So you’ve learned enough about Inbound Marketing to give it some serious consideration. Now the question is, should you hire an Inbound agency or do it yourself? We’ll give you some things to consider and even pass along the name of an objective 3rd-party who has been where you are and can give you his opinion on the matter — a guy we’ve never met and never spoken to — a guy who did NOT use an Inbound Marketing agency (like us). He did it himself.
Beyond Time –The Advantage of Team
Sure, there is the time thing to consider. We imagine you know all about the extensive time it takes to do all of Inbound Marketing. (One good place to grasp that time issue is our free Example 9-Step Inbound Campaign eBook.)
But if time is the only consideration, you might as well hire some college kid with a few hours on her hands. You don’t need expertise, you just need hours, right? Of course, we think not. When you hire an Inbound Marketing agency, you are buying time, yes, but more importantly, you are buying expertise. You are paying for professionals to develop and execute successful strategies for measurable results. And you are hiring not a single person’s expertise, but A TEAM’S EXPERTISE. Here are a few reasons that is important . . .
- Varying Skill Sets – Great Inbound Marketing agencies generally have team members with differing skills sets. Our core team is currently made of up of some guys who are analytical, numbers-focused, strategy-driven, and amazing at design and some who are more conversational and lyrical. We all love to write and create, but we do those things slightly differently. If you are evaluating an Inbound agency, look at their team page and see if they have a broad range of skill sets. AND, since we are a Certified HubSpot Partner, you also get to leverage the experts at HubSpot as well. We continually have conversations with Jon, Nick, and Dan, to name a few of the consultants we talk with regularly about our client needs. When you hire us, you get all of those lenses looking at your marketing needs at once. We continually strategize and execute as a team, not an individual.
- Passionate People – Folks don’t join Inbound Marketing agencies because they love plumbing. They join them because they love marketing. They love writing. They love creating. They love thinking. If the thought of writing a killer eBook doesn’t bounce you out of bed at 6 a.m., you may not want to handle Inbound Marketing yourself. Creative work requires passion.
- Years of Marketing Experience – Great marketing teams have many years of experience. Our founding team members have started other businesses and have been in web marketing for many years. And we’ve been through many, many hours of Inbound Marketing training with HubSpot. HubSpot does not take their Certified Partner status lightly. When you hire us, you get all of that past experience diagnosing and interpreting your needs to meet your goals.
- Compounding Knowledge Growth – Not only have Inbound Marketing agency team members been trained in the past, but they grow their education continually. Think of how quickly social media changes. Think of how often Google updates their algorithm. Think of how often new numbers come out on best marketing practices and strategies. Do you have time to keep up with that? As a team, we learn individually and our knowledge doesn’t add, it compounds because we learn, share, and execute together.
Are You Marcus Sheridan?
We’ve never talked to this guy, but we like him. He was not a web designer. He was not an Inbound Marketing specialist. He was a small business owner. He looked at Inbound Marketing and said “I can do that.” And he did.
Through Inbound Marketing, Marcus Sheridan turned his struggling pool construction business around and made his website one of the top pool websites on the net. We’re talking epic success. And he didn’t stop there. He got so good at Inbound, he even started doing Inbound consulting for other businesses.
He was obviously a passionate creative, invested the time to learn, and had previous years of experience as a biz owner.
The question to ask yourself is, “Do I have all of that?” Or maybe you should ask Marcus. We understand he advises folks on whether HubSpot is a good choice for them. We imagine he would advise you on whether you can handle Inbound yourself. Contact him here.
If you decide an Inbound Marketing agency is the way to go, we’d be glad to talk and show you some pricing options.
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