Holistic Technology Enabled Internet Marketing Solutions

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In addition to my life here at Hall as internet marketer, I’m an avid fan of audiobooks and a creative writer.  This weekend I was listening to an interview with a writer who was asked the question that all published writers must get really sick of answering — “What is your advice for beginning writers?” This guy, without missing a beat and with candor, said, “Get your butt in the chair and write.”

That answer summarizes a whole philosophy about work ethic and creativity that I think bears repeating.  Too often, we (myself included!) come up with excuses for not being able to write.  If we just stopped saying the excuses and spent that time writing, we would probably be a lot further along than we are.  No writer has it easy.  You never have so much time that you just can’t find anything else to do but write.

You need to make time to write.  Make it a priority.

Is writing a priority for you?  I hope it is.  Whether it’s a blog, an article, ideas for a new ebook, or a way of revisioning your company’s “about us” page, every business needs more content on the web.  And even if you don’t think of yourself as a very good writer, your ideas are good and original, and with a little bit of feedback and editing, your writing will work on the web.  It certainly will be authentic.

Of course, this philosophy applies to numerous other things you should be doing for your business that you might be putting off.  Do you have a sticky note reminding you that you still need to learn a bit about SEO?  That you still haven’t made a solid step towards your website redesign?  That your viral video idea is still sitting there on a scratchpad but yet to be produced?

Make time, because no one else will make it for you.  Get writing!

For some time saving/time management ideas, see Amanda’s post on social media time management, and for tips on creating good content, see my webinar at 2PM EST today.

Stop!  If you are doing any of the six following things, you are likely hurting your sales and marketing efforts. They are a waste of time, money and energy that you can use in better ways.

1. Stop intrusion marketing. There is a reason why every single post office has recycle bins in their lobbies – we all reject direct mail marketing. Just stop doing it. It offers low return, creates waste and those darn bins get filled to the top an hour after the mail arrives. Besides, when was the last time you read one of those stupid post cards?
2. Stop saying you are #1. No one cares if you are number 1, they only care if you can help them. Stop ringing your own bell and start finding out about the needs of your prospects. Realize that every potential relationship, whether fruitful or not, is also a potential point of reference for your company. In a social networking environment, those opinions matter much more than what you have to say about yourself.
3. Stop shamelessly promoting your company. It is just plain icky when someone sees every person who has a pulse and penny as a potential client. I, like many, reject that traditional sales jive and will never do business with those types of people. I want to be a unique customer, not one of 100 sales leads from some event.  I have had the same box of 100 business cards for the past three years and see no need to pass them out to total strangers. I do use them when introduced to someone as a potential customer, and over 60% of all the cards referred by personal connections become customers.
4. Stop thinking geographically. For most businesses, the only thing that ties us to a region is a lease, mortgage, utilities and our workforce. Being the #1 whatever in your town is meaningless. What about your town is a specialization? Think in terms of vertical markets. Specialize in a specific vertical or need related to a national (or international) market and grow relationships there. With   specialization you gain competitive advantage and operational efficiency.
5. Stop viewing companies that do what you do as competitors. If you follow # 4, you can be in the same office as the company you perceive as a competitor, but build relationships in completely different markets and with a completely different sales methodology. Every company that thinks that they compete with us in our local market has never gone head to head with us competing for a project – simply because we don’t sell that way. Through their perception of us, and their own competitiveness, they miss an opportunity to build a peer relationship, potential services partnership and a strong ally for their business.
6. Stop haggling with vendors. Your vendors are in your sales network. Opinions matter and treating your vendors well is an opportunity to expand your positive sphere of influence. In tough economic times, companies tend to pay later, be less responsive to payables and more likely to dispute invoices. Don’t do it. You vendors can be a great referral source if they like working with you. Remind them you are doing well, value your relationship with them and that they can count of you as a customer. They will appreciate knowing they have a solid client base and will have a positive opinion of your company.

What to replace these 6 bad marketing behaviors with?  See our 5 Recession Busting Moves For Small Business.

As I mentioned before, Inbound Marketing is the term for the types of marketing efforts where you are being found by consumers when they are researching information. With that said I have seen more than a few ears perk up when I mention email marketing as a part of one’s Inbound Marketing strategy. “But email is actually going OUT how is it a part of INbound marketing?”.

A few things:

• How did you build your email list?
  If someone is searching for an answer, solution or product online and they stumble across your website (due to your website’s original content and Search Engine Optimization),  decide you are a thought leader in this field and sign up for your newsletter using the user conversion piece on said landing page – then that is Inbound Marketing.If you build your list at conferences, meetings, your show room etc. with genuine people who are interested in receiving more information about your products and value those emails from you, that is also Inbound Marketing.
• Do you segment your lists? Are your loyal customers in one group, prospects in another, those who have previously forwarded your email to a friend in yet another? If so, you show that you care about each group and the specific things they bring to your business. For example 5-10% of Lego’s are sold to adults or AFOLs (adult fans of Legos). As a company, Lego’s has segmented information for this group and promoted brand evangelists to spread the message of this group. How would this group feel if they were lumped in with the millions of generic Legos fans? Probably not as passionate as they are now.
  By segmenting your lists you can tailor your content to reach each group accordingly promoting that conversational tone of each email piece.
• What content do you deliver in your email marketing campaign?
  Are your newsletters strictly about your products and maybe a few sales and specials you are offering? Then maybe that isn’t Inbound Marketing. But, if you are delivering engaging content on content that your subscriber is looking for and pushing that lead back to your website, that is considered Inbound Marketing.
• What results do you want from an email marketing campaign?
  If you are hoping your emails will start a conversation, provoke a question or a follow up email then you are participating in Inbound Marketing. If you just hope to shout out your latest and greatest product and you feel burdened by any responses to your email then perhaps this isn’t a part of an Inbound Marketing initiative.

Those are a few examples of how email marketing is a part of your overall Inbound Marketing plan. The main thing is that it isn’t about the tool (Twitter, email, Facebook, LinkedIn) as much is it is about the tone, the content, the relationship and how that information is shared with your audience. Inbound Marketing is producing good quality content that consumers will be able to find when they are looking for more information, products, services etc.

Having a great looking website is a nice objective. But if it doesn’t motivate your visitors to take action, you’ve missed the whole point of having a website. You might as well use your Facebook page as your company website and call it a day. At least your Facebook page will take you much less time to develop.

Missing In Action

The one element I see missing on 99% of business related websites is compelling offers and calls-to-action. The 1% of businesses that understand the purpose and value of compelling offers took the time to develop, measure, and test their offers to learn what their customers are looking for on their website. These businesses are successful at converting their website traffic into qualified leads and new sales.

Not Compelling At All

In my opinion these examples are not compelling offers. How many of you would give up your email address for these offers?

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Kicking The Tires

The purpose of adding compelling offers and call-to-action on your website is to motivate your visitors to engage your business. You know…pick up the box and shake it, kick the tires, and take a test drive.

Think of the business model for bookstores. If you ever walk into a Barnes & Noble or other mega bookstore, you’ll notice the ambiance and experience is much different than that of your public library.

As I walked into a brick and mortar business like Barnes & Noble, let me describe their compelling offers and call-to-action:

• A coffee/tea bar
• Comfortable, cushy couches
• Reading tables
• Expansive magazine rack
• Music CDs
• Movie DVDs
• Bargain priced book table
• Recommended book lists
• New releases book table
• Bestsellers book table
• Book club
• Children’s book section

All of these compelling offers and calls-to-action are there to enhance my experience, help build loyalty to Barnes & Noble, and keep me coming back.

When a prospect visits your website, you want to create an experience such that they will take their time clicking and scrolling through your virtual store. They’ll sit back in their chair and read a few interesting articles, get up to refill their cup of coffee, view a few videos/demos, download your eBook, read your blog and share it with friends, read the articles in the special interest areas of your website, sign up for your eNewsletter or better yet follow you on Twitter, and so on.

How Do You Know What’s Compelling?

Your website is your lifeline to growing your business. If you are like most businesses, you have an office that you work at, but it is not a storefront in which you want prospects and clients to visit you everyday because it would be disruptive to you and your employees. That’s the purpose of your website and it’s where you want your prospects and clients to visit everyday.

Find out what your client’s need and develop compelling offers and call-to-action on your website to meet their needs. Just remember, a compelling offer and call-to-action that works for one type of business, may not necessarily work for another business.