Your customers have problems. You've got solutions to those problems. But customers are sceptical, so they won't just hand over their money to the first business they encounter. You need to persuade them to hand over their money. But how? The best approach is to play the long game. The big mistake a lot of small [...]
What happens if you’re in a relationship and you don’t listen to your partner? Sooner or later, they’ll leave you and find someone who makes them feel valued and appreciated. The same rule applies in business. If you don’t listen to your customers, they’ll find a rival who does. That’s why, when you do marketing, it’s [...]
If a stranger sat down next to you on the bus and tried to sell you life insurance, how likely would you be to buy it? On the other hand, if you bumped into an old friend on the street and he tried to sell you life insurance, how likely would you be to buy it? [...]
Customers have an anti-persuasion forcefield. Even if you’re honest and your products are magnificent, the customer's default position is to reject your claims. The way around this is to avoid having to persuade them. If a customer sees lots of your marketing over an extended period of time, and if that marketing is always helpful, you [...]
When customers say your prices are too expensive, what they’re really complaining about is a perceived lack of value. So the solution is not to lower your prices, but to increase their perception of your value. How? Through helpful marketing. If you regularly provide your customers with marketing that answers their questions and solves their problems, [...]
Some small businesses are reluctant to do marketing because they don't want to annoy their customers. But that mindset is wrong. It's not marketing that annoys customers; it's annoying marketing that annoys customers. Annoying marketing tends to be the kind that focuses on the business and has a 'sell, sell, sell!' approach. Interesting marketing tends to [...]
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 [...]
“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 [...]
Want to build a strong personal brand or a strong reputation for your small business? One surprisingly simple tactic is to do what you say you’re going to do. I continue to be amazed by how positively new clients respond when they discover my company, Hunter & Scribe, contacts them when we say we will and [...]
Have you ever noticed how when someone gives something to you, you feel an urge to eventually give something back? Most humans operate that way – we feel an innate urge to square the ledger. That’s one of the reasons why helpful content marketing is so effective. If you keep giving to your customers, they’ll feel [...]
