Ray Corcoran | Businesses
Ray Corcoran
Reviews
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25.01.2022 Great customer service is doing the right thing, *especially* when it's inconvenient
24.01.2022 So many business owners are obsessed (in a bad way) with their competitors. They all think everyone else is killing it, and their business is a mess. This is easily one of the most common trends I see between business owners.... They watch all their social media campaigns, they check their website for updates, they ask around to hear how theyre doing. Keeping tabs on what theyre doing is wise, but many have taken this to an unhealthy level. So much so they forget to "build their own castle" instead of watching their rival build theirs. Two quotes come to mind: 1. Winners focus on winning, losers focus on winners 2. Comparison is the thief of joy At some point you need to have tunnel vision and focus on crafting YOUR strategy, blowing away YOUR customers and developing YOUR team. I often get asked to duplicate a competitors marketing strategy by clients and prospects. Theyre doing this so we need to do this too Sometimes it can be a great idea, and why reinvent the wheel? But often their campaigns may not be going very well at all, and us duplicating it could be a disaster. A typical question I will ask at this point is: What *evidence* do we have that this is working? Often there is no evidence. Theyve just seen a promo, got worried theyre missing out on opportunity then want to do a knee-jerk campaign. And the rivals campaign may not even be working for them! Insanity.. You might be able to argue - they wouldnt keep running that ad if it werent profitable - but youd be surprised.. many agencies and businesses do this. This obsessive approach to your rivals also is not great for your general happiness. You end up feeling constantly behind the times, chasing someone. Run your own race, be aware of whats going on but dont drop everything to copy everyone else. Youll forever be chasing your tail. So this is a long way of saying - focus on building your own stuff, dont get creepily obsessed with your rivals and youll be fine. Ps. Is this a habit for any of you?
24.01.2022 Marketing During These Times: Client Wins + Learnings So Far Been a crazy few weeks. Heres my learnings and wins my clients have had during this time. Conference Business... Had to rapidly switch from live conferences to virtual conferences. Campaign from concept to approved ads going live was in less than 18 hours. $2,948 spend > $45,000 sales (with multiple proposals out right now) Online Auction Business Had to switch from live in person auctions around Australia to online only auctions in a few days. Got 475 registrations for the event in 6 days for $7.60 each. $3,608 spend > $120,000 revenue generated with high profit Now running these every 2 weeks. Travel Tour Company (Seriously) Travel is obviously one of the hardest hit markets. Crafted a strong new offer, addressed peoples concerns about flexible date changes and long expiry dates to give peace of mind. Created and launched the campaign within a few days, the first email generated $34,292 in sales with many more emails to come + Facebook campaign about to go live to support it. My takeaways: 1. Not everyone is broke right now Some of your market is not looking for sure. But theres very likely another equally big chunk of people who are not as impacted who still have money, still want to get stuff done during this time, sort out things theyve been meaning to buy/fix etc. Others are also keen for deals and value. 2. Ad costs are down Im seeing costs are down between 30-60% depending on who youre targeting. Not all markets should be advertising but if your offering makes sense and you can afford it, its a very good time to advertise. 3. Mobile phone usage is up Everyone is at home and on social media more. FB Messenger & Whatsapp have recorded 50% increase in usage according to a March 24 press release by FB. 4. Treat everything on a case by case basis Just because one industry, business, market, suburb, offer etc is not working doesnt mean another isnt. Theres too many variables to assume things, test things for yourself! 5. If you cant convert sales, set up sales for later Build goodwill, add value, connect with key people in LinkedIn for example, bulk create valuable content, make a hit-list of potential partners for collaborations. 6. "Slow down to speed up" - This forced pause is a great opportunity to re-evaluate how you do things in your business. Use a crap situation to your advantage and make it work for you. While theres no sugarcoating that this situation sucks, its definitely not all bad news. If you'd like help or want to discuss your current approach feel free to comment below or DM me and I will help Ray
24.01.2022 I love that feeling of exhaustion after a massive day of work..
23.01.2022 Any of these sound familiar? Our market is different = I’m scared to be on camera Don’t want to damage our brand = I don’t want to look like an idiot I haven’t got time = I’m worried the video will be a flop... We use these crutch phrases to get us off the hook from doing things that could transform our business. It allows us to retreat back to the safe space we know and are comfortable with. It allows us to preserve our ego without admitting we’re scared. Whether it’s our agency clients or consulting clients - I’m always listening out for these cop out phrases. People are great at convincing themselves why they shouldn’t do things. One thing I’d recommend is - next time you catch yourself doing it, ask yourself: What’s the worst thing that could happen? Seriously Why does this make me uncomfortable? What happens if it goes really well? Being a leader in your industry often involves standing out, doing things differently, sticking your neck out when no one else is. Don’t disguise ‘being careful’ with just being scared Think about what’s something you can try or implement that doesn’t feel 100% natural for you. It’s actually pretty fun and you can often unlock new pockets of growth doing it. Hope that helps, Ray
23.01.2022 11 Ways To Increase Cash Flow Make people pay a deposit Shorten your payment terms For B2B, don't take on clients who are under X revenue.... Give a discount for people who pay in full upfront Offer multiple payment methods to make it easy Send your invoices quickly Shorten your payment terms Increase payment terms with others (it helps, not always the best option as it can piss others off) Chase up amounts owing to you faster, never let the amount get over $X (or ideally never over $0) Create payment plans for those who are slow to pay an invoice (use this carefully) Increase your prices Strong positive cash flow plays a big role in reducing the stress of the business owner. Making revenue and profit is one part of the equation, but a temporary choke on cashflow can be very stressful. Thankfully is avoidable with adjustments like the above. What have you found effective in keeping cash flow healthy?
22.01.2022 Attention Brisbane / Sunshine Coast Business Owners (Or anyone nearby that can travel there) I'll be in both these areas Tomorrow, Thursday, Friday visiting clients.... If you are looking for help growing your (established) business and wanted to meet in person I have a few times available for coffee. We can discuss your business, what marketing strategies we can use to grow much faster. You're welcome to take the tips and implement yourself or if you want my help doing it we can discuss that too. Message this page or SMS me 0401 800 761 and we'll work out times etc. Phone chats are also available if we can't meet in person. Ray
22.01.2022 Make more profit from your FB ads by using the 'rules feature With Facebook ads, we want to scale up the winners and cut / change the losers. Problem is, you cant be sitting on your computer 24/7 making micro adjustments to the ads to make the most of it.... You cant, your agency cant (and wont). So how can you stop poor performing ads before they become a cash burning disaster? And how do you automatically scale up winning ads as soon as they make themselves known. One of my favourite features in the ads manager - and one that the average business owner may not have made use of, is the Rules feature. Just like with stock investing - you can create stop losses to automatically stop an ad if performance goes below your KPI (ps. you should have KPIs for your ads) This becomes very important when dealing with bigger budgets because if an underperforming ads starts tanking just after you go to sleep.. It could wreak havoc all night and smash through your budget and get no results. The opposite is true as well. We want to scale up the winners the second they have established themselves as a proven winner. Im a big fan of removing human involvement where possible. If we can systemise and automate it, then why wouldnt we. In this video Ill show you a couple of simple examples of rules you can use right now in your campaigns to stretch your budget even further. I'll put screenshots of specific examples in the comments too. Hope that helps Ray Ps. I'm launching a course in 2 weeks showing you how to do this + how to get more enquiries through multiple channels. If you want to be notified when it launches (plus get discounted pricing for first 10 buyers) message my page with your email address to be keep updated
21.01.2022 Why it's good to show off (and how to do it without coming across like a jerk) Two of the best ways to drive new business are to: 1. Show results of customers... 2. Teach people how to fix their problems These both involve you putting yourself out there. In the first one people dont do this because they might feel like theyre bragging. In the second one you may not feel like you know enough to teach, or might not be confident enough to get on camera. Unfortunately it isnt someone elses job to ensure you promote your business. Hopefully your customers scream from a mountaintop about how great you are but we dont wait for that. You need to get on the campaign trail for your business. Fly the flag for your business week in, week out. Showing results of customers + teaching people how to fix their problems.. .. is probably the most lethal combination in marketing. I have clients who are top tier at what they do. And they dont even post about it.. In a world of average providers, if you have above average skills/talent - you need to be out there flexing your muscles. And you can do it in a way that doesnt seem braggy or arrogant. If you havent posted on social or emailed your list about awesome things youve done lately - go tell them about it. Then do it weekly. Forever. Questions to ask: 1. How well have you been promoting how good you are lately? 2. Could you ask customers to do testimonials saying how good youve been to work with? 3. Have you been teaching your market free tips lately, how much value have you been giving your market this year so far? 4. If youre better than the typical provider in your space, could we tell that from looking at your recent emails and social posts? (It should be obvious) Ps. My course on getting enquiries and customers is launching in 2 weeks - message me with your email address to get on the waiting list for early access and discounted early pricing.
21.01.2022 7 Genuine Positives From The Last Few Months 1. Lots of really skilled people looking for jobs right now - This is a rare time when really great talent have lost their jobs. They’re hungry to work, they’re got excellent skill sets and realistically probably more flexible with their salary (That said - if they’re worth the money, pay them as such) 2. Great time to catch up on your competitors, especially bigger competitors - Small and nimble companies are better suited to ...these situations. You won’t have the crazy cost base that large companies will have. Make ground on them while they’re hurting. Can you market more, poach their staff, poach their unsatisfied customers? 3. Increased focus - Look at what moves the needle in the business, cut out everything that doesn’t help. Staying focused on one main goal can get boring/frustrating at times but it’s likely where you’ll see the best progress. 4. Forcing people to take financial management seriously - Ongoing people will have more cash in the bank for a rainy day, be more ruthless with costs, take profit margins more seriously, client selection, service offering etc. 5. Many products/services are cheaper - Cars are going cheaper, houses in many areas are likely to be cheaper, rents (especially commercial) are going down 6. Increased government grants - Instant asset write off increased and extended, cashflow boosts, industry specific grants, Jobkeeper / Jobseeker, likely business tax cuts coming up too 7. Ad costs are lower - Across most markets there’s less competition in the ad auctions, cheaper leads, cheaper CPM’s Ain’t all bad news, take advantage of the awesome opportunities that this unique situation offers - for many businesses this was the shake up they needed to come out a much stronger business. Hope that helps, Ray
21.01.2022 [ Client Results - August 2018 ] Some great client wins coming through over the last few months, we've had a big focus on doing the basics right. Here's (in my opinion) some of the key drivers for the revenue/profit growth:... 1. Being strict about your 'marketing musts' - making sure no month or week goes by without you putting promotions/content out to the market (whether it's email/social/events etc). Treat it like the gym, if you don't go every week, you won't get the best result every week. 2. Getting back to the core of what problem your customer has, what impact it's having on their daily life, and positioning our products/services as the best logical solution to that 3. When something works, hit it hard - If you're fortunate enough to have a winner of a campaign, flog that horse as much as you can. Make it a weekly/monthly/quarterly campaign if it was so good. Get the most juice you can out of it. 4. You have to look good everywhere - Customers do more research than ever before to suss you out. Do your best to ensure FB looks good, reviews look good, the website looks good enough etc. This helps form an overall picture of 'can I trust you to fix my problem, or not?' 5. Don't be afraid to spend money - Ensure it's within your KPI's but if you want faster growth invest to grow your client base. Increase your prices or work on up-sell opportunities if you need help making the maths work. 6. Put just as much effort into customer service as you do with marketing - This is an easy area to win in my opinion because the overall standard is so low. Go to uncommon lengths to ensure they are super happy with your product/service. Those micro moments of awesome customer service is what gets your customers talking about you at bbq's etc. If you have an established business and are considering getting help growing faster - message me and we can talk further. Cheers, Ray
20.01.2022 Recent Client Wins - September 2019 Property Investment Training Company - Created a campaign that generated 2,000+ event registrations using Facebook Ads Travel Company - Created a campaign that generated over 12,000 unique leads (with phone numbers) to their database in 45 days. Have already made 7.5x in sales compared to ad spend, with more sales coming over the long term.... Podiatrist - Biggest month ever in August, doubled previous average revenue Physiotherapist 1 - Biggest week ever (and broke the record multiple times over the last 2 months) Physiotherapist 2 - Opened 10th Clinic, 2 more in the pipeline If you have a business doing 6 or ideally 7 figures+ and want to grow faster, message this page and we can book a call. During the call well look at what youre doing currently, Ill provide suggestions to help you grow faster and if you want to hire me cool, if not all good too. Ill make sure its valuable for you regardless of what you choose. I can help you with: Facebook Ads Google Ads Email Marketing Video Marketing Crafting your marketing strategy Getting more customers Selling more to existing customers Training + up-skilling your marketing team members Ray
20.01.2022 PSA: Keep spending Everyone's done a video on the recent events, wanted to share a couple of other thoughts too. 1. Keep spending - Whether you're a business owner or employee, everyone is affected by everyone not spending. Some things won't make sense to spend on, sure, but the economy thrives (and we all make money) when money is circulating. Just like algae can only grow in a lake where the water is either still or slow moving, the economy only does well when the money is ...flowing around. 2. Think about 6-12 months from now - Cancelling everything and going full defensive can create problems where there were none before. This will for sure cause pain for people short term, but it will be business as usual in 6/12/18 months from now. 3. You don't decide whether customers want to buy right now - Don't short change yourself by assuming that no one needs your products and services right now. Be aware demand may get lower, but that's for them to decide, not you. Some people have already basically thrown in the towel on 2020, which usually becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy 4. Use any decrease in demand to work on other areas of the business that often get neglected - Training your team, building systems, bulk creating marketing content. These are all things which will help you come back 1000x harder when things inevitably pick back up again. 5. Don't promote less - If your marketing activities work, it is absolute insanity to stop doing what helps pay your bills and bring in customers. The only thing I can guarantee is less activity will equal less customers and leads. Maybe adjust the approach but don't kid yourself putting your foot off the gas. 6. Separate what you hear about and what actually happens. Tune out the noise, it won't make you feel any better and ultimately you can only work on what's in front of you - your business, your staff, your customers, your effort. Hope that helps, Ray
20.01.2022 Had an awesome day on Friday listening to John Hardy - best known for building up and selling Godfreys and for succeeding at multiple (difficult) company turnarounds including BBQs Galore and Amart Furniture (before they were the massive companies they are today). He said a bunch of smart things, but one of my favourites was his approach to rewarding his staff. Every business he went into, he had a focus on incentivising his staff well to make sales. When people are being p...aid a typical wage why would they care about making extra sales? Senior people within the business pushed back on this idea saying itll cost too much. He was adamant about paying good commissions to these staff if they could sell product and almost overnight sales jumped and it worked in every business he implemented it in. If they can sell, why would we put a limit on how much we pay them, ideally we want to pay them as much as possible.. He'd take great enjoyment from his staff sending him pictures of things they had bought or holidays they had been on with their family The bloke is hilarious and also was awesome to see someone still enjoying working every day even though he hasnt needed to for a very long time. The photo sucks but it was a great event - put on by Mitch Harper / David Kenney
19.01.2022 At a Shopify Plus e-commerce event tonight hearing whats working for brands right now Many service based businesses could learn a lot from (well-run) e-comm businesses. Theyre so clear on their numbers, they understand profitability and that allows them to spend heavily on ads to scale fast.... Ps. If youre in e-comm I recommend following Jay Wright (pictured), hes a gun
19.01.2022 Client Case Study: $1,100,000 Banked In 71 Days Screenshot below. Here are the stats:... 71 Days (22 March 2020 - 31 May 2020) 5 Online Auctions $42,165 Spend 4,831 Event Registrations $8.72 Per Registration $1,100,000+ In Revenue Banked For every $1 in ad spend, we made $25 back in revenue In the middle of these crazy times. ** Key Learnings ** Don't be scared to spend - This client started by spending $3,600 per event, then $4,300, then $12,900 and next event we'll spend even more. When you know your numbers you can spend big confidently and grow unusually fast. Don't overcomplicate it - There were no messenger chat bots, complicated campaign set ups or 'secret' strategies. Just very strong advertising fundamentals. The campaign worked because it was a well written ad, a strong landing page, a great offer, excellent follow up, and good sales skills during the event. No new strategies, just doing the fundamentals right and ignoring everything else. Margins give you power - I never want to be in the low margin/high volume business. I always want to be in the high margin/high volume business where possible. If you haven't got good margins, you can't make great profit, you can't allocate much to advertising and it's harder to scale faster. Think about how you can increase your pricing, reduce your costs, find new efficiencies and improve your margins - so you have more room to play with. One big campaign can transform your business - This campaign had evolved over time, and it went from making a good profit initially, to an incredible profit and now sky's the limit. One big breakthrough can completely change the trajectory of the business forever. I love seeing a client's beliefs change too once they see for themselves what it possible, very cool. It's one thing to hear about a case study, but it's another when it happens to you and you see it before your own eyes. Don't listen to idiots who say don't sell right now - Like I said recently, don't listen to people who say you can't sell right now. They're probably saying that because they're struggling to sell. That's nothing to do with you. Check for yourself. From what our team is seeing most markets are actually doing pretty good. If you have an established business and you want to grow faster / hire my team, message this page and we can have a (no pressure) chat about your current marketing approach and how it could be improved. Have a great week, Ray
19.01.2022 Which one are you? I dont want to spend too much on advertising I dont like doing videos I dont want do a special offer... I dont want to send too many emails Im not sure theyll even want to meet with me I havent got time to market the business OR Lets invest a small amount and make that work, then scale Ill do my first practice video, even if its terrible Lets test this offer We can send a couple of extra emails as a test The worst they can say is no - best case I build a profitable partnership I'll cancel X this week so I can fit time in for marketing Some businesses aren't growing, and the reason is the business owner has an excuse for every potential path for growth. At some point you will need to: Do new strategies you haven't done before Put yourself in uncomfortable / foreign territory Spend money you haven't spent before And work harder than you have before Your choice
18.01.2022 Two people who have helped me massively this year have been Mitchell Harper and David Kenney. One of the biggest gifts someone can give is a different perspective on what youre doing, and both of these guys have really helped me consider things I wouldnt have otherwise. Spent Tuesday working out whats the game plan for 2020 and what adjustments need to be made. This year has been great and looking forward to ripping in next year
16.01.2022 FB Ads are cheaper, but what about Google Ads? I gotta say it is a glorious time to be advertising. For those who are fortunate enough to be allowed to stay open + have the cashflow to invest in ads..... You'd be crazy to not be getting in there while everyone else is scared. 'Advertising' is having a big discount sale and the sale ends probably in a few months once everything returns to normal. Now, don't go silly just blowing cash - all the usual rules of doing great ads still apply - but for those who know what they're doing it's probably a once in a 10-20 year advertising opportunity, no exaggeration. Ad costs across all platforms will rise over time as more advertisers come on, overall spend increases and quality of the advertisers gets more sophisticated. However, this is a freak occurrence where lots of people are unfortunately hurting, and big brands aren't swinging their weight around online as much. If you can service customers in some way, and you have the money in the back to invest in either building your audience or even selling - you should be. Blanket statements like 'don't be selling right now' are ridiculous. It always needs to be treated on a case by case basis. I'm running campaigns right now selling 6 figures of travel tours in Asia, business services, healthcare, artworks, thousands of online event registrations per week and lots of non-essential products and services. As I said before, some markets are definitely not buying, but don't shortchange yourself by listening to some idiot's opinion and not checking for yourself (same goes for me haha). The screenshot attached is from a Google account I manage across a 4 week window from 13 April - 10 May. Blue line is conversions going up: 18 conversions a week 37 conversions a week (Up 106%) Red line is the cost per conversion going down: $48.57 cost per conv $35.84 cost per conv (Down 26%) Just wanted to show this as people may have heard ad costs are lower but not seen any data or actual screenshots showing the trend. If you have a current marketing budget and are looking to fire up your ads again or switch agency - feel free to reach out and we can chat to see if it's a fit. Ray
16.01.2022 Are Facebook ads dying? Apple has recently announced the upcoming release of iOS14 which will be rolled out to Apple mobile devices over the coming weeks and months. There’s a big issue in the tech industry around user privacy coming to the forefront at the moment....Continue reading
15.01.2022 Sunday lesson: Don’t reduce your price to drive more volume It’s a race to the bottom and it makes the mathematics of growing your business harder, not easier. You’re welcome to test this and track it, in my experience 9 times out of 10 it will slow, not accelerate your growth.... From an advertising perspective, you’re basically destroying the customer acquisition cost we could have used. Learn how to sell at a higher price Build more value Add more confidence and certainty Add a guarantee so they feel okay with it Add benefits, add value Make your offering more unique Everything is easier when you’re a higher priced, premium provider. And it’s more fun developing a world class offering than just offering average services for an average market price. Most people way underprice their services. And be aware that 99% of that comes down to their personal confidence and doubts Hope that helps and if you have questions ask and I’ll assist
14.01.2022 [ How to make better social media content ] Who do you currently follow on social media? Why do you follow them?... What about them do you like? Are they funny, interesting, straight to the point, enthusiastic, inspirational, helpful, educational? Why do you follow them instead of other people in that industry? Make notes on this. You will find that the reason you follow these people is because they give you what you want. Now look at your own social content. How can you add that into your content. The best social media content has f-all to do with what camera you have or what audio you have. If you give people what they want from your content, it will do well. And they will follow you. And they will probably buy from you. Here are my notes on my favourite business social media accounts: 1. They are consistently useful 2. I know they wont waste my time 3. They get straight to the point 4. They have a fair ratio of value:promotion 5. Theyre funny to watch 6. They growing fast and it gets me pumped to see that 7. Theyre the opposite of the typical w*nkers in that industry, a breath of fresh air 8. I resonate with their personality If you want to lift your social media content standards before the end of this week, make a list of why you follow others. Then do some or all of that. If you have questions let me know Ray
14.01.2022 Have always found preparing extra has never let me down. Attending a networking event tomorrow morning and have made a list of the people attending, what they do, their business name and which ones (from the surface) would probably be great to talk to. I love attending events with as much info as possible on who I could be meeting so its easy to get a better return on my time
12.01.2022 Do you have time allocated every week to work *on* the business? This is a basic question and not a new concept, but I'd say conservatively 80%+ of business owners don't do it. This is a really common difference between the small 6 figure businesses and the larger 7 & 8 figure businesses I work with.... It's impossible to generate large growth when you spend 100% of your week servicing clients or managing weekly minutiae. I'd say most people know this concept but few do it. It's easy to get dragged into the small stuff, but ultimately it's your business and your job to ensure long term growth. And you can't get long term growth without taking time out each week to build the things that will get you there. Here's how you could spend that time: - Building systems / processes for things that you currently do so you can do it faster yourself - Finding staff or software to do things you do - Looking at your pricing model - Looking at your product and service offering (Does your current offering allow for leverage?) - Thinking about ways to get leverage and scale in your marketing (ie. maybe transitioning to paid marketing where you can reach large numbers of people) I have been guilty in the past of being happy with consistent, gradual growth. This is nice, but you're not reaching your potential because you're just doing what do always do and getting organic growth. Most businesses need big shifts to get big growth. And unless you have time dedicated to do it, in my experience it never happens. Business owners can go literally 5, 10 or 15 years not thinking about this stuff. They almost get in a rhythm being happy with gradual small growth. If that's what you want that's fine, but most deep down would love to take it to the next level but never make the time to work on the things that will unlock that. The time is there if you take it seriously, take the chunk out of your week and start laying the foundations for a business double or triple the size. Hope that helps, if you have questions or want help comment below or message this page. Ray
12.01.2022 Excited to be speaking at QuickBooks Connect Conference in Sydney on May 24. Presenting on productivity - how to get more done in 3 months than most do in 12. Mark Bouris, Melanie Perkins, Collette Dinnigan plus a bunch of smart cookies from Quickbooks are also speaking. ... Use the code GROW to get 20% off your ticket and mention my name at the door to get no special treatment whatsoever. #qbconnect
10.01.2022 Injecting hope and leadership into your marketing (especially right now) Everywhere you look right now, it seems like it’s a never-ending stream of bad news (that’s only getting worse) This creates an interesting opportunity as positive news stands out more than ever.... In this week’s video - wanted to discuss how important it is to inject hope and leadership into your marketing - whether it’s social posts, video marketing, emails to your database, during sales calls etc. I personally think hope is one of the strongest human emotions there is - everyone wants to feel like their future is going to be better than their current reality. With everything that has happened in the last 6 months, most people’s hope has evaporated. In sales we need to communicate to our prospects that their future will be better with our product/service - the same is true for our content we put out there. For gym clients - Iso doesn’t need to be an excuse to look and feel terrible For travel clients - 2020 has been rough, let’s give you something to look forward to in 2021 For b2b services clients - It’s been tough lately, but this can actually be the best thing that ever happened to you if you approach it right (which I 150% believe) Our prospects are also looking for leadership - they want people to take them by the hand, carry the torch and lead them out of the darkness. People who add this to their marketing will attract more people - people want to follow great leaders, and they want to follow people who make them feel positive about their future. Look at your last 5-10 posts/videos/emails and ask how much leadership are you showing. Hope that helps, Ray
10.01.2022 The Hidden Revenue Goldmine If youre hooked to the new customer drug you may want to read this. New customers are great and everything, but its hard work.... Usually higher cost, higher amount of time spent, higher amounts of trust to build. It can be exhausting. And while it IS necessary, it should only be done IN TANDEM with marketing to past customers and enquiries. Most people spend 90% or even 100% trying to find new customers. That ratio is out of whack. Its making you work way harder for the same equivalent revenue growth, compared to doing equal amounts of both. Youve spent all this time building trust with existing and past clients, but then you suddenly want to go start this process all over again winning over new people from zero? Seems a bit silly, doesnt it? Marketing to existing and past customers If youre trying to grow revenue this quarter, look at whos spent money with you in the past. Ask these questions 1 Do they need more of the original thing you sold them? Remind them. 2 Do they have a different problem you are capable of solving? Offer help. 3 Do you need to create a new service or product to fix different problems for them? Create it. 2 Can they introduce you to new customers in their network? Ask them. As always, if youre unsure just ask them. Simply email or SMS them to ask, dont overcomplicate it. And even if they dont have any urgent current need for your services, stay in touch and continue to add value for them. Because when the time comes to use your service again, youre going to be at the top of their consideration set. Your future cashflow will thank you for it. Your action for the month: Reach out to your current client base and offer them either the same thing again or offer them something complimentary that goes well with what theyve bought prior. Final bit of advice Dont get caught up in the details of the email scripts, the time of the email, whether a phone call is best etc. Everyone spends too much time on minor things. Try call them if youre on great terms, email/SMS otherwise. Most people never shake the tree enough, youll be surprised with what you find if you really check. Ray
10.01.2022 3 Battle-Tested Ways To Be More Productive (Ps. Apologies for being one of those jerks who does videos in their car, I am officially part of the problem) Regardless of which strategy you use, being able to get stuff done is crucial.... Most people arent very good at this and it holds them back from making meaningful progress. Theres no shortage of people who are busy, but there is a shortage of people who are effective. The hallmark of an amateur is allowing yourself to get pulled into the minor things that dont matter every day. Professionals spot these things quickly and ensure they dont wreck their day. In todays video I talk about three effective adjustments you can make to get more of the right things done. 1. Add in non-negotiable "sacred time" - Before your day gets crazy, set aside uninterrupted time to work on the most important parts of your business. This is great to maintain your sanity and keep the ship going in the right direction 2. Manage the people around you - Most people arent productive and value their time. Be clear about what things are acceptable to come to you about, who is the first point of contact for certain information, show them written systems which answer their questions, let people know when you'll answer your emails etc. 3. Identify needle movers and spend all your week doing them - Determine what tasks are high impact in your business and aim to spend your entire week on these things for best results. Hope that helps, Ray Ps. I'm launching a group program soon where we do a group call once per week - if you're keen DM me I'll tell you more about it.
10.01.2022 Did an interview about trade marks and business law with Ian Aldridge, Principal Lawyer at Progressive Legal. If you've ever wanted to learn how trade marks work, how much they cost, why do you need them, how long do they take etc - Ian explains it in plain English in this interview, check it out.
09.01.2022 How to get more people responding to your social media posts and emails - Using this framework Lots of business owners publish tonnes of content and nobody responds to it. This takes up lots of their time and frustrates them because nobody seems to care. ... They scratch their head and say things like "Facebook doesn't work, nobody reads emails, people don't like too much spam". Then the business owner will wonder why they bother and stop creating content altogether, which usually makes their problem worse. The reason it happens sometimes can be due to poor organic reach and other external factors, but it is also usually because your content doesn't resonate with your ideal customer. It doesn't do this: Talk about a problem they have Demonstrate you understand their problem in high detail Make it clear you have a solution for them Show proof this solution works Have a call to action or next step As a result, I recommend using a simple framework / checklist to ensure your content follows the 'rules' of effective content. It's hard enough getting cut-through in a noisy world, without you putting out rubbish content on top of that. Give it the best chance possible by doing what works. I'd rather do less posts and have them resonate, than post half-baked content daily. Here's the framework: 1. Problem - Describe their problem in a high level of detail. This is where you build the bulk of your influence and connection with the reader. "If you can describe their problem better than they can, they'll automatically think you have the solution." 2. Impact - What is the impact of the problem on their daily life. Show you understand how this problem is affecting them. 3. Solution / Tips - Depending on the type of content, either explain what the solution is, or talk about tips to help them begin to fix that problem. 4. Proof - Show proof that someone following these tips or using this solution has gotten results. 5. Call To Action - Tell them what to do next. Buy your thing, book a call, join your email list, like your page etc. Hope that helps, and if you have any questions let me know and I'm happy to assist. Cheers, Ray Ps. If you want to join my email newsletter on marketing and business growth go to the link in the comments. One good email per month only Pps. If you have an established, service based business and you want to ramp up your revenue / profit in 2019, message this page and we should have a chat
09.01.2022 Great day speaking at the sold out Quickbooks Connect Conference 2018 on Thursday. Had a packed house and good energy in the room, and a few laughs of course as well. The conference itself was awesome too - I hadn't been to a Quickbooks event before and I was really impressed with how professional the whole thing was
08.01.2022 Stuck? Try Quantity THEN Quality Has it been weeks since you posted on your company page? Have you not emailed your list in months?... For those who are stuck getting content out there, I recommend trying one little adjustment to get the wheels moving again. *Temporarily* ignore quality and focus on quantity. The hardest part for many people is just getting into the rhythm. They may use cop-out excuses like: I dont know what to post I dont know when to post Im not sure if this is the right topic I havent had a haircut The lighting where I am is poor Im not good on camera, havent done it much before The excuse doesnt matter, it all means the same thing: Theyve got some sort of fear.. (insert dramatic music) To solve this - you simply need to break the seal Start posting. Who cares if it sucks. Who cares if youre awkward as hell. Who cares if you start rambling. Average content can still create average results. And thats better than no results. This very video.. I could have shaved. I could have got better lighting. I could have had a coffee first. I could have said um and ah less. But who cares Id rather have published content this week and it couldve been better than post one absolutely epic video once a year that smashes it out of the park. I know which one works better. So if youre stuck overthinking your marketing - Post some garbage The internets already full of garbage so you throwing another crap video on top wont wreck anything But jokes aside - youll get the ball rolling.. Then we can always improve the quality from there. Easier to turn a moving vehicle than a stationary one Hope that helps, Ray Ps. If you post a crap video this week tag me in it Id love to see!!
08.01.2022 ** SURVEY ** I need your opinion If I made a group program showing service based businesses how to get customers, what specifically would you want to know? What do you think should be included??... Please be specific about exactly what you'd want to know. What do you struggle with? What would be valuable for you if I could show you how to do it? I want it to be practical, straight to the point and based on what actually works from my 1:1 client work over the years. Some ideas: Facebook Ads Landing Pages Sales Calls Email Marketing Video Marketing Public Speaking LinkedIn Marketing Thank you in advance
08.01.2022 How to create 6 months of HD video content in 2 hours Theres 6 reasons why most business owners dont film regular video content: 1. They are scared to be on camera...Continue reading
07.01.2022 Fun day yesterday teaching LinkedIn strategies to the lovely ladies at Highspec Properties. Here's (some) of what we discussed: 1. How the LinkedIn algorithm works and how to use it to your advantage... 2. What types of content to post and at what frequency 3. LinkedIn automation tools which scale your network on autopilot 4. How to get consistent leads through LinkedIn (without hassling people, like many others do) 5. Optimising your profile to get the right kinds of attention 6. How to approach LinkedIn with the right 'attitude' so you build genuinely win-win relationships If you have a team (big or small) who would benefit from marketing training on 'what's actually working now' (with proven case studies), feel free to message me - would love to meet your team. Cheers, Ray
06.01.2022 He plays it down but I always learn so much in a short period of time talking to David Kenney - whether its investing, growing businesses, planning ahead or hiring. Ps. Have a few new videos on the way
05.01.2022 Never worry about getting customers ever again by building a proper marketing system Businesses that only relied on word of mouth have been hurting more than most this year. People wear it like a badge of honour. ... I’ve never spent a cent on marketing It’s great that you’ve been able to grow by simply doing a good job - definitely on the right track. But when I hear that, I think: If you did that AND proactive marketing, you would have killed it way more. What if your competitors also did a great job.. where’s your edge? Using proven, modern marketing strategies + delivering huge value for your customers is a potent mix. With word of mouth drying up for many businesses, they’ve scrambled to start trying proactive marketing strategies to get people in the door. Problem is, they’re starting from scratch. There’s no existing campaigns, they haven’t emailed their list in years, months - or worse still, they’ve not collected emails over the years from customers. High performing campaigns are tuned over time, the best ones are the result of multiple months of fine tuning to squeeze out the best results. So if you’re starting that process now, you’re behind the 8 ball compared to your competitors who have been proactive running campaigns already. Having a handful of proven, proactive marketing channels is an insurance policy for your business. You still get word of mouth as you’ve always done - but you’ve diversified. You’ve got multiple flows of new customers. No algorithm update or ad account ban will severely disrupt your business. My question to you is - what are you doing to ensure you aren’t so heavily reliant on word of mouth in 2021? If the answer is not much, feel free to message me our team can help. Cheers, Ray
03.01.2022 Growing your business by addressing the elephant in the room Most businesses have one main area theyve been avoiding addressing to grow their business. Could be things like:... Building out their team Spending large amounts of money on ads Spending money hiring Making a big change to their product mix Putting themselves out there in a much bigger way Adjust their pricing model I notice a lot of businesses try to avoid making a major change because of obvious reasons: Its hard Its scary Theres no certainty itll work Itll take a lot of effort Customers, staff, other directors might complain / disagree about it The business owner will often be transfixed on micro changes to keep themselves busy and avoid doing the big things that would really get things moving. One question I like to ask is: Ignore the logistics of making that change for a second - if we got that done, could it make a major positive impact on the business? Ultimately, if it seems like the right thing to do - then you need to do it (or at least try it / test it) Our brains will often mix: [ The task we need to do + our feelings about doing the task ] We know we should probably do the thing, but then our feelings get in the way.. We worry about what happens if we stuff it up, what happens if it doesnt work. Sometimes its best to suppress the fear part of your brain.. Commit to making the change Put 150% into making it work, without hesitating. And see where that takes you. Often making big moves like this can create a surge of new growth and a renewed energy in the business. Like striking gold almost, you go from losing faith to a new lease on life. Sometimes a big breakthrough is all you needed to triple your drive and motivation. I know Ive had moments where Ive been stuck on something for a while, then one day I have a breakthrough and suddenly everything clicks. So, the question is: What is ONE major area.. That if you addressed it.. Could unlock a *major* uplift in growth in your company? Many of you will probably instantly know what it is. Make that area a major focus in your business over this quarter and next quarter. The alternative is incremental, safe growth.. Which isnt bad.. But wont be the home-run success you probably had in mind when you started the business.. Hope that helps Ray Ps. I'm launching a group program soon for service based businesses, if you're interested in joining message this page and we can chat
03.01.2022 3 Differences Between Amateurs And Professionals 1 Planning Morning plans. Weekly plans. Long term plans.... How would you like the future to look like? What do you need to do each day to make that happen? Be clear on what must be done and what you are intentionally not doing. Invest 5 minutes each day into directing your energy on what matters. Some would rather spend months on end blindly working crazy, than being smart and deliberate in what they do. 2 Tracking One of the major difference between amateur athletes and professionals is the level of tracking between them. The higher up you go, the more detailed your tracking is. How can you troubleshoot issues if you have no detail around actual performance? A popular cop-out here is not being a numbers person or not having time to keep tabs on things. Identify the biggest numbers in your business (its often under 10 major metrics) and watch them like a hawk. 3 Commitment The best clients Ive ever worked with have an attitude of - regardless of what happens, Im going to do the thing I set out to do. Theyre extremely committed to what theyre doing, they know (and expect) most things to go wrong. But they know if they are more committed and more persistent than all their competitors, they will win in the long term every time. Things are easier when youre committed, wasting energy on should I / shouldnt I just distracts you while more committed people power ahead on what they want. Commitment makes so many things easier and quicker to decide. ---- Think about your approach over the last financial year - have you been truly operating like a professional? Or has it been of a rookie with limited planning, tracking and commitment? Ray
02.01.2022 One of my favourite parts of the week is taking time out to think about everything. If the weather permits, usually somewhere out in the sun. Ive found working non-stop from very early in the morning to very late at night:... 1. Isnt good for my health 2. Isnt even productive anyway Its basically guilt working where you stay at your desk because god forbid you actually have a break. I see intentional time out as something that increases my productivity when Im at my desk.. because Im refreshed, not stressed and clear on what to work on. Some people will say "oh but I cant do that because
02.01.2022 9 Problems Ive Seen That Stop Businesses Growing 1 They move too slow They take forever to make a decision. Days and weeks go past without them making a call. Decide, get feedback and adjust as necessary. As they say Money loves speed... 2 They dont spend enough They dont invest in advertising, they dont invest in their staff, they um and ah over paying $99 per month for some software (even though equivalent software wouldve been thousands of dollars 10 years ago) 3 Their pricing / business model is wrong They dont charge enough to make enough profit. Hard working people are at big risk here - the fastest way to burnout is working your butt off with the wrong business model. 4 They arent consistent with marketing Ive spoken about this before. They market when they need customers, not year round like they should. Treat it like the gym, its easier when you are consistent. 5 They have limiting beliefs They only believe they could make $X per month max without falling apart, and anything beyond that would be a stretch. There are people who make 100x what you make doing less hours per week. They just leverage more people and work smarter. 6 They dont try new things They blindly keep doing the same old marketing effort theyve always done. It doesnt work but they know no other way. If your current approach isn't working why are you so attached to it? Either modify it or try something new 7 They dont do enough marketing activity The market regularly but the volume simply isnt there. Minimal emails, minimal social posts, small budget ads etc. Think about it like a professional athlete compared to an amateur. Their volume of training alone is way more than the amateur. 8 They burn all their leads They get leads, but their follow up is poor or non-existent. If they dont buy straight away they never speak to them again or try to nurture that relationship. 9 They are crap at sales They dont think they are a sales person and dont put any effort into learning sales. They think the quality of their work should be strong enough. The standard in 2019 and beyond will continue to grow. Your competitors will be growing their skills every year, what you got away with a few years ago may not cut it this year. The solution to all of these problems is fairly straightforward. Decide quicker. Spend more. Increase prices. Market consistently. Be open to bigger revenue numbers. Try new things. Market harder. Follow up thoroughly. Master sales conversations. None of this is rocket science but it still stops people hitting bigger numbers. The stuff youve heard before is often your biggest blind spots. Now, instead of trying to address everything at once.. Pick one you struggle with the most and laser focus in on that for the next month. That will yield better results than being over ambitious and failing at it all and going back to square one. Hope that helped and any questions let me know Ray
01.01.2022 Sunday lesson: Dont reduce your price to drive more volume Its a race to the bottom and it makes the mathematics of growing your business harder, not easier. Youre welcome to test this and track it, in my experience 9 times out of 10 it will slow, not accelerate your growth.... From an advertising perspective, youre basically destroying the customer acquisition cost we could have used. Learn how to sell at a higher price Build more value Add more confidence and certainty Add a guarantee so they feel okay with it Add benefits, add value Make your offering more unique Everything is easier when youre a higher priced, premium provider. And its more fun developing a world class offering than just offering average services for an average market price. Most people way underprice their services. And be aware that 99% of that comes down to their personal confidence and doubts Hope that helps and if you have questions ask and Ill assist
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