I’ve had situations where a potential client has been stalling on one of my proposals and I’ve been tempted to contact them to ask if they’d like to sign the deal. Following-up with potential clients is good. But doing it that way is bad. Because I would be sending the message: “Give me money.” Clients don’t [...]
People want to do business with people they like, trust … and understand. It’s not enough just to be likeable and trustworthy. You also have to communicate to your customers in plain English. Because even if they think you’re the most likeable and trustworthy person in the world, if they can’t understand you, they’ll eventually lose [...]
Don't keep score when networking, because if you do that, you’re not going to succeed. People will quickly realise you don’t care about them; all you care about is trying to get as much from them as possible while giving the least in return. Instead of keeping score, focus on building long-term relationships. That means getting [...]
One way to grow your audience is to tap into other people’s audiences with content marketing collaborations. Here are four ideas: Be a guest on someone else’s podcastStart a podcast so you can interview guestsWrite a guest blog for someone elseGet expert commentary from someone for one of your blog posts The moment you collaborate with [...]
You have big plans for your small business. And you want your staff to help you fulfil those plans. So you need to do these three things: Tell your staff what those plans areExplain how their efforts will help your business achieve those plansProvide regular updates to your staff about how those plans are faring In [...]
I’ve been donating to a charity since 2005. The only time the charity calls me is to ask for money. So when the phone rings and I discover it’s the charity, I immediately feel negative and defensive, which makes me reluctant to give more money. That’s bad marketing. If the charity was smarter, it would call [...]
A confused mind always says 'no'. That's why you need to make sure your marketing messages and your customer communications are crystal clear. Any ambiguities or inconsistencies will confuse your customers; and confused customers don't spend money. Who are you targeting? What problem are you solving? How will you solve it? And how will your customers [...]
Have you ever connected with someone on social media and then immediately received a pitch from them through a direct message? Every person I’ve ever spoken to about these cold pitches has told me two things: they feel annoyed whenever they receive one of these cold pitches and they never buy anything as a result of [...]
“Show me you know me.” This is what your customers are thinking to themselves when they consume your marketing. So talk about their hopes, their fears and their values. Prove to your customers your business understands them. If they believe that, they’ll feel comfortable trusting you to solve their problems. But if they don’t believe you [...]
Here’s how to simultaneously build an amazing network and publish amazing content marketing. Record one educational Zoom interview per week – this could be with clients, suppliers, referral partners or key industry figures. Chop up that video interview into seven short snippets – now you’ve got one social post for each day of the week. Take [...]
