Inbound Marketing Means Never Having To Say Cold Call...
Posted by Jody Raines
Argh. Are you tired of Cold Calling? Another week of rejection on the phone?
Recently, when I attended the Voorhees Business Association lunch, one of my business acquaintances was sharing his frustration with making fruitless calls. It occurred to me, something is wrong with that picture...
Wouldn't it be a wonderful world if the leads came to you instead of doggedly pursuing them? Imagine a business where potential clients volunteer their contact information and even request you call them when they are ready to buy! Even more exciting, imagine that there are so many of these leads coming in that you barely have time to respond to them.
What's a sales person to do?
If your company is smart, they'll get on the band wagon of a new wave of Internet Strategy called inbound marketing. Inbound marketing in a nutshell, is positioning your website in a way that it becomes a lead magnet... But let me explain...
As an "Internet Strategist" my role is to help businesses take advantage of the power of the Internet to get found. How? The method I use is not really a secret, and I'm happy to share this with you.
Formula for inbound success on the Internet:
1. Develop your website with correct architecture. If your links are broken or your code is 'funky', you risk Google or Bing or Yahoo spidering your site and penalizing it. Make sure that your website is constructed correctly, and if you are not sure, try using our website grader. You can find this at www.websitegrader.com
2. SEO is important, but content is KING. Do you have a blog? Are your pages optimized? Is someone checking to be sure that you are being found in searches? What terms would your customers be using?
3. Are you posting comments and articles? Using Social Media? When did you post on Facebook last? How is your Linked In account holding up. Has your business created a Linked In business profile? Are you Tweeting on Twitter and if so, are you tracking the clicks on the shortened URLs?
4. Once you've been found, do you have a call-to-action that is compelling? Are potential customers sharing their contact info with you?
5. Who does your lead nurturing? What is the system you are using to follow up when someone submits their info?
SO much to do, so little time.. but if you consider that most people will search the Internet before making that large purchase, it makes sense to be found, and it makes sense to connect.
In closing, keep us in mind if you'd like a plan to help put an Internet marketing and strategy program together for your business. In the meantime, put your rap hat on and enjoy the video...