Comments on: Inbound Marketing Book Review

By: Trevor Burnham

Trevor Burnham — Thu, 01 Apr 2010 11:39:08 +0000

As a programmer, I expect a certain level of specificity from books about things like SEO and social media. Website Optimization, for instance, is a wonderfully detailed, technical yet highly readable book on how to achieve higher search engine rankings and more conversions. Inbound Marketing, by contrast, is for non-technical managers. It assumes that you have employees who will figure out the details for you if you give them broad guidance. It expects you to be unfamiliar with terms like “subdomain” and “RSS.” So the advice in this book is apt, but air-thin to experienced web developers. There are some parts of the book that are well-intentioned but unrealistic, such as the chapter on how to hire a marketer. I don’t envy the non-technical manager charged with making such a hire; it must be even more baffling than trying to hire a brilliant programmer. But the suggested interview questions–e.g. “How many LinkedIn followers do you have?” and “Do you have a channel on YouTube?”–are weak indicators of talent at best. Ultimately, if you are a manager who wants to build a strong web presence but have no familiarity with Twitter and its social media ilk, then I’d recommend Inbound Marketing. But more importantly, I’d recommend that you foster an interest in the details of what your employees are doing to build that presence and why. The average programmer with a Twitter account knows more about inbound marketing than you will at the end of this book; you can learn a lot from them.

Trevor Burnham

By: Matt Nelson

Matt Nelson — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 18:33:57 +0000

Thanks for the reply Greg. I have to agree with you about your three evaluation points above. The one that I felt that was most important was that this is NOT rocket science, it’s mostly common sense. Also this type of marketing really isn’t something all that new, the only thing new about it are the methods you are using to communicate. The real exciting piece in all this that I get really jazzed up about is the ability businesses have to be so timely, fluid, and accessible to their customers in so many different ways. I guess that gets back to the fear factor you were talking about eh?

By: gconnolly

gconnolly — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 17:44:24 +0000

Great review and certainly “Inbound Marketing” is a must read. The real challenge with this strategy and most business ideas that involve change is managing the fear factor. Fear that there is something going on that I don’t really understand, fear that my business (or I) can’t keep up, fear that I may be investing in a fad, fear that my competitors are already there…ahhhhh maybe I’ll just do nothing and it will all go away.

So what do you do? Find someone that that knows what they’re talking about and listen. Here are a few good signs to look for when choosing someone (or a company). FIRST, drum roll… if they don’t speak clearly about YOUR business and have clearly not taken the time to do ANY research into your business prior to you sitting down with you, RUN. It’s all about you at this point (not them) and what an inbound marketing program can do for your business. Second, this is NOT rocket science. It’s a common sense approach for creating an environment for your target audience/customers to find you and engage with you. If the person/company explaining this to you cannot put this into clear easy to understand language, RUN. Third, open your mind and get excited about this opportunity. I bet you’ll be way ahead of your competition.

By: Clickbank eBooks

Clickbank eBooks — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 21:07:40 +0000

The most comprehensive info I have found on this subject on the net. Will be back soon to follow up.

By: Twitted by ernieschell

Twitted by ernieschell — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 14:56:12 +0000

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