20 Tips to massively improve your business

In no particular order:

  1. People buy what they want. Not what they need. You need to understand this and adjust your marketing accordingly.
  2. The word ‘Webinar’ carries a huge amount of negative baggage. It’s purely toxic. If you want to use video marketing, call it something less sleazy.
  3. People buy for their reasons. Not yours.
  4. You will never meet a person with real influence, who refers to themselves as an influencer. (The same is true of self-proclaimed leaders).
  5. When you want to generate high quality cash flow fast… find new products for your customers. It’s way quicker and far more profitable, than finding new customers for your products.
  6. Your brand is either working for you or against you. Tip: If you haven’t intentionally created a brand for your business, it’s working against you. It’s losing you money. Fix it.
  7. Bad customers or clients are the natural result of bad marketing.
  8. Keeping your promises is a proven way to build a great reputation.
  9. Everything your business does, is marketing. The way you answer the phone, your payment terms, the suppliers you choose, they way you reply to emails, your location, the way you write, the design of your website, your prices or fees, your guarantees, your social network updates… it’s all marketing.
  10. A confused mind always says no. So keep your marketing as brief and clear as possible. Fewer options. Fewer words.
  11. Businesses with a small marketing budget tend to go broke. They dabble with DIY marketing, whilst their savvy competitors eat their lunch.
  12. The most powerful marketing is permission based. When people subscribe to your list, your message is treated very differently, than an unsolicited email from a stranger.
  13. Don’t lower your prices or fees. Increase your value. Here’s how.
  14. Learn how to make your marketplace curious. Why do prospective clients call you or email you? It’s because they need to know something and their curiosity motivates them to get in touch. So, you get a sales lead or client enquiry. And a chance to convert them into a new client or customer. Don’t explain everything in your marketing, unless you want very few sales enquiries.
  15. The more your services or products resemble what your competitors offer, the less visible your business is.
  16. Embrace brevity. Shorter messages are more powerful. Most marketing I see is at least 75% too long.
  17. Avoid using buzzwords. Those who don’t understand them will be confused. Those who do understand them, will cringe.
  18. You don’t have any clients, customers or subscribers. Instead, you borrow them. You need to earn and then re-earn their custom, attention and trust.
  19. If your business isn’t attracting regular sales leads or client enquiries, your marketing is broken. The very thing that feeds your business isn’t working. It’s costing you a fortune. Needlessly. Why are you allowing this to happen? Think about that for a moment.
  20. Tell the truth. It’s the easiest, least stressful way to build a great business and your marketplace will respect you.

Source: Jim’s Marketing Blog