maine web development, web design, internet marketing

Last week at Sage Insights in Nashville we had the great pleasure to meet with many Sage Business Partners and talk about the weather, websites, tech, the economy and social media… As well as answer questions like “What the heck is twitter?” and “Why are you giving out flying monkeys?”

Now that we’re back in the office, we want to make sure that we keep the energy going for all of the partners out there who got excited about new initiatives and marketing for their businesses.  The tools are here, let’s get going!

Here are five concrete tips to make your new marketing goals happen post-Insights:

1.  Define Goals

You need to know where you’re going before you can get there.  So what is it?

Do you want to get better search rankings in your local area?  Do you want to grow sales for a new product you’ve just gained certification in?  Do you want to pick up more clients with an orphaned software installation?  Do you want to expand into new regions?

Write down what you want.  Look at it.  Digest it.  Commit to it.  Okay, now what?

2.  Choose Tactics

Now that you know what you want to do, you need to figure out how to do it.  We provide a bunch of information on SEO, web design, PPC, email marketing, blogging, and social network marketing with the idea that it will help you better understand these tools and whether they’re a good match for your company.

For instance, a well designed website with a coordinated organic search marketing strategy is a must for nearly every company.  Once you’re there, you can look at other options such as email (great to maintain relationships with existing customers), paid search (great to attract new business for specific queries or drum up registrants to an event) or blogging (great for establishing yourself as an authority in your industry).

3.  Decide Who Will Do the Work

Now that you know what tools you’ll use, you need to decide who is going to wield them.  Will it be you personally?  Will it be your marketing manager?  Will you be partnering with a vendor?

Understand the costs and risk associated with doing it in-house versus choosing a quality vendor.  This is also a good time to make sure that the goals you’ve set, the tactics you’ve chosen, and the resources you have to invest are all in league.  You won’t be able to go up against software.com for the term “Software” but I bet you can get to #1 for your product and service in your home town.  You can expand from there!

4. Add to the Conversation

Social media has been on the radar for years but now it really seems to be hitting critical mass.  Which means that more people are talking about what you do more than ever and that if you aren’t tuned in, you’re missing out on the conversation.

Our first piece of advice is always to listen first, but once you’ve done your share of listening, you can start contributing.  Write articles that answer common questions, jump in on discussions where you can lend expertise, provide insight and comment on stories related to your industry.  Don’t sell, but show that you’re human, real, and trustworthy.

5.  Keep up the Enthusiasm

It’s easy to get psyched while at an event and then to let that excitement trail off as the everyday grind kicks back in.  Fight the urge to let new initiatives slip!  Mark out time specifically to pursue new initiatives, develop small and digestible steps that you can do and set benchmarks.

You can do all of this, and you’ll see that the payoffs make the effort well worth it.

Want More Inspiration Now?

• Sign up for an upcoming webinar
• See slides from our presentation Beyond the Hype: Social Network Marketing for B2B
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The third day of Sage Insights was bustling, with sessions running from morning to evening, including our “Beyond the Hype: Social Network Marketing for B2B” (Stay tuned here for clips and slides!).

We wrapped up the tradeshow by talking to some of the different Sage Preferred Vendors about their experience at the show and how it compared to other years.  The bottom line: there were fewer people, but more people taking marketing their businesses seriously.  Hear some of their stories above.

On the second day of Sage Insights, partners learned a lot about the road ahead of their specific products and their respective markets.  The day was jammed packed with sessions, but between it all the trade show was open and many good relationships were getting started.

In our video clip you’ll see Michael Pires of HR411.com, provider of human resources guides, forms, support, employee handbooks, best practices, tools, and many other resources.   Also interviewed is Mike Renner of Business Management Solutions Group, as MAS 90 reseller in Seattle.

Finally, well… you’ll have to see for yourself.

Sage Insights kicked off Monday with sessions running throughout the afternoon, a keynote from Sage CEO Sue Swenson, dinner at the tradeshow and  then a few gatherings thereafter, notably the Sage LinkedIn group which featured passionate discussion about small VARs and their relationships with Sage.

In our YouTube footage of the day, we asked a few partners what they thought of Sue Swenson’s keynote, and then caught Bill Kizer, admin of the Sage Partners, Employees and Alumni LinkedIn Group, what he’s experienced with the group and where he sees it going.

Incidentally, that URL he mentions is: http://www.sagesoftwarelinkedingroup.com/

There’s another keynote today and many more sessions.  We’ll keep you in touch with what happens next!

PS: Don’t miss #insights09 if you want to keep up with the conference’s tweetivity.