Online Lead Generation Blog

Trading Services Doesn't Work in Business

Pete Caputa — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 08:13:00 GMT

I had a conversation with someone the other day who was interested in HubSpot. They were referred by a client. I asked him how I could help him. He hadn't really bothered to understand what we do.

I positioned us a few times (ie We help small business owners who are frustrated with not getting enough leads from their website and online marketing activities.) He didn't bite. He kept insisting he was doing pretty well with his internet marketing. Unfortunately, he wasn't. Then, he proceeded to pitch me on the idea of trading advertising on his site for HubSpot services.

I told him that we have no need to advertise on his site. We have more leads than we can handle and we know what we need to do to get more, if we need it.

I used to trade services. But, it never worked for a variety of reasons.

Here's my rules taught to my be Rick Roberge:

I'll buy your service if I have a need and it helps me fill that need.
Feel free to buy my service if you have a need and you're convinced that it fills the need.

I think the people that try and trade their way to success just don't know how to discover needs and align their product to the needs of the customer. This is going to result in no sales, which is going to result in no cash flow, which is going to make it difficult for them to invest in anything to make their business better, including their online marketing.

Which is a shame because there are a lot of entrepreneurs and small business owners out there with great ideas and great passion.

Trading is often used by entrepreneurs as a sales shortcut because they do not have the ability to sell. Before they're going to see their business succeed by closing new business, they need to learn how to identify problems, establish urgency and to present approprate solutions when the time is right.

Unfortunately, they probably also don't have the willingness to make the changes in their business (and themselves) in order to learn these skills.

Search Engine Optimization for Small Businesses

Pete Caputa — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 00:05:00 GMT

I found this article, "Why SEO Industry Needs Small Business", written by Matt McGee of Marchex.

Here are the reasons why he thinks the SEO Industry needs SMBs, according to the article:

Your big clients will eventually disappear. (Meaning they will have in-house SEO talent.)
Small businesses are/will be increasingly interested in search marketing.
Finding accurate information about SEO and search marketing is tough.

I agree with all of his points.

Unfortunately, Matt is looking at this from the angle.

Small businesses need Search Engine Optimization. They are now educated enough to know they need it.

Unfortunately, large SEO firms will never serve small businesses.

What IS happening is that most small businesses rely on local web design and development firms to do SEO for them.

This isn't good either because most of these firms aren't that good. Or the good ones are too expensive. And worse, most do it in isolation without their clients involvement and treat SEO like a one time activity.

That's fakin bacon. Not SEO.

SEO should be done by the people that invent, make and sell the products at the company. They will need to learn the basics and manage the process internally. After they learn the basics and have the right SEO tools and systems in place to track leads and sales generated from their activities, they should should hire a full time blogger and social media marketing coordinator who is responsible for teaching the entire organization how to leverage the web to generate interest, website traffic, leads and sales. Outsourcing this task is like outsourcing your face to face networking or all of your customer service. It's core to the business.

The most time consuming task required - in order to do SEO successfully - is content creation. Should you really fully outsource the voice of your company? If you're going to outsource it, shouldn't it be to a writer or a messaging person?

Further, in the very near future, even GOOD SEO skills will ultimately be like html writing skills. Many more people know how to write html now than in the 90s. Now, you wouldn't pay someone $150/hour to write html like people did in the 90s. In a few years, we'll look back at the $150-$300/hour pay that good SEO firms receive and think that was pretty silly too.

Business Advice from Mark Paskell

Pete Caputa — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 22:14:00 GMT

Business advice from design build remodeler coach, Mark Paskell:

What is your unique selling proposition? The Contractor Coaching Partnership coaches and mentors residential contractors, using litmus tested, proven, best practices specific to the residential construction industry, and combines them with a powerful self improvement program.
When & why did you start your current business? When? I started my business in February of 2008. Why? To have my own business and go after my dreams.
What was the smartest business decision you've made in your current business? To build my business through referrals and personal introductions.
What do you like most about internet marketing? I like the fact that you can reach many economically.
If you had one piece of internet marketing advice for another business owner, what would it be? Do not waste your money on unproven website and IT services or people.

Testing Website Grader Badge

Pete Caputa — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 12:48:00 GMT

And before you say, "Ooh. Ooh. I want one." Hold your horses. They'll be released to the wider public shortly.

Inbound Marketing Advice from Betsy Davison

Pete Caputa — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 11:23:00 GMT

Mike Volpe interviewed my HubSpot Client, Betsy Davison, Founder of ArtID, the artist marketing community website:

Initiating the First Conversation with a Prospect is Always the Hardest Step

Pete Caputa — Sat, 12 Jul 2008 05:02:00 GMT

If part of your job involves initiating conversations with prospects, you need to read this email chain that Dave Kurlan has shared between him and a prospect:

Lesson - Even if you fail to get a response or you get a negative response, keep at it! The key is to get a response - to something - to get a dialog started.

Dave's example is about contacting a referral. However, the same principles apply for following up on web generated leads. Do what you need to do to just start "any" conversation.

With referrals, I usually keep at it until I figure out whether I can help the prospect. However, with leads, it is two strikes and their out. Dave's example makes me think that I'm not doing enough before I abandon that lead. The main reason I don't is because I'm looking for low hanging fruit in a humungous orchard. In plain english, I have more leads than time.

Anyone have this problem? How do you make sure you do the things necessary to get people into conversation with you?

Speaking at Central New England Sales Summit (Free Passes)

Pete Caputa — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 09:12:00 GMT

I was invited to speak at the Central New England Sales Summit alongside my sales mentors.

I will be speaking on a panel about how the internet is aiding the sales and lead generation process. For a sneak peak of some of the things I'll be talking about, read "13 ways to use your blog to improve your sales process", "sales lead generation through online business networking" and "how to generate a steady flow of leads".

Also, we're giving away 3 passes to the event to the people with the best answer to the question, "How has the internet changed your sales process?". Leave your answer in the comments on the HubSpot blog.

They're also looking for nominations for Central New England Sales All Stars. (More from Dave.)

Business Advice from Darcy Cook

Pete Caputa — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 19:17:00 GMT

Business advice from CPR recertification expert, Darcy Cook:

What was the smartest business decision you've made in your current business? We purchased a subscription to salesforce.com and transferred all of our client information into a client and sales management system.
What person has had the most impact on the success of your business? My brother, Joe. He is the behind the scenes, "make it all happen", unsung hero of my company. I don't make a decision on growth unless I have his support. I create it and he makes it happen. He allows me to manage the business while he works hard to operate the business.
If you had one piece of internet marketing advice for another business owner, what would it be? Do it right the first time. Moving toward the "latest and greatest" technology is inevitable. So, spend the time and research all of the options out there. Learn about how to maximize your website, SEO, Blog, Social Media, Video, webinars, etc..... Find someone who is already doing and using all of the tools, buy them a cup of coffee and listen.

If you're in central MA, I recommend you beg Darcy [or Joe] to buy her lunch (not just coffee) and ask her to tell you how they've become Central MA's latest internet marketing success story.

Nick Inglis Presents: Networking on Steroids with Linkedin + BlitzTime

Pete Caputa — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 14:36:00 GMT

Here's a quick introduction/explanation of the material to be covered:

Internet Marketing Advice from Gabe Amey

Pete Caputa — Mon, 07 Jul 2008 19:13:00 GMT

Small business internet marketing advice from Gabe Amey:

What's your unique selling proposition?: HawaiiVALoans.com is an informational website provided by VA approved lender, HomeLoan Financial. Our main goals are to provide Veterans the facts about the VA Guaranteed Home Loan Program so that they are aware of this great benefit. As a lender who specializes in VA Loans, HomeLoan Financial has the people, tools and resources to streamline the home buying process and help Hawaii's military personnel and Veterans enjoy the benefits of Homeownership.
When & why did you start your current business?: HawaiiVALoans.com was Launched in December 2007. Through my years in the mortgage industry it was apparent that VA eligible home buyers were not properly informed about their benefits and many of these home buyers chose to acquire mortgage financing through subprime sources that had high interest rates that were not locked in - rather than doing a VA loan. I knew I had to educate these buyers to help them understand that utilizing their VA loan benefits would provide a better long-term financial situation for them instead of doing a subprime or Alt-A mortgage.
What was the smartest business decision you've made in your current business?: Building the website HawaiiVALoans.com.
What person has had the most impact on the success of your business?: Frank Schilling - Domain Investor (http://www.SevenMile.com).
What do you like most about internet marketing?: Internet Marketing is still in it's infancy. First participants in this marketing channel have an advantage over their competition for the specific keywords they are targeting. Also, internet marketing is easier to measure and track than traditional marketing methods.
If you had one piece of internet marketing advice for another business owner, what would it be?: There are many levels of internet marketing, and the methodology behind internet marketing is always evolving and changing. You constantly need to be reading, learning and testing new strategies to stay current with the most effective methods of internet marketing - or you will be left behind. "If you are not growing, you're dying".

Internet Marketing Advice from Daniel Elliot

Pete Caputa — Mon, 07 Jul 2008 16:43:00 GMT

Business advice from Daniel Elliott:

What's your unique selling proposition? As is evident in our Big Canoe real estate blog, we love the community where we sell real estate. We have intimate knowledge of the community and our passion shows through in our blogging and the way we serve our real estate clients.
When & why did you start your current business? We started IBA Mountain Homes in August 2005. Selling real estate in the North Georgia mountains, and more specifically Big Canoe, is a great way to make a living. We have no commute and get to enjoy the natural beauty of the Appalachian mountains.
What was the smartest business decision you've made in your current business? Using the internet to advertise. Originally, our internet advertising campaign was completely PPC driven. Since we've started blogging, our natural rankings have soared, and we no longer have to rely on PPC.
What person has had the most impact on the success of your business? My wife Karin. How could there possibly be any other correct answer? :)
What do you like most about internet marketing? I think the best part of internet marketing is the freedom to engage our blog visitors in a friendly and conversational way. Writing about our mountain community here in Big Canoe isn't a sales pitch to buy real estate. It's an honest testimonial to what a great community Big Canoe is.
If you had one piece of internet marketing advice for another business owner, what would it be? We started our real estate blog in December of 2007 for our Big Canoe homes for sale site. We wrote blog after blog, and we often wondered if anyone was reading a single word. Nobody ever commented on our blogs which was discouraging. Nobody ever contacted us regarding our blog. Sometimes, I felt a little like the village idiot of North Georgia talking to myself and writing notes that nobody would ever read. Then things started to change. Even if nobody was reading, we were creating a larger footprint / presence on the web. In late February, the New York Times contacted us to be included in a tiny article in their travel section. They would not have found us if it wasn't for our blog. This resulted in several leads for us. In April, we started to have the occasional visitor leave a comment. In May and June, the comments increased more, and ALL the leads we have received in the past 2 months have resulted from our blog articles. We also have found that often our leads come from blog articles that aren't specifically discussing real estate. These people felt they made a connection with us for another reason. Recently, we had our community paper contact us (and link back!) about a local event we had blogged about. So while some people may think I am still the village idiot, at least I know that they are reading what I write. :) Simply put, my advice is to be persistent and try not to get discouraged. Blogging will produce quality leads.

For the record, based on my interaction with Daniel in the HubSpot client only forums, Daniel is certainly not a village idiot. I'd consider him a very clued-in internet marketer and I'm sure he's equally sharp when it comes to real estate.

Business Advice from Kara Brook

Pete Caputa — Mon, 07 Jul 2008 09:37:00 GMT

Business advice from internet marketing expert, Kara Brook:

When & why did you start your business? I started my business to get through college (I was self supportive from a very young age), on the day that I graduated I figured that not all 12 clients would fire me on the same day. I stuck with it for the last 20 or so years, reinventing it every five years or so out of necessity to keep up with the times.
What was the smartest decision you made in your current business? Focusing and specializing purely on the web, rather than trying to do everything (print, broadcast, etc.)
If you had one piece of internet marketing advice to give to another business owner, what would it be? Start your web projects with a keyword strategy. Don't go right to design without first considering how people will find you using your most important keywords.

Network Solutions Probably Shouldn't Be in the SEO Business

Pete Caputa — Mon, 07 Jul 2008 09:33:00 GMT

I have never spoken with someone who has been happy with their experience buying SEO services from Network Solutions. I have not hired them myself. So, I have no first hand experience. And I welcome them to defend themselves in my comments. However, I've had a handful of clients who had negative experiences with them.

This is from a colleague:

They hired Network Solutions to do some SEO work and it did not yield more traffic and leads.

This is from a client:

"Network Solutions and [my business] were not a good match. Their communications were not timely and their reports were not user friendly."

The interesting part is that I am sure Network Solutions knows what they're doing. Here's a video with an exec at Network Solutions. She knows SEO and has good advice:

Here's the problems I have with Network Solutions:

SEO is rarely successful, where success is defined by a measurable marketing ROI, if it is a one time outsourced task. Network Solutions sells it as a one time outsourced task. SEO requires a collaborative effort between an SEO expert and the subject matter expert who is creating compelling content. In house subject matter experts can be trained to do the basics and be successful if they're blogging and doing keyword research. But, if you're going to outsource SEO, you need a long term partner. It's not like buying advertising. It's more like hiring a salesperson who focusses on lead generation/lead qualification.
It is extremely difficult to guarantee results. I've helped 50+ clients rank for their keywords and I rarely ever guarantee a ranking for a specific keyword. In other words, I know what it takes, but I don't make specific guarantees. My guarantee is that if you do what we tell you, you will generate more traffic and leads within a few months. Network Solutions guarantees top 10 results in one of a few top search engines. This is sneaky and doesn't necessarily translate into results. Surprisingly, or not, many small business owners fall for the guarantee. I'm reminded of the scene from Tommy Boy when he suggests crapping in a box and putting a guarantee on it - in order to battle a sales objection. I might start using that line.

I'm fine with Network Solutions selling SEO services. They just need to start doing it right. There are enough fly-by-night operations selling SEO shams, that make it harder for the good guys doing the right things for their clients.

Not only do they have a reputation to protect of their own. They shouldn't be doing the internet marketing industry a disservice.

Network Solutions should be taking the high road. They should be selling SEO results and delivering an iterative SEO process. Not selling a few promises and a few hours of "SEO work".

Business Advice from Dave Lima

Pete Caputa — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 08:18:00 GMT

Business advice from MA bankruptcy attorney, Dave Lima:

When & why did you start your current business? I worked as in-house counsel for a real estate developer in Concord, MA. He did projects in New Mexico, Florida, the United States Virgin Islands and Martha's Vineyard. In addition to doing his legal work I acted as his office manager. In 1992 he told me he planned to retire in 2 years and I should plan for that. I decided to open my own practice with a law school room mate. He did workers comp and personal injury. I did real estate, bankruptcy, and family law.
What was the smartest business decision you've made in your current business? Using the Hubspot marketing software. It's already produced 3 new bankruptcy clients and 1 divorce client since May. Much more than the yellow pages EVER did.
If you had one piece of internet marketing advice for another business owner, what would it be? Put the time in and follow a plan. Create the content. Then optimize for key words. Then build links. Most importantly blog, blog, blog!

Business Advice from Dr. Edwark Kwak

Pete Caputa — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 08:17:00 GMT

Business advice from Dr. Edward Kwak:

What is your unique selling proposition? Our business is one of the few practices that specializes in Asian Cosmetic Facial Surgery.
What was the smartest business decision you've made in your current business? First and foremost was incorporating an effective and targeted internet marketing strategy.
What do you like most about internet marketing? What I find most rewarding is the immediate and direct changes you can make on your business plans. If done right, the impact can be significant and immediate.

Inside Sales Training Benchmarks

Pete Caputa — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 06:30:00 GMT

Trish Bertuzzi has published the results of a inside sales training benchmark survey of 63 technology companies regarding their inside sales practices.

You should read the full report. But, it shows some interesting results:

Most inside sales training is focussed on product knowledge instead of sales skills.
Most training is delivered by in-house resources.
Most firms are unhappy with their sale training process.
Most firms are not willing to invest more than $2k/year in training an individual inside sales rep.

What's wrong with this picture? I can imagine it's difficult to examine your own sales operations critically. I imagine most sales organizations just focus on seeing what they do right and doing more of that.

But, it's pretty glaringly obvious to me that most organizations are satisfied with mediocre.

I'm not sure what the average tech inside sales person makes, but I'd imagine it hovers between $80-200k. And organizations aren't willing to invest more than $2K to help someone improve?

Why?

Business Advice from Sanjib Sarkar

Pete Caputa — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 05:25:00 GMT

Business advice from Sanjib Sarkar

What is your company's unique selling proposition? We sell homeopathic medicine products online. Our company also sells other natural products to consumers such as Poison Ivy Lotion, Poison Ivy Pills, Natural Pet Meds, Sun Block and other products.
When & why did you start your current business/take your current position? Our website started in March 2001. I basically saw a need to provide homeopathic medicine on the Internet. We were the first company to offer this type of service. Now many other companies are started to offer similar services. I have been president of Hmedicine.com since 2001.
What was the smartest business decision you've made in your current business/current position? Drop shipping products. We carry quite a bit of products so our company is not a 100% drop ship company. However, we specialize in selling hard to find homeopathic medicine. These are great items to drop ship because consumers have a difficult time finding them. Also, they make poor items to stock because a few select people are looking for these homeopathic medicines. We were able to create a niche market because of this.
What person has had the most impact on the success of your business/career? It has been a host of partners and people helping with the business. I could not name just one. It really takes a team effort to be successful.
What do you like most about internet marketing? The challenge of dealing with Google. Your site can be ranked in the top 10 one day and you may be in the top 100 the next day. This makes Internet marketing very challenging but at the same time very interesting.
If you had one piece of internet marketing advice for another business owner, what would it be? Patiently create great content. The website rankings will take care of themselves if you create the great content. You need to have some patience because it may take search engines and people longer than 6 months to start responding and sending you traffic and sales.

Business Advice from Dave Kurlan

Pete Caputa — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 05:16:00 GMT

I'm starting a business advice interview series, mostly small and mid sized business owners, who are willing to share some advice with my readers.

Business Advice from Dave Kurlan:

When & why did you start your current business? Sales development was a calling - destiny - what I simply must do in this lifetime.
What was the smartest business decision you've made in your current business? A 1992 decision to have PENTA Communications handle marketing and public relations. By 1994 I was playing to national audiences.
What do you like most about internet marketing? Internet marketing includes writing, blogging, emailing, connecting and reading... activities that I enjoy but don't have any time for during regular business hours when the greatest impact I can have on my business takes the forms of selling, managing, coaching or training. That forces me to perform internet marketing either at night or early in the morning, where it doesn't interfere with the more profitable activities. I don't have time to conduct traditional marketing activities during the day and they can't be performed outside of regular business hours so the intersection of after hours availability and internet marketing make a nice couple.

Online Marketing for Artists

Pete Caputa — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 18:56:00 GMT

Betsy Davison has a great article on the benefits of using a community site to market art online. ArtId (a client) has a nice set of capabilities for artists.

As I mentioned before, I'm intrigued by the value of vertically focussed online marketing platforms. There are nice network effects that kick in that help both the community and the platform provider - as the network grows.

Inbound Sales Lead Generation

Pete Caputa — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 16:54:00 GMT

I wrote a guest post over on Aaron Ross's blog titled, How to Generate a Steady Flow of Inbound Sales Leads.

I summarized a few points on the HubSpot blog and there are a few relevant comments over there too.

Social Advertising Just Got Relevant

Pete Caputa — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 08:30:00 GMT

Via VentureBeat, Seth Goldstein's Social Media has created an advertising system that allows you to customize ads that your friends see, enabling individuals to interact through advertisements.

Here's a great example from the social media blog

Below is a concrete example of a social banner. It's an ad, presumably sponsorable by a company seeking to spread the word about its new-found greenness. So, without further ado, here's a our user violating, privacy busting, all your data in a social banner, banner!

Blog Reader: "Umm...wait. Is this a trick? My data has to be in here somewhere. I know! It's hiding under the alien! Oh, no. That's silly. Wait! You pulled my facebook interests to stereotype me as a certain type of user, thereby populating the buttons with choices that would appeal to me, thus increasing ad CTR!"
As Winnie the Pooh would say, "Oh bother."
Your data isn't in there. Not at all. But, let's say you do opt to share why you're green with your friends by clicking on a button. This is what your friends would see, except replace this dude's picture with yours.

Blog Reader: "OMG I'M IN THE AD! You mean when I choose to share why I'm green with my friends, my friends will actually see it?"
It's rather difficult to share something with your friends when we can't tell your friends the thing you wanted to share. So, yes, that's precisely what we did.

It's almost what John Battelle has been talking about and playing with - with his conversational marketing.

As you all know, I'm a big beliver in putting the "social" in marketing. In fact, my own blog has evolved to mostly a networking tool where I'm highlighting my clients great writing and the activities of other people that interest me.

This is the first time I've seen "social" applied to the advertising unit. And I think it's very significant. And almost genius in its simplicity and obviousness.

Giving Product Demonstrations Better

Pete Caputa — Mon, 23 Jun 2008 18:59:00 GMT

I'm working on improving my sales presentation skills, specifically my demos.

Here's two blog posts about product demos.

Customize-ing them. Tailoring them to the prospect's need. I do good here.
I need to be better about structuring a demo.

Update: I just received my daily justsell newsletter which was plugging a research report from gotomeeting about giving online product demos.

Your Company is Already on the Internet

Pete Caputa — Thu, 19 Jun 2008 12:59:00 GMT

This is a GREAT Guest Article by Malcolm Sheppard of Gill Media:

Many traditional businesses believe they don't need to get online - but they're already there.
Small business owners often believe they don't need a website. This is an especially common sentiment when the company has a local, face to face focus. They don't use e-commerce, so why should they bother with web pages, blogs and the rest?
The answer is simple: If they don't get online, someone will put them on - and they won't have a say in the results. Chances are that if your business has a Yellow Page listing, its name is on the Web. Here's how it got there:
Local Resources: Chatter from locally-focused networks like Kijiji, Craigslist and Facebook may mention an "offline" business in passing. The site might just grab content from local phone directories. These are generally difficult to browse from Google and in some cases (like Facebook); much of the content isn't searchable at all. Blind searches either won't find you, or bury you in an obscure sub-page.
Keyword Harvesting: Black hat techniques often rip long tail keywords from local directories. Surfers are likely to find these during targeted searches, when they know your business exists but don't know anything about its web presence. This creates a high level of expectation - one that's ruined the moment they hit a useless link farm.
Communities: Facebook, blogs, rating sites like restaurantica.com and online forums let just about anybody sound off about your business - and who knows what they'll say? The Social Web is a great way to bring people together, but it's also land of trolls: people who will insult your company, or worse, promote it in an off-putting, abrasive fashion.
The Broadcast Fallacy
Most people on the Web - the ones with money to spend, anyway - were raised on traditional media. They're vulnerable to a phenomenon called the Broadcast Fallacy.
The Broadcast Fallacy is a simple concept: People confuse a message's reach with its authority. On the Web, an individual has a global broadcast reach - what used to be the province of traditional, centralized media like television. Nasty forum posts or one-star ratings from a handful of cranks earn disproportionate authority. Agreement spreads virally, as people affirm their membership in an online community by siding with early opinions. If a business doesn't grab hold of its image on the Internet, someone else will.
Ambush 2.0
There's only one cure for the Broadcast Fallacy: Set up your own "broadcast." Top-notch internet marketing seizes control of a client's image on multiple fronts to combat Social Web trolling, local obscurity and the black hat SEO "ghetto." Functional web design and smart keywords are still necessary, but a comprehensive plan also includes:
Social Web Vectors: Everybody knows how important a blog is, but it's just your Web 2.0 "home base." Experiment with tweets, Facebook groups and forums. Web 2.0 is still evolving, so explore new services, but don't chain yourself to them. Analyze the results and focus your time on proven lead sources. That's why they're "vectors" - the hot spots can change.
Human Conversations: Avoid online "silences" by updating your social network presence consistently. Augment a business' formal presentation with biographical information, pictures of employees and a more casual, day to day communication style. It's easy to criticize a faceless company. If people know a business by its people, that stimulates a sense of empathy.
Prosumer Relationships: Prosumers have an above average interest in the company's products and services. They want to feel involved in business decisions. Don't believe that prosumerism is limited to technical fields; foodies and classic car aficionados are prosumers too. Every business needs to find its prosumer community, their hub sites and leaders. Target them with special offers, exclusive events and interviews. This puts them on the "inside track:" they value, so they're more likely to give favorable feedback. Prosumers usually provide the first and most respected comments about your business, so their opinions have a potent viral effect.
Turning Words into Action
Provided they have a solid website and SEO strategy, any business can take command of its Social Web presence - in theory. Don't assume you have the time, confidence or writing ability to update a blog every month, post on an industry forum or administer a Facebook group.
Internet marketing companies that focus on technical solutions don't provide quality "soft services" like blogging, marketing copy and web PR. If you're looking into partnering with a web marketing company, make sure they can provide these services. Even if you do have the time for social networks and prosumer relations, a good company should be able to improve your performance with research and stylistic advice.

About the Author: Malcolm Sheppard is a writer and researcher for GILL Media, a strategic internet marketing firm with offices in Ontario, California, Texas and Florida.

Consumer Reviews for Healthy Eating

Pete Caputa — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 13:40:00 GMT

Michael Putnam and I met a month or so ago when he needed to figure out SEO for his awesome new startup, Zeer. He hadn't launched yet, but knew that he need to plan his internet marketing strategy before launching. We helped him round it out a bit.

But, he and his team deserve all the credit for being named to Time's 50 Best Websites in 2008.

And go check out his site. It's an awesome community site that helps consumers help each other make healther decisions about their diet.

How Online Marketing Has Changed Public Relations

Pete Caputa — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 12:55:00 GMT

I just got off of the phone with a person at a marketing agency. Her and a few of her colleauges have been checking out HubSpot quite frequently. Unfortunately, she told me that her principle will never really adapt to online marketing.

I'd suggest getting a new job if you're in that situation.

Here's a great post by Paul Roetzer at PR 20/20, a HubSpot client and agency for many HubSpot clients about how PR is changing because of the web.

Paul talks about 3 big trends affecting PR which presents 3 significant opportunities for firms that are willing to transition from traditional agency to traditional+online agency.

Social Media
SEO
Self Publishing.

How Social Media & SEO can be supported by Public Relations - are 'talked to death' topics. However, I particularly like his paragraph on Self Publishing:

Press Releases, blogs, eBooks, white papers, by-lined articles, newsletters and online magazines are now being written with keyword-rich content and distributed with the goal of building Website traffic, inbound links and leads.

If you're in PR and you're not practicing PR this way, you should probably get a job elsewhere. Maybe you should send your resume to Paul.