[00:03]
Darren Jamieson: On this week’s Engaging Marketeer, I want to talk about how people are really, really boring with the way they advertise their business and the way they talk about what they do. If you keep boring people to death, they are not going to use you, refer you, or even come up and ask how you can help them within their business because… you’re just boring the crap out of them.
Now, I’ve been to a lot of networking meetings and events where people stand up and talk about what they do, how they do it, and sometimes, who they’re looking for. I went to one just the other night, and every single person, one after the other, did pretty much the same thing:
[00:45]
Darren Jamieson: Each person would stand up and say, “Hi, I’m John. I’m an accountant. I help people with their tax returns. If you’re looking for an accountant to help you with your tax returns, then come and speak to me. I can talk to you afterwards.” Then it would move on to the next person, who would say something like, “Hi, I’m Steve. I’m a financial advisor. I help people with their financial advice. Come and talk to me if you want some help with your financial advice.” And so on and so forth.
It was the most boring thing I’ve ever heard in my entire life. Then it came to me.
[01:26]
Darren Jamieson: Now, funnily enough, I didn’t do what everyone else was doing. I could have stood up and said, “Hi, my name’s Darren Jamieson. I’m a web designer. I help people with their websites, online marketing, SEO, PPC, and social media. I can give you a website and SEO and help you rank on Google and all of that stuff. Come and talk to me if you’re interested.”
But, obviously, I didn’t do that, because… that would have been terrible. Nobody would have been interested, and nobody would have listened, because the long and short of it is nobody wants a website. They don’t want SEO, social media marketing, or pay-per-click. No, what they want is what comes after it.
[02:00]
Darren Jamieson: People want more business, more leads… but then again, even that’s not quite right. Business owners, deep down, don’t want more leads, because more leads mean more work, and quite frankly, as a species, we are inherently lazy. We don’t want to do more work.
So, what do they actually want? More money? Well, yes, they want more money. But what’s the point of more money if you’re working 12-hour days and have no time to spend it? That’s not going to work either.
So, here’s what I actually did: I stood up and said – bear in mind, this is Engage Web, a digital marketing agency. We help people with websites and marketing – but I didn’t mention any of that. I stood up and said, “I am looking for business owners who want to become filthy rich by selling their businesses for millions.”
[03:01]
Darren Jamieson: That got people’s attention. People thought, “I don’t even know what this guy does or who he is, but quite frankly, I’d like to be filthy rich. I’d like to sell my business for millions.” That grabbed people’s attention.
Then, I gave four examples of businesses – some that they had heard of – who had worked with us and achieved exactly that. I talked about a garden center client who sold their business to a competitor and retired to the good life after working with us for several years, making 1.3 million in revenue in the first 12 months through their website. I shared the story of an underfloor heating company that worked with us to automate their online leads and sales processes and then sold to a well-known builder merchant for around 17 million. They’re now doing it again with another business.
[04:05]
Darren Jamieson: I also mentioned a hot air balloon operator who worked with us for many years and sold their business to a large brand – yes, the one founded by Richard Branson. Finally, I talked about a serviced office company, which some people hadn’t heard of, but they definitely knew the company they sold to – Regus. I’m sure you’ve heard of Regus offices.
So, after sharing these four examples, I finished by saying I was looking for the next business owner who wants to become filthy rich by scaling their business with automated online sales and leads processes so they can sell it for millions and retire to do whatever they want with their time.
[05:10]
Darren Jamieson: That’s Darren Jamieson from Engage Web. We don’t build websites; we build businesses. Yes, it’s a little bit corny, but I like that line.
And it was only at the very end that I mentioned who I was or anything about websites, because, as I pointed out, nobody gives a crap about a website. Nobody wants a website. Anyone can get a website for free with Wix, or pay a guy down the pub 50 quid or buy him a few beers, and he’ll build you one. Don’t get me wrong – it’ll probably be crap, but it’ll be your website.
[05:43]
Darren Jamieson: So, if you go into one of these networking meetings where you stand up and introduce yourself by talking about what you do, you’re going to be just like every other person there. Nobody cares. Nobody gives a toss what you do.
If you’re an accountant and talk about accounting, why are you doing that? Because nobody cares. If you’re a financial advisor and you talk about financial advice, that’s not going to work either. If you’re a solicitor talking about legal stuff, nobody cares. And if you’re a web designer… well, you get the point.
There’s absolutely no reason to do this. Instead, you need to look at what happens after clients work with you. You need to focus on why they actually work with you. What do your target clients actually want? What were the real results for your ideal clients – the ones who have benefited from working with you the most? What did they get out of it?
[06:47]
Darren Jamieson: I don’t mean, “They got a website” or “Their tax return was done.” Everyone else does that, too. What were the actual results? That way, when you go to these events and stand up to introduce yourself, you’ll stand out. People will remember what you say and want to speak with you afterward, thinking, “Wow, that was different. I want to find out more about that. I want them to help me, because clearly, they’ve helped others in the exact way I need.”
So stop talking about bloody websites, because nobody gives a crap.
[07:21]
Darren Jamieson: I hope that’s been helpful – a bit of a rant, but there we go. Leave me a review if it has, or leave comments on the YouTube video if you’re watching there, and I’ll catch you on the next podcast.
