Internet Marketing Course BLOG

“Inbound Marketing – Get Found Using Google, Social Media and Blogs”

By Dave Ingalls
B2B Internet Marketing Consultant
April 21, 2010

“Inbound Marketing – Get Found Using Google, Social Media and Blogs”, by HubSpot founders Brian Halligan and Dharmesh Shah is THE seminal book on how to use the new concept of “inbound marketing” instead of the classic outbound or “interruption” marketing model to succeed in your online marketing efforts.

In fact, as far as I can tell, Halligan and Shah basically invented the term “Inbound Marketing” when they opened the doors at HubSpot, a marketing software company that helps businesses “get found”, and have now formalized the concept with the release of this book.

Even though the book is a quick read (a little over 200 pages), you’ll find yourself re-reading and “dog-earing” many of the pages!  It’s stuffed with incredible insights and useful tips on how to put those insights to work in your online marketing program today.

I won’t bore you with a section-by-section review of this very useful book. I’ll just leave you with this thought: the next time you buy something, anything really, think about the trusted sources you used to help you make that buying decision, and where YOU found those trusted sources. I’ll bet most if not all of those sources had some online aspect to them, and here’s the KEY point, I’ll bet YOU found them and not the other way around.

My advice – Buy this book Now! Here’s a link to the book on Amazon:

Inbound Marketing – Get Found Using Google, Social Media and Blogs

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By Dave Ingalls
Internet Marketing Consultant
October 24, 2009

You’re a small business owner who has taken the time to create some original content for your Web site to help that site be more visible to potential Customers via the major search engines, just like all the Internet Marketing experts tell you to do. But after you add it to your Web site and let your existing prospects and customers know about it, what else can you do? How about helping that online content “go viral” easily and at no cost to you? Here’s how.

Look at the bottom of this post. See the “SHARE” button? Click on it. What you and over 95% of your Web site visitors will see is a listing of over 200 ways for them to share this post with friends and/or business associates! (Why 95%? Because that’s how many Web surfers have JavaScript turned on in their Web browsers-you have to have JScript turned on in order to make the “SHARE” button fully functional.).

Those visitors can send someone they know an email about the content, or they can add it to one of several popular “social bookmark” Web sites like Delicious and StumbleUpon, or they can add it to the RSS Reader they use to receive feeds of this nature (they’re all here), or they can “tweet” about it on Twitter, or they can add it to their Facebook wall, or – you get the picture!

Interested? If yes, head on over to AddThis and pick up the code for your very own “SHARE” button. It’s free, it’s simple to install on your Web pages/Blog posts and if you go thru a simple registration process, you can get statistics on what visitors are doing with these “SHARE” options.

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Internet Marketing Course Blog
Dave Ingalls
September 27, 2009

We’ve all heard the hype about online Social Media – Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, etc. And much of the hype is true. But if you’re a small/medium sized company selling your products and/or services online, take my advice about online social media, social marketing, social networking – whatever you want to call it – and start with the basics – let your Customers review your products/services on your Web site.

I don’t know who started online Customer Reviews on their Web site – I’m guessing it was Amazon – at least that’s where I first encountered it when buying books many years ago. Those reviews saved me money and time by helping me find the RIGHT book to buy, and when I purchased the right book, EVERYBODY won! I ended up buying the best, most on-target book for my needs, the author of that book got the sale, and Amazon not only got a sale, they also got a happy Customer (me) who came back again and again for more purchases because I could get many honest opinions of a potential purchase BEFORE I bought it.

And here’s my latest example of why I think online Customer Reviews are the KEY online social media application:

Over the past Summer I was trying to decide what Smart Phone product and wireless plan I would purchase. It was definitely time for me to move on from the “flip phone” era!

Several acquaintances had just purchased the new Apple iPhone 3G and loved it! To get additional Customer opinions, I went to the BestBuy Web site and looked up iPhone 3G phones and plans, then read the Customer reviews (at that time there were well over 100 reviews). The vast majority were very positive about both the iPhone 3G and the 2 year AT&T plan typically purchased with the phone. Because there were so few negative comments, I decided to read them and see what problems iPhone owners had with their purchase. And here’s the first instance where online Customer Reviews helped me with this purchase!

» Continue reading “Customer Reviews Help iPhone Purchase – The REAL Social Media Phenomenon!”

By Christina Mejia
ChiefMarketer.com
December 20, 2008

Dave’s Comments (Internet Marketing Course Blog): A great post by this Chief Marketer analyst on how Obama won the “Internet election campaign” by taking Web 2.0 tactics to the extreme. My personal experience with the Obama campaign’s 21st century tactics was wireless phone-based. I signed up to receive text message updates from the campaign, and did I ever receive updates!

“One thing the recent presidential election has taught us is that this country has changed – both from a social and a marketing perspective. While history books will forever mark November 4, 2008 as the first time Americans elected an African-American President (or any non-Caucasian President for that matter), the Obama for America campaign will be viewed by today’s marketers as a comprehensive case study in how to build a brand in a Web 2.0 world.

As has been dissected by several social media marketing analysts and experts, Barack Obama clearly won the numbers game, dominating John McCain in all areas of social media activity from YouTube video views to Facebook “Fans” and Twitter “Followers.” A key part of Obama’s success was the campaign’s early adoption of social media strategies and their ability to maintain a constant high level of activity (regular updates throughout the campaign, all the while maintaining a consistent brand image and message.) And the essential lesson learned from the success of the Obama campaign: “that people united around a common purpose can achieve great things.”

So what’s the lesson for marketers?”

Example: Obama’s Thanksgiving Address Posted on Change.gov and YouTube

Read the entire article by clicking on this link:

“The Social Success of Obama”

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G5 Search Marketing Blog
August 20, 2008

Dave’s Comments (Internet Marketing Course Blog): A little gem of a blog entry on where local search is headed and what company/technology (if any!) will challenge Google for overall supremacy in this fast growing search segment.

“Google is the single most popular search engine right now. And it’s not even close.

According to CNET, Google is way over the 60% mark as far as popularity for searches. That means, of course, that they’re also getting the lions share of advertising dollars on the Internet. To the tune of billions of dollars, of course.

And where does their success lie? To hear CNET tell it, the answer is painfully obvious: efficiency.

“And although countless tech pundits will chime in and discuss exactly why Google has been able to run roughshod over its competition, few will point out one basic fact that is too often overlooked: Google search is designed to get rid of you as quickly as possible.

Surely, some will attribute Google’s success to its better search results or Yahoo’s management troubles or Microsoft’s poor offering, but it goes far beyond that. Search isn’t simply about relevant results or the competition. Instead, search is all about getting you to your destination as quickly as possible.”

But as dominant as Google is, both nationally and locally, the real question is not who is dominant now. It is who will be running the show tomorrow.

Robert Scoble, a blogger of prolific proportions and one of the most read men in the tech industry, points to a battleground that’s been brewing for some time.

He says, and we see a lot of validity in his argument, that the next big thing is going to be reviews and how those are collated and monetized. And of course, Google is involved in that battle:”

Read the entire blog entry by clicking on the following link:

Next Local Online Advertising Media: Not Google?

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