The Sales Lion by Marcus Sheridan » Sales Identity

7 Ways to Be a Blogging Rebel and Turn Your Industry Upside Down

Marcus Sheridan — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 16:22:43 +0000

There is one rule I’m 100% certain of when it comes to blogging, be it business or personal:

We all want to be noticed, seen, and respected.

Some folks act like they don’t care about these three words but I honestly feel it’s a bunch of bull. Why?

Because if we didn’t really want to be seen we wouldn’t have an online blog in the first place for the entire world to see.

I freely admit that like everyone reading this, I want to be viewed as a thought-leader in my field. (Why are we embarrassed to admit this btw??) Whether it’s swimming pools, inbound marketing, blogging, etc—I want readers.

I want growth.

I want to spark discussion.

I want to force myself and everyone around me to take a stand.

(***Notice here I didn’t say I want everyone to like me, but that’s another point for another day.)

But again, I’m by no means alone, we’re all in this boat together.

Despite our overall uniform desires of recognition (of some kind), well over 90% of us fail in this endeavor. When it comes down to the brass tacks, our blogs lack the ‘it’ factor. Notwithstanding all our hard work and efforts, we miss the mark. We’re left out of the crème that rises to the top.

As I look around the world of business blogging today, and the saturation that is occurring at a faster and faster rate within each industry, I wanted to offer my thoughts on how any of you reading this can stand out from the crowd. How can you, despite the competition, stake your blog’s claim as one of the best in your business?

Let’s talk about it…

1. Compare Like Mad

Some of you have read before how I’ve discussed the power of ‘vs.’ and ‘comparison’ when it comes to blogging. Without a doubt, this is still the most underutilized and untapped content tool in the world of blogging today.

For example, when I started in the fiberglass pool industry, consumers kept asking me which manufacturers were the best, and which ones I suggested they stay away from. (Similar to someone saying, “Which is better, Ford or Chevy?”)

Upon hearing these same questions over and over again, I knew it was my duty as a content marketer (and thought-leader) to put my opinions to pen. So I started writing. Just a few of the articles were:

Viking Fiberglass Pools vs Trilogy Pools Reviews/Ratings: Which is Better?

(Results: 125 inbound links and 13,195 page views)

San Juan vs. Viking Pools Ratings/Reviews: Which is Better?

(Results: 22 inbound links and 6050 page views)

Fiberglass Pools vs Vinyl Liner Pools vs Concrete Pools: An Honest Comparison

(Results: 201 inbound links and 21,577 page views)

With each one of these articles (plus the many, many more I’ve written), they all rank #1 on Google for their respective key word phrases, and the reason for this SEO domination is very simple: I was the only one writing them in the industry, and Google appreciates rebels that aren’t afraid to write about what others aren’t willing to.

2. Don’t Be Bullied by Dinosaurs

I was about 30 years old when I started voicing my opinions online with respect to swimming pools. Most of the leaders in my field were in the +45 crowd. This being said, I was attacked, verbally, a lot. I was also sent letters from lawyers, a lot.

Before long, I realized an important truth: Many industry leaders and their lawyers are like the big bully on the playground—If you stand up to them and even punch them in the face, they’ll likely run away and their true colors will come out.

Once I stopped caring about false threats and started realizing I was always within my rights (due to the fact I was stating the truth), everything changed, and the amount of attention we received as thought-leaders skyrocketed.

3. Question the Way It Has Always Been Done

Don’t like the way things are done in your industry?

If so, then stop complaining and do something about it. Use the power of words or video to change the status quo. Stand tall and tell everyone why you believe what you believe.

As an example of this, the warranties in the fiberglass swimming pool industry are ridiculous. Full of tricky semantics, some are very, very misleading to consumers.

Seeing this problem, I posted an article entitled: The Most Egregious Fiberglass Pool Warranty I’ve Ever Seen, and to say this article got much attention and page views would be a mild understatement.

Remember, this applies to every single niche, field, industry, etc., so don’t feel you’re the exception to the rule.

4. Be ‘The Drudge Report’ of Your Industry

Whether you’re a republican or democrat, you have to respect what The Drudge Report has done in terms of building its brand by breaking news and events.

So often on the web, ‘timing’ is everything, which is why your blog should report on the latest events, as they happen, in your industry. If a major manufacturer makes an acquisition, talk about it. If someone files bankruptcy, talk about it. If there is a significant innovation, talk about it.

But remember, the timing to this is critical, so as you see things start to unfold, get to your computer.

5. State the Best and Worst

Everyone loves ‘Best of’ and ‘Worst of’ Lists. Surprisingly, most industries don’t have them. Most folks refuse to write about them. Why? Because they’ll get attacked, judged, criticized, etc. Just ask Jade Craven who writes ProBlogger’s ‘Bloggers to Watch’ List every year. Heck, Jade doesn’t even call them the ‘best bloggers’, she just calls them ‘worth watching’, yet the article is still anticipated by thousands every year, discussed all around the internet, and at the same time criticized by many.

Again, this goes back to having an opinion about your industry and putting it out there. Write your opinions down. Tell us why you’ve reached those opinions. And then stand by your claims.

6. Question Authority if You Feel They’re Wrong

What’s the deal with people being afraid to question authority in their fields? I see this everywhere and wonder sometimes if 99% of us have become the sheep that aimlessly follow the shepherd without any rhyme or reason.

Here is a good rule of thumb my friends: If someone in your industry, especially a leader, says something you don’t agree with, then write about it.

Got me?

But there is a second part to this: Don’t be a jerk. Don’t call someone names. Don’t question motives. Just state your opposite opinion with class.

I’ll give you a couple of examples of exactly what I’m talking about:

I’m sure most of you have heard of Chris Brogan, a major authority in the field of social media marketing, Google +, and other areas.

What I love so much about Chris is that because he is always stating what’s on his mind, his findings, and his opinions; I know if I read his blog I’ll likely be moved in one direction or the other in terms of agreement or disagreement.

Chris once discussed on his blog the merits of asking other people to ‘share’ our online works. Because I didn’t agree with his take on the matter, I wrote this post, cordially expressing my differences.

On another occasion, Chris was called out by many for his Twitter unfollow experiment. Considering I thought it was nuts that his actions had affected and polarized so many, again, I wrote an article about it, one that ended up in my top 10 all-time here at The Sales Lion, entitled: Chris Brogan Unfollowed Me on Twitter, and Now I Hate My Whole Life.

Yes, this was a very sarcastic article, but my difference of opinion with others, as well as my support for what Chris had done, was well made.

Through these experiences and others, Chris and I have developed a friendship and mutual respect for each other, even though we might not always agree with each other. (Which is a good thing.)

Readers have also noticed I’m not afraid to take on issues or question authorities, all while not being a sheep following a shepherd—something most folks appreciate quite a bit.

7. Lose the Filter (Be Authentic)

Do you remember the day Gary Vaynerchuk made waves across the entire social media industry when he responded to a social media ROI (return on investment) question by stating, “What’s the ROI of your mother???”

This one little statement seemed to catch everyone’s attention. Some adored it. Others despised it. But as for me, I elected to focus on the beauty of his unfiltered approach.

What makes Gary Vaynerchuk so appreciated and respected is his lack of filter. (And no, I’m not at all referring to his language here.) What I mean by this is he isn’t a social media politician. He doesn’t throw his finger in the wind too see which way it’s blowing. He feels it, he thinks it, then he says it….and people dig that.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Love ‘em or hate ‘em, we notice Gary Vaynerchuk for this reason.

Your Turn:

So there you have it folks, 7 ways you can become a blogging rebel and truly build your business and brand to a point where it impacts your entire industry and is viewed as a though-mecca for your field.

Considering I quit at 7 because this article was starting to get a little long, I wanted ask each of you this:

What other qualities do you feel enable a blog to reach the top of its industry? Of the qualities and techniques I mentioned above, are there any you disagree with? Why? Which of these have proven most effective in your efforts to be ‘read, noticed, and respected?’

Jump in everyone, your voice here matters.

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How to Create an Incredible Personal Branding Video that Sells YOU

Marcus Sheridan — Mon, 24 Oct 2011 13:30:41 +0000

We hear a lot of talk about ‘personal brand’ all over the internet. And no doubt, we should. When it comes down do it, branding, or the way others perceive us, affects almost everything we do in life, be it personal or professional.

This being said, branding has always been something very, very important to me. The bottom line is I want to be known for something, I want to have a message, and I want others to know exactly what that message is.

Tapping into the Power of Video

As a whole, I think we’re all (at least those of us with blogs and businesses) want the same thing. We want folks to recognize our mission, our talents, and our worth. And more often than not, we completely lean on the words we write to transport that message to the world.

This, in my opinion, is selling ourselves short of the resources available to us, especially when it comes to the power of video.

What’s crazy to me is I look around the blogosphere and see people that have built pretty decent brands, large audiences, and are receiving speaking opportunities—yet most don’t even have a personal branding video. And for those that do, the video is average at best.

Some of you may remember an article I wrote a few months back entitled, “Blogging, Serendipity, and How I Met One of My Heroes”. In that post, I mentioned my love for West Virginia University, sports, and the voice of the Mountaineers (football and basketball)—Tony Caridi, who serendipitously had been reading my blog for quite some time as he is a Hubspot customer, trying to leverage the power of inbound marketing to take his video production company, Pikewood Creative, to the next level.

To make a long story short, I went to Tony’s company and worked with his staff on their Inbound Marketing, and Tony in-turn produced a video for me and The Sales Lion brand.

As promised then, here is the video, and I’m going to sincerely ask that if you’re reading this article to please take a few minutes to watch this. I doubt you’ve seen a personal branding video quite like this and it preludes everything we’re getting ready to talk about…

Click here to view the embedded video.

How to Create a Branding Video that Sells YOU (or your company)

The night Tony sent me the completed version of this video I emailed it to my 10 year old daughter Danielle and asked her to watch it. A few minutes later I got an excited phone call from my wife. She said:

“Oh my goodness! Danielle and I just watched the video and when it finished she was jumping up and down screaming, ‘My dad is so awesome, my dad is so awesome!’.”

Needless to say, those words gave me a huge smile. She had been moved by the video, touched in a proud and positive way. I’m sure she’ s naturally biased but that is still the type of emotion we want viewers to have when they get a chance to watch such a video.

So how is it done? How does a personal branding video go from being a simple visual clip to a moving expression of one’s unique mission and identity? Along with Tony’s help and input, I’ve come up with 2 essential keys:

The Power of Story

Many writers fail to properly use the power of story, especially personal ones, in their work. Most business also suffer from the same. This, my friends, is a huge error.

In speaking with Tony, ‘Story’ was the first word he mentioned with respect to creating powerful video for individuals and companies. As he put it, “Everyone’s got one, you’ve just got to find it.”

This is why, when we shot the video, Tony asked me question upon question, many of which were similar in nature.

I later found out he was asking these questions because he was digging for the ‘Marcus Sheridan Story’, and after he and his producers went back and looked at the clips, they knew exactly what the story was that needed to be told– from struggling pool guy to Sales Lion to Speaker/Teacher of Inbound Marketing.

Amateur vs. Professional:

In 2006, before I even knew what inbound marketing was, I had a professional video made of our swimming pool installation process, our company, our customers, etc. To say the video was above and beyond anything anyone had ever done in the fiberglass swimming pool industry would be an understatement. It was easily 10 years ahead of the competition and since its production on DVD, we’ve sent it out to about 3000 prospective customers over the years.

Without question, the DVD made many, many sales on its own. It’s quality shocked people and looking back, that was the first time I truly embraced the power of ‘content’ without even knowing what I was doing.

Oh, and did I mention the video cost me about $35,000? Yeah, back then that was a lot of money. But again, it was worth every penny.

And so it is with personal branding videos. For quite some time, I’ve had a video of me giving a seminar on the side column of this blog. Although this video shows good content and has lead to speaking opportunities, it by no means screams of ‘high end’ production. And because I frankly want to speak to millions of people before it is all said and done, I knew such a video, although a ‘start’, was clearly not the end goal.

As Tony pointed out, these days, because technology has allowed each and every one of us to be photographers and videographers, many people think they are pros when they are not, thus preventing their visual branding from reaching its full potential.

Although I’m a huge advocate of Average Joes and Janes ‘just doing it’ when it comes to writing blogs or producing video, I do feel that there is a time and place to let an expert be an expert. Does it cost a lot more to do it this way? Yes, of course, but the potential monetary gain is also more than worth it in almost every case.

As Tony said, “You can go to the grocery store and buy a really nice steak for $30 and cook it yourself…or you can go to a 5-star restaurant and have Bobby Flay cook it for $400.Which one do you think is going to be most memorable?”

Good point Tony.

The video above has hours and hours worth of editing that went into it. There were two cameras, recording at different levels, during the shoot. The dancing caricatures were completely the idea of Tony and Pikewood, as were the typing scenes, music, pace, etc.

Bottom Line: All I did was talk, and then I sat back and let the artist paint the picture.

Take Your Brand to Another Level

Hopefully you see where I’m coming from with this. Branding is huge. It can make or break your successes as a blogger and/or business owner. And because of this fact, the time for you to embrace the power of video is now. If you can only afford to do something yourself, then do it. If you can afford to do something professional, even though it might be a financial stretch, then by all means make it happen.

But embrace video. Tell us about you. Tell us your story. What you are is special, and it’s about time the world understood that a little better, don’t you think?

Your Turn:

Let’s talk about video and branding. What’s been your experience with video? Has is affected your company? Have you used it as a branding tool? What have been your observations? And finally, if you’re not yet on the video train, why the heck not?? ;-)

Have a great week everyone!

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Subtle Selling: The Key to Writing Great Content AND Making Money Online

Marcus Sheridan — Tue, 06 Sep 2011 11:32:55 +0000

Note from Marcus*** Just some quick news before today’s rockin article folks. Today(Tuesday) I’ll be flying out to Cleveland to speak at Content Marketing World. I’m sure I’ll be writing quite a bit about this event in the coming days but if anyone lives in the Cleveland area and would like to catch up, please let me know.

Also, last week I was interviewed by Steve Roy over at the great blog Ending the Grind. If you’d like to listen to the podcast, please check it out, as it really dives into how the community here at TSL has grown into something so special, as well as many other areas of business and marketing.

Now back to our regularly scheduled programming……

I look around the web and can’t help but notice how many bloggers get so frustrated with the fact that they can’t seem to make money with their blogs. And honestly, when I see this, my response is normally about the same:

“Duh, you’re not selling me anything.”

Yep. That’s right. You may think your offering this product or that service (because you *mention* it somewhere on your ‘about’ page), but the reality is I (and everyone else), as your potential customer, have no clue what you do, which is why you keep wondering when the checks from your blog are going to start rolling in.

The Art of Subtle Selling

Here’s the thing my friends: If you really want to create a brand and a blog that make good money you have to learn the art of ‘subtle selling’ (as I like to call it), which is essentially the skill of integrating your services into your content…without sounding like a pitching machine.

You know what I mean by pitching machine, right? Yeah, it’s that guy or gal that seems to offer you something ‘amazing’ and ‘for a limited time only’ with every new email that hits your inbox. Eventually, after you realize this blogger gives you the content value of a brick, you happily unsubscribe from their mind-numbing newsletters. (Nod if you’ve seen this before…. )

But on the other hand, you’ve got another entire group online that are the opposite of ‘the pitching machine’. They write content all day, even sometimes build awesome communities, but don’t sell squat.

Thus we have an ‘all or nothing’ mentality all over the web, and it’s got to stop if we want to start making money folks.

Great Content Combined with Selling

Let me give you an example of exactly what I’m talking about. This past June, I wrote an article entitled 12 Hours to Change a Company Forever: A Story About Business and Life. For those of you that haven’t read this article (actually, stop now and just read the thing ), it tells of a trip I made to Arizona to help a company kick-off their inbound marketing efforts and revamp their web presence. The post, which was written with a unique hour-by-hour timeline, discusses every facet of inbound marketing I covered with the company (i.e. my services) and what was accomplished (i.e. the results of my services) with the visit.

Because the experience was full of lessons of what this company was missing and what they needed to do next to achieve better marketing, the article had plenty of value to the readers of this blog because just about everyone could relate to components of the story in one way or another.

But what most folks don’t understand is that because of that one article, on multiple occasions since I’ve heard a derivative of this phrase:

Marcus, I remember reading about how you went out to that one company and worked with them and their website. I’d like you to do something similar with our company…

My friends, this is the type of statement you should be hearing again and again from your customers. They read your stuff. They hear your stories. And they clearly see you can be the guy/gal to come up with the answers to their problems.

But again, the key here is learning to talk about client experiences while offering killer content to your reader base.

Let’s look at another person who really ‘gets’ the art of subtle selling.

Falchetto Doing It Right

Last week, John Falchetto wrote an article entitled “4 Ways to Manage Fear in Business Abroad”. At the beginning of the piece, he says:

Yesterday I had a conversation with a client about fear, let’s call him “Steve”.

Without going into the details, Steve feels that if he embraces who he truly is, he would end up alone. His business has been growing steadily over the past years but he doesn’t feel he is expressing his unique and authentic self.

He fears that by discovering his he is more than what he thinks he is, his world as he knows it will collapse. It will…

John went on to talk about ‘Steve’ and used the story as the foundation of the theme of the article—overcoming fear.

In essence, this is the perfect example of subtle selling. To one reader, John was simply talking about fear. To another, he was telling him “Hey, I can coach and mentor you just as I’ve coached and mentored ‘Steve’.

Get Real

Do you see what I’m saying here? If you’re not talking about real life experiences that you’re having with customers often on your blog, then you’re seriously missing out on major business opportunities. (BTW, John has signed up multiple coaching clients this year simply because of his blog.)

Keep in mind though that this principle applies to any blog, any industry, and any niche.

Just to give you one last quick example, let’s use the article I posted for my swimming pool company today. The title of the post was “Just How Much Fun are Inground Swimming Pools…Really??”, and it consisted an incredible under-water video taken by a customer of mine as their boys kept jumping in their swimming pool. If you read the article(and watch the video), you’ll see the ‘theme’ of the piece is ‘Yes, Pools are dang fun.’, but you’ll also notice how in a very subtle manner I mentioned the fact that the video was produced by a very happy customer of River Pools and Spas who had their pool installed last year in the town of Stafford Va. (Little details like places add social proof, and further enhance an article’s ability to sell).

Tell the World

My point in mentioning this is simple my friends. Stop just writing content that doesn’t actually talk about your services. If you really are helping people out there, for the love of Pete start telling the world about it. Again, this doesn’t mean that you brag. Rather, it’s a simple process of telling others what life has taught you….which in-turn tell us why you’re the best man for the job.

Subtle selling folks. Do it, and watch the results that will follow.

Your Turn:

OK, so we may not get 250 comments on this article like we did on the last one, but I still expect some great discussion. In your opinion, what makes for great ‘subtle selling’? And, are you using this skill like you should be on your blog? If not, WHY?? If so, what works well for you? As always, jump on in folks, I’d love to hear your story.

Is Derek Halpern Wrong? The Debate of Web Sidebar Design and Conversions

Marcus Sheridan — Mon, 29 Aug 2011 16:28:47 +0000

Before we jump into this incredibly important question of website side-bar design and conversions, let me just say that I’m a big fan of Derek Halpern. As those of you know that read this blog regularly, I’ve praised him in past articles and think he clearly has one of the great minds in the internet marketing arena. Simply put, the guy produces, and there is no arguing that, which is also why the likes of Chris Brogan and Pat Flynn have sought his advice when it comes to optimizing a website to maximize conversions. At the same rate though, I felt prompted to write this article because although Derek’s methods will fit many online business models, they don’t necessarily apply to everyone (as I’m sure he’d agree), which is why I felt the subject needed further thought.

In his excellent article “The #1 Conversion Killer In Your Web Design”, Derek says:

Murder Clutter… Before It Nukes Your Conversion Rates

Look:

With widgets, plugins, social media profiles, and other junk like that, it’s easy to overload your website with a bunch of garbage you don’t need.

And worse, when you do just that, your conversion rates PLUMMET.

The simple solution is to DITCH the baggage, and focus on what you NEED visitors to do to grow your business.

In most cases, you need visitors to subscribe to your email list or buy your stuff, and that’s what you should focus on.

Related posts? Twitter feed? 10 million social media profile icons? Badges?

“Badges? We don’t need no stinking badges!”

Great thoughts from Derek here. Really. Not only do I love his writing style but his point is a very valid one—too much stuff can/does hurt conversion rates. And as far as the effectiveness of badges on the sidebar, I’m sure we could spend hours debating the merits of that one, but I think the key question is actually this:

What’s your definition of a conversion?

For some folks, a conversion might be capturing someone’s email so they are now part of your ‘list’. But for others, ‘lists’ may not be the end-all.

For example, in the coming weeks, I will be spending more time building my list to promote my new inbound marketing/Hubspot newsletter, but never do I expect this list to be the main focus of TSL in terms of how I monetize this site. More on this in a minute…

In the same article, Derek goes on to say:

But it’s not practical to ONLY include a call to action in your sidebar. You need a little bit more:

Every blog sidebar needs:

an opt-in form (at the top of the sidebar)

links to resource pages (preferably right under the opt-in form)

links to popular articles

Anything else is a potential distraction.

By no means do I think Derek is necessarily wrong with what he is saying here. In fact, just as I said before, I think in the majority of cases, based on most people’s goals, he’s absolutely right. But for me, when all is said and done, the goals of this site are:

1. Build an incredible community through the ‘personal’ feel and interaction of the site.

2. Raise awareness of my speaking services so companies hire me to come out to their place and rock and roll their marketing world.

Speaking

My third priority is the list building side of things, but it does not trump 1 and 2, which is my my sidebar also reflects a different goal than does Derek’s. For example, when it comes to achieving goal #2 of this site (speaking services), my sidebar is the catalyst to make this a reality.

For example, right now I’m showing a ‘I’m Speaking at Content Marketing World’ badge. The reason for this is simple: I want to speak at more events and this badge is a social proof to others that (hopefully) makes them think: ‘Marcus is speaking at one of the most impressive marketing events in the country, maybe I should have him at my event too.’

Further on down the page, you’ll notice a YouTube video of me speaking at a marketing seminar. I will be frank in saying this video alone has benefitted me tremendously on a monetary level. Currently, over the next 6 months, I’m scheduled to be a paid speaker at 6 events, and many others are in the works. Although I’ve always had ‘speaking’ as a service here at TSL, it was not until I posted that video on the sidebar a few months ago that the calls and emails started coming in. Simply put, there is no better social proof than that of video, and I think just about every sidebar should include one, especially if you’re looking to be a paid speaker. Another great example of this is Jason Falls. Check out his site to see how he leverages his side bar to garner tons of speaking opportunities.

Finally, you’ll notice just below the video scrolling testimonials of my web coaching and speaking services. Again, this just lends itself to the #2 goal of this site.

Community

As I mentioned above, the #1 goal of TSL is to build community by creating a ‘personal’ feel between me and my audience. There are diverse ways in which to accomplish this (one of which is taking the time to genuinely answer every comment that comes through these parts) but again, the sidebar reflects these goals. Although I could take a minute to discuss the social media widgets and why I want them there, I’d like to turn your attention to the bottom right of this page, The Sheridan Clan.

Every month, certain articles that do well here on TSL get clicked and read thousands of times. But most pale in comparison to the number of clicks the photo gallery gets of The Sheridan Clan, which usually gets clicked about 10,000 times each month. Heck, even the phrase, ‘The Sheridan Clan’ is now branded. People all the time ask me, “How’s the clan Marcus” or “How’s the Sheridan Clan doing Marcus?”. Is this phenomena due to the fact that people are obsessed with my family and simply can’t stop clicking?? No, of course not, it’s a simple reflection of the #1 goal of this site—Create community with a ‘personal’ feel. And I ask you, is there anything more personal than family?

To close this article, I want to reflect back to the question I asked earlier?

What’s your definition of a conversion?

The catch to this question is that if you don’t know the main goals of your site, conversions really don’t mean a thing. But once your goals are clearly defined, then you can start to develop your sidebar to match said goals.

So to answer the question stated in the title of this article, ‘Is Derek Halpern Wrong?’, I’d say the answer is NO—assuming your goals are to build your list. If that’s your goal, then I’d suggest you adhere to his clutter-free methodology, because like he said, the numbers don’t lie.

But if you have other goals and priorities, makes sure you consider those too as you look to maximize optimal web design.

Your Turn:

OK, we’ve got a great opportunity here folks. What’s your take on sidebars? Is less more? Do you like badges? How about social media buttons? What are the goals of your site and how does your sidebar reflect them? And finally, why do you keep looking at my kids? (Just kidding ) C’mon friends, throw your thoughts in, because this is a topic that affects all of us.

Transparency and Inbound Marketing: The Greatest ‘Sales Technique’ of the Information Age

Marcus Sheridan — Thu, 18 Aug 2011 14:43:51 +0000

I got into a nice little debate yesterday with my good friend Danny Brown over at Gini Dietrich’s site, Spin Sucks. You see, I wrote a guest post there entitled ‘5 Reasons You Should Discuss Pricing on Your Company Website’ and as I’d hoped, it sparked great conversation and debate on both sides of the issue (you really should check it out btw).

<Marcus Tangent Alert***> Speaking of ‘debate’, I don’t think we see enough of that in blogs (See Davina’s virtual love fest post). I love it when people don’t agree with me yet still act civil. For example, in the article I wrote earlier this week about some of the best blog header designs on the internet, Gini Dietrich and Shonali Burke both didn’t like my choices. In fact, Shonali was the first to comment, and gave me the immediate ‘thumbs down’. I was thrilled. Seriously. But that’s a whole other discussion and now I’ll get back on topic

In this debate with Danny, of which many other folks chimed in, the key word that kept coming up again and again was ‘Transparency’. You see, I firmly believe that transparency, combined with great inbound marketing, is the greatest ‘sales technique’ in the world today. And no, I’m not exaggerating one iota.

The Age of Sales Techniques is Dying

There was a period in my life of about 5 years when I read just about every book on ‘selling’ that was ever written. I couldn’t seem to devour enough of the subject and my natural tendency to ‘be the best’ lead me from one book to the next. But all of this stopped a couple of years ago when I started to undergo a complete paradigm shift regarding my approach to selling, and it happened when I truly started to understand the principle of inbound/content marketing.

Frankly, I don’t think most people really understand inbound marketing from a contextual standpoint. Seriously. They don’t get it. Heck, many make it out to be a ‘science’ way more complicated than it really needs to be. As for me, I see it in these simple terms, and if you never remember another thing I say here on TSL, please just remember this:

If your customers have questions, it’s your duty to answer them….with utter transparency.

Got it? Good.

The entire reason my swimming pool website is the most popular of its kind in the world, and the entire reason it generates more leads than I could ever possibly handle, is because it follows this simple aforementioned statement.

That’s why if someone asks me a question, I go write an article about it.

“How much does a fiberglass pool cost?”
“Who shouldn’t buy a fiberglass pool?”
“How do fiberglass pools compare with concrete pools?”
“Do fiberglass pools look cheap?”
“What are the problems with a fiberglass pool?”
“Who are your biggest fiberglass pool competitors?”
“Who makes the best fiberglass pool?”
“Are fiberglass pools ugly?”
“Are fiberglass pools too small?”
“How does ‘Brand X’ compare to ‘Brand Y’?”

The list of questions goes on and on, but with each one, upon hearing it, I wrote about it. 400 brutally honest articles later, it’s a consumer’s best friend—The voice of the fiberglass pool industry.

All this with no Google keyword grader, no expensive SEO consulting analysis, nothing.

Just listening and writing, that’s all it is.

But transparency goes way further in the sales process too. Whenever I set up a sales appointment with a prospect, one clear point is always made, and it usually sounds a little something like this:

“Mr. Customer, the entire reason I’ve spent countless hours writing articles and creating videos about fiberglass pools is because I care about consumers like you. I want you to be educated. I want you to be informed. This is also why the purpose of my visit to your home is not really about teaching. I’ve already done that and I expect you to take advantage of the tools I’ve given you. The purpose of my visit is to help you choose which pool and options, price them for you, and then earn your business at that time. In other words, I’m there to sell you a pool. Sound Good?”

Almost always, after a few second of surprise, the prospect says “Ok Marcus. That sounds great!” As you might imagine, this then leads to an incredibly productive sales appointment and very high ‘closing rates’.

Is Anyone Else Sick of ‘Sales Techniques’?

I’ve always been bothered by the fact that selling involves one sales technique after another that eventually leads to one closing technique after another that eventually leads to one ‘no’ (from the prospect) after another that eventually leads to more ‘resolve concern’ techniques after another that eventually leads to a ‘yes’…or ‘no’. Crazy, huh?

I now prefer to skip all that junk and simply give great content, make sure the prospect does his/her homework, and then reach a natural conclusion—either we’re a good fit or not.

Do you realize how many consumers are simply looking for a voice they can trust? People are so jaded with tricky semantics and silly sales processes (especially online) that all they want is for someone to be straight with them.

Why Not?

So I say why not? Why not be brutally transparent with your approach to business? Why not be the voice of your industry? Why not address issues that no one else has the bravery or guts to talk about? And why not earn the trust of all those around you in the process?

Your Turn

So what’s your take on all this? Do businesses need to be more transparent with their content and approach? Or should we not try to fix something ‘that isn’t broke’? Whether you have just a thought or a diatribe, I’d invite you to jump in below and say what’s on your mind.

That Ain’t My Shtick…The Power of Knowing Who You Are in Business

Marcus Sheridan — Mon, 25 Jul 2011 15:11:18 +0000

A few weeks ago, my business partners and I had the interesting experience of having 3 cameramen follow us around for a day as part of a documentary they were doing that would end up being used as an education piece in college business schools across the country. The group had read about us online and knew of our unique story(for those unaware, I own a swimming pool company), so they wanted to catch footage of all aspects of the business—from installing pools to taking lead calls in the office.

During one of these lead calls in my office, as the cameraman stood over me and recorded, I had a very interesting conversation with a prospect. Basically, the prospect had two major needs: He wanted a pool large/deep enough for a diving board, but he also wanted a very large play area with the pool (section of water less than 4’ deep). After discussing these needs with him for about 5 minutes and realizing they were a critical aspect of his buying decision, I told the prospect the following:

Me: Well sir, to be completely honest, I don’t think we have a swimming pool that’s going to fit your needs based on what you’ve told us.

Prospect: Really, why is that?

Me: Fiberglass pools do not get any larger than 16’x40’. What this means is that if you have a diving pool, the first 1/3 of the pool, or about 13’, is going to be play area. The next 1/3 of the pool is going to be a hard slope, which serves very little purpose. And the final 1/3 is going to be a diving well (8’ deep). Because you’ll only have 13’ as a play area, I don’t think that will be enough to make you happy.

Prospect: No, 13’ is not enough, what’s our solution?

Me: Well, I think you’re going to need a concrete pool in this case. They don’t have size/shape limitations, and it sounds like what you’re really going to need is an L-shaped pool—two unique bodies of water, one being shallow and one being deep.

Prospect: But you all don’t sell concrete pools, do you?

Me: No, we don’t. But if you’re really serious about your two major needs of play area and diving area, that’s the only solution I can offer you. Honestly, I just don’t think we’re the company for you.

Prospect: Well thanks for your honesty, I do appreciate it.

After I got off of the call, one of the cameramen looked at me mystified, and this was the conversation that followed:

Cameraman: Are you telling me you turned down that guy’s business? I would never do that!

Me: Our product doesn’t fit his needs, and I’m not going to lie to the guy. He wants a large play area and a large diving area in his pool. We simply can’t offer that, and I’m not going to pretend we can.

Cameraman: Yeah, but selling is selling and you should still try to convince him that he should go with your company.

Me: First of all, I am not dying for his business. We do inbound marketing, and because we’re so dang good at it I get tons of leads every day. I’m looking for great leads, not ones I have to convince about our product. If I had met with this fellow at his home, two other concrete pool guys would have come out and convinced him what I just told him—our product isn’t the right fit, period.

Cameraman: Well I’ve never turned down a job.

Me: That’s because of two reasons: Your marketing has never been that good and you really don’t know who you are. My product fits 80% of the marketplace. I don’t worry about the other 20%. The fact is, I sell more because I’m worried about less.

Cameraman: I think that’s crazy.

Me: (laughing) Yeah, I may have thought the same until I really learned who I was and stopped trying to please everyone else. The moment I did that, everything changed. You should try it sometime.

I’m not sure if that phone call is going to be on the documentary, but if I was calling the shots, it would be the first thing college students saw, as it’s that important. After being an entrepreneur for over 10 years now, I’ve come to this conclusion:

Most people in business have no idea who they really are.

For example, as I’ve mentioned here before, when I started my pool company I offered vinyl liner inground pools, fiberglass pools, above ground pools, retail, and many other items. Today, 10 years later, I do ONE thing—fiberglass pools. And because of that, our company is nationally branded as the fiberglass pool company. I’m not saying this to brag, that’s just how it is.

Blogging Identities and Shticks

I see many bloggers suffering from this same problem when it comes to branding and identity. They try to make money in a handful of ways but they never become truly known in the blogosphere for anything, and that’s why they eventually give up.

For example, folks in the blogosphere know me as a guy with an incredible community that passionately talks about inbound marketing and Hubspot. I don’t spend a bunch of time trying to act like I know all things web, social media, affiliate marketing, etc. Although I may be interested in those things, they aren’t my shtick. But when it comes to inbound marketing and blogging—oh yeah, that’s me.

For example, last week I had two large companies contact me about what I would charge to come out and speak to their organizations. Both requests were practically identical—they wanted me to get their employees fired up about inbound marketing. These types of contacts are starting to become very common, but they’re just a natural result of consistent branding, hard work, and a sense of self.

But I see many other bloggers who know who they are. John Falchetto is an expat life coach. Wim is a sales coach. Alex Whalley rocks with niche and affiliate websites. Steve Scott is solely focused on helping people make money online. And the ever popular JK Allen teaches people how to hustle through life and business. These are just a few examples of bloggers with a clear sense of ‘self’.

So that’s the challenge folks. Who are you? What’s your shtick? And do other people see you or your business the same way you do? If you know these things, your ability to experience huge success on and offline will be increased dramatically.

Your Turn:

OK, simple question for all readers: What’s your shtick? What do you want to be known as in the blogosphere and in the rest of the world? C’mon, jump in and promote yourself a little bit, plus I’d love to learn a little more about this awesome community.

***Speaking of inbound marketing, I’ll be giving a rocking webinar for the folks at Spin Sucks this Thursday. If you’re interested in having a good time and learning a ton in the process, check it out here.

Yes Mr. Godin, All Marketers Really Are Liars, Especially McDonalds!

Marcus Sheridan — Fri, 08 Jul 2011 12:58:00 +0000

Wow, I can save a penny!!!! Thanks McDonalds!

Short and sweet today folks, but boy is it a topic that I can’t wait to talk about….

I was driving down the road yesterday and another McDonalds billboard felt it necessary to inform me, for the 73^rd time this week, that I can now get a 20 piece chicken nuggets for $4.99. Upon seeing the message I couldn’t help but shake my head and think two distinct thoughts:

1. McDonald’s lies like a rug

2. Consumers are really stupid

You see my friends, for the last decade, McDonalds has been selling a 4-piece nugget on their dollar menu. So, if you’re really quick at math, for over 10 years now we’ve been able to buy 20 nuggets for exactly $5. That’s right—one little Abraham Lincoln more than this amazing ‘sale’ on chicken nuggets that McD’s has spent millions in advertising.

So the question begs: Why in the heck do they do it?

Answer: Because it works.

The truth of the matter is that all marketers(as least the great ones) really are liars(or extreme ‘truth stretchers’ ), just as Seth Godin said in his best-selling book All Marketers Are Liars(2005). Godin states:

“All marketers tell stories. And if they do it right, we believe them. We believe that wine tastes better in a $20 glass than a $1 glass. We believe that an $80,000 Porsche Cayenne is vastly superior to a $36,000 VW Touareg, even if it is virtually the same car. We believe that $225 Pumas will make our feet feel better–and look cooler–than $20 no names. . . and believing it makes it true.”

So is McDonalds’ sale on those ‘all white-meat fritters’ really that bad? The answer, of course, is not so much. What they’re really doing is giving us something to talk about. They’re making chicken nuggets relevant through an ‘amazing sale’ that is only one penny less than the product has been available for 10 years now. Freaking hilarious if you ask me.

But McDonalds understands that great marketing ain’t so much about pennies. It’s about perception. It’s about delivery. And it’s certainly about creating feelings.

When it comes down to it, this is exactly what consumers (you and I) want. We want companies to ‘lie’ to us. We want them to give us a reason to buy. We want to feel like we just got the greatest deal in the history of the world.

In fact, when was the last time someone said to you, “I bought a brand new car but boy did I get ripped off!”

Chances are you’ve never had a friend tell you that. But how many times has someone told you they bought a car and ‘got a great deal’? Hundreds, I’m sure.

We all want deals. We all want specials. Perceived or real, we want them. Anyone that says otherwise is lying. So if you really want to be a successful marketer, chances are you better do just that.

Am I saying you should lie? No, not exactly, but to make my point I’ll refer back to what Godin said regarding the title of his aforementioned best-seller:

“I wasn’t being completely truthful with you when I named this book. Marketers aren’t liars. They are just storytellers… I was trying to go to the edges. No one would hate a book called All Marketers Are Storytellers. No one would disagree with it. No one would challenge me on it. No one would talk about it.”

So let’s not call it lying—‘Story telling’ will do just fine.

That’s what you must do with your business folks. Have a story and tell it. Push the envelope. And if you do anything—get people talking.

Your Turn:

So let the debate begin. Is it OK to lie or stretch the truth with marketing? Is the fact that McDonalds is ‘lying’ about their amazing special a bad thing? And what’s the deal with all of us wanting ‘a great deal’? As always, whether you agree or strongly disagree, I’d love to hear your thoughts below.

The Age of Digital Branding and the Power of Perception

Marcus Sheridan — Fri, 17 Jun 2011 12:05:36 +0000

Not too exciting, is it?

I pulled into the gravel parking lot of my swimming pool company this morning and an unexpected thought came to mind— “Geez this place is pretty ugly.”

I know, sounds rather rough, doesn’t it? But it’s true. It’s such a plain metal building. No glitz. No pomp. And if you were to drive by it, you probably would not even give it a glance. And you certainly wouldn’t know it was the home of the most popular swimming pool website in the world…….

Good-Bye Pretty Buildings, Hello Smart Marketing

As many of you know, about 3 years ago I completely changed my shift and focus as a business owner. Instead of solely relying on antiquated marketing principles to generate business, I did a 180 and embraced content and inbound marketing. This was easily one of the smartest decisions I’ve ever made, but it also coincided perfectly with another major shift in my thinking as well.

You see, I used to equate the success of my business with the image people saw on the outside. This image was derived, at least in my mind, from retail stores. There was a time when I honestly thought that if I had really nice stores, this would naturally lead to more profitability and sales. This is also what I was taught when I entered the industry in 2001, which explains why just a few years ago I had one of the nicest retail stores in all of Virginia for swimming pools, offering a full line of game room equipment, pool tables, tanning beds, hot tubs, and much more.

From the outside, the place made quite the impression, but from the inside, it practically crippled the company. Not only did it require huge time, employees, and management to operate such a facility, but it also was, at best, a break-even financially.

Accepting Reality

After having been in this location from 2006-2009, my business partners and I realized a couple of important realities.

1. Our website, not our stores, created the consumer perception of our company’s brand.
2. Old-school retail, in many industries including ours, was a dying business model.

With this realization, we ‘sold the mills’ and got rid of all retail. We also took all of the energies we had been spending on the frivolous minutia of running the store to producing a website that would generate leads and sales through content– and lots of it.

And boy did the strategy pay of in spades.

Customers Don’t Care About Your ‘Stuff’

My pool company has gotten more leads in the past month than at any other time in our history. These leads have translated into sales– LOTS of sales. And do you know how many people have commented or asked about our buildings/offices/retail stores?

If you answered ZERO, you were right.

At the same time though, guess how many of these clients have talked about our company’s website– and the feeling, or ‘perception’, they got from all of the information they found therein?

If you answered ALL of them, you’re right again.

Switching gears for a second, most of you know that I do a lot of web coaching, speaking, traveling, and consulting these days for other businesses, some of which are multi-million dollar companies. I don’t mention this to brag, as it’s nothing special, but I just want to stress this critical point again:

How many clients have asked me about where I run my business from or what my office looks like?

Again, you already know the answer. None of them.

They don’t care that I work out of my home. They don’t care that when I’m talking to them on the phone, I’m likely wearing a t-shirt with my bare feet propped up on the desk.

Nope, all they care about is what they see on that dang screen….

Perception Based on the Digital Realm

We live in a time folks where the perception others will have of us has nothing to do with ‘stuff’. It’s has nothing really to do with what they see in the real world, but everything they perceive from the digital realm.

So if you, as a business owner and entrepreneur, truly want to taste success, start thinking day and night about your digital brand and perception. How do you come across to others online? Are you viewed as a thought leader? Do you have a community that further validates your ‘expert’ claims? Are you producing the content that’s required to be a mover and a shaker in your industry or niche?

These questions and many others just like them need to be clearly understood if you want to be successful. And it’s not a one-time thing either. It’s a subject of utmost importance until the day your business and brand no longer exist.

Let–It–Go

My point? If there is anything distracting you and your business from online greatness, drop it. Just let it go. I’ve been asked many times why I let go of my swimming pool stores. Many people thought it was a dumb idea and would hurt my image. But what they don’t understand is I know who I am, and I know how my customers make their judgements about me, and it sure as heck isn’t based upon those yellow metal walls. Nope, it’s all about the little digits on the screen, and when it comes to that screen, I’m going to make sure the impression is a lasting one.

Your Turn:

How has your branding shifted now that we’re in the digital age? And what are you doing with your blog/website/etc to improve the perceptions others have of you? Finally, what do you find is the biggest struggle with this online branding process?

As I’ve stated before, whether you’ve commented here 100 or 0 times, you’re always invited to share your thoughts and submit your questions below or in private on the contact form.

Dumb It Down, Will Ya?!!!—Plus a Video Interview with The Sales Lion

Marcus Sheridan — Mon, 06 Jun 2011 13:50:43 +0000

I had an ‘SEO Expert’ call me last week and this was his opening line: “Mr. Sheridan, do you realize your site is not optimized for many important keywords in your niche?”

As soon as I heard this question, I debated having a lot of fun with the guy and continuing the conversation, or just simply letting him be and allow my pity to quickly end the conversation.

I chose the latter but as I hung up the phone, a simple thought came to mind: ‘This guy is too dumb to dumb it down…and he’ll never make money because of it.’

Yeah, kinda strong, but it’s true.

The Curse of Knowledge is Getting Worse

My friend the ‘SEO Expert’ wasn’t different than most folks though. In fact, his actions represent the majority—in all industries, niches, and segments.

In the early days of this blog, when I had like 5 readers , I talked extensively about the Curse of Knowledge, and how most business owners and employees use a vernacular well above their clients, thus destroying common sense communication and sales in general. And as I continue down this road of teaching and speaking about sales and marketing, I’m seeing the Curse of Knowledge more and more and more.

Just last week, as I was speaking to a variety of SEOs and marketers at the MarketingSherpa Optimization Summit (which was awesome btw!!!), I asked the group a very simple question:

“Everyone (in the world) knows what optimization is at this point, don’t they?”

As I expected, the majority of people in the room shook their head in the affirmative—another sign that most simply don’t understand their clients and prospects.

My follow up went something like this:

“Actually, NO. Most people have no clue what the word ‘Optimization’ is. In fact, 95% of all business owners still don’t know what a ‘keyword’ is. Furthermore, most of the people in the SEO and marketing industry use a slew of ‘common words and phrases’ that very few small businesses actually ‘get’.”

Stupid Acronyms!

And speaking of common words and phrases that most people don’t get, I’ve got to take a second to mention a second curse—The Curse of Acronyms.

I’ve got to tell you, in general, I hate acronyms (with the exception of Davinas ). They stink. (except TSL of course, which is the coolest!! )They assume people have a clue when they don’t. And often times they kill good conversation and ultimately cost people (that’d be you and me) lots of money. Here are a few examples of the most commonly used:

ROI (Return on Investment)

ROS (Return on Sales)

B2B (Business to Business)

B2C (Business to Consumer)

CMO (Chief Marketing Officer)

CRM (Customer Relationship Management)

CPC (Cost Per Click)

CTR (Click Through Rate)

SMBs (Small Medium Businesses)

Although I could go on and on with a list of acronyms, I’ll stop there and just say this:

If you’re utilizing acronyms all of the time in your sales, marketing, and content—you’re losing lots of money. Yeah, sure there are many people that know what they mean, but there are many more that don’t know what the heck you’re talking about– they’re just too embarrassed to admit it.

This rule obviously also applies to any other industry or trade specific words that are applied to your niche.

Our Goal is NOT to be a Genius

At the risk of sounding a bit prideful (please don’t take it that way), the #1 compliment I receive regarding my speaking and writing is this:

‘Marcus, you said it in such a simple way…now I get it!’

Do I ever get accused of being a genius? Nope, but that’s not the goal. The goal is that everybody gets what the heck it is I’m saying.

When we speak or when we write, we have a choice to make folks—We can try to impress ourselves or we can solely work to enlighten the audience. But be rest assured, the more ‘big words’, acronyms, and scientific stuff you say—the less you’ll actually communicate a lick of value to your audience (at least in most cases).

Because I have the ability to simplify subjects, and because I try to never speak above my audience (whether it be a single client or a room of 500 people), I’m beginning to experience tremendous success in my life. As an example, I’ve been traveling around the country in the last few weeks to help existing Hubspot clients find success with their inbound marketing.

But do I bring any more knowledge to the table that Hubspot doesn’t already do with their hundreds of awesome employees, thousands of articles, and slew of helpful videos?? Nope, not at all, but the one thing I can do pretty darn well is explain how the system works to average Joe and Jills that have a desire but simply don’t ‘get it’.

So that’s the challenge folks—start dumbing it down and stop assuming your clients know more than they do. If you do this, I can assure you the results will be astounding….

Video Time!

While I was in Atlanta last week, I met an incredible guy named Michael Aagaard. What’s amazing about Michael is that although he is very young, he has turned down some high paying and secure internet marketing jobs to do his own thing and be his own boss. He even flew all the way across the Atlantic from Denmark (where he lives) to attend the SEO conference I spoke at. After Michael and I met and he attended my seminar, he invited me to do a video interview for all his followers in Denmark, which I’m now sharing with you.

Although the video is long, if you’ve ever wanted to hear my thoughts on business and marketing, or listen to my goofy Virginia accent, I can assure you this video has it. It got a huge response on Michael’s blog and I hope if you find a few minutes here or there, you’ll give it a listen, as it won’t be a waste of your time. Oh, and one other thing– The first two minutes are in Danish, so you can fast forward that…or just listen to it if you want, because it’s kinda cool.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Your Turn:

Why is it so hard for people to ‘dumb it down’? What acronyms and other phrases have you heard that many people simply don’t understand? As always, I invite all readers to leave your thoughts below, as the comment section is where the strength of community is allowed to work its magic and we can all learn from each other.

Have a great week everyone!!!

3 Amazing Ways Content Marketing Can Change You, Your Company, and Your Life

Marcus Sheridan — Mon, 09 May 2011 15:04:19 +0000

There is a movement afoot in businesses around the globe folks. And frankly, this is a movement that excites me more than anything I’ve seen in a long, long time—and it’s going to change the world of business as we know it.

Looking Within for Change

More and more, younger employees of companies all over the world are taking it upon themselves to introduce the power of content and inbound marketing to their CEOs and managers. Because the idea of social media, blogging, etc is so much more prevalent with the ‘younger generation’ (not always though), these 20 and 30 somethings are doing their best to convince their bosses that there is a better way of marketing than the methods that have been used over and over again for the past 50 years.

It is because of this movement that the #1 question I get from readers, other than how to build a blogging community, comes from those persons looking for the proper manner in which to introduce this new way of marketing to their boss/CEO. Such was the case about 8 months ago when I talked to a young man named Jason. (For the sake of privacy, I’m going to leave off his last name and company info.) After talking with him about this issue many months ago, I received the following letter (word for word) from him this past week. Please read it, as its simple lessons are as profound as anything I’ve ever written on this blog.

Hey Marcus.

I’m super busy today, but I was thinking about you. First off…THANK YOU!!! We spoke in the fall about Hubspot. Your case study was really important to us signing up for Hubspot. It sold my boss in 15 minutes. We also spoke on the phone for 15 minutes or so and you convinced me that smart people in a blue collar industry can dominate online with the help of Hubspot and a lot of hard work.

Hubspot has been amazing for us. We signed up in October 2010

We had 300 visitors in November. We had 14,000 in April. Our business has basically changed overnight. My boss is AMAZED. We’ve had to hire new people, buy new truck and machines, etc. Its been a crazy season. I also got promoted to Vice President.

I just looked at your pool website with my SEOMOZ tools. It was showing like 1100 root domain links, which is amazing!!!! I want help with Hubspot. I trust you.

I am starting a new website for our sister company,

Reach out when you can… Thanks!

Jason

As you might imagine, emails like this get me fired up. What’s even better, is that I’m starting to get them a lot. The simple fact is inbound marketing works. Content can change a business forever. And those businesses willing to embrace change will likely dominate their niche because of the antiquated methodologies of their competitors.

But beyond the benefits of content/inbound marketing itself, I was reminded of 3 powerful lessons with this experience:

1. Content Can Change Companies Forever: Just by getting on Hubspot and embracing inbound marketing, this company’s website went from 0 to 60 in a matter of no time (or ‘overnight’ as Jason said it). Seriously, going from 300 visits a month to 14k is astonishing, but such is the power of blogging (content) for small business when done right.

2. Content Only Needs One Believer: Granted, it’s not always easy to convince one’s boss of the merits of SM and content marketing. But nothing happens without the first initial effort. Simply because one man in this company had the guts to put it out there and approach ‘the boss’, every other employee in that company will now be able to feed their families easier and much needed jobs will be given to those persons who have likely been unemployed and struggling to get by for months. If that’s not motivating, I don’t know what is.

3. Content Leads to Promotions: How do you go from ‘fresh out of college’ to ‘Company Vice President’? As Seth Godin would say, you become a heretic. You push the envelope. You challenge the status quo. This is exactly what Jason did in his industry and now his entire life has changed.

Hey Boss, Call Me

For those of you reading this who have a boss with his or her head in the sand, that won’t embrace content marketing and social media, do them a favor and have them read this article. Then, if they’re still not convinced, put them on the phone with me. (No, I’m not kidding) It’s time your business was ushered into the information age—before it’s too late.

So as we go about our week my fellow readers, what say ye that we follow the example of Jason? Let’s push the status quo. Let’s challenge our bosses (or ourselves ) to reach new heights of excellence within our company. And more than anything, let’s all be a part of what might be the most important business movement in the history of the world.

Your Turn:

If you’re an employee of a company, what are you doing to ensure your boss/CEO embraces content marketing/SM and therefore stays on the cutting edge? If you’ve already embraced inbound marketing, what have been the benefits for your company? As always, I’d love to hear your thoughts and have some great discussion below.

Oh, and one other thing before you leave. If you’re looking to be moved and inspired today, I’d ask you to consider reading Ingrid’s (from NittyGriddy blog) guest post on Troy Claus’ Entrepreneur Series. It is easily one of the best reads I’ve come across in some time, and I can promise you that the powerful prose alone will be well worth the trip over……

Have a wonderful week everyone.