Inbound Marketing vs. Outbound Marketing Editor's Note: A more detailed version of this article has been published here: "Inbound Marketing and the Next Phase of Marketing on the Web" When I talk with most marketers today about how they generate leads and fill the top of their sales funnel, most say trade shows, seminar series, email blasts to purchased lists, internal cold calling, outsourced telemarketing, and advertising. I call these methods "outbound marketing" where a marketer pushes his message out far and wide hoping that it resonates with that needle in the haystack. I think outbound marketing techniques are getting less and less effective over time for two reasons. First, your average human today is inundated with over 2000 outbound marketing interruptions per day and is figuring out more and more creative ways to block them out, including caller ID, spam filtering, Tivo, and Sirius satellite radio.
Steve Jobs & Guy Kawasaki -- Powerpoint Best Practices I have recently come across some interesting Powerpoint best practices that I thought I would share with you. Steve Jobs The first best practice was from watching Steve Jobs' presentation at MacWorld this year. What was fascinating about his slides is that they were either just a picture or just a picture with a couple of words in extremely large font. It turns out that Steve wants the audience to listen to him tell the story, rather than read the slides. Here's a picture of one of Steve's slides: In contrast to Steve's slide show, here's a picture of a slide from Michael Dell. Guy Kawasaki I recently read Guy Kawasaki's "Art of The Start." His mantra is that Powerpoint should follow a 10/20/30 Rule. He says that there are something like 60 animation features within Powerpoint and he recommends the less use of it the better. If you have some great Powerpoint tips, please do share them with us… -- Brian Halligan.
Did You Graduate From Link Building High School Yet? In a recent blog post discussing the importance of link building for search engine optimization, I asked people to share how they build links to their website. I recommend you go read the responses. I also recommend you read that article so you know how to construct inbound links so your business can rank higher in search engines for your target keywords. Link building is not easy. I tell people that there are 4 Levels of Link Building Excellence. 9th Grade: Links You Can Build Yourself That Require Little Time Investment Before I get into this, I'd like to stress that you should have a really good keyword strategy and make sure you've optimized each page on your site around a different keyword phrase. That said, the first set of links that every business should get are the ones that don't require anyone else's help. In this class of Level I links, there are also many social media sites where you can simply build links to your site. This part of link building is kind of like sales.
3 Social Media Marketing Lessons from Comedians (Build 20110413222027) The line between the two professions is blurry indeed, and we shouldn't be surprised that comics like Jimmy Carr and Tim Sidell (aka @badbanana) had prior careers in marketing and advertising . They likely learned a lot from us! But now it's our turn. 1. Hecklers make stand-up comedy a full contact sport. Marketing Takeaway: You can schedule posts all you want, but a truly remarkable social media strategy is steered by someone who can go “off-script” to respond to unsatisfied customers or brand detractors. 2. Who remembers Gallagher? Marketing Takeaway: Apply that principle to your social media strategy by including videos, pictures, surveys, and other types of dynamic content. 3. George Carlin was a philosopher for the damned. Marketing Takeaway: You should likewise always keep a hand on your audiences pulse. What other comedic lessons have you put to work in your maketing strategy? Photo Credit: ~*Gillian*~
Free Advertising on Google It may surprise some, but many small businesses new to inbound marketing are unaware that you can get some free advertising on Google through Google My Business (formerly known as Google Places) instead of paying for pay-per-click (PPC) ads on Google. And because Google is always looking to increase the value of its local search results -- as well as its Google Maps application -- the search engine giant has a simple way for you to provide them with that valuable information about your business, which it infuses straight into its search engine results. The benefit? Basically, a way to advertise your business on Google for free. (To learn how to advertise on Google for free and take advantage of Google's other marketing tools, download our free guide here.) Google My Business: Free Online Advertising Consider this example: When you search for "mexican restaurant, boston," the Casa Romero ranks #1 in the Google My Business search results. How to Advertise on Google for Free
12 Quick Tips To Search Google Like An Expert If you’re like me, you probably use Google many times a day. But chances are, unless you're a technology geek, you probably still use Google in its simplest form. If your current use of Google is limited to typing in a few words and changing your query until you find what you’re looking for, I’m here to tell you that there’s a better way -- and it’s not hard to learn. On the other hand, even if you are a technology geek and can use Google like the best of them already, I still suggest you bookmark this article of Google advanced search tips. Then, you’ll then have the tips on hand when you're ready to pull your hair out in frustration watching a neophyte repeatedly type in basic queries in a desperate attempt to find something. ⬇ Download Now: SEO Starter Pack [Free Kit] The following Google advanced search tips are based on my own experience and things that I actually find useful. Here's an overview of some of the most useful Google search tricks. 1. Example Search: "inbound marketing" 2.
20 Examples of Great Facebook Pages (Build 20110413222027) Marketers are becoming more and more interested in measuring the ROI of social media. According to eMarketer, four out of five US businesses with at least 100 employees will be using social media for their marketing efforts this year. This makes measuring the effects of these marketing efforts even more important. Up to this point, the top metric for social media marketing success was site traffic, but more and more focus has been given to other values such as fans / followers and positive buzz. Although only 15.4% of respondents to an eMarketer survey felt that Facebook had a significant ROI, this number is growing rapidly. One great way to do this is through a Facebook Fan Page. 1. Skittles launched a "Win the Rainbow" contest, asking its fans "what they would do for a Skittles vending machine," which garnered entries that racked up hundreds of thousands of views on YouTube. 2. 3. 4. 5. iTunes 6. The Jones Soda page has a number of engaging opportunities for fans. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12.