http://www.top-line-results.com/blog/RSS feeds for Top Line Results60http://www.top-line-results.com/blog/bid/85452/11-Trends-in-Marketing-for-Manufacturers-to-Watch-in-2012#Comments0http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TopLineResults/~3/2eR1JD25HHk/11-Trends-in-Marketing-for-Manufacturers-to-Watch-in-2012<p>We deal with a number of manufacturing companies and have seen a noticeable improvement in the business climate for these companies. &nbsp;Three of our clients have reported record sales years due in large part to recognizing and acting on the trend toward inbound marketing.</p> <p>In dealing with these manufacturing clients we have identified a number of trends that create significant opportunities for these companies.</p> <p>These trends and opportunities are</p> <ol> <li>Understand how online sales impact buyers and buying cycles and creating web sites that make it easy for people to buy from and engage with you</li> <li>Migrating traditional marketing investment to online and inbound marketing to lower the cost of lead generation and customer acquisition</li> <li>Buyers looking for content that focuses on solutions, not just features&nbsp;</li> <li>Willingness to look outside for marketing and sales expertise</li> <li>Lead generation has become more difficult - traditional sources of leads are not yielding as many quality leads</li> <li>Customer acquisition costs are going up, buying cycles are lengthening and sales people often do not know how to deal with it</li> <li>Skepticism of non-specific marketing measures and an insistence on measuring marketing ROI to show a return on investment</li> <li>Guidance in leading marketing and sales integration and creating a unified team</li> <li>Company leaders are looking for trusted thought leaders with a relevant point of view</li> <li>Desire for marketing and sales automation and how it can drive the buying process and amplify sales team efforts and not just be a drain on resources</li> <li>Information overload and the need to find relevant market information, synthesize it, and develop actionable analysis</li> </ol> <p>Manufacturing is bouncing back and there are many opportunities for these companies to achieve break through results. &nbsp;Developing an inbound marketing strategy is a great way for manufacturers to build demand and grow sales.</p> <p><span class="hs-cta-wrapper" style=" border-width: 0px;" id="hs-cta-wrapper-ffdf3885-9eef-4e30-84e0-dd0fcea717f3" data-mce-style="border-width: 0px;"> <!--HubSpot Call-to-Action Code --> <span class="hs-cta-node hs-cta-ffdf3885-9eef-4e30-84e0-dd0fcea717f3" id="hs-cta-ffdf3885-9eef-4e30-84e0-dd0fcea717f3"> <a href="http://www.top-line-results.com/turning-a-catalog-website-into-a-lead-generation-machine-" data-mce-href="http://www.top-line-results.com/turning-a-catalog-website-into-a-lead-generation-machine-"><img id="hs-cta-img-ffdf3885-9eef-4e30-84e0-dd0fcea717f3" src="//d1n2i0nchws850.cloudfront.net/portals/68380/51f1fa3d-2fde-4e9c-acf2-6e43ebf23105-1330095465215/durable-technologies-case-study-cta.png?v=1330095465.47" alt="durable-technologies-case-study-cta" class="hs-cta-img" style="border-width:0px" mce_noresize="1" data-mce-src="//d1n2i0nchws850.cloudfront.net/portals/68380/51f1fa3d-2fde-4e9c-acf2-6e43ebf23105-1330095465215/durable-technologies-case-study-cta.png?v=1330095465.47" data-mce-style="border-width: 0px;"></a> </span><script type="text/javascript"> (function(){ var hsjs = document.createElement("script"); 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<a title="Top Line Results" href="http://top-line-results.com/" target="_self">Top Line Results</a>&nbsp;| Orlando, FL<div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/TopLineResults?a=2eR1JD25HHk:QlNn2WpclsY:TzevzKxY174"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/TopLineResults?d=TzevzKxY174" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/TopLineResults?a=2eR1JD25HHk:QlNn2WpclsY:gIN9vFwOqvQ"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/TopLineResults?i=2eR1JD25HHk:QlNn2WpclsY:gIN9vFwOqvQ" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/TopLineResults?a=2eR1JD25HHk:QlNn2WpclsY:l6gmwiTKsz0"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/TopLineResults?d=l6gmwiTKsz0" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/TopLineResults?a=2eR1JD25HHk:QlNn2WpclsY:qj6IDK7rITs"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/TopLineResults?d=qj6IDK7rITs" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/TopLineResults?a=2eR1JD25HHk:QlNn2WpclsY:V_sGLiPBpWU"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/TopLineResults?i=2eR1JD25HHk:QlNn2WpclsY:V_sGLiPBpWU" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/TopLineResults?a=2eR1JD25HHk:QlNn2WpclsY:F7zBnMyn0Lo"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/TopLineResults?i=2eR1JD25HHk:QlNn2WpclsY:F7zBnMyn0Lo" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/TopLineResults?a=2eR1JD25HHk:QlNn2WpclsY:-BTjWOF_DHI"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/TopLineResults?i=2eR1JD25HHk:QlNn2WpclsY:-BTjWOF_DHI" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/TopLineResults?a=2eR1JD25HHk:QlNn2WpclsY:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/TopLineResults?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/TopLineResults?a=2eR1JD25HHk:QlNn2WpclsY:cGdyc7Q-1BI"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/TopLineResults?d=cGdyc7Q-1BI" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/TopLineResults?a=2eR1JD25HHk:QlNn2WpclsY:bcOpcFrp8Mo"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/TopLineResults?d=bcOpcFrp8Mo" border="0"></img></a> </div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/TopLineResults/~4/2eR1JD25HHk" height="1" width="1"/>Todd HockenberrySun, 26 Feb 2012 16:11:00 GMTf1397696-738c-4295-afcd-943feb885714:85452http://www.top-line-results.com/blog/bid/85452/11-Trends-in-Marketing-for-Manufacturers-to-Watch-in-2012http://www.top-line-results.com/blog/bid/102503/Inbound-Marketing-Strategy-Case-Study-Durable-Technologies#Comments0http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TopLineResults/~3/6eCnlrbiqI4/Inbound-Marketing-Strategy-Case-Study-Durable-Technologies<p><img id="img-1329843881874" src="http://www.top-line-results.com/Portals/68380/images/durable mecco.png" border="0" alt="durable mecco" width="568" height="75" class="alignCenter" /></p> <p>Durable Technologies manufactures and supplies a wide selection of traditional marking tools for industrial part marking, package date coding as well as hot stamping and branding applications.&nbsp;</p> <p>In 2009 Durable realized that they were not being well served by their website in terms of visits, leads, and credibility.&nbsp; They outsourced to a local web marketing firm and would have to send requests for minor changes and would get a quote for the most basic of updates.&nbsp; So not only was the website ineffective it was annoying to work with and costly to update.</p> <p>With no internal capabilities to manage their website Durable was faced with a need to continue outsource online marketing but to also be able to exert more control over their online presence.</p> <p>In early 2010 Top Line Results was engaged with Durable helping them launch some new products and penetrate new markets when we became aware of the situation with the website.&nbsp; We suggested that Durable move the website hosting to HubSpot and take back control of the ability to manage, update, and develop their website.&nbsp; Durable was happy with Top Line Results consulting work so they asked us to take over the management and development of the website using HubSpot.&nbsp; Thus, Durable became out first HubSpot customer and sent us on the road to becoming a HubSpot VAR and inbound marketing consultant.</p> <p>After three months organic traffic had gone up over 26% and over 70% after six months.&nbsp;</p> <p>After three months inbound leads had gone up over 43% and over 66% after six months.&nbsp;</p> <p>2011 Results continued to show the power of HubSpot and inbound marketing strategy.&nbsp; Overall site visits were up over 250% with leads up 200% from 2010 levels. &nbsp;Visit to lead conversion % had doubled.</p> <p>Most importantly sales also grew and Durable enjoyed their best sales year ever in 2011.</p> <p>In early 2011 Durable realized that they needed a new website design in order to convert even more of the visitors to leads. &nbsp;In October 2011 we launched the new site.</p> <p>This chart shows the increase in leads over the first three months after the re-designed site launched.</p> <p><img id="img-1330014458660" src="http://www.top-line-results.com/Portals/68380/images/HubSpot - Sources - nov-jan Leads-resized-600.png" border="0" alt="inbound marketing strategy" /></p> <p>2012 started off with a bang with January being the best month ever for organic visits, overall visits, and leads.&nbsp; The SEO efforts are clearly starting to pay off in terms of targeted visits and sales qualified leads.&nbsp; One trend we want to continue is that more leads are coming in asking for very specific quotes for products.&nbsp; This tells us that our SEO efforts match the target personas and that the content on the site answers their questions and solves their problems. More of the leads are also from new prospects and represent incremental sales growth opportunities in the future.</p> <p><span class="hs-cta-wrapper" style=" border-width: 0px;" id="hs-cta-wrapper-ffdf3885-9eef-4e30-84e0-dd0fcea717f3" data-mce-style="border-width: 0px;"> <!--HubSpot Call-to-Action Code --> <span class="hs-cta-node hs-cta-ffdf3885-9eef-4e30-84e0-dd0fcea717f3" id="hs-cta-ffdf3885-9eef-4e30-84e0-dd0fcea717f3"> <a href="http://www.top-line-results.com/turning-a-catalog-website-into-a-lead-generation-machine-" data-mce-href="http://www.top-line-results.com/turning-a-catalog-website-into-a-lead-generation-machine-"><img id="hs-cta-img-ffdf3885-9eef-4e30-84e0-dd0fcea717f3" src="//d1n2i0nchws850.cloudfront.net/portals/68380/51f1fa3d-2fde-4e9c-acf2-6e43ebf23105-1330095465215/durable-technologies-case-study-cta.png?v=1330095465.47" alt="durable-technologies-case-study-cta" class="hs-cta-img" style="border-width:0px" mce_noresize="1" data-mce-src="//d1n2i0nchws850.cloudfront.net/portals/68380/51f1fa3d-2fde-4e9c-acf2-6e43ebf23105-1330095465215/durable-technologies-case-study-cta.png?v=1330095465.47" data-mce-style="border-width: 0px;"></a> </span><script type="text/javascript"> (function(){ var hsjs = document.createElement("script"); 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<a title="Top Line Results" href="http://top-line-results.com/" target="_self">Top Line Results</a>&nbsp;| Orlando, FL<div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/TopLineResults?a=6eCnlrbiqI4:vDv6bLC4O0U:TzevzKxY174"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/TopLineResults?d=TzevzKxY174" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/TopLineResults?a=6eCnlrbiqI4:vDv6bLC4O0U:gIN9vFwOqvQ"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/TopLineResults?i=6eCnlrbiqI4:vDv6bLC4O0U:gIN9vFwOqvQ" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/TopLineResults?a=6eCnlrbiqI4:vDv6bLC4O0U:l6gmwiTKsz0"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/TopLineResults?d=l6gmwiTKsz0" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/TopLineResults?a=6eCnlrbiqI4:vDv6bLC4O0U:qj6IDK7rITs"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/TopLineResults?d=qj6IDK7rITs" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/TopLineResults?a=6eCnlrbiqI4:vDv6bLC4O0U:V_sGLiPBpWU"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/TopLineResults?i=6eCnlrbiqI4:vDv6bLC4O0U:V_sGLiPBpWU" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/TopLineResults?a=6eCnlrbiqI4:vDv6bLC4O0U:F7zBnMyn0Lo"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/TopLineResults?i=6eCnlrbiqI4:vDv6bLC4O0U:F7zBnMyn0Lo" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/TopLineResults?a=6eCnlrbiqI4:vDv6bLC4O0U:-BTjWOF_DHI"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/TopLineResults?i=6eCnlrbiqI4:vDv6bLC4O0U:-BTjWOF_DHI" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/TopLineResults?a=6eCnlrbiqI4:vDv6bLC4O0U:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/TopLineResults?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/TopLineResults?a=6eCnlrbiqI4:vDv6bLC4O0U:cGdyc7Q-1BI"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/TopLineResults?d=cGdyc7Q-1BI" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/TopLineResults?a=6eCnlrbiqI4:vDv6bLC4O0U:bcOpcFrp8Mo"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/TopLineResults?d=bcOpcFrp8Mo" border="0"></img></a> </div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/TopLineResults/~4/6eCnlrbiqI4" height="1" width="1"/>Todd HockenberryFri, 24 Feb 2012 15:21:00 GMTf1397696-738c-4295-afcd-943feb885714:102503http://www.top-line-results.com/blog/bid/102503/Inbound-Marketing-Strategy-Case-Study-Durable-Technologieshttp://www.top-line-results.com/blog/bid/82485/Is-Your-Content-Marketing-Like-a-Box-of-Chocolates#Comments2http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TopLineResults/~3/sTs-wGjaFgc/Is-Your-Content-Marketing-Like-a-Box-of-Chocolates<p>I recently received this postacard in the mail.</p> <p><img id="img-1328824565804" src="http://www.top-line-results.com/Portals/68380/images/postcard-content-marketing-resized-600.jpg" border="0" alt="postcard content marketing resized 600" width="705" height="529" /></p> <p>Seems official, like there is something on the other side of this that I would want to have.&nbsp; Feels like something of value because it has a package and tracking number.</p> <p>Wrong....this is a scam to get you to call and then you get a pitch for a time share or some other pile of junk.&nbsp; They are hoping that the official-ness of the postcard gets you to obediently call and then they hope that they can keep you on the line long enough after you realize you have been fooled to bait-and-switch into buying something else.</p> <p>Of course your content marketing is not that deceitful - the question is, do you deliver the value you market once someone converts?&nbsp; Do you impress them with the quality of&nbsp; the content they have just 'bought' with their contact information on your landing page?</p> <p>If your web site, landing page, PPC ad, or other online marketing does not deliver the valuable information that your visitors expect then you are starting your relationship out on very shaking ground and most likely stopped them from ever taking the next step.</p><p><a title="Connect with Top Line Results:" href="http://www.top-line-results.com/get-on-the-road-to-results/" target="_self">Connect with Top Line Results:</a></p> <p><a href="http://twitter.com/toplineresults" target="_self"><img src="http://www.top-line-results.com/Portals/68380/images/twitter.png" border="0" alt="Top Line Results on Twitter" /></a>&nbsp;<a href="http://www.linkedin.com/company/734746" target="_self"><img src="http://www.top-line-results.com/Portals/68380/images/linkedin.png" border="0" alt="Top Line Results on LinkedIn" /></a>&nbsp;<a href="http://www.facebook.com/pages/Top-Line-Results/115412434403" target="_self"><img src="http://www.top-line-results.com/Portals/68380/images/facebook.png" border="0" alt="Top Line Results on Facebook" /></a>&nbsp;<a href="http://www.google.com/profiles/todd.hockenberry" target="_blank"><img src="http://www.top-line-results.com/Portals/68380/images/google.png" border="0" alt="Todd Hockenberry Google Profile" /></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/TopLineResults" target="_self"><img src="http://www.top-line-results.com/Portals/68380/images/rss.png" border="0" alt="Top Line Results Blog" /></a></p> &copy; <a title="Top Line Results" href="http://top-line-results.com/" target="_self">Top Line Results</a>&nbsp;| Orlando, FL<div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/TopLineResults?a=sTs-wGjaFgc:-cBYjKLRLKg:TzevzKxY174"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/TopLineResults?d=TzevzKxY174" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/TopLineResults?a=sTs-wGjaFgc:-cBYjKLRLKg:gIN9vFwOqvQ"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/TopLineResults?i=sTs-wGjaFgc:-cBYjKLRLKg:gIN9vFwOqvQ" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/TopLineResults?a=sTs-wGjaFgc:-cBYjKLRLKg:l6gmwiTKsz0"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/TopLineResults?d=l6gmwiTKsz0" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/TopLineResults?a=sTs-wGjaFgc:-cBYjKLRLKg:qj6IDK7rITs"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/TopLineResults?d=qj6IDK7rITs" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/TopLineResults?a=sTs-wGjaFgc:-cBYjKLRLKg:V_sGLiPBpWU"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/TopLineResults?i=sTs-wGjaFgc:-cBYjKLRLKg:V_sGLiPBpWU" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/TopLineResults?a=sTs-wGjaFgc:-cBYjKLRLKg:F7zBnMyn0Lo"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/TopLineResults?i=sTs-wGjaFgc:-cBYjKLRLKg:F7zBnMyn0Lo" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/TopLineResults?a=sTs-wGjaFgc:-cBYjKLRLKg:-BTjWOF_DHI"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/TopLineResults?i=sTs-wGjaFgc:-cBYjKLRLKg:-BTjWOF_DHI" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/TopLineResults?a=sTs-wGjaFgc:-cBYjKLRLKg:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/TopLineResults?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/TopLineResults?a=sTs-wGjaFgc:-cBYjKLRLKg:cGdyc7Q-1BI"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/TopLineResults?d=cGdyc7Q-1BI" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/TopLineResults?a=sTs-wGjaFgc:-cBYjKLRLKg:bcOpcFrp8Mo"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/TopLineResults?d=bcOpcFrp8Mo" border="0"></img></a> </div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/TopLineResults/~4/sTs-wGjaFgc" height="1" width="1"/>Todd HockenberryThu, 09 Feb 2012 22:04:00 GMTf1397696-738c-4295-afcd-943feb885714:82485http://www.top-line-results.com/blog/bid/82485/Is-Your-Content-Marketing-Like-a-Box-of-Chocolateshttp://www.top-line-results.com/blog/bid/84615/Is-Your-Inbound-Marketing-Strategy-Good-Enough#Comments0http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TopLineResults/~3/lOeXezQxBRo/Is-Your-Inbound-Marketing-Strategy-Good-Enough<p><img src="http://www.top-line-results.com/Portals/68380/images/fb-logo.jpg" border="0" alt="orlando marketing consulting, orlando inbound marketing " class="alignLeft" style="float: left;" />As we move into 2012, you may find yourself thinking that your online marketing strategy is good enough as it is. After all, you have a Facebook page you post on once in a blue moon, a LinkedIn account everyone has forgotten about, a Twitter account you never use, and a blog the secretary updates every other month.</p> <p>You've gone through some of the motions of inbound marketing, but you are questioning the investment of time. So sure, you could let your accounts gather followers and loose them at the fickle whims of the internet, but before you decided to let those accounts wither and die you should consider some of the shocking internet marketing statistics the HubSpot Blog put up this week.<br /><br />Thursdays article by Pamela Vaughan, "<a href="http://blog.hubspot.com/blog/tabid/6307/bid/30495/25-Eye-Popping-Internet-Marketing-Statistics-for-2012.aspx" title="25 Eye-Popping Internet Marketing Statistics for 2012" target="_blank">25 Eye-Popping Internet Marketing Statistics for 2012</a>" put forward some shocking statistics from <a href="http://www.emarketer.com/Products/Explore/ReportList.aspx" title="eMarketer" target="_blank">eMarketer</a> about internet usage as we move into the new year. EMarketer predicts that 239 million, or 75.6% of the U.S., will be online in 2012. Meaning that 3/4 of the country will have an online presence, and 94% of smartphone users will use mobile internet.&nbsp; Of the 3/4 of the country using the internet,&nbsp; 2/3 will use social networks and 90% of them will be on Facebook. Millions of consumers are online and eMarketer predicts that 88.1% of those online will browse or research products, while 83.9% will make a purchase online during 2012.<br /><br />If your company wants leads, then maybe you should rethink your investment in inbound marketing. Consumers are online, and if you want to reach them you need to be where they are - "fish where the fish are" is the appropriate cliche.</p> <p>To use another clich&eacute; I would like to see retired, you should 'double down' on your inbound marketing.&nbsp; Instead of sporadic blog posts or status updates, make a schedule of content and stick to it. To reach the millions of internet users you need to give them a reason to follow you. Provide your followers with fresh and relevant content. Give them a reason to connect with you, and they will.<br /><br />So as we move into 2012, dust off the company blog, update your Facebook page, and make connections on LinkedIn.&nbsp; My sales mentor told me a lot of selling is showing up.&nbsp; Three quarters of the country are online and that means you at least need to show up to compete.</p><p><a title="Connect with Top Line Results:" href="http://www.top-line-results.com/get-on-the-road-to-results/" target="_self">Connect with Top Line Results:</a></p> <p><a href="http://twitter.com/toplineresults" target="_self"><img src="http://www.top-line-results.com/Portals/68380/images/twitter.png" border="0" alt="Top Line Results on Twitter" /></a>&nbsp;<a href="http://www.linkedin.com/company/734746" target="_self"><img src="http://www.top-line-results.com/Portals/68380/images/linkedin.png" border="0" alt="Top Line Results on LinkedIn" /></a>&nbsp;<a href="http://www.facebook.com/pages/Top-Line-Results/115412434403" target="_self"><img src="http://www.top-line-results.com/Portals/68380/images/facebook.png" border="0" alt="Top Line Results on Facebook" /></a>&nbsp;<a href="http://www.google.com/profiles/todd.hockenberry" target="_blank"><img src="http://www.top-line-results.com/Portals/68380/images/google.png" border="0" alt="Todd Hockenberry Google Profile" /></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/TopLineResults" target="_self"><img src="http://www.top-line-results.com/Portals/68380/images/rss.png" border="0" alt="Top Line Results Blog" /></a></p> &copy; 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That particular insight took me about 15 years to figure out. &nbsp;<br /><br />Figure out what the client's business goals are and show them how you can help them reach those goals.&nbsp; Do not sell a commodity product or generic service - sell them on the fact that you can help them reach their goals (these other things are tools and techniques that may help you help them achieve their goals but why sell them when you can sell something a whole lot better - you and your expertise). &nbsp;<br /><br />Easy to say, tough to do.<br /><br />My experience is that when you fall back on pitches, presentations, and product demos you have probably lost sight of the above goal and will have a very low conversion percentage to sales.&nbsp; Most likely in the 3-7% range of most salespeople.<br /><br />Why is this so?&nbsp; You are thinking about you and not them, your products and services and not them, your expertise and not them, what you are comfortable with and not what they need.<br /><br />I close a very high % of our prospect conversations - I lose them when I forget the above ideas and focus on me (my presentation, my needs, my bank account, my ego, and on and on).<br /><br />Check everything you are doing to 'sell' a prospect and make sure that is for their benefit and not yours.<p><a title="Connect with Top Line Results:" href="http://www.top-line-results.com/get-on-the-road-to-results/" target="_self">Connect with Top Line Results:</a></p> <p><a href="http://twitter.com/toplineresults" target="_self"><img src="http://www.top-line-results.com/Portals/68380/images/twitter.png" border="0" alt="Top Line Results on Twitter" /></a>&nbsp;<a href="http://www.linkedin.com/company/734746" target="_self"><img src="http://www.top-line-results.com/Portals/68380/images/linkedin.png" border="0" alt="Top Line Results on LinkedIn" /></a>&nbsp;<a href="http://www.facebook.com/pages/Top-Line-Results/115412434403" target="_self"><img src="http://www.top-line-results.com/Portals/68380/images/facebook.png" border="0" alt="Top Line Results on Facebook" /></a>&nbsp;<a href="http://www.google.com/profiles/todd.hockenberry" target="_blank"><img src="http://www.top-line-results.com/Portals/68380/images/google.png" border="0" alt="Todd Hockenberry Google Profile" /></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/TopLineResults" target="_self"><img src="http://www.top-line-results.com/Portals/68380/images/rss.png" border="0" alt="Top Line Results Blog" /></a></p> &copy; <a title="Top Line Results" href="http://top-line-results.com/" target="_self">Top Line Results</a>&nbsp;| Orlando, FL<div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/TopLineResults?a=8aIv479o64A:CT7iE_MCWd0:TzevzKxY174"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/TopLineResults?d=TzevzKxY174" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/TopLineResults?a=8aIv479o64A:CT7iE_MCWd0:gIN9vFwOqvQ"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/TopLineResults?i=8aIv479o64A:CT7iE_MCWd0:gIN9vFwOqvQ" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/TopLineResults?a=8aIv479o64A:CT7iE_MCWd0:l6gmwiTKsz0"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/TopLineResults?d=l6gmwiTKsz0" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/TopLineResults?a=8aIv479o64A:CT7iE_MCWd0:qj6IDK7rITs"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/TopLineResults?d=qj6IDK7rITs" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/TopLineResults?a=8aIv479o64A:CT7iE_MCWd0:V_sGLiPBpWU"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/TopLineResults?i=8aIv479o64A:CT7iE_MCWd0:V_sGLiPBpWU" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/TopLineResults?a=8aIv479o64A:CT7iE_MCWd0:F7zBnMyn0Lo"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/TopLineResults?i=8aIv479o64A:CT7iE_MCWd0:F7zBnMyn0Lo" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/TopLineResults?a=8aIv479o64A:CT7iE_MCWd0:-BTjWOF_DHI"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/TopLineResults?i=8aIv479o64A:CT7iE_MCWd0:-BTjWOF_DHI" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/TopLineResults?a=8aIv479o64A:CT7iE_MCWd0:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/TopLineResults?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/TopLineResults?a=8aIv479o64A:CT7iE_MCWd0:cGdyc7Q-1BI"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/TopLineResults?d=cGdyc7Q-1BI" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/TopLineResults?a=8aIv479o64A:CT7iE_MCWd0:bcOpcFrp8Mo"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/TopLineResults?d=bcOpcFrp8Mo" border="0"></img></a> </div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/TopLineResults/~4/8aIv479o64A" height="1" width="1"/>Todd HockenberryTue, 22 Nov 2011 01:24:00 GMTf1397696-738c-4295-afcd-943feb885714:79458http://www.top-line-results.com/blog/bid/79458/Sales-Is-Not-Easy-But-It-Is-Simplehttp://www.top-line-results.com/blog/bid/70343/Where-Did-All-the-Salespeople-Go#Comments0http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TopLineResults/~3/XfkMIsKcOz0/Where-Did-All-the-Salespeople-Go<div style="padding: 15px; float: right; text-align: center; font-size: .8em;"><img src="http://www.top-line-results.com/Portals/68380/images/door-to-door1[1].jpg" border="0" alt="sales team development" class="alignLeft" style="float: left;" /> <br />Image courtesy nfusedirect.com</div> <p>Jeffrey Gitomer recently wrote &ldquo;Death of a Salesman! How alive are you?&rdquo; an article in response to James Ledbetter&rsquo;s &ldquo;Death of a Salesman&rdquo; piece in Slate Magazine. You can read his full response <a href="http://www.gitomer.com/articles/ViewPublicArticle.html?key=ajcdMibak3ORljorhuHgig%3D%3D" title="here" target="_blank">here</a>, but basically he posits that salesmen aren&rsquo;t so much dying as they are evolving.</p> <p><br />Both Gitomer and Ledbetter work off of the premise that the internet is wreaking all sort of havoc on traditional brick and mortar business and the retail sales people within; which seems like a fairly safe assertion to make. <br /><br />The success of online retailers and popular third party review sites, like <a href="http://www.cnet.com" title="CNET" target="_blank">CNET</a>, is undisputed. And that makes sense. The average consumer doesn&rsquo;t trust a car salesman or a phone salesman.&nbsp; Consumers understand that a salesman working for commission has an agenda that does not include selling them the best product for their money. Fifty user reviews on <a href="http://www.amazon.com" title="Amazon" target="_blank">Amazon</a>, however, can offer a consumer a much more unbiased view of a product. Price comparing, zero lines, and the comfort of your own home, or anywhere there is cell phone service really, all conspire to lure consumers out of brick and mortar stores and away from the influence of retail sales people. <br /><br />Where does this leave the salesmen of old? According to Gitomer, the internet shouldn&rsquo;t be seen as the slayer of sales jobs, but as the opener of doors to new opportunities.&nbsp; The rise of companies like Google and Amazon just means that there are going to be new places and ways for those who can sell to make a living. As long as sales people are adaptable and willing to bridge into ecommerce, there is no reason for the salesman to die. <br /><br />So rather than grieving over the death of the traditional &ldquo;retail&rdquo; salesman, embrace the evolution of sales and look forward to the future of commerce. <br /><br />Gitomer also points out that there is a big difference between B2C and B2B salespeople.&nbsp; As a consultant who deals with lots of small and medium sized manufacturing companies, I agree that the current trends offer the B2B salesperson even more opportunity than ever.<br /><br />Here are a few (there are plenty more) ways that B2B salespeople can evolve and take advantage of these inevitable trends:<br /><br /></p> <ol> <li>Become an online citizen &ndash; get connected, get engaged, and see how people are using online tools to buy and to sell.</li> <li>Build a following &ndash; how do I do that you ask, see #1 and have something to say &ndash; if you can really add value then you have something to say.&nbsp; Most salespeople will falter at this point, they never really added much value to their sales opportunities so they have nothing important to say.</li> <li>Write, publish, blog, Tweet, etc. &ndash; attract prospects and customers to you and be the expert in your field, build a community around your value.</li> <li>Create valuable tools for your customers &ndash; be the go to person in your industry for your unique value.</li> </ol> <p>This is hard to do and those who master the new selling environment will be very valuable indeed.<br /><br /></p><p><a title="Connect with Top Line Results:" href="http://www.top-line-results.com/get-on-the-road-to-results/" target="_self">Connect with Top Line Results:</a></p> <p><a href="http://twitter.com/toplineresults" target="_self"><img src="http://www.top-line-results.com/Portals/68380/images/twitter.png" border="0" alt="Top Line Results on Twitter" /></a>&nbsp;<a href="http://www.linkedin.com/company/734746" target="_self"><img src="http://www.top-line-results.com/Portals/68380/images/linkedin.png" border="0" alt="Top Line Results on LinkedIn" /></a>&nbsp;<a href="http://www.facebook.com/pages/Top-Line-Results/115412434403" target="_self"><img src="http://www.top-line-results.com/Portals/68380/images/facebook.png" border="0" alt="Top Line Results on Facebook" /></a>&nbsp;<a href="http://www.google.com/profiles/todd.hockenberry" target="_blank"><img src="http://www.top-line-results.com/Portals/68380/images/google.png" border="0" alt="Todd Hockenberry Google Profile" /></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/TopLineResults" target="_self"><img src="http://www.top-line-results.com/Portals/68380/images/rss.png" border="0" alt="Top Line Results Blog" /></a></p> &copy; <a title="Top Line Results" href="http://top-line-results.com/" target="_self">Top Line Results</a>&nbsp;| Orlando, FL<div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/TopLineResults?a=XfkMIsKcOz0:m6Oq7iYTcG8:TzevzKxY174"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/TopLineResults?d=TzevzKxY174" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/TopLineResults?a=XfkMIsKcOz0:m6Oq7iYTcG8:gIN9vFwOqvQ"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/TopLineResults?i=XfkMIsKcOz0:m6Oq7iYTcG8:gIN9vFwOqvQ" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/TopLineResults?a=XfkMIsKcOz0:m6Oq7iYTcG8:l6gmwiTKsz0"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/TopLineResults?d=l6gmwiTKsz0" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/TopLineResults?a=XfkMIsKcOz0:m6Oq7iYTcG8:qj6IDK7rITs"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/TopLineResults?d=qj6IDK7rITs" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/TopLineResults?a=XfkMIsKcOz0:m6Oq7iYTcG8:V_sGLiPBpWU"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/TopLineResults?i=XfkMIsKcOz0:m6Oq7iYTcG8:V_sGLiPBpWU" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/TopLineResults?a=XfkMIsKcOz0:m6Oq7iYTcG8:F7zBnMyn0Lo"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/TopLineResults?i=XfkMIsKcOz0:m6Oq7iYTcG8:F7zBnMyn0Lo" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/TopLineResults?a=XfkMIsKcOz0:m6Oq7iYTcG8:-BTjWOF_DHI"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/TopLineResults?i=XfkMIsKcOz0:m6Oq7iYTcG8:-BTjWOF_DHI" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/TopLineResults?a=XfkMIsKcOz0:m6Oq7iYTcG8:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/TopLineResults?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/TopLineResults?a=XfkMIsKcOz0:m6Oq7iYTcG8:cGdyc7Q-1BI"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/TopLineResults?d=cGdyc7Q-1BI" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/TopLineResults?a=XfkMIsKcOz0:m6Oq7iYTcG8:bcOpcFrp8Mo"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/TopLineResults?d=bcOpcFrp8Mo" border="0"></img></a> </div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/TopLineResults/~4/XfkMIsKcOz0" height="1" width="1"/>Todd HockenberryThu, 08 Sep 2011 13:59:00 GMTf1397696-738c-4295-afcd-943feb885714:70343http://www.top-line-results.com/blog/bid/70343/Where-Did-All-the-Salespeople-Gohttp://www.top-line-results.com/blog/bid/63194/Why-the-First-First-Impression-Matters-When-Marketing-Manufacturers#Comments0http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TopLineResults/~3/1lpGZHcbTN0/Why-the-First-First-Impression-Matters-When-Marketing-Manufacturers<p>My <a href="http://www.top-line-results.com/blog/bid/63077/Make-the-First-First-Impression-to-Grow-Revenue" title="last post" target="_blank">last post</a> introduced the idea of the first, first impression.&nbsp; This is the idea that your prospects are forming an opinion of you and your company before ever calling or contacting you.&nbsp; The companies that make the first, first impression a good one stand a much higher chance of earning the business.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p> <p>One point about the above statement, not only do prospects review companies but they will check up on executives, sales people, and other employees of the company to see what type of digital footprint and impression they are leaving.&nbsp; If your LinkedIn profile stinks and you are cold calling people do not be shocked if you never get a call back.&nbsp; People absolutely do check on you before returning calls - that is assuming you were interesting enough to look into.</p> <p>Buyers use online searches, directories, and social media to understand the vendors and partners they are considering as much as you do when you are prospecting (at least I hope you do).&nbsp; If all these buying prospects find is self promotional sales material instead of the helpful education and value they seek then guess what?&nbsp; They leave and you never even get the call.&nbsp; Leave a bad first online impression and they will most likely move on to the next guy that does 'get it' from thier perspective.</p> <p>People expect to be able to Google something and get an answer.&nbsp; Buyers expect answers and good ones, quickly.&nbsp; If you are not answering the questions they are asking online then you are not even getting a chance to make any impression much the first one.&nbsp;<a href="http://www.top-line-results.com/conversion-pages/inbound-marketing-for-manufacturing/" target="_self"><img src="http://www.top-line-results.com/Portals/68380/images/inbound-marketing-for-manufacturing-cta-2.png" border="0" alt="inbound marketing for manufacturing" class="alignRight" style="float: right;" /></a></p> <p>Buyers expect you to give them insight on the problem and not just the information about the product.&nbsp; This is a sea change for most salespeople and it shows how much more important marketing is getting in the overall buying cycle.&nbsp; If marketing using SEO and other online tools cannot get in front of the prospect first online then sales may never get a shot.</p> <p>Marketing is becoming more about publishing proof, evidence, and insight than it is about prospecting, promising, and telling.&nbsp; This is the emergence of inbound marketing and the power you have when you make the first, first impression.</p> <p>So, if you make the first, first impression one that educates the prospective buyer, shows that you understand their situation and how you can help, and show some digital chops then you have made a first, first impression you have a great head start and chance to earn the customer.</p><p><a title="Connect with Top Line Results:" href="http://www.top-line-results.com/get-on-the-road-to-results/" target="_self">Connect with Top Line Results:</a></p> <p><a href="http://twitter.com/toplineresults" target="_self"><img src="http://www.top-line-results.com/Portals/68380/images/twitter.png" border="0" alt="Top Line Results on Twitter" /></a>&nbsp;<a href="http://www.linkedin.com/company/734746" target="_self"><img src="http://www.top-line-results.com/Portals/68380/images/linkedin.png" border="0" alt="Top Line Results on LinkedIn" /></a>&nbsp;<a href="http://www.facebook.com/pages/Top-Line-Results/115412434403" target="_self"><img src="http://www.top-line-results.com/Portals/68380/images/facebook.png" border="0" alt="Top Line Results on Facebook" /></a>&nbsp;<a href="http://www.google.com/profiles/todd.hockenberry" target="_blank"><img src="http://www.top-line-results.com/Portals/68380/images/google.png" border="0" alt="Todd Hockenberry Google Profile" /></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/TopLineResults" target="_self"><img src="http://www.top-line-results.com/Portals/68380/images/rss.png" border="0" alt="Top Line Results Blog" /></a></p> &copy; <a title="Top Line Results" href="http://top-line-results.com/" target="_self">Top Line Results</a>&nbsp;| Orlando, FL<div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/TopLineResults?a=1lpGZHcbTN0:dA38BuTAedA:TzevzKxY174"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/TopLineResults?d=TzevzKxY174" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/TopLineResults?a=1lpGZHcbTN0:dA38BuTAedA:gIN9vFwOqvQ"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/TopLineResults?i=1lpGZHcbTN0:dA38BuTAedA:gIN9vFwOqvQ" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/TopLineResults?a=1lpGZHcbTN0:dA38BuTAedA:l6gmwiTKsz0"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/TopLineResults?d=l6gmwiTKsz0" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/TopLineResults?a=1lpGZHcbTN0:dA38BuTAedA:qj6IDK7rITs"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/TopLineResults?d=qj6IDK7rITs" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/TopLineResults?a=1lpGZHcbTN0:dA38BuTAedA:V_sGLiPBpWU"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/TopLineResults?i=1lpGZHcbTN0:dA38BuTAedA:V_sGLiPBpWU" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/TopLineResults?a=1lpGZHcbTN0:dA38BuTAedA:F7zBnMyn0Lo"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/TopLineResults?i=1lpGZHcbTN0:dA38BuTAedA:F7zBnMyn0Lo" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/TopLineResults?a=1lpGZHcbTN0:dA38BuTAedA:-BTjWOF_DHI"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/TopLineResults?i=1lpGZHcbTN0:dA38BuTAedA:-BTjWOF_DHI" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/TopLineResults?a=1lpGZHcbTN0:dA38BuTAedA:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/TopLineResults?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/TopLineResults?a=1lpGZHcbTN0:dA38BuTAedA:cGdyc7Q-1BI"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/TopLineResults?d=cGdyc7Q-1BI" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/TopLineResults?a=1lpGZHcbTN0:dA38BuTAedA:bcOpcFrp8Mo"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/TopLineResults?d=bcOpcFrp8Mo" border="0"></img></a> </div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/TopLineResults/~4/1lpGZHcbTN0" height="1" width="1"/>Todd HockenberryWed, 27 Jul 2011 15:51:00 GMTf1397696-738c-4295-afcd-943feb885714:63194http://www.top-line-results.com/blog/bid/63194/Why-the-First-First-Impression-Matters-When-Marketing-Manufacturershttp://www.top-line-results.com/blog/bid/63077/Make-the-First-First-Impression-to-Grow-Revenue#Comments0http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TopLineResults/~3/-AAHbfvf-PI/Make-the-First-First-Impression-to-Grow-Revenue<p><img src="http://www.top-line-results.com/Portals/68380/images/first-impression.jpg" border="0" alt="first first impression" class="alignLeft" style="float: left; padding: 15px;" />We all know the old adage that you never get a second chance to make a first impression.&nbsp; Now it is more critical than ever to make the first, first impression if you want to have any chance to control the buying process and be anything other than happy for the the random sales that fall you way.</p> <p>Back in my days as an EVP Sales &amp; Marketing at a manufacturing company we always tried our best to get requested test samples back to as prospect as fast as possible.&nbsp; We were a small company playing with some big competitors and we figured if we got our stuff back first we would set the table for everyone else.</p> <p>If our samples were of high quality, correct to the specifications, and the first in the door then we had the upper hand.&nbsp; Everyone else was now measured against our quick response and quality work.&nbsp; When conducting win analysis with our customers this first, first impression was often cited as a critical reason our company was chosen.</p> <p>That was few short years ago and while the idea of making the first, first impression still holds it now relates to what your prospects see before they ever call you.&nbsp;</p> <p>For you manufacturers out there I am talking to you.&nbsp;</p> <p>Before the prospect ever picks up the phone, someone, more often than not the real buyer according to most studies, will be looking at your online profile to see who is doing what, what face you present online, and what other people are saying about you.<a href="http://www.top-line-results.com/conversion-pages/inbound-marketing-for-manufacturing/" target="_self"><img src="http://www.top-line-results.com/Portals/68380/images/inbound-marketing-for-manufacturing-cta-2.png" border="0" alt="Marketing for Manufacturing" class="alignRight" style="float: right; padding: 15px;" /></a></p> <p>I know of a company that had a horrible reputation for quality and customer service that stayed in business way longer than they should have because they got the online part right.&nbsp; People would see them first online due to excellent search engine optimization--work they had done before most of their competitors even knew what SEO was.&nbsp; This first, first impression was key to them landing lots of new clients.&nbsp; They didn't earn a lot repeat business due to their poor service but they sold a ton of product based on a good first, first impression.</p> <p>Are you creating an online profile that will give you the first, first impression of your industry or competitive niche to your prospects?</p><p><a title="Connect with Top Line Results:" href="http://www.top-line-results.com/get-on-the-road-to-results/" target="_self">Connect with Top Line Results:</a></p> <p><a href="http://twitter.com/toplineresults" target="_self"><img src="http://www.top-line-results.com/Portals/68380/images/twitter.png" border="0" alt="Top Line Results on Twitter" /></a>&nbsp;<a href="http://www.linkedin.com/company/734746" target="_self"><img src="http://www.top-line-results.com/Portals/68380/images/linkedin.png" border="0" alt="Top Line Results on LinkedIn" /></a>&nbsp;<a href="http://www.facebook.com/pages/Top-Line-Results/115412434403" target="_self"><img src="http://www.top-line-results.com/Portals/68380/images/facebook.png" border="0" alt="Top Line Results on Facebook" /></a>&nbsp;<a href="http://www.google.com/profiles/todd.hockenberry" target="_blank"><img src="http://www.top-line-results.com/Portals/68380/images/google.png" border="0" alt="Todd Hockenberry Google Profile" /></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/TopLineResults" target="_self"><img src="http://www.top-line-results.com/Portals/68380/images/rss.png" border="0" alt="Top Line Results Blog" /></a></p> &copy; <a title="Top Line Results" href="http://top-line-results.com/" target="_self">Top Line Results</a>&nbsp;| Orlando, FL<div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/TopLineResults?a=-AAHbfvf-PI:YxN2mB77r94:TzevzKxY174"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/TopLineResults?d=TzevzKxY174" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/TopLineResults?a=-AAHbfvf-PI:YxN2mB77r94:gIN9vFwOqvQ"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/TopLineResults?i=-AAHbfvf-PI:YxN2mB77r94:gIN9vFwOqvQ" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/TopLineResults?a=-AAHbfvf-PI:YxN2mB77r94:l6gmwiTKsz0"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/TopLineResults?d=l6gmwiTKsz0" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/TopLineResults?a=-AAHbfvf-PI:YxN2mB77r94:qj6IDK7rITs"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/TopLineResults?d=qj6IDK7rITs" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/TopLineResults?a=-AAHbfvf-PI:YxN2mB77r94:V_sGLiPBpWU"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/TopLineResults?i=-AAHbfvf-PI:YxN2mB77r94:V_sGLiPBpWU" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/TopLineResults?a=-AAHbfvf-PI:YxN2mB77r94:F7zBnMyn0Lo"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/TopLineResults?i=-AAHbfvf-PI:YxN2mB77r94:F7zBnMyn0Lo" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/TopLineResults?a=-AAHbfvf-PI:YxN2mB77r94:-BTjWOF_DHI"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/TopLineResults?i=-AAHbfvf-PI:YxN2mB77r94:-BTjWOF_DHI" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/TopLineResults?a=-AAHbfvf-PI:YxN2mB77r94:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/TopLineResults?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/TopLineResults?a=-AAHbfvf-PI:YxN2mB77r94:cGdyc7Q-1BI"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/TopLineResults?d=cGdyc7Q-1BI" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/TopLineResults?a=-AAHbfvf-PI:YxN2mB77r94:bcOpcFrp8Mo"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/TopLineResults?d=bcOpcFrp8Mo" border="0"></img></a> </div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/TopLineResults/~4/-AAHbfvf-PI" height="1" width="1"/>Todd HockenberryMon, 18 Jul 2011 14:17:00 GMTf1397696-738c-4295-afcd-943feb885714:63077http://www.top-line-results.com/blog/bid/63077/Make-the-First-First-Impression-to-Grow-Revenuehttp://www.top-line-results.com/blog/bid/58617/Do-You-Know-Where-Your-Web-Pages-Are-Improve-your-Website-Grade#Comments0http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TopLineResults/~3/9KBqrQplcWU/Do-You-Know-Where-Your-Web-Pages-Are-Improve-your-Website-Grade<p><img src="http://www.top-line-results.com/Portals/68380/images/improve-your-website-grade.jpg" border="0" alt="improve your website grade" width="196" height="288" class="alignRight" style="padding: 15px; float: right;" />Do you know where your pages are? Sounds like a stupid question and one that should not have to be asked but...</p> <p>Hopefully you are getting full credit for all the content you've created.<br /><br />There's no doubt that your <a href="http://websitegrader.com/" rel="nofollow" title="Website Grade" target="_self">HubSpot Website Grade</a> is influenced by the number of pages that have been indexed by Google.&nbsp; Is there a magic number? More is better, but we see a significant jump in website grade when the total number of pages hits 200. Here are some things you can do to make sure you're number is accurate.&nbsp; Don't know what a Website Grade is? <a href="http://websitegrader.com/" title="Get yours here" target="_self">Get yours here</a>.</p> <ol> <li style="padding-bottom: 15px;">Is all your content under the umbrella of a single domain?&nbsp; Make sure that if you have a blog/forum/e-commerce site&nbsp; that it is under the umbrella of your 'flagship' domain. If you have content residing on different hosts, you should be <a href="http://blog.hubspot.com/blog/tabid/6307/bid/3994/Launching-A-Business-Blog-Avoid-This-Common-URL-Mistake-at-Blogspot-and-Typepad.aspx" title="using subdomains" target="_self">using subdomains</a> like blog.mysite.com, shop.mysite.com, forums.mysite.com. That way search engines will credit you for all your content.</li> <li style="padding-bottom: 15px;">Use <a href="http://www.google.com/webmasters/tools/" title="Google Webmaster Tools" target="_self">Google Webmaster Tools</a>. Submit your sitemaps and feeds. Let them know your content is out there. Get <a href="http://blog.hubspot.com/blog/tabid/6307/bid/5966/3-Ways-to-Use-Google-Webmaster-Tools-to-Increase-Search-Engine-Traffic.aspx" title="Google Webmaster Tips " target="_self">Google Webmaster Tools tips</a> here. </li> <li style="padding-bottom: 15px;">Create pages. There's no magic here. Blog, Blog, Blog.&nbsp; Add static pages like FAQs that link to more pages. Move downloads behind landing pages. Lacking inspiration for blogging today?&nbsp; Do a "best of" or "in case you missed it" post. Repurpose, Reuse, Recycle. Read <a href="http://blog.hubspot.com/blog/tabid/6307/bid/6072/7-Steps-for-Getting-More-Mileage-Out-of-Your-Blog-Content.aspx" rel="nofollow" title="Increase your content's mileage" target="_self">Increase your content's mileage</a> here.</li> </ol> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <ol> </ol><p><a title="Connect with Top Line Results:" href="http://www.top-line-results.com/get-on-the-road-to-results/" target="_self">Connect with Top Line Results:</a></p> <p><a href="http://twitter.com/toplineresults" target="_self"><img src="http://www.top-line-results.com/Portals/68380/images/twitter.png" border="0" alt="Top Line Results on Twitter" /></a>&nbsp;<a href="http://www.linkedin.com/company/734746" target="_self"><img src="http://www.top-line-results.com/Portals/68380/images/linkedin.png" border="0" alt="Top Line Results on LinkedIn" /></a>&nbsp;<a href="http://www.facebook.com/pages/Top-Line-Results/115412434403" target="_self"><img 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href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/TopLineResults?a=9KBqrQplcWU:bMI3-VWhpmc:-BTjWOF_DHI"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/TopLineResults?i=9KBqrQplcWU:bMI3-VWhpmc:-BTjWOF_DHI" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/TopLineResults?a=9KBqrQplcWU:bMI3-VWhpmc:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/TopLineResults?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/TopLineResults?a=9KBqrQplcWU:bMI3-VWhpmc:cGdyc7Q-1BI"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/TopLineResults?d=cGdyc7Q-1BI" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/TopLineResults?a=9KBqrQplcWU:bMI3-VWhpmc:bcOpcFrp8Mo"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/TopLineResults?d=bcOpcFrp8Mo" border="0"></img></a> </div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/TopLineResults/~4/9KBqrQplcWU" height="1" width="1"/>Leanne HockenberryWed, 25 May 2011 23:50:00 GMTf1397696-738c-4295-afcd-943feb885714:58617http://www.top-line-results.com/blog/bid/58617/Do-You-Know-Where-Your-Web-Pages-Are-Improve-your-Website-Gradehttp://www.top-line-results.com/blog/bid/58211/Inbound-Marketing-for-Manufacturing#Comments0http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TopLineResults/~3/oKPh_6-vFH4/Inbound-Marketing-for-Manufacturing<p><img src="http://www.top-line-results.com/Portals/68380/images/inbound-marketing-manufacturing.jpg" border="0" alt="inbound marketing manufacturing" class="alignLeft" style="padding: 15px; float: left;" />Inbound marketing for manufacturing can transform how many B2B companies reach new prospects and convert them to new customers.&nbsp; Inbound marketing is the process of getting found by your target customers, of being where they are looking for information, with the information they need, when they need it. &nbsp;</p> <p>Inbound marketing combines content that matters, with information distribution where people want it, and search engine optimization to deliver your message to your target audience.&nbsp; Studies show that the cost per lead and cost for new customer acquisition are drastically lower for inbound marketing than for traditional outbound or interruption marketing.<br /><br />If you can answer "yes" to any of these questions then you should consider implementing an inbound marketing effort:</p> <ul> <li>is your website a catalog of products?<a href="http://www.top-line-results.com/conversion-pages/inbound-marketing-for-manufacturing/" target="_self"><img src="http://www.top-line-results.com/Portals/68380/images/inbound-marketing-for-manufacturing-cta-2.png" border="0" alt="inbound marketing for manufacturing" class="alignRight" style="float: right;" /></a></li> <li>is your sales collateral a list of product specifications?</li> <li>do you sell a component or part and compete mostly on price?</li> <li>have your leads decreased?</li> <li>does it cost more sales and marketing time and dollars to get the same or less revenue?</li> <li>are you doing more quotes and closing less business?</li> <li>do you go to trade shows and get less business at increased cost?</li> <li>are you advertising and are not sure if it is working to drive revenue?</li> </ul> <p>If you answer "no" to any of these questions then you might need inbound marketing:</p> <ul> <li>do people find my company online?</li> <li>do we rank highly in Google search for our top keywords?</li> <li>do we know what top keywords people search to find our types of solutions?</li> <li>are we producing interesting content that addresses the issues our customers face every day?</li> <li>do you have a system for nurturing leads and following up with them to help them through the sales process?</li> <li>do you develop online and social media connections to other industry leaders, influencers, and potential customers?</li> <li>do you know how you stack up against your competitors online?</li> <li>do you know what marketing activities generate the best ROI in terms of revenue?</li> </ul> <p>Inbound marketing works.&nbsp; Inbound marketing is an investment that compounds.&nbsp;&nbsp; Efforts today will last for years and become the platform to go even further and broaden that marketing investment to bring more potential customers right to your front door.</p><p><a title="Connect with Top Line Results:" href="http://www.top-line-results.com/get-on-the-road-to-results/" target="_self">Connect with Top Line Results:</a></p> <p><a href="http://twitter.com/toplineresults" target="_self"><img src="http://www.top-line-results.com/Portals/68380/images/twitter.png" border="0" alt="Top Line Results on Twitter" /></a>&nbsp;<a href="http://www.linkedin.com/company/734746" target="_self"><img src="http://www.top-line-results.com/Portals/68380/images/linkedin.png" border="0" alt="Top Line Results on LinkedIn" /></a>&nbsp;<a href="http://www.facebook.com/pages/Top-Line-Results/115412434403" target="_self"><img 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href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/TopLineResults?a=oKPh_6-vFH4:GKK4pKU_icM:-BTjWOF_DHI"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/TopLineResults?i=oKPh_6-vFH4:GKK4pKU_icM:-BTjWOF_DHI" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/TopLineResults?a=oKPh_6-vFH4:GKK4pKU_icM:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/TopLineResults?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/TopLineResults?a=oKPh_6-vFH4:GKK4pKU_icM:cGdyc7Q-1BI"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/TopLineResults?d=cGdyc7Q-1BI" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/TopLineResults?a=oKPh_6-vFH4:GKK4pKU_icM:bcOpcFrp8Mo"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/TopLineResults?d=bcOpcFrp8Mo" border="0"></img></a> </div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/TopLineResults/~4/oKPh_6-vFH4" height="1" width="1"/>Todd HockenberryWed, 18 May 2011 19:42:00 GMTf1397696-738c-4295-afcd-943feb885714:58211http://www.top-line-results.com/blog/bid/58211/Inbound-Marketing-for-Manufacturinghttp://www.top-line-results.com/blog/bid/57009/Do-Something-Even-If-It-Is-Wrong#Comments3http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TopLineResults/~3/04PHoWeHKZM/Do-Something-Even-If-It-Is-Wrong<p><img src="http://www.top-line-results.com/Portals/68380/images/bias-for-action.jpg" border="0" alt="top line results, bias for action, seo orlando, hubspot partner orlando" class="alignLeft" style="float: left;" />The title of this post is a quote from my dad heard often in my childhood.&nbsp; His point was that the world favors a bias for action and that you are better off in the game than on the sidelines - and the only way to get in the game is to take action.</p> <p><a title="Seth Godin's recent blog post" href="http://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/2011/04/the-realization-is-here.html?utm_source=feedburner&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_campaign=Feed%3A+typepad%2Fsethsmainblog+%28Seth%27s+Blog%29" target="_blank">Seth Godin's recent blog post</a> talks about the economic trends affecting us and how they impact work.&nbsp;</p> <p>We work with a bunch of clients in a variety of fields and the lack of action trips up many of them.</p> <p>It is easier to watch Facebook than to dive in and find an audience.</p> <p>It is easier to read a blog than to write one.</p> <p>It is easier to send an e-mail than to go see a partner/distributor/customer.</p> <p>It is easier to hire a web designer to create a shiny new design for your website than to understand how to use it to reach customers.</p> <p>It is easier to keep the same people doing the same job for a long time than to challenge people to learn new skills and job roles.</p> <p>It is easier to blame the economy than to find a new niche and exploit it.</p> <p>It is easier to keep servicing the same customers the same way than to fire a bunch of them and get better customers (no, not all customers are good ones).</p> <p>It is easier to go to seminars and read business books than to actually implement new ideas - please try something, anything instead of just reading about it.</p> <p>It is easier to hope you find the one thing that will rocket you to success (equivalent to hitting the lottery) than to work hard every day doing all the many little things you need to be successful.</p> <p>Do Something, even if it is wrong, at least then you will know, be little be smarter, and be closer to the succes you know you deserve.</p><p><a title="Connect with Top Line Results:" href="http://www.top-line-results.com/get-on-the-road-to-results/" target="_self">Connect with Top Line Results:</a></p> <p><a href="http://twitter.com/toplineresults" target="_self"><img src="http://www.top-line-results.com/Portals/68380/images/twitter.png" 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border="0"></img></a> </div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/TopLineResults/~4/04PHoWeHKZM" height="1" width="1"/>Todd HockenberrySat, 23 Apr 2011 13:34:00 GMTf1397696-738c-4295-afcd-943feb885714:57009http://www.top-line-results.com/blog/bid/57009/Do-Something-Even-If-It-Is-Wronghttp://www.top-line-results.com/blog/bid/55082/12-Lame-Sales-Excuses-Salespeople-Use-and-How-To-Respond#Comments0http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TopLineResults/~3/Atv0Qo-pR4I/12-Lame-Sales-Excuses-Salespeople-Use-and-How-To-Respond<p><img src="http://www.top-line-results.com/Portals/68380/images/sales excuses.jpg" border="0" alt="sales excuses" class="alignLeft" style="float: left; padding: 15px;" />It is easy to allow your attitude to lapse into self-fulfilling negativity when you are a salesperson - after all there is a lot of rejection, difficult people, unreasonable customers, and other potentially challenging situations that you have to deal with.</p> <p>If you ever find yourself using any of these excuses it is time for a healthy injection of positive attitude because after all, these excuses are all comments made that reflect the salespersons attitude.</p> <p>12 Sales Excuses That the Best Salespeople Never Use:<br /><br />1. <strong>The product sucks</strong> &ndash; why did you take the sales job if you didn&rsquo;t believe in the product?<br /><br />2. <strong>The price is too high</strong> &ndash; sell value not price, amateurs sell price<br /><br />3. <strong>No time for prospecting</strong> &ndash; create time, plan ahead, stick to schedule, ruthlessly eliminate time wasters<br /><br />4. <strong>Goals are too high&nbsp;</strong> &ndash; Stay committed, sense of urgency, plan steps to achieve goals<br /><br />5. <strong>Our competitors are better</strong> &ndash; see #1, do you know why and how to contrast to competitors?&nbsp; Are you buying into their p/r instead of believing in your company?<br /><br />6. <strong>We do not get enough support&nbsp;</strong> &ndash; are you looking for someone else to do your work?&nbsp; Are these questions you should be able to answer?&nbsp; If not, go to boss with details.<br /><br />7. <strong>No one is buying now</strong> &ndash; create urgency and value, most companies have budget and will make decisions if shown value<br /><br />8. <strong>My product is a commodity </strong>&ndash; is it corn, oil, rocks, paper napkins &ndash; even with these basic products great salespeople will create value and differentiation<br /><br />9. <strong>Can&rsquo;t get an appointment</strong> &ndash; no rapport, trust, initial value communication, you are not interesting enough to talk to<br /><br />10. <strong>Can&rsquo;t get them to return my calls</strong> &ndash; see #9 and did you give them a reason to call you back?<br /><br />11. <strong>Not enough people know about our products/run more ads</strong> &ndash; marketing and selling are two different things &ndash; have you closed every single opportunity in front of you? <br /><br />12. <strong>All I need is more leads</strong> &ndash; closely related to #11 &ndash; cherry picking is not high level selling, be strategic, identify your best prospects and get to them by yourself, you cannot wait for them to find you.</p> <p>Oops...Let's make it 13...<strong>It's not my job</strong>....no comment necessary on this one.</p> <p>Please let me know if I missed any good ones!</p> <p style="font-style: italic; font-size: 80%;">Photo Credit:&nbsp; <a title="www.bnet.com" href="http://www.bnet.com" target="_blank">www.bnet.com</a></p><p><a title="Connect with Top Line Results:" href="http://www.top-line-results.com/get-on-the-road-to-results/" target="_self">Connect with Top Line Results:</a></p> <p><a href="http://twitter.com/toplineresults" target="_self"><img src="http://www.top-line-results.com/Portals/68380/images/twitter.png" border="0" alt="Top Line Results on Twitter" /></a>&nbsp;<a href="http://www.linkedin.com/company/734746" target="_self"><img 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HockenberryFri, 18 Mar 2011 20:04:00 GMTf1397696-738c-4295-afcd-943feb885714:55082http://www.top-line-results.com/blog/bid/55082/12-Lame-Sales-Excuses-Salespeople-Use-and-How-To-Respondhttp://www.top-line-results.com/blog/bid/52940/Small-Manufacturing-in-the-US-Reasons-for-Optimism#Comments0http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TopLineResults/~3/X6iiR7VWHoA/Small-Manufacturing-in-the-US-Reasons-for-Optimism<p>I would like to share a few thoughts about these recent articles:</p> <p><a href="http://www.npr.org/blogs/money/2011/02/07/133561265/3-ways-of-looking-at-manufacturing-in-america">http://www.npr.org/blogs/money/2011/02/07/133561265/3-ways-of-looking-at-manufacturing-in-america</a></p> <p><a href="http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Europe/2011/0130/Germany-the-new-mini-superpower">http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Europe/2011/0130/Germany-the-new-mini-superpower</a></p> <p>The US still leads world in industrial output - this comes as a surprise if you just listen to the gloom and doom media.</p> <p>We are getting more efficient which is one reason there are fewer manufacturing jobs and it doesn't 'feel' like we manufacture as much.</p> <p>One trend is towards larger, more complex products manufactured here so a lot of what the average consumer buys is manufactured outside of the US.</p> <p>Germany has 3 million "Mittlestand" companies - small to medium sized, closely held (mostly families) manufacturing companies that employee about 70% of the German workforce.</p> <p>We Americans like to think of Europe as the land of socialism, long vacations, and short work weeks but these companies work strategically in partnership with local and national organizations and governments to create a fertile ground for long term growth.</p> <p>What do we need to do in the US the strengthen our small manufacturing Middlestands?</p> <ul> <li>Export - We use <a title="HubSpot and Inbound Marketing" href="http://www.top-line-results.com/hubspot-orlando-fl/" target="_blank">HubSpot and Inbound Marketing</a> to help our clients find global customers</li> <li>Engage - create strong regional manufacturing associations - one voice for small manufacturers</li> <li>Empower - develop the incentives for people to start small manufacturing companies</li> <li>Embrace - strengthen the core small manufacturing companies we have in the US now</li> <li>Educate - teach our young entrepreneurs that they can start companies and compete globally manufacturing in the US</li> </ul> <p>And finally, Wired magazine published an article titled <a title="&quot;Made in America: Small Businesses Buck the Offshoring Trend&quot;" href="http://www.wired.com/magazine/2011/02/ff_madeinamerica/" target="_blank">"Made in America: Small Businesses Buck the Offshoring Trend"</a> about the trend of manufacturers returning once outsourced production back to the US.&nbsp; Reasons include poor quality, unreliable logistics, poor communications, increasing costs and system complexity as reasons for returning manufacturing operations to the US.</p> <p>Opportunity exists, take advantage of the trends that give small manufacturers the ability to build and strengthen their businesses.</p> <p><img src="http://www.top-line-results.com/Portals/68380/images/certified-hubspot-partner-badge.png" border="0" alt="fl hubspot, orlando hubspot, hubspot consulting, hubspot consulting orlando, orlando small busines consulting" /></p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <ul> </ul><p><a title="Connect with Top Line Results:" href="http://www.top-line-results.com/get-on-the-road-to-results/" target="_self">Connect with Top Line Results:</a></p> <p><a href="http://twitter.com/toplineresults" target="_self"><img src="http://www.top-line-results.com/Portals/68380/images/twitter.png" border="0" alt="Top Line Results on Twitter" /></a>&nbsp;<a href="http://www.linkedin.com/company/734746" target="_self"><img src="http://www.top-line-results.com/Portals/68380/images/linkedin.png" border="0" alt="Top Line Results 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GMTf1397696-738c-4295-afcd-943feb885714:52940http://www.top-line-results.com/blog/bid/52940/Small-Manufacturing-in-the-US-Reasons-for-Optimismhttp://www.top-line-results.com/blog/bid/52540/Is-This-Something-That-Might-Be-of-Interest-To-You#Comments0http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TopLineResults/~3/q7qm4nwWrh4/Is-This-Something-That-Might-Be-of-Interest-To-You<p>Just finished a rather bland book by Mark Thompson and Brian Tracy called <em><a title="&quot;Now...Build a Great Business&quot;" href="http://www.amazon.com/Now-Build-Great-Business-Maximize/dp/0814416977/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1296578324&amp;sr=8-1" target="_blank">Now...Build a Great Business</a></em>.&nbsp; They lay out the rules for going about building a great business (stick with Jim Collins, <em><a title="Good to Great" href="http://www.amazon.com/Good-Great-Companies-Leap-Others/dp/0066620996/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&amp;ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1296302191&amp;sr=1-1" target="_blank">Good to Great</a></em> for my money).</p> <p>In this book in the section on how to be a good salesperson, under the presentation "rule" they recommended a conversation sequence that a salesperson should follow - show, tell, and ask&nbsp; a question.&nbsp;</p> <p>The question part of this equation is, "Is that something that would be of interest to you?"</p> <p>It would go something like this.....</p> <p>"I have the greatest foo foo diddle in the entire universe and it can increase your productivity by 7,000%, is that something that would be of interest to you?"</p> <p>Unbelievable advice for salespeople - this is the worst kind of annoy your prospects, sales 'technique', trial close garbage imaginable.&nbsp; What customer would react in a positive way to that question?&nbsp; I promise you that if they watch Entourage they will think you are joking...until such time as they realize you are not and then rank you and your offering somewhere in the neighborhood they rank the door-to-door salesperson that knock on their door during the big game.</p> <p>Fans of the show <a title="Entourage" href="http://www.hbo.com/entourage/index.html" target="_blank">Entourage</a> will recognize this line from the Bob Evans producer character played by Martin Landau.&nbsp;</p> <p>The character Ari is in this compilation and if you know the show you know the kind of language he uses - for those who do not watch the show, he swears, a lot.&nbsp; <span style="color: #ff0000;">(WARNING! EXTREME PROFANITY)</span></p> <p> <object classid="clsid:d27cdb6e-ae6d-11cf-96b8-444553540000" width="640" height="385" codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=6,0,40,0"> <param name="allowFullScreen" value="true" /> <param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always" /> <param name="wmode" value="transparent" /> <param name="src" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/jBh0SpDoVZw?fs=1&amp;hl=en_US" /> <param name="allowfullscreen" value="true" /><embed type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="640" height="385" src="http://www.youtube.com/v/jBh0SpDoVZw?fs=1&amp;hl=en_US" wmode="transparent" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true"></embed> </object> </p> <p>In the end Bob sells the movie he was pitching to a FRIEND....someone with whom he had a history of successful projects and years of built up trust and credibility. A friend who tolerated his terrible pitch lines because he knew he could deliver.&nbsp; You won't get that chance if you use formulaic close lines like this one.</p> <p>The reasons you make the big sale are , trust, value, empathy, understanding - not a lame series of trial close questions.&nbsp; In the end the things that work are hard to get and hard to find - do not be fooled into thinking that a simplistic, surface, tricky formula of any kind will work.</p> <br /><p><a title="Connect with Top Line Results:" href="http://www.top-line-results.com/get-on-the-road-to-results/" target="_self">Connect with Top Line Results:</a></p> <p><a href="http://twitter.com/toplineresults" target="_self"><img src="http://www.top-line-results.com/Portals/68380/images/twitter.png" border="0" alt="Top Line Results on Twitter" /></a>&nbsp;<a href="http://www.linkedin.com/company/734746" target="_self"><img src="http://www.top-line-results.com/Portals/68380/images/linkedin.png" border="0" alt="Top Line Results on LinkedIn" /></a>&nbsp;<a href="http://www.facebook.com/pages/Top-Line-Results/115412434403" target="_self"><img src="http://www.top-line-results.com/Portals/68380/images/facebook.png" border="0" alt="Top Line Results on Facebook" /></a>&nbsp;<a href="http://www.google.com/profiles/todd.hockenberry" target="_blank"><img src="http://www.top-line-results.com/Portals/68380/images/google.png" border="0" alt="Todd Hockenberry Google Profile" /></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/TopLineResults" target="_self"><img src="http://www.top-line-results.com/Portals/68380/images/rss.png" border="0" alt="Top Line Results Blog" /></a></p> &copy; 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The article talks about how one our clients was being taken advantage of by their SEO consulting company.</p> <p><a title="Please click here to read the entire article." href="http://blog.hubspot.com/blog/tabid/6307/bid/6486/Hiring-an-SEO-Firm-A-Cautionary-Tale.aspx" target="_blank">Please click here to read the entire post.</a></p> <p>Feel free to comment or share your stories if you have been less than happy with your SEO partner service.</p> <p>Thanks again HubSpot!</p><p><a title="Connect with Top Line Results:" href="http://www.top-line-results.com/get-on-the-road-to-results/" target="_self">Connect with Top Line Results:</a></p> <p><a href="http://twitter.com/toplineresults" target="_self"><img src="http://www.top-line-results.com/Portals/68380/images/twitter.png" border="0" alt="Top Line Results on Twitter" /></a>&nbsp;<a href="http://www.linkedin.com/company/734746" target="_self"><img src="http://www.top-line-results.com/Portals/68380/images/linkedin.png" border="0" alt="Top Line Results on LinkedIn" /></a>&nbsp;<a href="http://www.facebook.com/pages/Top-Line-Results/115412434403" target="_self"><img src="http://www.top-line-results.com/Portals/68380/images/facebook.png" border="0" alt="Top Line Results on Facebook" /></a>&nbsp;<a href="http://www.google.com/profiles/todd.hockenberry" target="_blank"><img src="http://www.top-line-results.com/Portals/68380/images/google.png" border="0" alt="Todd Hockenberry Google Profile" /></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/TopLineResults" target="_self"><img src="http://www.top-line-results.com/Portals/68380/images/rss.png" border="0" alt="Top Line Results Blog" /></a></p> &copy; <a title="Top Line Results" href="http://top-line-results.com/" target="_self">Top Line Results</a>&nbsp;| Orlando, FL<div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/TopLineResults?a=QW_uYNtfcw0:ZdEFU6MKHtQ:TzevzKxY174"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/TopLineResults?d=TzevzKxY174" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/TopLineResults?a=QW_uYNtfcw0:ZdEFU6MKHtQ:gIN9vFwOqvQ"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/TopLineResults?i=QW_uYNtfcw0:ZdEFU6MKHtQ:gIN9vFwOqvQ" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/TopLineResults?a=QW_uYNtfcw0:ZdEFU6MKHtQ:l6gmwiTKsz0"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/TopLineResults?d=l6gmwiTKsz0" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/TopLineResults?a=QW_uYNtfcw0:ZdEFU6MKHtQ:qj6IDK7rITs"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/TopLineResults?d=qj6IDK7rITs" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/TopLineResults?a=QW_uYNtfcw0:ZdEFU6MKHtQ:V_sGLiPBpWU"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/TopLineResults?i=QW_uYNtfcw0:ZdEFU6MKHtQ:V_sGLiPBpWU" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/TopLineResults?a=QW_uYNtfcw0:ZdEFU6MKHtQ:F7zBnMyn0Lo"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/TopLineResults?i=QW_uYNtfcw0:ZdEFU6MKHtQ:F7zBnMyn0Lo" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/TopLineResults?a=QW_uYNtfcw0:ZdEFU6MKHtQ:-BTjWOF_DHI"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/TopLineResults?i=QW_uYNtfcw0:ZdEFU6MKHtQ:-BTjWOF_DHI" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/TopLineResults?a=QW_uYNtfcw0:ZdEFU6MKHtQ:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/TopLineResults?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/TopLineResults?a=QW_uYNtfcw0:ZdEFU6MKHtQ:cGdyc7Q-1BI"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/TopLineResults?d=cGdyc7Q-1BI" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/TopLineResults?a=QW_uYNtfcw0:ZdEFU6MKHtQ:bcOpcFrp8Mo"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/TopLineResults?d=bcOpcFrp8Mo" border="0"></img></a> </div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/TopLineResults/~4/QW_uYNtfcw0" height="1" width="1"/>Todd HockenberryThu, 03 Feb 2011 15:50:00 GMTf1397696-738c-4295-afcd-943feb885714:52765http://www.top-line-results.com/blog/bid/52765/Choosing-an-SEO-Partner-A-Cautionary-Talehttp://www.top-line-results.com/blog/bid/52512/Communicate-Results-and-Grow-Your-Service-Business#Comments0http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TopLineResults/~3/a4ep1RbLhwU/Communicate-Results-and-Grow-Your-Service-Business<p><img src="http://www.top-line-results.com/Portals/68380/images/reporting results to clients.JPG" border="0" alt="reporting results to clients" hspace="15" width="345" height="230" class="alignLeft" style="float: left;" />Recently the good folks at <a title="HubSpot" href="http://www.hubspot.com" target="_blank">HubSpot</a> asked me to provide some insight on how Top Line Results engages our clients to report results and how this impacts client management, referrals, and growing our business.&nbsp; The following are some of the thoughts I shared with a big homage going out to <a title="Alan Weiss" href="http://www.summitconsulting.com/" target="_blank">Alan Weiss</a>, the king of value based fees thinking and one of my personal heroes.</p> <p>The big thing with results and reporting them is to make sure they are aligned with the client's goals....not yours.&nbsp; For example, no business owner sets a high level goal of getting more organic traffic, they set sales goals.&nbsp; We report traffic, connect immediately to leads, and then to sales.&nbsp; NEVER assume that the customer will make this leap on their own.&nbsp; Connect the dots for them or as my wife tells me all the time "I need to put the dots pretty close together for you, don't I!".<br /><br />Never sell traffic or eyeballs or views...sell revenue and meeting client goals and back up from there. &nbsp;<br /><br />Sell strategy, explain tactics. &nbsp;<br /><br />Never sell tactics, and explain strategy. &nbsp;<br /><br /># 1 Sell them on the fact that you can chart a path to their goals <br /># 2 Be the expert and know the tactics that lead to achieving their goals<br /># 3 Tell them why you/they are doing something in relation to thier goals. &nbsp;<br /><br />This week I visited a client in Los Angeles and one of the big action items was to work with the internal team to set up a system of gathering application info for blog posts and web pages. &nbsp;<br /><br /># 1 I have explained the strategy to the owner of why blogging works and helps them achieve their goals using data and real examples, <br /># 2 We have done this with other clients and can show the steps to make it happen and the resources needed<br /># 3 We will teach the team that giving us the relevant application info generates blog posts, which leads to search ranking, to more searches, to more leads to more sales. &nbsp;<br /><br />Now the team is giving me the info to drive corporate goals not some arbitrary effort that is just one more task added to the never ending pile of stuff to do.&nbsp; I explained the tactics after I sold the strategy.&nbsp; Now the team will have buy in and pride in seeing the sales goals met.&nbsp; In fact the owner may tie compensation into hitting some revenue targets for key people as a way to motivate them to provide the information and expertise that leads to content that leads to increased sales.<br /><br />Communicate early and often every success that reinforces your strategy which thus reinforces your expertise and the reason they hired you (making them feel smart and reaffirm that they made a good decision to hire you).&nbsp; These successes also become the content of the stories the client will tell to their circle of influence leading to referrals for you. <br /><br />Never sell tactics (best SEO juice, newest this, fastest that, special technique, whatever), sell strategy built with expertise and tested by experience.<br /><br />One question HubSpot asked was "How often do you read out progress or data on projects to management to your client firms? What is your standard practice - does it vary, or do you build readouts into your contracts?"<br /><br />Yes we add results reporting in our agreements since results are the basis of the agreement. I usually say 'regular updates' as opposed to a strict schedule.<br /><br />We report results regularly since they are basis of the agreement. I try to mention something we did or something that happened relating to results every time I talk to a client.<br /><br />I get a copy of every lead that converts for all of our clients and will send a quick note if I see something interesting. We set up processes that connect leads to sales...sometimes as simple as a spreadsheet of leads and we go through the list and note the ones that bought.&nbsp; Ideally we set up connections between the lead generation side and the customer management tools so that we have automated closed loop results reporting.<br /><br />We also recommend using a website only phone number to get a correct count of leads generated by inbound marketing and online development.<br /><br />We do an annual review with clients where the rubber hits the road...they paid us X and grew by Y. We then look at next year, which always happens when we show how we impacted revenue growth this year.<br /><br />An example, one client we started with in early 2010, grew 25% in 2010 and entering 2011 has their largest backlog ever. My fee is never a problem with this client and he always takes my calls.<br /><br />In fact they referred me to another client and after two phone calls the referral hired us at a rate 50% higher than the original client doing about the same work. Results leads to referrals. Results raise fees....if you have the guts to ask...and the skill to deliver. <br /><br />Another reason to communicate results regularly is that goals and perceptions of success change.&nbsp; Engagements often end up in far different places than expected at the beginning so you better be moving with the client - or moving them to a better strategic goal.&nbsp; The worst situation is to think you are delivering but the client be unimpressed by the results - this is 100% the service providers fault. &nbsp;<br /><br />Communicating regularly also allows the customer to think about how they are receiving your value and generating results - reinforcing the initial buy decision on a regular basis.&nbsp; This is critical because outside resources/consultants/service providers are often viewed negatively by internal team members who will get in the boss's ear about cost, how they don't need you, or any other number of negative things - make the consultant look bad to make themselves look better.&nbsp; If the client has solid results fresh in mind they will slam this type of attitude immediately.&nbsp; I see this at some of my clients and I almost always win over the team by showing them how to generate results that make them all look good.&nbsp; We get the credit anyway it happens and if the team likes me and appreciates what I do for them then they are going to support an ongoing relationship.&nbsp; I have seen a number of good consultants get out flanked by a jealous influencer on the inside and lose the client - regular results focus makes this much harder to do.<br /><br />No one cares about my experience or my processes - they care about themselves and the results I can help them achieve.&nbsp; Those other things help establish credibility but the client only buys the results so you must keep selling those achieved results to them.</p><p><a title="Connect with Top Line Results:" href="http://www.top-line-results.com/get-on-the-road-to-results/" target="_self">Connect with Top Line Results:</a></p> <p><a href="http://twitter.com/toplineresults" target="_self"><img src="http://www.top-line-results.com/Portals/68380/images/twitter.png" border="0" alt="Top Line Results on Twitter" /></a>&nbsp;<a href="http://www.linkedin.com/company/734746" target="_self"><img src="http://www.top-line-results.com/Portals/68380/images/linkedin.png" border="0" alt="Top Line Results on LinkedIn" /></a>&nbsp;<a href="http://www.facebook.com/pages/Top-Line-Results/115412434403" target="_self"><img src="http://www.top-line-results.com/Portals/68380/images/facebook.png" border="0" alt="Top Line Results on Facebook" /></a>&nbsp;<a href="http://www.google.com/profiles/todd.hockenberry" target="_blank"><img src="http://www.top-line-results.com/Portals/68380/images/google.png" border="0" alt="Todd Hockenberry Google Profile" /></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/TopLineResults" target="_self"><img 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href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/TopLineResults?a=a4ep1RbLhwU:4eXPbWdt9Rg:cGdyc7Q-1BI"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/TopLineResults?d=cGdyc7Q-1BI" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/TopLineResults?a=a4ep1RbLhwU:4eXPbWdt9Rg:bcOpcFrp8Mo"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/TopLineResults?d=bcOpcFrp8Mo" border="0"></img></a> </div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/TopLineResults/~4/a4ep1RbLhwU" height="1" width="1"/>Todd HockenberryFri, 28 Jan 2011 20:28:00 GMTf1397696-738c-4295-afcd-943feb885714:52512http://www.top-line-results.com/blog/bid/52512/Communicate-Results-and-Grow-Your-Service-Businesshttp://www.top-line-results.com/blog/bid/52206/Don-t-write-a-blog-just-think-about-how-you-do-business#Comments0http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TopLineResults/~3/JTwlV33vihc/Don-t-write-a-blog-just-think-about-how-you-do-business<p><img src="http://www.top-line-results.com/Portals/68380/images/how to start blogging.jpg" border="0" alt="how to start blogging" hspace="15" vspace="15" width="300" class="alignLeft" style="float: left;" />One of the most important things for small manufacturing companies to do to drive traffic to their website, attract new prospects, build online content, start a conversation with connected people and a host of other positive things is to start blogging.<br /><br />Yet when I tell a business owner to start a blog they universally look at me like their 11th grade English teacher had just assigned a big term paper on <a title="Billy Budd" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Billy_Budd" target="_blank">Billy Budd</a>.&nbsp; I am sure it stems from one of the following:<br /><br />- hate to write<br />- afraid to publish in their name<br />- too busy to make time <br />- don't know what to say<br />- fear<br /><br />So how did we convince every one of our <a title="small manufacturing clients" href="http://www.top-line-results.com/orlando-business-growth/" target="_blank">small manufacturing clients</a> to write a blog?&nbsp; By convincing them that they are already talking about the topics in a blog every day but just not looking at the content of those conversations as the content for a blog.&nbsp; So instead of telling them to start a blog I follow a line of conversation like this:<br /><br />Do you have lots of problems that you solve every day? <br /><br />Do your customers ask a lot of questions about your solutions and approaches to your industry to undersatnd how best to approach a problem?<br /><br />Do your people that contact customers every day talk about different applications of your products and how they apply to a wide variety of situations?<br /><br />Do you constantly monitor your industry and competitors to see trends, threats, and opportunities?<br /><br />Do you deal with different industries, regions, markets?<br /><br />Of course they do!&nbsp; These are the things they do all day, every day.&nbsp; Well guess what, the answers to the above questions in each possible infinite unique combination is a blog post.&nbsp; So I tell them they are creating blog posts every time they answer one of thes questions, all we need to do is develop a template and method for documenting the answers and then formatting them into blog posts.&nbsp; Once we have the template filled in then the rest is easy.<br /><br />Then connect the relevence of content in a blog to the importance of SEO and website traffic which results in leads that turn into sales which drive what they really care about - thier business goals - and you have their attention.<br /><br />Bingo...a blog is born.</p><p><a title="Connect with Top Line Results:" href="http://www.top-line-results.com/get-on-the-road-to-results/" target="_self">Connect with Top Line Results:</a></p> <p><a href="http://twitter.com/toplineresults" target="_self"><img src="http://www.top-line-results.com/Portals/68380/images/twitter.png" border="0" alt="Top Line Results on Twitter" /></a>&nbsp;<a 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src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/TopLineResults/~4/JTwlV33vihc" height="1" width="1"/>Todd HockenberryFri, 21 Jan 2011 17:13:00 GMTf1397696-738c-4295-afcd-943feb885714:52206http://www.top-line-results.com/blog/bid/52206/Don-t-write-a-blog-just-think-about-how-you-do-businesshttp://www.top-line-results.com/blog/bid/51532/Small-Manufacturing-Business-Trends-to-Watch#Comments0http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TopLineResults/~3/NH6MeGWQxOI/Small-Manufacturing-Business-Trends-to-Watch<p><a title="Small Business Labs" href="http://www.smallbizlabs.com" target="_blank"><img src="http://www.top-line-results.com/Portals/68380/images/600px-Boy-with-binoculars-resized-600.png" border="0" alt="inbound marketing, hubspot fl, hubspot orlando, marketing consulting, small business online strategy, online lead generation" width="243" height="243" class="alignLeft" /></a></p> <p><a title="Small Business Labs" href="http://www.smallbizlabs.com" target="_blank">Small Business Labs</a> recently published a list of <a title="10 trends to watch for small business" href="http://www.smallbizlabs.com/2011/01/top-10-small-business-trends-for-2011.html" target="_blank">10 trends to watch for small business</a>.</p> <p>Here are some of their key ideas along with a few of my own for contemplation:</p> <p>- the recession is ending and business is improving - we see this every day with every one of our clients.</p> <p>- cost management is key - in terms of marketing and sales this means make sure you know how to measure ROI on all campaigns and initiatives.</p> <p>- rapidly increasing opportunities for small manufacturers - we see our manufacturing clients located in Houston selling in Germany, CA selling in Taiwan, and FL companies selling in South America - the Internet and inbound marketing are the tools to bring the world to them - but they need outside expertise to take advantage of them.</p> <p>- Social media is showing up on our client's radar - they are seeing that they can connect with people and build communities of like minded people some of whom (in increasing numbers) become prospects and customers.</p> <p>- Finding people that have the skills regardless of where they live enables small companies to hire the best partners regardless of geography and the 'cloud' allows them to work collaboratively and in most cased MORE productively than if they were in the 'office'.</p><p><a title="Connect with Top Line Results:" href="http://www.top-line-results.com/get-on-the-road-to-results/" target="_self">Connect with Top Line Results:</a></p> <p><a href="http://twitter.com/toplineresults" target="_self"><img src="http://www.top-line-results.com/Portals/68380/images/twitter.png" border="0" alt="Top Line Results on Twitter" /></a>&nbsp;<a href="http://www.linkedin.com/company/734746" target="_self"><img src="http://www.top-line-results.com/Portals/68380/images/linkedin.png" border="0" alt="Top Line Results on LinkedIn" /></a>&nbsp;<a 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GMTf1397696-738c-4295-afcd-943feb885714:51532http://www.top-line-results.com/blog/bid/51532/Small-Manufacturing-Business-Trends-to-Watchhttp://www.top-line-results.com/blog/bid/51307/Content-Marketing-or-What-Can-I-Give-Away-To-Attract-Prospects#Comments0http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TopLineResults/~3/8Vk694McOsc/Content-Marketing-or-What-Can-I-Give-Away-To-Attract-Prospects<p>A hot topic this past year, and I am sure it will be again in the new one, is giving things away things for <a title="free" href="http://www.top-line-results.com/blog/bid/46070/Only-a-Fool-Gives-Something-Away-For-Free-Right" target="_blank">free</a> as a way to attract customers.&nbsp; We all know the tactic of giving away a free food sample in the store to get you to buy the newest ready made frozen carb loaded artificial heart attack causer.&nbsp; Now many B2B companies are coming around to the marketing realization that giving away something of value to a prospect early in the buying cycle may be a good tactic.</p> <p><img src="http://www.top-line-results.com/Portals/68380/images/FreeStamp s-resized-600.jpg" border="0" alt="content marketing, lead generation, orlando sales consulting, orlando marketing consultant, inbound marketing, HubSpot Orlando" /></p> <p>Many have now heard about inbound marketing and giving away content in the form of a webinar, e-book,&nbsp; white paper, or other 'valuable' information in an effort to attract viewers who are then nurtured and turned into customers eventually....hopefully.</p> <p>The trick is to understand your prospects and how they buy products as well as seek and consume information about possible products and services.&nbsp;</p> <p>Empathy.&nbsp; The key is understanding from thier perspective what is valuable.&nbsp; What you think is valuable is not so important.</p> <p>Something I always tell our clients, but few actually do on a consistent basis, is to ask your customers questions about what they want to see in terms of information and value.</p> <p>- Do they read blogs?&nbsp; If so which ones.</p> <p>- Would they attend a free webinar you host on a relevant topic?</p> <p>- Would they read your e-book?&nbsp; What subjects are issues for them and that they would be interested in reading about?</p> <p>- What about social media?&nbsp; Who do they follow?&nbsp; How often do they pay attention?</p> <p>- Will they read an e-newsletter?</p> <p>- What shows do they attend?</p> <p>- What magazines do they read?</p> <p>Create personas for your target prospects and make sure you answer these questions BEFORE you start creating content with no plan or focus.</p> <p>Creating and marketing content is a marketing trend that cannot be ignored - how you focus your precious time will make all the difference in whether you have a list of followers that will ultimately buy from you or not.</p><p><a title="Connect with Top Line Results:" href="http://www.top-line-results.com/get-on-the-road-to-results/" target="_self">Connect with Top 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border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/TopLineResults?a=8Vk694McOsc:LDH-ZKSDLj4:bcOpcFrp8Mo"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/TopLineResults?d=bcOpcFrp8Mo" border="0"></img></a> </div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/TopLineResults/~4/8Vk694McOsc" height="1" width="1"/>Todd HockenberryWed, 05 Jan 2011 22:27:00 GMTf1397696-738c-4295-afcd-943feb885714:51307http://www.top-line-results.com/blog/bid/51307/Content-Marketing-or-What-Can-I-Give-Away-To-Attract-Prospectshttp://www.top-line-results.com/blog/bid/48196/Slow-or-Fast-The-Winner-in-Small-Business-Marketing#Comments2http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TopLineResults/~3/Xxpc2ysF3Hw/Slow-or-Fast-The-Winner-in-Small-Business-Marketing<p><img src="http://www.top-line-results.com/Portals/68380/images/tortoise and the hare.jpg" border="0" alt="tortoise and the hare, winner in small business marketing" hspace="15" vspace="15" width="259" height="370" class="alignLeft" style="float: left;" />We all know the story and who wins this race in the book - in today's world of sales and marketing it is the salespeople and companies&nbsp;that embody the best of both the tortoise and the hare that win the race for customers.</p> <p><strong>Don't have a bad Hare day!</strong></p> <p>We all know that responding quickly to phone or web inquiries is important but I doubt we have internalized just how important the speed of response really is.&nbsp; A <a href="http://www.leadresponsemanagement.org/lrm_study" title="recent study by MIT " target="_blank">recent study by MIT </a>shows that the ability to qualify a web lead and bring them into the buying process goes down by a factor 21 times if you wait more than 30 minutes to call the lead.</p> <p>Twenty one times less chance to qualify the lead if you wait just 30 minutes!&nbsp; If you wait just 10 minutes versus calling within the first 5 minutes the chances of qualifying the lead go down 4 times.</p> <p>A few thoughts on why this is so:</p> <ul> <li>Short attention span of web leads -&nbsp;they are interested now and want to talk to someone now</li> <li>Recency - web leads tend to contact a number of companies and the ones that respond quickly stay top of mind</li> <li>Service - companies that respond quickly (now defined as within 5 minutes or less) show they value customers and are committed to customer service which is a good indicator of future performance</li> <li>Comparison - quick responders may have no competition to face if they are first to react and handle the interaction well</li> <li>Technology - quick responders are assumed to have technology systems and expertise in place and know how to use them</li> </ul> <p>Of course this data needs to be put in the proper context - they were&nbsp;studying service offerings like insurance....but the lesson holds for any business that generates leads on the Internet.&nbsp; Be first to respond or lose a very high percentage of web generated leads.</p> <p><strong>Slow Riding is Not Taking It Easy</strong></p> <p>Once you have responded quickly the tortoise now takes over.&nbsp; Studies show that it takes at least 7-12 touches to make a sale and for many industrial products it takes many more&nbsp;- as well as months of patience and persistence to finish the process, show your value versus the competition, and ultimately to make the sale.</p> <p>A few trends lead to the requirement for more tortoise-like behavior:</p> <ul> <li>Longer buying cycles with more hurdles to clear before earning business</li> <li>Smaller budgets with more scrutiny from C level executives on every expenditure</li> <li>More people involved in making buying decisions</li> <li>Less employees at your prospects with more responsibility making them harder to reach with less time for you</li> <li>Supply chain consolidation&nbsp;reducing the number of suppliers a company will chose from</li> </ul> <p>So the winner of the race is no longer one or the other - the winner is the one who comes out 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GMTf1397696-738c-4295-afcd-943feb885714:48196http://www.top-line-results.com/blog/bid/48196/Slow-or-Fast-The-Winner-in-Small-Business-Marketinghttp://www.top-line-results.com/blog/bid/48133/Small-Business-Online-Marketing-Miracles-or-Fool-s-Gold#Comments0http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TopLineResults/~3/g1FL5s1cmyU/Small-Business-Online-Marketing-Miracles-or-Fool-s-Gold<p><img src="http://www.top-line-results.com/Portals/68380/images/Small Business Online Marketing Miracles.jpg" border="0" alt="Small Business Online Marketing Miracles = Fool's Gold" hspace="15" vspace="15" class="alignLeft" style="float: left;" />Have you ever gotten all fired up about a marketing event, made an investment of time, money, and emotional energy hoping that this one big thing will lead to a cascade of leads and turn around your sinking sales numbers?</p> <p>Don't feel bad you're not alone.&nbsp; Many <a title="small businesses, especially manufacturers" href="http://www.top-line-results.com/blog/?Tag=manufacturing" target="_blank">small businesses, especially manufacturers</a>, fall prey to this kind of hoping and thinking.</p> Examples of these kinds of 'miracle events' include: <ul> <li> <p>going to a new <a title="trade show" href="http://www.top-line-results.com/blog/?Tag=trade+shows" target="_blank">trade show</a> with promises of long lines of qualified prospects</p> </li> <li> <p>running an ad in a magazine a few times and expecting the 50,000 readers the ad salesman promised to go to your website or call your 800 number</p> </li> <li> <p>hiring a so called Internet genius that can 'get you to #1 on Google'</p> </li> <li> <p>hiring a p/r specialist that can 'get you to the top of the online news sites and keep you there'</p> </li> <li> <p>making a video and being told that 'we can make this go viral'</p> </li> <li> <p>run a pay per click (PPC) campaign and think it will miraculously vault you over your entrenched search engine optimization (SEO) savvy competitors</p> </li> </ul> <p>I could go on but you know the temptation I am referring to - we have all been there and felt the pull to find the miracle cure to slow or no growth.&nbsp; What experience tells us is that if it sounds too good to be true then it probably is.</p> The antidote to this type of marketing 'event' thinking is marketing process thinking. <p><a title="Marketing" href="http://www.top-line-results.com/blog/?Tag=marketing" target="_blank">Marketing</a> is an ongoing, never ending, systematic process of creating interesting content, promoting it and your company to prospects, converting those interested into leads, and then converting those leads into customers.&nbsp;</p> Many manufacturers we work with have lean manufacturing processes, six sigma quality systems, detailed shop floor and material flow planning, and integrated enterprise management systems - but no process for systematically marketing their business. <p>Thus the temptation to reach for a one time marketing event fix to cure their lead generation and sales growth ills.</p> The answer lies in building a sustainable marketing system that&nbsp;lays a solid foundation for growth now and in the future.<br />The key pillars of a marketing system are<ol> <li> <p>Website as the core of your marketing efforts - search engine optimized, focused on the keywords your prospects search, with excellent design and easy navigation</p> </li> <li> <p>Content creation plan - case studies, ROI analysis, testimonials, blog, video, white papers - whatever your prospects want to see</p> </li> <li> <p>Promotion - social media, e-mail campaigns, p/r, networking, articles, industry events/groups/sites&nbsp;- go where your prospects are looking</p> </li> <li> <p>Conversion - landing pages, compelling offers, and lead nurturing - attract them to you and get them to respond</p> </li> <li> <p>Analysis - measure, review, test, calculate ROI, repeat - management by measuring guides strategy</p> </li> </ol> <p>The first thing you should do to build&nbsp;a firm foundation&nbsp;for a long term marketing process is&nbsp;a website that generates quality leads.&nbsp; <a title="&nbsp;Is yours working for you?" href="http://www.top-line-results.com/free-website-check/" target="_blank">Is your website&nbsp;working for you?</a>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</p> <p><a href="http://www.top-line-results.com/free-website-check/" target="_blank"><img src="http://www.top-line-results.com/Portals/68380/images/free website analysis.png" border="0" alt="is your website generating quality leads?" width="289" height="58" class="alignLeft" style="float: left;" /></a></p><p><a title="Connect with Top Line Results:" href="http://www.top-line-results.com/get-on-the-road-to-results/" target="_self">Connect with Top Line Results:</a></p> <p><a href="http://twitter.com/toplineresults" target="_self"><img src="http://www.top-line-results.com/Portals/68380/images/twitter.png" border="0" alt="Top Line 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href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/TopLineResults?a=YPial7t-Rrw:asiBN63Pe7g:cGdyc7Q-1BI"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/TopLineResults?d=cGdyc7Q-1BI" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/TopLineResults?a=YPial7t-Rrw:asiBN63Pe7g:bcOpcFrp8Mo"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/TopLineResults?d=bcOpcFrp8Mo" border="0"></img></a> </div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/TopLineResults/~4/YPial7t-Rrw" height="1" width="1"/>Leanne HockenberryFri, 22 Oct 2010 20:30:00 GMTf1397696-738c-4295-afcd-943feb885714:47396http://www.top-line-results.com/blog/bid/47396/Friday-Happy-Hour-Correlation-between-marketing-and-liquorhttp://www.top-line-results.com/blog/bid/47223/VP-Sales-May-Not-Be-a-Title-You-Want#Comments0http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TopLineResults/~3/jYNyERy6OVk/VP-Sales-May-Not-Be-a-Title-You-Want<p><a title="Selling Power" href="http://www.sellingpower.com" target="_blank"><img src="http://www.top-line-results.com/Portals/68380/images/vp sales.jpg" border="0" alt="Disappearing VP Sales" class="alignRight" style="float: right;" />Selling Power</a> magazine recently published an article titled <a title="&quot;The (Strange) Case of the Vanishing Sales VP&quot;" href="http://www.sellingpower.com/magazine/article.php?i=1317&amp;ia=9110" target="_blank">"The (Strange) Case of the Vanishing Sales VP"</a>.</p> <p>The two&nbsp;key points outlined were:</p> <ol> <li> <p>VP Sales tenure is shrinking and some averages put it at 19 months</p> </li> <li> <p>Hiring practices are shoddy for VP Sales often falling back on the 'gut feeling' of the hiring manger as to the qualifications of the candidate.</p> </li> </ol> <p>The article never gets to the reasons behind this trend but having been an EVP Sales I know what I've seen and why these trends are exactly my experience.</p> <p>To me the core reason VP Sales heads are on the block is that C Level executives lack fundamental understanding of how sales happen and why.&nbsp; There is a still a lot of personality driven thinking - hire&nbsp;a good old back slapper buy-me-a-beer kinda person and they'll grow sales.&nbsp; This is where the 'gut feeling' comes into the hiring process.</p> <p>Unrealistic expectations driven by lack of understanding leads to the second trend - shrinking tenures for VP Sales.&nbsp; If the results do not suddenly appear then it must be the VP Sales fault.</p> <p>So the model for many executives managing VP Sales&nbsp;seems to be:</p> <ol> <li> <p>Hire someone who may or not be qualified or know how to build a sales process for growth</p> </li> <li> <p>Put the VP Sales on an island and task them with making sales happen.</p> </li> <li> <p>Wait 18 months and then start over.</p> </li> </ol> <p>This is a convenient plan if the executive/business owner wants a scapegoat but not one destined to build the foundation for long term growth.</p> <p>As a young salesperson I always aspired to move up the corporate ladder and be a senior executive.&nbsp; After 10 years in the field I was able to move into a VP Sales role at a small manufacturing company.&nbsp;&nbsp; This was a turnaround and I was young and energetic and relatively cheap (probably my main qualification in hindsight).&nbsp; We spent a year or so just getting a team together and stopping the bleeding.&nbsp; After 3 years we had a profitable, growing business with new products and new sales channels.</p> <p>When I felt there was&nbsp;no more room for me to grow I took an EVP Sales job at a larger competitor.&nbsp; I got this job largely on a recommendation from a manager internal to the parent company (gut feeling) and off I went.</p> <p>Expectations were high but resources were not.&nbsp; I showed up and there was no sales backlog, a shallow pipeline, and a dispirited sales team.&nbsp;&nbsp;Long story short, I left before the CEO could fire me.&nbsp; The expectations were unrealistic, the resources were not allocated, the commitment to grow was not across the board, there was no culture or respect for the&nbsp;marketing and sales process and yet the expectations for me to magically conjure sales persisted.</p> <p>Based on my experience and the recent trends with Sales VP's I would like to offer these ideas to anyone looking to grow by adding a new VP Sales or help their existing VP Sales survive.</p> <ol> <li> <p>Make sure you understand the changes in customer buying cycles -&nbsp;the Internet is changing how everyone buys, does your company understand the impact on your customers or are you still just going to the same old trade shows, running the same old ads and expecting better results?</p> </li> <li> <p>Is your company engaged across the board in marketing and selling your company or do you say that selling is not my job?&nbsp; If engineers/designers/production/service people are not joined at the hip with marketing and sales, respecting one another's role and contributions, and operating as a team then do not expect a VP Sales to make this happen alone.&nbsp; You need to commit to drive this integration from the top before tasking a VP Sales to integrate anything.</p> </li> <li> <p>Is the company committed to a sales model/sales channel/sales strategy for the long term?&nbsp; If 'yes' then hire someone who has the experience and specific background (backed up with results) that matches your scenario.&nbsp; If 'no' hire someone to build the strategy but give them the time and resources to get it done.&nbsp; Summary:&nbsp; Make&nbsp;less personality driven and much more results/expertise/specific plan driven.</p> </li> <li> <p>Time is the key resource - yes everyone wants results, us VP's Sales know that and think sales 24/7.&nbsp; In my EVP Sales example above the CEO wanted sales results in the 1st quarter I worked.&nbsp; Never mind that the sales cycle for the product was 6-12 months and there was no pipeline.&nbsp; Somehow I was expected to bend the laws of business and conjure sales.&nbsp; Realistically I should have been given a year just to build the pipeline and lay the process groundwork for long term growth.&nbsp; Instead every call I had with CEO was about this week, this month, or this quarter.&nbsp; Nutshell:&nbsp;Be realistic about the time needed to grow revenue.</p> </li> <li> <p>Hire the VP Sales slowly and for the long term just like you do with the CFO, VP Ops, VP Manufacturing etc.&nbsp; How do you expect to build anything with turnover every 18 months in this key role?</p> </li> <li> <p>Ask the right questions and expand your focus from end of the sales funnel only (closed business) to the beginning of the funnel and the funnel after a sale.&nbsp;</p> </li> </ol> <ul> <li>How many leads&nbsp;do you generate from&nbsp;your&nbsp;<a title="Inbound Marketing" href="http://www.top-line-results.com/blog/?Tag=inbound+marketing" target="_blank">Inbound Marketing</a> efforts?&nbsp;</li> <li>Does your marketing team/system nurture leads and prospects consistently and over the entire sales cycle until they are ready to buy?</li> <li>How many referrals do you earn?</li> <li>How many customers are you up selling?</li> <li>Are you giving your sales team the products and solutions the market wants or is it the same old stuff you've been pushing for years?</li> </ul> <p>Isn't it time to invest in the right people, build the right processes, set expectations at the right level, and then manage accordingly?</p><p><a title="Connect with Top Line Results:" href="http://www.top-line-results.com/get-on-the-road-to-results/" target="_self">Connect with Top Line Results:</a></p> <p><a href="http://twitter.com/toplineresults" target="_self"><img src="http://www.top-line-results.com/Portals/68380/images/twitter.png" border="0" alt="Top Line Results on Twitter" /></a>&nbsp;<a href="http://www.linkedin.com/company/734746" target="_self"><img src="http://www.top-line-results.com/Portals/68380/images/linkedin.png" border="0" 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<a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/TopLineResults?a=jYNyERy6OVk:5ZKv4LwMjrU:gIN9vFwOqvQ"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/TopLineResults?i=jYNyERy6OVk:5ZKv4LwMjrU:gIN9vFwOqvQ" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/TopLineResults?a=jYNyERy6OVk:5ZKv4LwMjrU:l6gmwiTKsz0"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/TopLineResults?d=l6gmwiTKsz0" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/TopLineResults?a=jYNyERy6OVk:5ZKv4LwMjrU:qj6IDK7rITs"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/TopLineResults?d=qj6IDK7rITs" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/TopLineResults?a=jYNyERy6OVk:5ZKv4LwMjrU:V_sGLiPBpWU"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/TopLineResults?i=jYNyERy6OVk:5ZKv4LwMjrU:V_sGLiPBpWU" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/TopLineResults?a=jYNyERy6OVk:5ZKv4LwMjrU:F7zBnMyn0Lo"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/TopLineResults?i=jYNyERy6OVk:5ZKv4LwMjrU:F7zBnMyn0Lo" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/TopLineResults?a=jYNyERy6OVk:5ZKv4LwMjrU:-BTjWOF_DHI"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/TopLineResults?i=jYNyERy6OVk:5ZKv4LwMjrU:-BTjWOF_DHI" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/TopLineResults?a=jYNyERy6OVk:5ZKv4LwMjrU:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/TopLineResults?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/TopLineResults?a=jYNyERy6OVk:5ZKv4LwMjrU:cGdyc7Q-1BI"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/TopLineResults?d=cGdyc7Q-1BI" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/TopLineResults?a=jYNyERy6OVk:5ZKv4LwMjrU:bcOpcFrp8Mo"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/TopLineResults?d=bcOpcFrp8Mo" border="0"></img></a> </div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/TopLineResults/~4/jYNyERy6OVk" height="1" width="1"/>Todd HockenberryFri, 22 Oct 2010 14:48:00 GMTf1397696-738c-4295-afcd-943feb885714:47223http://www.top-line-results.com/blog/bid/47223/VP-Sales-May-Not-Be-a-Title-You-Wanthttp://www.top-line-results.com/blog/bid/46762/Maximum-Value-from-your-Blog-Content-with-Tagged-RSS-in-Hubspot-CMS#Comments0http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TopLineResults/~3/Y89v2CWEZjU/Maximum-Value-from-your-Blog-Content-with-Tagged-RSS-in-Hubspot-CMS<p>Are you blogging about your product, successes, great reviews and feedback you've gotten from customers, clients and users?&nbsp; If you aren't then take a minute to read this article:&nbsp; <a title="Six Reasons Every Small Business Should be Blogging" href="http://blog.hubspot.com/blog/tabid/6307/bid/1676/6-Reasons-Every-Small-Business-Should-Be-Blogging-Are-You-Missing-the-Boat.aspx" target="_blank">Six Reasons Every Small Business Should be Blogging</a>.</p> <p>So let's assume you've got this great blog, or perhaps blogs, that tell great stories about your services and products.&nbsp; You are serving up a <a title="feed that gets indexed by the search engines" href="http://www.cleartechinfo.com/How-To-Submit-Website-Google-Yahoo-Microsoft-Search-Engines" target="_blank">feed that gets indexed by the search engines</a> and has been subscribed to by a rapt following.&nbsp; You've tagged your articles so that visitors to the blog can filter down articles that interest them...</p> <p>What you may not have thought of is that you can embed RSS<img src="http://www.top-line-results.com/Portals/68380/images/rss feeds in hubspot.png" border="0" alt="leverage your rss feeds in HubSpot" hspace="15" vspace="15" class="alignRight" style="float: right;" /> feeds that are filtered by specific tags on your otherwise "static" web pages.&nbsp; <a title="Everyone knows that Google and&nbsp;likes fresh content" href="http://ezinearticles.com/?Why-Fresh-Content-Is-So-Important-for-SEO&amp;id=5160080" target="_blank">Everyone knows that Google likes fresh content</a>, and this is a way to freshen up those stale pages on the fly.&nbsp; It also creates&nbsp;lots of internal links.&nbsp;</p> <p>Here's what you need:</p> <ul> <li>At least one blog with articles that have been tagged in a way that relates to the overall structure of your "base" site.&nbsp; For example, if you have a posts&nbsp;that refer to your fabulous product ExtremeWidget, blog articles that sing its praises should be tagged "ExtremeWidget".&nbsp; (Haven't done this?&nbsp; Don't panic...your can add tags long after a entry has been posted.&nbsp; It's not a particularly fun exercise, but you can take the opportunity to make some SEO tweaks while you editing them.)</li> <li>Base pages on your base site that relate to your tags.&nbsp; Continuing with our example, ExtremeWidget has its very own page on your site in all its detailed glory.</li> </ul> <p>Now the fun part (well, maybe... if you are a&nbsp;nerd like me). Go to your blog and click on one of your tags.&nbsp; As we all know, you'll get a filtered list of blog posts that have that tag.&nbsp; What you may have never noticed is that your trusty dusty RSS icon and its associated feed have been filtered as well.&nbsp; Right click on it, click "Copy Shortcut" and you've got yourself a feed of all your posts relating to (again to our example) ExtremeWidget.</p> <p>Now let's head back on over to the "Base Page" ala ExtremeWidget.&nbsp; Somewhere on the page...I like my pages to have a right side column...add a module.&nbsp; On the Content tab, select Feed.&nbsp; Give it a title (such as 'The Latest from our Blog') &nbsp;and paste in the feed URL that you copied from the filtered RSS icon.&nbsp; You can select the number of articles that will display in the feed, and some other settings that you can play with later.&nbsp; Save your changes and voila!&nbsp; You've just put dynamic content on an otherwise static page.&nbsp; As the RSS feed updates, so will your page...here's the best part...AUTOMATICALLY!&nbsp; Heavens!&nbsp; It's almost like having a database in your HubSpot...the tag is the key...oh, I digress...</p> <p>Want an example of blog content that fits this model well?&nbsp; We have found that&nbsp;this technique works well with our clients that have product testimonials and success stories.&nbsp; When you put&nbsp;these testimonials in a blog, you reap multiple benefits:</p> <ul> <li>The blog can auto-post to social media accounts&nbsp;allowing your content to be broadcast to Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, etc. automatically.&nbsp; <a title="(Make sure you've set that up.)" href="http://success.hubspot.com/content-library/bid/9808/How-To-Set-Up-The-Social-Media-Engagement-Tool" target="_blank">(Make sure you've added your social media accounts.)</a></li> <li>You've just created more SEO&nbsp;fodder and extra pages for your&nbsp;HubSite.</li> <li>The ability to filter by tags allows you to&nbsp;embed dynamic content on otherwise static pages...freshening them up for visitors and search engine spiders.<span class="Apple" style="widows: 2; text-transform: none; text-indent: 0px; border-collapse: separate; font: medium 'Times New Roman'; white-space: normal; orphans: 2; letter-spacing: normal; color: #000000; word-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple" style="text-align: center; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; color: #333333; font-size: 11px;"><a style="color: #3b5998; cursor: pointer; text-decoration: underline;" href="http://info.bellperformance.com"><img src="http://profile.ak.fbcdn.net/profile-ak-snc4/object2/53/116/n310435558455_4844.jpg" border="0" alt="Bell Performance" class="alignRight" style="float: right;" /></a></span></span></li> </ul> <p>For a real-live-in-your-face example, head over to our client Bell Performance's site, who has a wealth of product testimonials with customers&nbsp;talking about <a title="fixing the problems associated with ethanol in your vehicle or small gas engine" href="http://info.bellperformance.com" target="_blank">fixing the problems associated with ethanol in your vehicle or small gas engine</a>.&nbsp; Here's their <a title="testimonials blog" href="http://info.bellperformance.com/testimonials/" target="_blank">testimonials blog</a>, and here's a <a title="product page with an embedded RSS feed that displays testimonials for that product, Mix-I-Go" href="http://info.bellperformance.com/mix-i-go-fuel-additive/" target="_blank">product page with an embedded RSS feed that displays testimonials for that product, Mix-I-Go</a>.</p><p><a title="Connect with Top Line Results:" href="http://www.top-line-results.com/get-on-the-road-to-results/" target="_self">Connect with Top Line Results:</a></p> <p><a href="http://twitter.com/toplineresults" target="_self"><img src="http://www.top-line-results.com/Portals/68380/images/twitter.png" border="0" alt="Top Line Results on Twitter" /></a>&nbsp;<a href="http://www.linkedin.com/company/734746" target="_self"><img src="http://www.top-line-results.com/Portals/68380/images/linkedin.png" border="0" alt="Top Line Results on LinkedIn" /></a>&nbsp;<a href="http://www.facebook.com/pages/Top-Line-Results/115412434403" target="_self"><img src="http://www.top-line-results.com/Portals/68380/images/facebook.png" border="0" alt="Top Line Results on Facebook" /></a>&nbsp;<a href="http://www.google.com/profiles/todd.hockenberry" target="_blank"><img src="http://www.top-line-results.com/Portals/68380/images/google.png" border="0" alt="Todd Hockenberry Google Profile" /></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/TopLineResults" target="_self"><img src="http://www.top-line-results.com/Portals/68380/images/rss.png" border="0" alt="Top Line Results Blog" /></a></p> &copy; 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<a title="Glengarry Glen Ross" href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0104348/" target="_blank">Glengarry Glen Ross</a>.</p> <p> <object classid="clsid:d27cdb6e-ae6d-11cf-96b8-444553540000" width="425" height="344" codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=6,0,40,0"> <param name="allowFullScreen" value="true" /> <param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always" /> <param name="src" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/wVQPY4LlbJ4?fs=1&amp;hl=en_US&amp;color1=0x234900&amp;color2=0x4e9e00" /> <param name="allowfullscreen" value="true" /><embed type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="425" height="344" src="http://www.youtube.com/v/wVQPY4LlbJ4?fs=1&amp;hl=en_US&amp;color1=0x234900&amp;color2=0x4e9e00" allowfullscreen="true" allowscriptaccess="always"></embed> </object> </p><p><a title="Connect with Top Line Results:" href="http://www.top-line-results.com/get-on-the-road-to-results/" target="_self">Connect with Top Line Results:</a></p> <p><a href="http://twitter.com/toplineresults" target="_self"><img src="http://www.top-line-results.com/Portals/68380/images/twitter.png" border="0" alt="Top Line Results on Twitter" /></a>&nbsp;<a href="http://www.linkedin.com/company/734746" target="_self"><img src="http://www.top-line-results.com/Portals/68380/images/linkedin.png" border="0" alt="Top Line Results on LinkedIn" /></a>&nbsp;<a href="http://www.facebook.com/pages/Top-Line-Results/115412434403" target="_self"><img src="http://www.top-line-results.com/Portals/68380/images/facebook.png" border="0" alt="Top Line Results on Facebook" /></a>&nbsp;<a href="http://www.google.com/profiles/todd.hockenberry" target="_blank"><img src="http://www.top-line-results.com/Portals/68380/images/google.png" border="0" alt="Todd Hockenberry Google Profile" /></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/TopLineResults" target="_self"><img src="http://www.top-line-results.com/Portals/68380/images/rss.png" border="0" alt="Top Line Results Blog" /></a></p> &copy; 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