Before I talk about your GREAT questions discussed in today’s podcast, I want to make a special note that Gini Dietrich and Geoff Livingston have just launched their new book, Marketing in the Round, which discusses how to break down the silos within organizations to achieve maximum marketing success. Many of you know Gini from her wonderful blog Spin Sucks and have been reading her valuable insights for years, so make sure you get the book because it’s well worth the read and can truly have a huge impact on your organization! (***Note: These are not affiliate links, I’m recommending this book because it’s good stuff.)
As for this episode of Mad Marketing, check out the questions that you recently found my inbox:
1. Marcus,
The biggest challenge for me is going to be convincing salespeople that marketing participation is ultimately a benefit to them personally and professionally. I have some that may embrace this; others that will fight it.
I need to make it mandatory, but not a burden.
My two cents
Chris
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2. Marcus,
I didn’t think I would be back in touch with you so quickly. But I had something come up yesterday that created quite a little firestorm here in my office. Lot’s of people were telling me what they thought I should do. But it occurred to me that one person might actually KNOW what I should do. That person is you.
They say imitation is the strongest form of flattery. Well, I didn’t appreciate being flattered yesterday. My boss had asked me to look at one competitor’s blog to see if they were writing on some interesting topics that were sort of “one-off” topics for our industry. I had looked at their blog once or twice before, but it’s been a while. Here is what I found yesterday that troubled me so (link hidden).
Check out this blog post that I wrote and you can see why it bother me : (link hidden):
How do you handle this kind of thing? I want to do the right thing. I also want to let this company know that I will be watching them more closely from here on out. Part of me wants to bait them by writing a column about being a good competitor and include the tip “Don’t ‘borrow’ from your competition.”
I promise I won’t pester you with a flurry of emails. But you’re the expert in this, so I knew you would have some valid thoughts that would be sound advice.
Scott
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3. Marcus,
Lately you’ve been sounding as though you are very frustrated by negative comments and the ‘Internet Police’, as you call them. I for one, enjoy your posts very much and can feel your frustration at these overly critical people. I think they come with the territory. Look at any celebrity and they have their critical followers that follow them only to criticize their every move.
Maybe you should look at your critics as proof of your success (notice how when you didn’t have many followers no one was criticizing you).
As far as link baiting is concerned, I think it’s a brilliant idea, why didn’t I think of that before?
As always, thank you for your great blogs. You have been so helpful in my education.
Corinne
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4. Hi Marcus,
I started a new consulting business a few months ago and am ready to start my business blog! I have gotten so much confidence and useful advice from your website and podcast (so glad I listened to you on Six Pixels of Separation!) and I really appreciate your simple, direct style.
My question is: Should I put my blog on my company website, or should I use a separate domain for it?
cheers,
-Stephanie
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5. Marcus, I have a question.
I notice (and I might be wrong) that you are not wild about guest posts on your Sales Lion blog. We just had a request to publish a guest post. Although we do carry ads on our websites and on You Tube, our blog is pristine with content only. We want to keep it that way to provide a more educational experience on these pages. Do you have any thoughts on guest posting? Are there pitfalls? I don’t mind a plug for someone’s company within the article, but the post must be content-rich and provide value. I’m curious as to how you feel about getting involved with this aspect within blogs.
Thanks again for your hard work,
Bonnie
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6. Marcus,
I have a question that might be a great blog post from you. I am trying to figure out how to accurately grade my leads using the custom lead grader tool. What are some key considerations to make when figuring out how to grade your leads?
I have a few metrics but you’ve been doing this for longer than my 4 months 
. Thought it might be a great article on your end.
Best Regards,
Jacob
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Well that’s it folks. As always, please don’t hesitate to send me your questions if you’d like them answered on the next podcast. Also, don’t forget you can listen to the audio below in MP3 and also iTunes format.
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