The Sales Lion by Marcus Sheridan » Speaking/Presenting

5 Magical Moments Blogging Brought Me in 2011

Marcus Sheridan — Mon, 19 Dec 2011 15:38:49 +0000

We all hear about the benefits of blogging. Yes, it can generate traffic to our website. Yes it can induce more leads and sales. And yes, blogging can make some, if not a lot, of money.

But today I’d like to submit that there is also a magical side of blogging most folks generally overlook. Frankly, the big reward here often times has nothing to do with dollar bills. No, it’s much, much more than that.

When I look back on what has transpired for me in 2011, I can only smile in awe of what has took place these past 365 days. Without question, it has been an amazing year on many levels, but much of the blessings have been a direct result of the labors I’ve put in here with The Sales Lion.

So to paint this picture clearer, here are my top 5 magical moments I received from my blog in 2011, and when I’m done, I’d love to hear yours as well.

1. Meeting a Hero, Fulfilling a Dream

A while back I mentioned in a post that I met one of my heroes, Tony Caridi (The radio voice of the West Virginia Mountaineers), when he contacted me to help him better leverage Hubspot and have more success with his inbound marketing. When I went out to meet with Tony and his staff, not only did he give me a full tour of everything WVU, but weeks later I also ended up sitting with him in the press box for the biggest game of the season, WVU vs. LSU. Although we didn’t win the game, it was an experience I’ll never forget. And one last thing—The video you see in the upper right hand side of this page was produced by Tony’s company as well, something that was done in a trade, and an element of this site that has generated many more speaking opportunities for me since.

Sitting in the Pressbox of the WVU vs. LSU game

2. 25 Minutes in Cleveland That Changed Everything

I’ve talked a few times about some of the experiences I had at Content Marketing World this year, but without question that one event, and the short 25 minute presentation I gave, were a quantum leap in my career.

The events of CMW lead to multiple other speaking engagements, including Blog World LA and the Mesh Conference in Canada. But more importantly, during my time in Cleveland I established relationships with some really, really amazing people, like Amy Porterfield, Michael Stelzner, Joe Pulizzi, CC Chapman, Deb Ng, Jay Baer, and others.

Standing with Joe Pulizzi at Content Marketing World

3. Canadians are Awesome

As I mentioned in #2, a few months ago I spoke at the Mesh Marketing event in Toronto Canada. Although I’ve had fun just about everywhere I’ve spoken these past few years, none were quite like Mesh, which I owe to the fact that Canadians are passionate about social media (at least in Toronto) like I am about bacon for every meal . As I explained in my “Twitter is the Greatest Feedback Tool in the World’ article, the reaction I got from that event, and the people I met, were all unforgettable.

Like I said, Canadians are awesome

4. A Simple Trip to Michigan

One of the great parts of this blog and what I do is the fact that companies hire me to come out and speak to their organization about the power of inbound and content marketing. Although I did this a few times this year, one that really stands out is my trip to Lansing Michigan when I met with the folks from Block Imaging. To make a long story short, after speaking and conversing with their staff over the course of an entire day, I truly came to care about their people, their vision, and the integrity they stand for as a company. Months later, I’m still closely following their marketing progress and keeping in touch with some of their employees.

Speaking in Michigan, a truly rewarding experience

5. Boston Baby!

Another opportunity that came from this blog in 2011 was speaking at the Hubspot User Conference in Boston. As everyone knows, I have strong feelings about the power of Hubspot and Inbound Marketing, and so getting a chance to help fellow Hubspotters on a large yet personal level is very rewarding.

But not only that, after I gave my seminar and went out for a bite to eat, I realized the Boston Red Sox were playing, so my business partner Jason and I walked down to famous Fenway to see the historic structure.

Minutes later, as I described in much detail here, Jason and I had walked straight through the gates without paying and found a seat next to the famous ‘Green Monster’ in left field, which was a moment neither one of us will ever forget.

Nothing like just walking into historic Fenway Park

5.5 When Online Friends Become ‘Real Life Friends’

I know I only said there would be 5 magical moments listed here, but I’d be very remiss if I didn’t mention the relationships I formed with some incredible people online this past year. For example, when I attended Blog World New York, I finally was able to catch up in person with two of my favorite online people(and super-talented bloggers): Gini Dietrich and John Falchetto.

Myself, Gini Dietrich, and John Falchetto in NYC

Meeting Gini and John only solidified what I already knew—Online relationships can be very, very real, especially when properly nurtured over time.

In reality, I could mention many other wonderful people I’ve formed strong relationships with this year because of this blog, but I’m sure you understand my point. In fact, I’d imagine that if you’ve been blogging long enough, you know exactly what I’m talking about.

Again, It Isn’t Just About the Money

20 years from now, when I look back on 2011, one thing I know for certain is that money will not be the first thing to come to mind. Yes, this year was a financial success, but the magical moments, smiling faces, and relationships built will make up the memories that will stand the test of time.

As for 2012, I simply can’t wait to turn the page and see how the wonderful story continues to unfold.

Your Turn:

So those are my magical moments that resulted from my blog in 2011, now I’d love to hear a few of yours. Whether it was a business blessing, a personal lesson, or something very simple—Please share with the community here a blessing or two your received from blogging this past year.

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Twitter: The Greatest Real-Time Feedback Tool in the History of the World

Marcus Sheridan — Mon, 21 Nov 2011 14:30:54 +0000

Yes, I really mean that statement. Twitter, when used by audience/consumers/etc is the greatest real-time feedback tool this world has ever seen. Nothing comes close to it. It’s better than Facebook, better than blogs, better than G+ , and certainly better than asking our friends, “How’d I do?”

Although this topic has been circling my head for quite a few months now, recent weeks have reaffirmed this message loud and clear.

What a Difference Twitter Makes

Earlier this month I spoke to about 150 swimming pool and hot tub companies at the National Pool/Spa convention about the powers of inbound and content marketing. For 3 hours, we had tremendous conversation as to how their business could see an utter facelift if they would but only embrace a new paradigm of marketing.

And how did I do?

Unfortunately, I have no idea. Well, let me restate that—I’ve been told by many folks the seminar was excellent, but I’ve still not received one single written feedback form. Other than a handful of emails from companies wanting help with their web marketing, I’ve got zilch. Nothing. Nada. Furthermore, because they were your typical blue collar business owners and not very focused on social media tools, not a single tweet was made by anyone in the session in 3 hours of discussion.

Alas…

On the opposite end of this spectrum, last week I had the absolute pleasure of flying to Toronto and speaking at the energy-packed Meshmarketing conference (represented as #MM11 on Twitter). And if there is one thing I learned about folks in Toronto during my short stay was the fact that they love their Twitter. Check that, they REALLY love their twitter.

I had two opportunities to speak at Mesh—a panel discussion in the morning and a solo workshop in the afternoon. Despite the fact that I spoke less than a total of two hours, those incredible Canadians sent out hundreds of @thesaleslion tweets throughout the day. In fact, as I stepped off the stage from my first panel, I was able to look at my twitter stream and immediately know all the thoughts, comments, and observations from audience members.

Some tweets were funny. Others were serious. But every tweet truly made for noteworthy feedback. To help you understand exactly what I’m talking about, let’s take a look at just a few ways in which Twitter taught me new lessons at this recent event.

Twitter Will Show You Your Mistakes

During my panel discussion, I was asked about ‘engagement vs. traffic’, and which was the truer measure of success for a blog. My response to this (or at least the response I thought I gave) was ‘it depends on your goals’. In other words, just because a site gets a lot of comments doesn’t mean the site is profitable or reaching its goals. Engagement comes in many forms, and we just have to be aware of that.

Notwithstanding, when I saw this tweet from Jeff, and the subsequent partial disagreement from Matt, I realized I hadn’t explained myself very well, and thus needed to make sure I corrected the mistake. In order to do this I sent out a response to the tweet and also re-answered the question in my afternoon session. Without twitter, I never would have known of the misunderstanding.

Twitter will tell you if you look Dorky

Ahh yes, my friend Natalie did just say I was rocking a Forest Gump hair cut. I literally laughed out loud when I read this tweet, as it was a truly powerful observational statement, with a load of humor behind it. Later on that day, Natalie told me she was actually being complimentary of my ‘military look’, but I still think it will go down as a classic.

Twitter will tell you if you’re not so Dorky

Oh Rayanne! This tweet had me in tears. But hey, one minute I went from looking like Forest Gump to the next minute looking like Mathew McConaughey. Talk about two ends of the spectrum!

Twitter will tell you when you’ve made a cultural blunder

During the panel, I made a typical analogy I always say when describing the value of a blog article: “Each blog article you write is like an extra bullet in your gun, ammo to use later on…”

Boy did this little statement get a reaction! It was tweeted multiple times. As you can see, some thought it was funny. Others probably not so much. Either way, in hindsight I now realize it got so much reaction because I was in Toronto Canada, a place where guns are few and far between, and not so much viewed in a positive light.

Twitter will show you your most powerful statements

Every good presenter and speaker needs to have an array of strong statements that audiences can remember. But the problem with coming up with these statements is the fact that it’s almost impossible to know what those ‘hot button’ statements are after the fact. Again, this is why Twitter is so amazing. For example, I was asked during my panel discussion by an audience member whether or not it was OK to talk about/pitch one’s products in one’s company blog. As you can see from the tweets above, many of which I’ve not included, a blog should be about education whereas the rest of your website should be more ‘self-promotional’.

Had I not seen all of these tweets though, I never would have known that statement would have such a memorable impact on listeners.

Twitter will tell you what words you abuse/use too much of/or simply sound funny to other people

We all have a tendency to use certain words more than others when we speak and present. As for me, one such word I have a tendency to use to death in my vernacular is ‘Dang’.

Twitter will tell you just how well you’ve done

Wow Shannon, thanks, that’s awfully kind of you!

Twitter will tell you how much attention you’re getting

I wasn’t kidding when I said Canadians were passionate about their Twitter. Heck, I’ve never trended in a country before and I don’t know if I’ll ever do it again, but this tweet certainly gave me quite the smile.

I could literally go on and one about the value of Twitter as a feedback tool. The fact is, if you use this medium to your advantage you’ll never need a ‘feedback form’ again when delivering a talk or presentation (assuming the audience uses Social Media). But this principles goes much further than talks and presentations, as it applies to a vast amount of other activities, like TV shows, commercials, events, blog posts, new advertising campaigns, etc.

If one really looks at this, the possibilities are endless. But the bottom line is this: Are you using this feedback tool to truly help you and your company get better at what you do?

Your Turn:

I’d love to hear some of your thoughts on Twitter as a feedback tool. Have you used it in this manner and what have been the results? Has anyone on Twitter ever made observations of you or your company and helped you improve a problem you weren’t previously aware of? Also, as individuals and businesses learn to leverage the power of Twitter as a feedback device, how to you think this unique medium will be further utilized in the future?

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The One Key to Becoming a GREAT Content Marketer (Video)

Marcus Sheridan — Sat, 12 Nov 2011 15:24:21 +0000

As you’re all aware, I spoke at Blog World last week and it was a tremendous experience. The wonderful Marlee Ward was kind enough to record the session for me and so I plan on showing certain video segments over the coming weeks.

In today’s short video, I want you to see how a simple paradigm shift in the way you create content can open up unlimited possibilities.

The fact is, the best content marketers are the ones that can not only think like a consumer, but are willing to address EVERY question a consumer might have.

Whether it’s about pricing, problems, competitors, etc– becoming great at content is knowing how to tackle these subjects.

But the big point that so many forget or don’t understand is this: Just because you address a consumer question, doesn’t mean you’re specifically giving them an answer.

Don’t know what I mean by that? Guess you’ll just have watch this 2 minute video below as my friend Jim in the audience has a complete paradigm shift when it comes to addressing the subject of pricing on his website.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Your Turn:

I have one simple question for my fellow bloggers and content marketers this morning: Is there any question a consumer asks that can’t be addressed in some way on your website?

As always, thanks so much for your support and especially your kind birthday wishes last week.

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34 Years and Counting: A Birthday Post from The Sales Lion

Marcus Sheridan — Wed, 09 Nov 2011 15:50:55 +0000

There is something about the ‘learn more about me’ birthday posts I’ve always loved from other bloggers, and being that this past Sunday marked my 34^th year on this planet, as well as the 2 year anniversary of The Sales Lion, I figure it’s time for me to do one of these lists. So if you’d like to hear more of my life story, please read on…

Early Childhood

What's up with my haircut Mom??!

1. The second child of Phil and Sandi Sheridan, I was born on the 6^th of November, 1977 in Fayettville North Carolina. My dad was in the army at that time, stationed at Fort Bragg.

2. By older brother’s name is Joseph. We’re only 13 months apart, so that set up for a fun-filled, fight-laden childhood. We’ve always loved each other dearly, but we’re a couple of competitive guys, which meant Mom was always scared to death when we went outside to play basketball. Today, my brother has done quite well for himself in the military, and is stationed with his wife in Germany.

3. I spent my childhood years in the Northern Neck of Virginia, in the very small town of Callao. At the time, there wasn’t even a stoplight in our county, and my elementary school class had about 45 kids. To say I grew up ‘in the sticks’ would be a serious understatement.

4. I was a chunky kid from early on. Frankly, my weight always bothered me, and of course my brother liked to remind me of my round figure whenever he could.

5. Growing up, I was a huge football fan of the Washington Redskins, and an even bigger fan of the LA Lakers. I adored Magic Johnson, and for a long time I thought basketball was going to be my best sport. To this day, I have a deadly hook-shot from anywhere on the court.

Teenage Years

6. On the first day of 6^th grade middle school, a friend showed me a photo of some students from another elementary school that had combined with ours to formulate our new class. Immediately I noticed a tall girl in the back row and oddly felt a liking to her in that very moment. Her name was Nikki Hayden, and within about a week, we were boyfriend and girlfriend.

7. After being boyfriend and girlfriend for a day, Nikki dumped me for another kid even chubbier than I was—talk about depressing! But Nikki and I would remain close friends for the next 5 years.

8. Once in high school, I started taking sports more seriously than ever. In fact, by the time I was a senior I was the captain of the football, baseball, and wrestling teams.

9. As a high school junior, on the night of my 16^th birthday party, I suffered a serious car accident when I was horsing around with some friends. Because of our stupidity, we flipped my buddy’s brand-new jeep, and my head went through the windshield. To this day, I have a large bump and scar on the top of my scalp to remind me of this incident. In hindsight, this accident put me on a very different course of life, and I’ll always be grateful for the wake-up call it provided.

10. Right at the beginning of my senior year in I met two missionaries from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints and a few months later was baptized and became a member. This was a very happy and sad time in my life, as my decision greatly disappointed my dear(since passed) grandfather, a devout Catholic, who to this day is the most Christ-like man I have ever had the pleasure of being around.

11. After 5 years of ‘just being friends’, Nikki came to her senses in 12^th grade and told me she wanted to be boyfriend and girlfriend. This time, it lasted more than a day.

12. My final GPA when I graduated high school in 1995 was a 2.4. Pretty impressive, ehhh? But I really didn’t care as sports were my focus and it was just enough to get me into West Virginia University, where I’d soon be rooming with my brother Joe.

College Years and Chile

Running the Marine Corps Marathon, 1997

13. I started off as a Physical Education major in college. My goals were to teach and coach, as those subjects had always been my passion.

14. Because I was getting more and more chunky as my freshman year in college went on, I decided to pick up running for the first time. Soon, I actually became pretty good. Although I wasn’t very fast, I could run all day, and after about 8 months of training, I won the Charleston WV 15 mile race for the 19 and under age division, averaging about 7 minutes a mile.

Despite a few nagging injuries, about a year later I ran the DC Marine Corps Marathon as well. In the process of that race, I did significant damage to both of my hamstrings, and was never quite the same runner again. To this day, I miss being able to go run the hills of West Virginia on a 20 mile Saturday morning jog.

15. Not long into my freshman year did I have a few experiences that lead me to make the decision to leave school for two years and serve a mission for my church. So I put in my application and waited to find out where I’d be going. Months later, I was on a plane headed to the country of Chile in South America.

16. Chile was a life-altering experience. Two years of no TV, radio, dating, etc. My only purpose was to help and serve others. I arrived to the country with almost no ability to speak Spanish. But months later, after much effort, I found myself forgetting English at times, and even thinking and dreaming in Spanish. Learning a new language is an amazing experience in and of itself.

17. It was in Chile that I started to realize my unique ability to communicate with and teach large groups of people. What had been a major fear just a few years before was now becoming one of my greatest strengths. Often times I would give sermons or presentations to hundreds of people at a time, with no notes at all, solely relying on passion and personal experiences. It was then, at the age of 21, that I realized I’d been given a very special talent that could possibly bless the lives of others, including myself, for years to come.

18. While in Chile I literally felt protected by angels. For example, I was attacked by dog gangs (yes, dogs travel in ‘gangs’ in Chile) on multiple occasions, I was held up by a deranged mad-man with a knife, and I was even hit with thrown rocks on more than one occasion. But none of it seemed to scare or bother me, as I truly felt a provincial protection during my time as a missionary.

Marriage and Family

19. After two years of traveling the Southern tip of Chile, I returned home. Nikki and I were married two months later. We were dirt poor and happy as can be. Shortly thereafter, we returned to WVU so I could finish my degree.

20. Before we knew it, Nikki found out she was expecting our first child. 9 months later, Danielle Jayden Sheridan was born. We were thrilled. To this day, I can picture her magical face as it entered this world, and it’s a moment in time I’ll never forget.

21. Within a few weeks of returning to college, I realized that the field of coaching and teaching might not be for me, as they weren’t the best for pay nor time at home with the family. So I decided to hurry up and graduate so I could get out in the world and start working. By changing my major to Spanish, I did just that. Because I spoke the language better than most of my professors, I skipped a year of classes and graduated in 2001.

22. It was also during my final year of college I decided to write a book about my time in Chile as a missionary. Balancing school, work, and being a dad was quite the challenge, but somehow I found the time to write as well. Although the book itself wasn’t that successful nor very well written, for me it marked a tremendous accomplishment and was the earliest stages of my love for writing.

23. I applied for one job out of college and got it. Unfortunately, within weeks of working for the company I realized it wasn’t going to be a good fit, and so my wife and I moved back to the Northern Neck to regroup and see where our next move would be.

‘Pool Guy’

24. During this same time period (2001), my friends Jim and Jason had just opened a retail swimming pool store, and asked me if I’d be willing to manage it for them while they worked in the field. I told them I would until I was able to find something different. 6 months later, they asked me to become the 3^rd partner in the company, and I accepted. At the time, I was living in a small apartment, just me, Nikki, and Danielle, and bringing home a paycheck of about $400 a week.

25. In 2003, my son Joseph Talmadge Sheridan was born. Needless to say, I was grateful to have a boy.

26. It was also in 2003 that I wrote my second book, Stop the Yawns. Basically, it was a book about speaking and giving sermons in a church setting, and over the next few years it would sell thousands of copies around the globe.

27. In 2004 things went south for my pool company. Our bookkeeper embezzled about $200,000 from the business, and also got us in huge trouble with the IRS. You can read the whole story here, but suffices to say it was a nightmare ordeal, and for the next 4 years, the IRS had leans on our homes and made life very, very difficult.

28. On Feb 5, 2007, my daughter Larsen Nichole Sheridan was born, being named after the missionary that taught and baptized me 12 years earlier.

29. In late 2008, just as we’d finally paid off the IRS and thought we’d be able to make headway as a company, the housing market collapsed. Once again, we were in huge trouble.

30. In March of 2009 we found our answer to the economy—Hubspot and inbound marketing. Within a year of embracing this new way of thinking, our website would be the most trafficked swimming pool builder site in the world.

The Sales Lion is Born

31. On November of 2009 I decided to give myself a 32^nd birthday present—The Sales Lion. After feeling the prompting for months, I went to my wife and asked her if she would be willing to see less of me so I could stay up late each night and write. She kindly agreed, and so this blog was born.

32. In 2010, Casey Brooke Sheridan was born. Larsen decided to call her ‘Pink’ instead, and we all agreed that it sounded like an excellent idea.

33. In early July of this year, 10 years after becoming a ‘pool guy’, my two wonderful business partners gave me the blessing to move on to my next phase of life. Although I still am a partner in the company and handle some of the marketing, I’m now able to spend all of my time speaking, writing, and getting the message of Inbound and Content Marketing to the world.

34. Today, I can only sit here and write this with a smile. 2011 has been amazing. My wife and children are happy, strong, and healthy. I’ve spoken all over the country. New opportunities seem to be arriving daily. I’ve been blessed to meet many incredible people and the possibilities and plans seem endless. To say I’m humbled and grateful wouldn’t begin to describe it.

Your Turn

So there you have it friends– my first 34 years in a nutshell. If you have any personal questions you’d like to ask me, fire away below, as I’m happy to answer.

Thanks so much for all your support on this blog, I hope you know it’s appreciated.

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A Personal Observation Of What Was Blog World LA 2011 [#BWELA]

Marcus Sheridan — Sun, 06 Nov 2011 14:22:51 +0000

So here I sit, headed back to the LAX airport on a Saturday evening to catch the ‘Red Eye’ back to Virginia, and contemplating my thoughts, lessons, observations of what was Blog World LA 2011. Like any event of this magnitude and duration, my mind and body are zapped, but considering my previous post on BW New York 6 months ago, I feel it important that I take a few minutes to write this.

An Industry of Humble Leaders

With thousands from around the globe in attendance, there will certainly be many reviews written of BWLA over the coming days. But instead of talking about how impressed I was with the experience, the content, and the organization as a whole, I simply want to talk about a subject that has touched me the most from this experience– the love, passion, and humility found within the incredible leaders of this industry.

As I was standing in line to catch a bus from the Sheraton on the morning of the first day at BW, I happened to find myself next to ultra A-lister Darren Rowse, founder of ProBlogger. Immediately Darren and I struck up a conversation and I was quickly impressed with his humble and kind disposition. The guy, despite having huge amounts of success in this industry, showed not even the slightest degree of arrogance. It was obvious he saw anyone he talked with as his equal, and in his excellent seminar later on, he showed those exact same characteristics.

Later on during the first day, I walked by a group of folks that were talking with Chris Brogan. Wanting to say hi to Chris, but not wanting to interrupt the group he was with, I just walked by and started to go into my next session. But before I could go in, Brogan broke away and came right up to me with an extended hand, saying, “Marcus, it’s great to see you. I’m so impressed with the work you’ve been up to. How are you?”

For the next few minutes, Chris and I had a great conversation. In fact, he likely would have chatted for much longer had his assistant not informed him that he was late for a book signing. (Which obviously was not nearly as important to him as just chatting with fellow bloggers.)

Without question though, Chris displayed the characteristics that anyone who has ever met him talks about– humility and interest in others. To say his kindness was staggering would be an understatement.

At the end of the first evening, I was invited to a dinner with the staff and writers of Social Media Examiner. With the simple purpose of wanting to thank all those persons and writers that had blessed and helped him these past two years, SME founder Michael Stelzner exuded appreciation for all in attendance at the dinner.

The Social Media Examiner Crew

What surprised me so much about being invited to this event was that I’ve never really done anything for Michael and his blog (my first post on his site will be out in a few weeks). In fact, he is always the one helping and guiding me. But during the dinner he leaned over and kindly said these words: “Marcus, I know everyone here has written for SME, but I wanted you here tonight because you’re going to be a part of this community moving forward.”

Just as with Brogan, to say I was honored by Michael’s kindness to an average Joe like myself would be an understatement.

An Industry of Dedicated Teachers

On the following day, Friday, I had the opportunity to chat with Pat Flynn of Smart Passive Income before his session. To say he was ‘anxious’ about his class would be an understatement. It was obvious he had an overwhelming desire to deliver value to his audience.
When his session begun, there immediately was a problem–his slides on Powerpoint weren’t keeping up because of some tech issues the room was having. Notwithstanding, Pat went on flawlessly, as his preparation had been so intensive that he literally had all the slides memorized.

This alone demonstrated to all attendees just how much time and effort Pat had put into preparing this event. And to say the guy truly ‘cared’ about his audience would be an understatement.

But Pat was not alone in his efforts to give great value. On the third day, I attended a session with Derek Halpern of Social Triggers. For 45 minutes, Derek spoke without the help of any slides or notes. With his big smile and New York accent, he wowed attendees with his psychological break-down of blogging and the science of conversions while making huge fans of everyone in the room.

Like Pat and Derek before him, Srini from Skool of Life and BlogCast FM was literally ‘giddy’ to give his presentation. He told me of the hours and hours he had put into preparation, going so far as to video record it more than once to work out any kinks and deliver the best product possible.

Fact is, EVERY speaker I saw this week at Blog World this week had given their all to make each session a great one. Amy Porterfield’s session on Facebook was an absolute gem. Chris Drucker’s enthusiasm for the movement that is Virtual Assistants (and life in general) was palpable.

All of this, and not a single one of these speakers was paid a dime to leave their homes, families, and daily lives so as to help other bloggers to be the best they can possibly be.

An Industry in Good Hands

I could literally go on and on about how impressed I was with so many bloggers in LA this week, but I’ll just leave it at that. Without question, it was an enriching experience. Some people might think I’m just name dropping with this post, which if the case, is a crying shame. I think much too often folks give A-listers and other bloggers flack for this or that, but once you get to know these people in real life, and once you get to see just how much they care, it’s hard not to smile at the direction of the blogosphere and this rapidly developing industry that is literally changing the world as we know it.

Note**: A special thank to Rick Calvert and the rest of the Blog World gang– Heck of a job ladies and gentlemen.

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Get Uncomfortable: The Best Business and Life Choice You’ll Ever Make

Marcus Sheridan — Fri, 04 Nov 2011 12:30:18 +0000

As I sat yesterday afternoon with my business partner Jason Hughes in a sauna at the Excaliber Hotel’s health club in Vegas, I was brought back to a conversation he and I had exactly a year before in the exact same place, sitting on the exact same bench. Here’s how it went:

Jason: “You did great in your seminar today bud.”

Me: “Thanks man. But let me ask you something: Why aren’t you speaking here too?”

Jason: (with a pensive look and half smile) “You know, I’ve never really thought about that……I’m going to apply.”

Me: (with a really big smile) “Awesome. You’re going to be great. I can’t wait.”

You see, last year was my 3^rd time speaking at the National Pool/Spa show in Vegas. And every year, Jason had attended my sessions and always been such a tremendous support. But being a ‘shy’ guy, he’d never considered the fact that he could give an incredibly valuable seminar to attendees as well—that is, until I asked.

So, throwing caution and comfort aside, Jason trusted his gut. He applied to speak shortly after our conversation in the sauna. Weeks later, he was given the green light. And yesterday afternoon at 12:30pm eastern time, exactly one year later, he gave one of the best classes the swimming pool industry has ever seen on how to build a fiberglass swimming pool.

Am I proud of the guy? Yeah, you bet I am.

The Problem with Comfort Zones

I relay this story because it coincides perfectly with a statement given by Peter Shankman in his incredible keynote here at Blog World LA today:

“Nothing good ever comes from staying in your comfort zone.”

Ahh yes, how true it is.

I’ll repeat:

“Nothing good ever comes from staying in your comfort zone.”

As he will naturally admit, my dear friend Jason is an introvert. He is not one that has ever felt the need nor desire to be in the middle of the spotlight. Notwithstanding, the guy has amazing talents and abilities, and yesterday he was able to share them with many, many business owners that needed his help.

Thus, because he was willing to put himself in an uncomfortable situation, Jason touched lives, families, and businesses.

Such is the way life works.

My Uncomfortable Road to Success and Happiness

At 20 years of age and a sophomore in college, I decided to drop everything and live in Chile for two years. Uncomfortable? Oh yes. Rewarding? I can’t even begin to explain the foundation that time period laid for the rest of my life.

At 23 year of age I was attending college again, but now married, and expecting my first child. To top it off, I was writing a book (a memoir of my time in Chile) and working 25 hours a week. Uncomfortable? Yes. Rewarding? My wife and I look back at our time in Morgantown with a fondness that simply can’t be put into words.

At 25 I went into business with my two partners and opened a swimming pool company in Virginia. For years we struggled through hardships, embezzlements, and frustration. Clearly, this was the most uncomfortable and stressful time of my life. Was it worth it? My goodness yes. The trials forced us to think in ways we never would have imagined. Without question, those years were the refiner’s fire of my life.

At the age of 31 I embraced Hubspot, inbound marketing, and the internet. Uncomfortable? Considering I’d always been a ‘tech-dummie’, you better believe it was. Rewarding? Everything The Sales Lion is, and all of the success this blog has had, is a direct result of that momentous decision. Plus, considering the fact that Inbound Marketing saved my pool company and gave me the opportunity to further pursue my passion of speaking and helping other businesses, I’d say ‘Yes, it was dang worth it!’

Today, at the age of 33, I find myself speaking around the country to different businesses, groups, and conferences. Without question, speaking to large audiences of people that expect to be fed great information and value can be a little uncomfortable. But the reward? My career has exploded these last 6 months. The message I bring literally is changing lives and saving businesses. That, my friends, makes any discomfort dissipate into the joy of knowing I’m doing what I was put here on Earth to do.

Is It Time to Leave Your Comfort Zone?

A few weeks ago in my post “Hey Blogger, Eventually You Actually Have to Do Something”, I mentioned the fact that once a trees stops growing it dies. The same can be said for us a bloggers, business owners, and human beings. We must continue to grow. We must stretch ourselves just enough to experience the joys that come with such challenges.

So that’s my charge to you on this day my friends. Get uncomfortable. Start that blog. Push record on that video camera. Send that application you’ve had sitting on your desk. Make that phone call that has been on your mind. The list could go on and on, but you know what that ‘it’ is for you. And as you do these things, I promise the rewards of tomorrow will far outweigh the discomfort of today.

Your Turn

I would love to hear your answer to this question: What is one of the most uncomfortable decisions you’ve ever made in your life and how were you rewarded by choosing this path? As always, I’d love to hear your thoughts and appreciate your support of this special community.

Download my FREE, 230 Page eBook, “Inbound and Content Marketing Made Easy” and start reading now!

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!

Get your FREE 230 Page Copy of Inbound and Content Marketing Made Easy Now and Be Reading in 60 Seconds!

How to Turn Your Business Into the Coolest Guy at the Dance: A Rockin Video Post from The Sales Lion

Marcus Sheridan — Sun, 26 Jun 2011 10:42:14 +0000

A laid back Sunday video post, shall we???

As many of you know, I spoke in Atlanta at the MarketingSherpa SEO conference a few weeks ago. It was a tremendous event, as I mentioned in the blog post I wrote while there. But what was interesting from the comments in that article was that a few folks (I won’t mention any names GINI DIETRICH, EUGENE, or PAUL) challenged me to use my friend Patrick Swayze again (as shown in a previous video) to explain the magical powers of inbound marketing.

Always one to listen to my community (and who could possibly turn down a challenge from the great Gini?? ), you will see in the following video that I not only used Patrick, but had a dang good time with it along the way. And if you’re kind enough (or just bored enough) to watch this video, I can promise you will:

Agree that Patrick Swayze was the man
Laugh out loud
See that I’m as goofy as they come
Realize you don’t have to be that smart to speak at really cool gigs

And if that’s not enough, just picture Gini’s face as you’re watching this and I promise it will not be 4 minutes wasted.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Have an awesome Sunday everyone!!

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!!!

How to Will Success into Your Life….One Blog Article at a Time

Marcus Sheridan — Fri, 11 Mar 2011 15:57:37 +0000

With each new step...

***Note: This is one of those articles that may sound a little ‘me, me, me…I ,I, I’, but please understand that my only goal here is to help others learn from my successes and failures***

I’ve talked so much about how blogging and content marketing can change one’s business over the past year, but today I want to discuss a more personal, and quite possibly more rewarding, aspect to blogging.

As some of you are already well aware, about two years ago I wrote a small book on ‘Selling’ that I had extremely high hopes for. But after many weeks of utter rejection from agents and publishers alike, I realized one day that as long as I had no personal brand, and as long as no one (at least outside the swimming pool industry) knew who Marcus Sheridan was, it was foolish to expect a publisher to take a risk on some 32 year old kid without a lick of value to bring to the table.

It was in this moment of self-realization that I decided to change my future. I would build my brand through a blog, and ultimately it would put me in a position to become a well-known author and speaker—something that I’ve always felt I was meant to do so as to help as many people as possible reach their potential.

I can vividly remember a conversation I had with my wife during this time period (Oct 2009). It went something like this:

Me: I need to tell you something and it’s important.

Nikki: OK, what is it?

Me: As you already know, I’ve had no luck with my sales book, and this is basically due to the fact that no one knows who the heck I am. So, in order to change this, I’ve decided to start a platform for my own voice—a place where I can write and others can hear my thoughts, and thus attract attention.

Nikki: Sounds good. And what do you expect to be the result?

Me: In the coming months, incredible things are going to start to happen. I’m going to attract success into my life through the content I write, and eventually a publisher or publishers will approach me for a book deal. No more will I go to them. It’s time to turn the tide.

This being said, in November of 2009 I started typing away, and The Sales Lion was born.

Looking back, and despite writing 3 articles a week during those first 6 months or so, very little happened. In hindsight, I now realize that I was doing a solid job with my writing, but my networking stunk. In fact, it was terrible. Because sales and marketing is such a saturated and competitive niche, my blog was essentially a billboard in the desert….and no one could see it.

Was I frustrated? Yeah, sure I was. Content alone had caused my swimming pool blog to go nuts (that means grow big in Marcus language) and I figured the same would happen with The Sales Lion. But alas, after spending hundreds of hours producing content, I had about 40 subscribers to show for it. Ouch….

Luckily I had somewhat of a personal ‘Great Awakening’ in the second half of 2010 when I realized two critical aspects to blogging success that had up to that point escaped me:

1. I needed to embrace the idea of community through comments, tweets, shares, etc.

2. I needed to focus more on giving value and promoting others than I did on myself.

I know, sounds rather silly, doesn’t it? Like, duh Marcus! But from this realization everything started to change.

The First Big Break:

As you all know I’m a huge fan of Hubspot and inbound marketing in general. This being said, because I had experienced so much success as a customer for Hubspot I decided to write a review of their product here on TSL. After contemplating the write-up for almost a month, I sat down one day and finally put my thoughts to pen. After hours of arduous focus on creating what I felt was the ‘perfect’ article, “The Most Important Customer Review of Hubspot You’ll Ever Read” was born.

To make a long story short, the first day the article was published it was read 1500 times. The people at HS loved it and so did their customers. Before long, Google started loving it too. In fact, today it ranks on the first page of Google for a mountain of ‘Hubspot’ related keywords, and has brought thousands upon thousands of people to TSL.

Having gotten Hubspot’s attention with the article, they flew me out to Boston a few weeks later where I made my first of two appearances on Hubspot TV (watch hilarious video here). A few months later, I spoke at a conference for HS customers. Finally, I was able to get in front of an audience and discuss marketing. As you might imagine, this was quite thrilling and forming relationships with an incredible company manned by an army of inbound marketers has since done wonders for my blog and my brand.

Community Builds:

Along with the HS relationship, after I started investing time in other bloggers and their work, the Law of Reciprocity soon took over and comments on my blog shot through the roof. Finally, my writings were getting in front of people, and my relationships with some awesome folks (like JK, Ingrid, Tristan, Troy, Mark, John, and others) grew and grew.

Book Interviews:

As I continued to discuss the wonders of content marketing and its affect on my pool business, all of the sudden and out of the blue authors started ringing my phone for interviews. Ann Handley was one of the first and our simple 20 minute conversation on the phone ended up being the basis to the first chapter of her best seller, ‘Content Rules’. Since that time, I’ve been interviewed by many other authors and bloggers as well (books yet to be released) and each experience has been truly rewarding.

A-Listers:

This past January I woke up one morning to see Seth Godin had commented on my blog. After letting out a huge yelp I think I read the comment 3 times just to make sure it was really him. Even Chris Brogan has kindly mentioned a few of my articles in tweets over the last few months. Again, knowing that such incredible men are reading my thoughts is exhilarating, to say it in the least.

The Next Big Step:

Yesterday I was invited to speak a Content Marketing World in September. This is an event put on by Junta 42 and as you might imagine, it’s chock-full of some of the brightest content marketers in the world. Knowing that I’ll be sharing a stage with so many incredible people is absolutely thrilling, and I have a feeling the experience will be yet another quantum leap along this path to success and fulfillment.

Willing Success

Although all of these transpired events have been amazing, I’ve honestly not been shocked or surprised with any of them. In fact, I’ve always expected these things to happen. As I told my wife those many months ago, great things would inevitably happen if I but put in the time.

The great Jim Rohn once said ‘Success is something you attract by becoming an attractive person’.

These past 16 months of blogging have verified this statement to me again and again and again. As I look forward, I can see the day when I get that phone call from a book publisher. When will it happen? Honestly, I have no idea, but I can tell you it will. If I but continue to walk this path, success will have no choice but to accompany me along the journey.

Your Turn

So that’s my story (at least part 1 ), now I would love to hear yours. What are you doing to will success into your life? What does your future look like when you close your eyes and envision ahead? Please open up and share your thoughts, as they are what make this blog a true ‘community’.

photo credit