More Clients Memorandum

The key to getting “long attention”

Posted byIan Brodie on September 20th, 2020.

The oldest strategy in the book for winning clients must be “communicate regularly, be helpful, demonstrate expertise, build your relationship”.

These days we call it “building a platform” – but back in the day it was just called “keeping in touch”.

And it's a classic example of the third and key phase of attention – “long attention”.

Long attention is where people tune in to your message because it's from you and they expect it to be interesting and valuable.

You're not having to grab their attention by being different or surprising. They tune in because they're confident it'll be worth their time based on their past experience with you.

Tuning in might be listening to the latest episode of your podcast, jumping on your livestream, reading your emails, or grabbing a coffee with you for an update (remember that?).

These days, I believe the bar is higher than ever before for people being willing to voluntarily give you their attention.

There used to be a time where if you asked a client if they'd like to grab a coffee to chat over the state of their industry or to share some ideas you'd had they'd jump at the chance.

Back then it was one of their few chances to get an outside perspective or updates on the latest trends. These days they're overwhelmed with outside information and updates.

So if you want someone to willingly give you their time, you have to have earned it.

That said, I think it’s a mistake to set the bar so high that you think you have to come up with life-changing wisdom every time you communicate. The reality is that will result in you hardly ever communicating.

A much more realistic goal is to have a few brilliant ideas, interspersed with just good, solid advice. And don't overlook the value to your audience of simply amusing them or inspiring them or illustrating a point with an interesting example every now and then.

In our next email, I'll be sharing ideas about how to come up with valuable content consistently so you can build this relationship with your ideal clients.

And you may have noticed one of the ideas already…

At the top of this email I've started “branding” them as the “More Clients Memorandum” – making it easier to remember the value rather than them just being “Ian's emails”.

And more importantly, I've made a commitment in the branding that they're a “bi-weekly briefing” – committing myself publicly to doing two a week. (Well, unless I play with the ambiguity of biweekly and switch it to being every two weeks :) )

Commitments like this are one way to force yourself to keep up that regular contact. I'll cover a bunch of ways to make it easier in the next email.

More Clients Memorandum

The problem with new

Posted byIan Brodie on September 14th, 2020.

We've been talking for a little while now about strategies to get and maintain the attention of your potential clients.

To get them to sit up and take notice.

But for those of us who want to market ethically and have the best interests of our clients at heart, there's a problem.

I'm sure it's something you've come across yourself: the things that it's easiest to get your audience to pay attention to aren't necessarily the things that are good for them.

In fact, very often it's the opposite. The things that it's easy to get people to pay attention to are often rather bad for them. Or at best, a waste of their time.

You see it all the time with fad diets, shiny new technology or in my field, yet another amazing new way of getting clients that turns out not to really work all that reliably at all for real people.

The problem is that our attention is always drawn to the new and surprising.

Yet in most of the fields we work in, what works and is best for clients are things that are tried and tested. The opposite of new and surprising.

Usually the reason clients are struggling isn't that the answers to their problems aren't known. It's that they're hard work and they take time, skill and application.

But people not only don't want to hear that message – they're wired to ignore it. Their attention is drawn to surprising new things, not the repetition of things they already know – no matter how important they are.

Unscrupulous sellers take advantage of that and spend their time coming up with exciting new things to promote that don't really work but that get attention and sell well.

But for those of us who want to do the right thing, getting attention becomes that bit harder when what you're trying to get people to focus on is tried and tested wisdom.

It's not impossible though.

It's like the excellent teacher who manages to make mathematics interesting for their kids by embedding the principles they want them to learn in a fun new experiment. Or the author who wraps an old lesson in a new story. 

A good way for us to make the old feel new again is to focus on what's actually holding our people back from succeeding with what they already know they should be doing.

I had a chat with a well-known public speaker a few years ago who was bemoaning the fact that when clients called him back they always wanted him to talk about something new and different from the last time.

“They still haven't implemented what I told them last time…or the time before that”.

He felt he was stuck between teaching them something new that wasn't really useful to keep them happy, or trying to re-teach them what they already knew and risking losing their interest.

My advice was simple: focus instead on what's holding them back from implementing what you already taught them.

Quickly remind them of what they know they should be doing. But then spend your time talking about why they're not doing it and how to fix that.

That's new information that will grab their attention. But it actually gives them results rather than just being new for the sake of being new.

You can apply that to almost anything.

In my field, pretty much everyone knows they should be following up regularly with potential clients. But very few do.

By and large they don't need reminding that they should be following up. They know they should be, so if that's was my only message they'd soon tune out.

Instead, I need to talk about new ways of following up that are easy for them to do. New strategies to make sure they can stick to their follow-up plan. Or perhaps an interesting new story of someone who used a different approach to follow-up that worked really well for them.

That way I'm still sharing valuable information that works. But it's interesting and new so it gets attention.

Is that something you can do in your business?

I suspect so.

But you'll need to spend a few minutes thinking about it. Or maybe even do some research on what's holding your folks back from doing what they need to know.

Understanding that and helping them with it gives you a whole new level to your marketing.

More Clients Memorandum

When you read you begin with ABC. When you win clients you begin with…

Posted byIan Brodie on September 2nd, 2020.

When you read you begin with ABC. When you win clients you begin with…

…Attention.

OK, OK. It's not exactly Richard Rogers.

But it is accurate.

If you can't get the attention of your ideal clients then all the wonderful things you've got to say in your marketing count for nothing.

All those amazing ways you have of proving you're the one they should work with. All ignored. Because you couldn't get them to notice you.

It's one of the biggest causes of people feeling stuck and unable to progress. And not knowing which option to take because nothing seems to work.

And the problem is exacerbated, I think, by our obsession with tools and technology.

“Ah, I'll use Facebook Ads to get their attention”.

“Dammit, that didn't work. I'll try messaging them on Linkedin”.

“Last roll of the dice, I'll try calling them…”

But as I'm sure you know, it's not the tools you use that make the difference. It's how you use them.

And there's a science to getting and keeping someone's attention.

A fledgeling science admittedly. But there are some things we definitely know based on the study of perception and memory.

Importantly, there are three key steps to attention that you have to get right.

Ben Parr sums it up well in his book “Captivology” (definitely worth a read if you get the chance).

The first step is immediate attention.

This is the stuff controlled by our good old lizard brain and it largely works on autopilot. It's what makes you immediately turn to look when you hear a loud bang. Or pay more attention to things coloured blood-red than pale blue. Or hear your name across a crowded room.

The second step is short attention. This is where we focus on the things our immediate attention homed in on and we begin to actively process them. This goes on in our working memory and in order to conserve energy, our brain focuses on novelty and filters out things it thinks it already knows about.

Finally, the most important step. Long attention.

Immediate and short attention are the first and necessary steps in the process. But it's long attention that makes sure a potential client has you top of mind when they're ready to hire someone to help.

Long attention is based on value. Whether that’s the personal value of mutual enjoyment I talked about in terms of relationships last time. Or it's “hard” value in terms of “what's in it for me” that keeps them listening.

You've got to get all three steps working to succeed.

Not necessarily perfectly. You don't need to be brilliant at each one.

But you've got to have something for each step.

If you ended up on my email list from one of my Facebook Ads, for example, you might remember my ad probably stood out a bit and looked different because I amp up the contrast on images and make them look unnaturally bright and dark.

Then when you click the ad, you got offered my Value-Based Marketing Blueprint. A new idea you hopefully hadn't seen before.

And then, fingers crossed, you found my regular emails valuable.

So you kept paying attention.

Maybe not to every single one. But enough that if you want to improve your marketing or learn some new approaches to winning clients, I'll be there in your thought processes.

That's the way it works.

Get attention. Keep attention. Use it to win clients.

Do-re-mi. 

More Clients Memorandum

The hidden key to online relationship building

Posted byIan Brodie on August 25th, 2020.

In our last email we talked about how marketing high-value services is much more like building a long term relationship than a one-night stand.

And yet most of the techniques taught online are one-night stand tactics. Showing off. Using scarcity. Pushing for an immediate decision with a deadline.

If you want to win loyal, high-value clients you've got to start dating. Building a relationship over time.

But here's what many, many people forget:

When you're dating if either person stops enjoying it, they break it off.

With dating, you don't get to your destination if the journey stops being fun.

And it's the same with business relationship building.

Just because someone signs up for your emails or connects with you on Linkedin doesn't give you license to keep pushing sales pitches at them.

And it doesn't give you license to bore them to death either.

A lot of what passes for relationship building in online marketing is just “sending people stuff” in the name of adding value.

But given how easy it is for me to find information online, if all you're doing to build a relationship with me is sending information, I'm not going to be that impressed.

Different people look for different things, of course. But most people are on the lookout for:

• New and insightful information they haven't seen before
• A personal connection with someone they like, and
• To actually enjoy their interactions with you – just like with dating

Even if you send hugely valuable information to people in your communications with them, if that's all it is they'll eventually tire of it.

The hidden key to online relationship building is to keep the process enjoyable – just like with dating.

Add drama to your communications. A story. An amusing anecdote. An admission of a past failure. A rallying cry. Some interaction.

There are many different ways to do it.

Some people are naturally funny. Others create angry rants and rail against a shared enemy their audience has. Others tell moving stories of their personal experience.

You have to find what works for you.

Personally, I'm not an angry person – I can't do that whole “world's gone mad” rant thing.

I like to think I'm funny-ish. But I can't write laugh-a-minute stuff.

So I tend to throw in the odd personal story or anecdote – usually of me messing something up. I like to use analogies too – like the dating one.

I try to write like I'm chatting to a smart friend – rather than talking down to people. I think that's a good move for most people.

It's not going to win me a Pulitzer prize any time soon. But it's enough to keep my musings interesting enough that the message gets through and most people come back for more.

You'll have to find your own style. And match it to your medium too – what works on video might not work on email and vice versa.

But you only find out what works for you by doing it.

And usually by doing it badly first :)

I've had to delete my early videos off YouTube they're so cringeworthy.

And my early articles read like an essay I'm trying to impress my MBA Prof with.

But over time I got better.

And you know what? Those early videos, articles and emails worked too – even if wince looking back at them.

If you're looking to build high-value relationships with wonderful clients you've got to figure out the whole dating thing of making your interactions and communications something your folks look forward too.

Figure it out your way harnessing your strengths. And start doing it even if you haven't mastered it yet.

Because you will get results even if you're not perfect. And doing it is the only way to improve.

More Clients Memorandum

This one thing makes marketing MUCH simpler and more effective

Posted byIan Brodie on August 18th, 2020.

I mentioned in my last email that when it comes down to it, marketing is really all about getting and maintaining the attention of your ideal clients and then using that attention to influence what they think about you.

It really can be as simple as that.

So how do you get the attention you need to get your message across? And how do you keep that attention so that you can follow up regularly and be top of mind when your ideal clients are ready to buy?

Well there are two ways to do it.

One is through tactics.

Clever headlines on articles or subject lines in emails. Telling intriguing stories with cliffhangers and harnessing curiosity. Big, bold images in ads. Using video. Asking questions. Using scary statistics. Being omnipresent.

Nothing wrong with any of these. They're all useful in their place. They all work.

But once you start layering tactics on top of tactics on top of tactics to get the attention you need, you end up with complex and time-consuming marketing. 

And when the tactics stop working because your audience has just seen them used too many times, then you lose the attention you've worked so hard to get.

A better way to get attention is to communicate something your audience actually finds inherently interesting. Something they care about.

In a way, it's a bit like making a film or TV show. You can get the attention of your viewers through expensive special effects. Explosions and CGI.

Or you can get it by having a great story. Or doing a documentary about a hugely interesting topic.

If you're a consultant or coach or “expert for hire”, communicating something your audience finds interesting means having a big idea or “distinctive point of view”.

Something to say they'll find valuable, new and different.

Valuable, because we care about and pay attention to things that can benefit us. 

New, because if you're telling me something I already know – even if it's true – I immediately begin to switch off.

Different, because if you're saying the same thing as everyone else then why should I listen to you rather than them?

Your distinctive point of view is your take on how your clients can succeed in your particular field.

For example, Value-Based Marketing is my distinctive point of view on the best way professionals can win clients.

Back in the 90s, Re-engineering was Michael Hammer and CSC Index's distinctive point of view on how businesses could harness technology to make huge cost savings and cut time to market.

The 7-habits was Steven Covey's distinctive point of view on how individuals can live a fulfilled and effective life.

Each of those points of view is valuable to potential clients because they show them a route-map to success. They're different to what others (at the time) were saying. And (at the time) they were new and not something their audience or clients were already doing.

If someone offers to tell you about a new way of solving your biggest problems that no one else is talking about and you haven't heard before – would you pay attention?

I certainly would.

I wouldn't need it to be delivered in a beautiful video or have a clever headline. Or a 17-step quiz funnel.

I'd pay attention because the point of view is attention-worthy.

And that's the key to getting your attention of your ideal clients without having to rely on layer after layer of tactics. Have a distinctive point of view they find attention-worthy.

One that's valuable to them, is new, and different to what others are saying.

I'm going to look at the psychology of attention in the next few emails and you'll be able to see why a distinctive point of view works so well.

But for now, spend a few minutes thinking about what your distinctive point of view is that your ideal clients would find attention-worthy.

Because if you're not saying anything new. If you're not saying anything different. If you're not saying anything valuable…

…then no matter how well you say it. No matter how entertaining or shocking or clever your communications are…ultimately, your clients will lose interest.

More Clients Memorandum

Marketing can be simple – *if* you break it down like this

Posted byIan Brodie on August 16th, 2020.

I really do think we overcomplicate marketing sometimes.

And, of course, it's in the interests of people who want to sell us complex silver-bullet technology and big expensive courses to perpetuate the idea that you can only succeed at marketing if you huge, complicated funnels and systems.

But when you take the time to break down what you're actually trying to do with your marketing you'll usually find it doesn't have to be anywhere near as difficult.

So let's start…

Let's think about what we're trying to achieve with any marketing.

What we want is for potential clients to hire us (or buy our products or donate to our charity or whatever our end goal is).

And in order for that to happen, at the point at which they make a decision, they've got to believe that we're the best option for them.

That much is obvious I think.

So what does “believing we're the best option” really mean? And where does that belief come from?

Well, the things someone needs to believe to be ready to buy are a mixture of emotion and logic. They'll differ by person, and they'll differ depending on what it is they're buying.

But there are always some common factors.

If someone is hiring a consultant, for example, then they'll always need to have confidence that:

• You can solve the particular problem (or opportunity) they have – and often that you can succeed where others have failed before
• That their problem is worth solving
• That they can work with you
• And sometimes, that they like you

There could be others too, and it's up to you to figure out what your particular clients need to know and feel to be ready to hire you for the sort of work you do.

But let's go with those four big criteria. They're almost always present in all key decisions and they usually make up the bulk of the decision.

So how do you go from someone not knowing you to having confidence you can help them, that they'll get great value from that help, and that they'll be able to work with you and actually enjoy the process?

Some of those factors are hard and rational. Others are more emotional.

But the only way you can establish that confidence is through what and how you communicate with them before they buy.

And that means two things:

1) You need to get and maintain their attention.

2) You need to use that attention to influence them. To persuade them.

Not persuasion or influence in any negative or underhand sense.

But simply to change what they know and feel about you from where you start, to a point where they have confidence in all the factors needed for them to be ready to buy.

And that really is all you need to master in order to be successful at marketing.

You need to be able to get the attention of potential clients and to maintain it: to keep them interested in communicating with you.

And you need to use that attention to change what they know and feel about you: so that when they're ready to buy, they see you as the best option.

You don't need complex technology for that. You don't need to spend every waking hour on marketing or to have immensely complicated funnels and steps your potential clients go through.

You just need one way of getting the attention of your potential clients.

And one way of keeping in touch on a regular basis that they value enough to keep paying attention.

And you need to know how to communicate so that you get the right messages across to influence their beliefs about you and position you as the right person for them to work with.

None of that is easy, of course.

But it's not complicated.

In my next few emails I'm going to be looking at each of the steps and the best ways to do them – particularly online.

But I'm going to start in the next email with something that makes every step much easier, and much more powerful.

Until then, here's a task for you.

Think about the things you're currently spending most of your time on in your marketing and think about whether each one is something that:

a) gets the attention of potential clients.

b) maintains that attention and allows you to communicate with them on a regular basis

And if not, what is it actually doing?