different, but the key thing is to never let other people's views on how you should be running your business deviate you from what works for you.
If you don't need coffee meetings to win clients, stick to your guns and don't have coffee meetings.
If you don't need a website to win clients, stick to your guns and don't have a website.
Whatever works for you, do what it takes.
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Posted byIan Brodie on 25th January 2017.
Ever done a Google search and noticed that some sites have star ratings next to their listings, while most don't?
If a site is showing up as 4 or 5-star, it's going to get more clicks than sites with no stars at all. And people visiting the site are going to be going there with a good impression before they even land on the site.
And although Google don't release details of their algorithm, many SEO experts believe that having good star ratings and reviews can help you move up the search results. If nothing else, because people are more likely to click to your site because of the star ratings that higher clickthrough rate will move you up the listings over time.
I've found that since implementing this I've gone up in the search results a couple of places for some of my main page 1 keywords.
As it turns out, despite the fact that hardly any sites have star rating in their search listings, it's pretty easy to make happen. It's fiddly, as you'll see, but relatively easy.
I implemented some simple changes to my site and within 4 days I had star ratings next to my site for searches for my name, and the next day the star ratings were there for other important keyword searches for me as you can see below.
So how do you get star ratings to show up?
Click here to find out how…
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Posted byIan Brodie on 18th December 2016.
In last week's email I shared with you one of the “secrets” of building trust – being open and human with your audience.
Here's the Yin to that Yang: it's being candid and honest. It's not pulling your punches.
It's having a point of view and being brave enough to state it, even if it's not popular or your clients don't agree.
I remember early on in my consulting career being told by a VP I respected not to state my opinions until I knew which way the clients were thinking. “You don't want to risk upsetting them”.
That never sat well with me. I think clients deserve our honesty.
And my experience is that one of the best ways of earning the trust of a client is to disagree with them. Senior clients have too many “yes men” (and women) surrounding them. The best clients appreciate honesty and candour. They appreciate you telling them the truth, even if it doesn't make you popular.
Of course, there are ways of getting across your point of view respectfully – and you should use them.
But never be afraid to speak the truth. There's great power in it.
Ian Brodie on 6th May 2018.
