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My terrible confession

Posted byIan Brodie on December 29th, 2013.

A few years ago I read an awful, awful book that I shouldn't have read.

It was called “The Game” by Rolling Stone journalist Neil Strauss and it was essentially his compiled tips on how to succeed at attracting the opposite sex.

The ethos behind the book was rather distasteful. But I was recommended to look at it because of the insights it brought out into human psychology. In other words, if the tips worked for attracting and romancing a girl, could they work for attracting and romancing a client?

I was intrigued, but so embarrassed that I ended up skim reading it standing next to the bookshelf in Waterstones rather than buying it. I suspect Kathy would have killed me if I'd come home with it.

But it did indeed have some useful insights into attracting clients.

One of the strategies Strauss espoused that was completely new to me (but has great application in marketing) was “bouncing”.

The idea is that the brain forms memories of people in association with the environment it sees them in.

So if you chat to me in the pub in the same location all night, you only really form one memory of it.

But if we change location: sitting down, standing by the bar, talking in the beer garden; you form three distinct memories of talking to me in different places.

So it feels like you've known me that bit longer because you have three distinct memories of me.

So the strategy Strauss recommends for a serial dater is to “bounce” your date around various locations at the venue you're in so she'll think she's known you for longer and feel more comfortable with you.

I have no idea whether this really works for dating. But it does seem to work for marketing.

If you only ever communicate with your clients and potential clients one way, it tends to all blur together in their mind. One networking event looks much like another. A whole series of emails begin to look samey.

But if instead, they see you face to face, hear you on the phone, get an email from you, get a letter in the post, then it seems to embed distinct memories and make you more memorable.

One strategy that's worked well for me is to use video in addition to my usual blog posts and emails.

Even though people are watching a recording of me on my website rather than meeting me live, it seems to make a big difference to how close people feel to me. I've had more than one potential client say to me “I feel like I really know you already” the very first time we speak.

Now I go a bit overboard with my videos. White backgrounds, overlaid logos, theme music. But there's really no need for most of us. Our clients aren't hiring us for our professional video making capabilities – they're hiring us for our expertise and ability to work with them to get results.

So a decent webcam, camcorder or these days your smartphone is fine for short video blogging.

What matters is that you have something useful to say, and that you say it engagingly.

Try it out. You don't have to go public with your videos yet – share them with a few friends for feedback. My first few videos were awful – but you have to go through that phase to get any good.

And if you want, send me a link to a short video you've done and I'll give you feedback.

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3 shortcuts to creating valuable content

Posted byIan Brodie on December 22nd, 2013.

Most people these days I think “get” the idea that creating regular, valuable content is the key to getting visitors to your website and building credibility in your emails and other interactions.

But doing it consistently is easier said than done.

Here are three shortcuts I use to get content that people find useful created quickly.

The first method is simply to tap my own experience. I start off by thinking of a challenge, problem or aspiration I know a decent number of my readers have. Then I cast my mind back to the times when I've faced similar challenges and simply write about how I handled it.

What makes life simpler here is not feeling the need to appear perfect all the time.

If you don't feel you have to present a perfect image to the world it makes it OK to write about the times when you didn't handle things quite so well.

For me, that gives me an awful lot more things to write about ;)

Or you can write about your clients too. Best to use their success stories in that case. Cast them as the hero or heroine.

The second method is to be inspired by something you see happening around you. This could be commenting on current business or news stories. Or bouncing off something in popular culture. If you watch Game Of Thrones or Downton Abbey, can you draw an analogy between a plotline there and an insight or little tip in your field.

I've written three of my favourite blog posts based on things I learned from famous comedians. One based on a magician and one on a TV presenter.

If you think hard enough, you can almost always find a link between something interesting and a business lesson.

And my third shortcut: if you can't find anything in your experience or around you to write about, then create an experience.

I wrote quite a detailed blog post about how comedian Dave Gorman created the content for a bunch of best-selling books and TV series by doing weird stuff.

And I often report on my own marketing experiments – both successful and not so successful.

You can do this too. Set yourself a task that you think your subscribers would be interested in. Something they might want to do themselves. Then do it and share your experiences and what you learned.

The key thing to bear in mind is that what you write (or video or audio record) don't have to be earth-shatteringly new every time.

If you look at someone like Seth Godin and his blog. Then although he's probably responsible for more new ideas in marketing than anyone else in the last decade, 99% of what Seth writes on his blog isn't new.

It's good sense. It's insightful. It's provocative. It's entertaining. But it's rarely completely new.

And that's exactly what your audience needs.

Take something that's useful for them to know, either for the first time or as a reminder. Then find an interesting way to tell the story. An anecdote from your past. An entertaining link to popular culture. A chance to watch as you play out that lesson live.

Turn this process into a regular habit and you've got your very own valuable content production line.

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The “opening doors” strategy for increasing conversions

Posted byIan Brodie on December 15th, 2013.

In last week's Sunday email I talked about the often-overlooked key factor in online conversion: the strength of your offer.

Another effective tweak you can make is simply to make your offer in more places.

So if, like me, your main goal is to get website visitors to subscribe to your emails, simply give them more chances to do so.

Surprisingly, loads of businesses have one scruffy looking optin form buried somewhere obscure on their site.

Personally I have forms in multiple places.

There's a big one that's the first thing everyone sees at the top of my home page. And I have one at the bottom of each blog post. The logic is that if someone has read to the end of a post they've probably found my article useful and would be open to signing up for more.

I have a couple of optin boxes on my About Me page. Logic: if someone explores my site a bit more by clicking around, the chances are they could be interested enough to sign up for stuff from me.

And I give people a chance to opt in when they watch my videos. Again, if they're interested enough to click play and keep watching, they may well be interested in more.

It's not about pushing stuff at people, it's about “opening doors” to give them the chance to step through and join you if they want.

By adding to the number of places where they have a chance to step through these doors and subscribe you can get a big increase in conversions.

But you don't do it indiscriminately.

What I try to do is respond to what they might be thinking as they explore my site. If they read to the bottom of an article, they might be on the lookout for more – so I offer it to them.

But I don't interrupt them with a popup before they've had a chance to read an article for example. No doubt that would get more people opting in – but they wouldn't be in the right frame of mind when they did so.

I'm happy to wait and only pick up the people who want more after they've seen the kind of thing I do.

This ability to interpret and optimise the “thought sequences” of your visitors is one of the keys to maximising conversions on your site.

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The conversion strategy no one talks about

Posted byIan Brodie on December 8th, 2013.

The topic of “Conversion Optimisation” causes a lot of excitement amongst hardcore marketers.

It's pretty amazing how by tweaking the colour, position or wording of a button or an order form you can increase response by 10, 20, 30% or more.

But there's something that the conversion experts rarely talk about that can have a much bigger impact.

You see, conversion experts usually don't have any control over the most important factor in whether a website visitor takes a desired action: the offer itself.

As a result, all their analysis and reporting is based on the things they can change. Formats. Headlines. Buttons. Forms.

But if you think about it, what's going to have more impact on whether someone signs up for your free report or buys a product from you: the colour of the button they click or what they're actually going to get from the report or product?

So exciting though it may seem to try out the latest clever plugin that animates an optin button or does it by Facebook, your best bet by far to increase conversions is to think about improving your offer.

If you want people to subscribe to your emails, what can you offer them of immediate value that will address some of the biggest challenges or problems they have?

Can you offer something different to different potential clients with different issues?

Does what you offer them give them a fast payback so they immediately want more from you?

A brilliant offer with a useless landing page will still do well. But even a brilliant landing page with every conversion tweak under the sun won't save a weak offer.

Get your offer right first.

I have a bunch of different initial “lead magnets” I use, all focused on helping people get immediate results and value.

What's your irresistible offer?

More Clients Memorandum

Get better results from your website (without needing any more traffic)

Posted byIan Brodie on December 1st, 2013.

A preoccupation of many business owners is getting more visitors to their website. Often they spend a small fortune in money and time to do so.

But sometimes you can get better results simply by tweaking your site so that your existing visitors do the things you'd like them to do more often.

Like buying something or signing up for your newsletter.

For many of us, one of the key steps we'd like them to take is to contact us. Either give us a call, an email, or fill in a contact form.

That's often the first step to speaking and eventually to doing business together.

But the truth is that very many professionals make it rather difficult for potential clients to contact them.

Different people prefer different communication methods. So it's usually a good idea to have your phone number and email address prominently shown on your site (for example in the header).

And your “Contact Me” form should be simple and easy to find (ie it should be one of the main menu items).

In fact, I advise having a contact form at the bottom of each page where you describe your services so that if someone does want to speak to you about that particular service they can just flow straight into completing the form rather than hunting around for a button to get to it.

And your form needs to be clear and easy to use. Check out your website stats. How many people visit your “contact me” page, but don't complete the form?

Usually a very high proportion.

Sometimes it's because the form is too complex or it requires too much intrusive information. Asking for a phone number, business name and job title often worries people into thinking they're going to get a call from a salesperson.

And often the person isn't sure they're in the right place. They have a question to ask you so they go to the Contact Me page. But there's no guidance on the page as to what sort of questions you're expecting them to use that page for.

Is it for technical questions? Questions about your blog posts? Questions only about working with you?

If you don't spell it out, many people will assume they're in the wrong place and click away.

And you also need to spell out what will happen after someone completes the form. Who'll get back to them? When? What will the next steps be?

Telling people what will happen when they click “submit” will ease their anxiety about sending the form in. If they know what to expect they won't find the process so daunting.

Making these simple changes can easily increase the number of contact form submissions you get by 50%. It's an awful lot easier that trying to get 50% more visitors to your site.

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Are you a creator or a consumer?

Posted byIan Brodie on November 24th, 2013.

One of the things that made me really successful as a consultant early in my career was that I was a brilliant “consumer” of information.

Whenever I found a topic interesting I'd stay up late in our company library poring over every book and research paper on the subject.

Pretty soon I'd know more than anyone other than seasoned veterans about that topic. That made me pretty useful as a consultant.

I've often heard it said that learning is the only sustainable competitive advantage. But I think there's something more important.

Consuming information and new ideas, learning from them, is great. It gets you up to par with your competitors. But if you want to take the lead, you need to not just consume ideas, you need to create.

Think about anyone you look up to as a leader in your field. They don't just acquire knowledge, they add to it. In fact most recognised authorities are prolific creators.

Historically, that's meant writing a book or getting published in a prestigious journal. Today it could be your own blog, podcast or youtube channel.

Think about how much time you spend creating vs consuming.

I'm not saying you should stop learning, far from it. But on balance, if you want to become known as a leader in your field then you've got to be spending more time creating than consuming.

If you're not, you may need to do some housekeeping. Unsubscribe from a few newsletters. Restrict your time on Facebook or random surfing. Set yourself some goals for creating useful content and prioritise them.

The more you push the balance in favour of creation, the more what you create is published, then the more you'll be seen as a leading expert in your field.

Which is not at all a bad place to be.

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The secret of overnight success

Posted byIan Brodie on November 24th, 2013.

I'm sure you've seen those interviews on TV where they ask a newly famous film or music star what the secret of their overnight success has been.

In pretty much every one I've seen, the star smiles wrly and explains that their “overnight success” is a result of at least a decade of hard work.

I've found the same to be true in our world too.

People who become “famous” – perceived as leaders and experts in their field – always put in the work.

I remember a few years ago when I realised my work was beginning to have an impact. I was actually having a coffee in our local M&S and browsing the web on my phone at the time.

I was reading Barbara Walters Price's blog. Barbara's the SVP of Marketing for Mercer Capital and a very smart cookie indeed. I checked out her latest post and found that it began with the phrase “Ian Brodie, whom I very much admire…”.

Gulp.

I actually called Kathy over to make sure I hadn't misread.

How did the SVP of Marketing of a firm literally an ocean away get to even hear about me, let alone admire me?

Of course, she found me via the web.

But while the magic of the interweb had allowed Barbara to stumble across me, what led her to value what I do and to form such a positive impression was the work I'd put in.

Put up a website with some nicely written copy, testimonials, descriptions of your services, and people will find out about you.

But what gets them to think you're good at what you do, that you're an expert they want to work with, is the work you put in. The blog posts, videos, audios, and webinars.

Of course, there are shortcuts.

But there's no getting away from the fact that you need to work at it.

To become an overnight success, you've got to invest your time (sometimes your money, but mostly your time).

And you've got to invest it wisely in the activities that are going to build your reputation as an expert. Rather than just the ones that come easy or give you instant gratification.

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Why “personal” wins

Posted byIan Brodie on November 17th, 2013.

I while ago I downloaded a trial version of a piece of software called Link Prospector which searches blogs on the web in your niche to see if they accept guest blog posts.

A few days later I got an email from the CEO of the business asking me what I thought of it. I assumed it was a pre-programmed email but as my experience with the software was excellent I sent them an email to say so.

Within a couple of hours the CEO had replied to thank me and sent me a handful of credits to use on the system.

A personal touch like this is so rare these days it really stands out.

In fact I was so impressed I wrote a very positive review of the product for my website the very next day.

Other example of how personal wins:

A couple of my friends who sell online training programs phone new customers to welcome them on board and ask if there's anything specific they can do for them.

A live conversation with someone you've bought an online product from? Unheard of. The customers are usually stunned.

Not surprisingly, these guys have very low refund rates on their products.

I try to prompt personal interactions in my regular emails. And I reply personally to anyone who takes the time to email me (barring the vagaries of spam filters, of course).

And a while back I started doing personal welcome videos for new members of Momentum Club.

When people connect with you on Linkedin, how many of them include a real personal message tailored to you vs the standard “I'd like to add you to my professional network” thing?

Which are you more likely to connect with and build a relationship with?

Just a little bit of the personal touch can go a long way and make a big difference to your clients.

Try it yourself today. The next 5 emails you get from clients, referrers, prospects – whoever – pick up the phone and call them instead of just emailing.

If you sell online products, the next time someone buys something from you send them a hand-written thank-you card.

The next time someone comes into your office for a meeting, don't send your PA down to meet them. Go down yourself and take them out for a coffee and have your meeting there.

Anything to inject a bit more personal contact (and personality) into your relationship with them.

Personal wins.

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This is what people really think of your introduction

Posted byIan Brodie on November 10th, 2013.

I grabbed a coffee recntly with an old contact I knew from back in the day when I consulted mainly to big pharma.

After a long corporate career he was heading out into the world of independent consulting (yay) and it was incredibly interesting to hear his first impressions.

One of the things he remarked on was the way people introduced themselves.

Now if you've been on any sort of networking training in the last decade you'll have been told that you shouldn't just introduce yourself with your job title. People may not be clear what it means for them, or apparently they may have negative stereotypes associated with job titles like accountant or lawyer.

My friend described a situation where he met a guy at an event who introduced himself by saying “I save people's lives”.

What on earth did he do? Was he some kind of superhero. Or a fireman or lifeboat crew member.

Nope. He did PAT Testing.

(For those outside the UK that means he ran tests on portable appliances to make sure they complied with health and safety legislation).

So yes, in a way he did save lives. But that was an awful introduction.

No doubt some sales trainer had told him he should tell people about the value and the benefits of his work. But saying you save people's lives does more harm than good.

Firstly, it obfuscates rather than clarifies. Often when I introduce myself I tell people I “help consultants and coaches attract and win more clients” because they might not know what a marketing coach does. So it adds clarity.

Saying you save people's lives doesn't add clarity. It could mean a whole raft of things.

Secondly, by playing word games with your description of what you do you're sending a message that you don't talk straight. You'll twist things to meet your own ends. Probably not the kind of message you want to send.

And finally. Well, it's just kind of cheesy isn't it? “I save people's lives”. “I help my clients sleep better at night”. “I'm the guy to call when you're tired of thinking small”.

Yuck.

Maybe they work for some people, but they come across a bit sad to me.

And apparently that's exactly how they came across to my old contact. And probably to anyone else from the “real world” who hears these kind of introductions.

So yes, introduce yourself by being clear about what value you bring to people. But make it clear and straightforward.

And lay off the cheese.