Inbound Marketing on a Dime – Generate More Traffic Today!

So you’ve read articles, watched webinars, maybe even attended a seminar or two about Inbound Marketing. You’re hooked. You’re ready to get started!  The only problem is, you’re not sure you have the budget for a full-on Inbound Marketing campaign.

Inbound Marketing on a Dime

Inbound Marketing doesn’t have to cost an arm and a leg!

You have probably heard of Hubspot as well.  Inbound and Hubspot typically go hand in hand, and if you are running a serious inbound campaign, Hubspot is by far the best option and in the end, the most cost effective solution.  As a result, many people have had their excitement about inbound tempered by sticker shock when they see what agencies typically charge for their monthly fees.  We are going to do something though that might fly in the face of what a software partner should do — we’re going to tell you how to attack an inbound marketing campaign WITHOUT Hubspot.

3 Major Components

A good inbound marketing campaign needs a minimum of three major components: (more…)

Your Website Is Like Bilbo’s Ring

A Hobbit Hole built 20 minutes from our office in Flag Pond, TN.

The Hobbit opens a week from today.  Not only is it one of my favorite tales, I’ve grown to admire Martin Freeman, who plays Bilbo.  (He is near-perfect as Dr. Watson in BBC’s Sherlock.)

If you know nothing of Tolkien’s Middle Earth, feel free to check back in later.  This post will make absolutely no sense.

I’ve been re-reading The Hobbit and LOTR lately and it occurs to me that there are some similarities between The One Ring and your website.  So kick your chair back, prop up your furry-toed feet, light a pipe-ful of Old Tobey, and let’s jump right in with un-Ent-like haste . . .

It Controls The Other Rings

You might recall that Bilbo’s ring is the one master ring that controls the others.

Three Rings for the Elven-kings under the sky, (more…)

Shift of Power to the Consumer

Shift of Power to the Consumer

My nephew Oliver illustrates the new found power of the consumer.

I am 4 pages into writing a new eBook.  We’re working on an accompanying InfoGraphic as well.  Stay tuned.  I’m having a blast writing it.

In some of my research, I came across what I think is one of the best statements of the tectonic shift away from Outbound and toward Inbound Marketing that I have ever read.  And it is not from a company that has anything to benefit from promoting Inbound.  Here you go . . .

Shift of Power to the Consumer

Euromonitor International published a study in January titled “Online Travel: Shift of Power to Consumers” with the following synopsis . . .

The online travel revolution which has taken place in the last 10 years has led to substantial changes in the travel industry’s competitive environment. These are so significant to force companies to re-think their business models. In particular, consumers now play a much more central and active role, while technology players have become essential partners for travel companies. Customer knowledge and social interaction are key requirements to compete successfully in this new environment. (emphasis ours)

Those are heavy words.  Revolution. Substantial. Significant. Force. Re-think. Essential. (more…)

How Gender Targeting Will Make Twitter Better

Fail WhaleTwitter has come a long way since the days of the Fail Whale.  It’s more than a garage start-up, it’s like a legitimate, bona fide business, with a real revenue model.

Twitter turned on “Promoted Tweets” and “Promoted Accounts” last year and have been putting those options in front of potential advertisers with more frequency of late.  It gets better for marketers.  Late last week, Twitter announced “gender-targeting” for advertisers.  That’s a strange option, it would seem, as Twitter does not ask for the user’s gender as Facebook does.  Here’s how Twitter explains it.

“We’re able to understand gender by taking public signals users offer on Twitter, such as user profile names or the accounts she or he follows. We have strong confidence in this approach.”

They claim this method is 90% accurate and that should be good enough for marketers to pull the trigger on gender-specific promotions.  I’m expecting AARP promoted tweets to my account.  Surely they’ll also start age-targeting me as I tweet next summer that I’m breaking into my 40s. 🙂 (more…)