Business Growth Blog

I’m addicted to marketing metrics. Once I complete a marketing activity, like post a blog, launch an email, or promote an ebook, I’m desperate to find out if my efforts are paying off.

Here are 4 marketing metrics that I check daily. I try to only look once per day so I can stay focused on other things, but I often find myself checking them whenever I have a free moment!

Every morning I check my email box, and it’s full of articles about a variety of topics. I go to my LinkedIn home page, and I’m bombarded with more articles. There’s no way on God’s green earth I could ever read them all. Sometimes I feel annoyed that there are so many.

So why bother blogging and adding to the plethora of information online? Won’t your articles just get ignored like the zillions of other articles do?

When I talk about email marketing, the first thing most people claim is that they get too many emails. While that’s probably true, it’s still one of the most powerful ways to engage potential customers.

When people mark email as spam, it’s because they never asked to get the email, and it adds no value to them. The definition of spamming is “send the same message indiscriminately to (large numbers of recipients) on the Internet.” At first glance, you might think all email marketing is spam because you’re sending to large numbers of recipients, and likely not all of the people on your list have opted-in on their own.

The keyword to look at in the definition of spam though is “indiscriminately.” It means “in a random manner” or “in a way that does not show care or judgment.” Creating a customer-centric email strategy that focuses on adding value to the reader will have a much lower likelihood of being considered spam.

Here are five ways to create a non-spammy email marketing program that effectively supports the sales process.

Many of my customers use WordPress when we first begin our engagement. I've tried and tried to do inbound marketing on WordPress, and it hasn't worked out for me yet. I spend more time dorking around with technology than actual marketing. On top of that, I don't get all of the functionality I need, and my efficiency and effectiveness decrease dramatically.

People think that WordPress is “free.” Yes, it is true that it doesn't have a subscription fee or anything like that. However, time is money. Would you rather spend money on implementing WordPress plug-ins and creating workarounds to make it sort of do what you want or on designing and implementing marketing campaigns that can actually drive business results?

If you want to do inbound marketing (meaning blogging, email marketing, social media, lead generation, and the like), we recommend our clients - large and small - migrate fully from WordPress to HubSpot. Here's why:

When I talk to salespeople about blogging, I get the same response Bob Wiley gives Anna when asked about going sailing: “I've never blogged before; I don't think I can handle it!” The good news is that even though Bob is terrified, he has a great attitude and is willing to try.

Below are some blog ideas that can get you started. Hopefully, when you write a few of your own posts, you can be as excited about your accomplishment as Bob is about sailing!

Here’s an analogy: The main reason you go to a networking event is to meet people and get to know them. You don’t sit in a corner by yourself checking emails on your phone with your head down (at least you shouldn’t be!). You’re working the room, introducing yourself to people and getting to know them by asking thought-provoking questions.

Traditional website design is broken. Website projects are too often inordinately expensive and overwhelming. But it doesn't have to be that way!

Every company has a sales and marketing plan, but more often than not there are gaps, missing pieces, and weak spots. Here are some articles and resources that can help you deepen your understanding of sales & marketing strategy development and determine if your current plan is working to its full potential to meet your business growth objectives.

Sales and marketing content is vital for communicating your value to potential customers. However, creating it can be arduous: and bad content is worse than no content, so it has to be good.

When I first started inbound marketing, I tried to create everything myself. I quickly realized that it was inefficient and expensive. That may sound counterintuitive: How can it be MORE expensive to do it yourself vs. hiring someone? That's easy—if I'm doing jobs that I'm really not skilled for, it takes me longer and doesn't turn out as well, so I don't get the best results over time.

One of the most popular things salespeople search for is information about how to write prospecting emails. And it’s no wonder: figuring out “what to say” to get a prospect interested enough in a conversation is HARD! There are a gazillion templates and ideas available out there to help kick-start your prospecting efforts. I decided to consolidate some of the best resources I’ve seen in one post.