When I originally sat down to write this post, it was all about the idea of “Don’t Blog Angry”. I quickly realized that Lisa Barone at Outspoken Media had already written a great article on the “7 Blog Posts You Write, But Shouldn’t Publish“.

After some deep meditation, I remembered a recent conversation with Jon Parrella, President of CT-based energy supplier Discount Power. As I was discussing the advantages of business blogging to him, he had a fairly standard objection: “What could we write about?”

There are a number of brainstorming questions I use in situations like this, and the first one I posed was “What is something that your customers should know about your industry?” Jon immediately went on a rant about how electricity customers (i.e. everyone) ear charged based on load curves that were developed in the 1970′s. Because of this archaic math, it means that you & I are paying for power usage during peak hours, even if there isn’t anything using electricity in the house.

Based on Jon’s reaction, I’ve now tweaked my brainstorming question to be “What is something your customers should be angry about?”. Every industry has a tax, law, or practice that is out-of-date, drives-up cost, or makes life difficult for everyone involved. As a business owner & marketer, a blog gives you the ability to educate your customers and give them more information about your industry. I’ve always said that small business owners are blessed (some say cursed) with knowledge. Share some of this knowledge with your readers and you will be rewarded with their trust, because trust turns into customers.

For me, one of the things that makes me angry about the SEO/Inbound Marketing industry is the fly-by-night scam artists that never explain the total cost of SEO. Search optimization is not a one-time thing, like developing a new logo. Many SEO firms will tell you that they will have you “ranking #1 on Google” in a month, but what happens after that month is over? Many SEO’s won’t explain the on-going process of content creation & link building. Just because they get you to the top of the mountain doesn’t mean that you’ll stay there.

So, what should your customers be angry about?

Ask any salesperson if they would like to call a list of 100 “good” prospects or talk to 5 customer referrals, they will crawl through sewage like Andy Dufresne for those referrals. Your customers will always be the best salespeople, and the secret to getting these referrals is to keep your customers happy. Easier said than done, right?

It seems everyone has heard at least one PR horror story about a company’s horrible customer service, and in many cases that level of service is the norm. Thankfully there’s still some “good guys”. The obvious examples are Disney and Zappos, and there are great books about their customer service practices (here and here). The less well-known companies that immeidately come to my mind include Dyn Inc., the Reading Phillies, and now It’s a Man’s World. In all cases, these companies aren’t satisfied simply with having the best service or product in their industry, but they all want to make sure that their clients are truly happy. The secret to this type of customer service? Making it part of every employee’s job description.

Take Dyn Inc., for example. In the grand scheme of things DNS service is just an infrastructure tool, and not something that most people interact with on a regular basis. Dyn could simply supply a great service, send their bills, and be nothing but an IT tool. Instead, Dyn really wants their customers to be successful. The Dyn team is made of the type of people that will take an off-the-cuff frustration, and offer a solution. Without a doubt, I know that Kyle York, their VP of Sales & Marketing, will instantly offer his thoughts on shopping cart abandonment if you mention that it’s an issue. Does it have anything to do with DNS? No, but this is why they’re so good.

As I mentioned above, I am now adding It’s a Man’s World, a men’s image consultant,  to my list of great customer service companies. Emmi Sorokin, founder of It’s a Man World, doesn’t just want her clients to look great, but to use their new fashion skills as a means to achieving something more for themselves. As I sat with Emmi recently (yes, I was getting fashion advice), it amazed me how happy she was about the things her clients had achieved after her help. The evaluation questions she asks during our initial meeting reflects her approach. It was all about me, what was happening in my life, and what my goals were. The questions about clothes and style came later, but it told me that she was getting aligned with me first, and then using her style abilities to help me reach those goals.

In both cases, Emmi & Kyle now have their customers raving about their services, all because they go above & beyond for them. If the goal of Inbound Marketing is to lower your cost-of-customer-acquisition (COCA), there is no better way to do that make a commitment to help your customers and make them happy. In the “trust economy“, their referrals & praises will be the best content you can produce.

photo courtesy of PKR Communications

Like many bloggers, I always tell myself “post more”. Posting needs to become a habit and, if it isn’t a habit, you need to force yourself to do it. Earlier this week, after seeing that it had been several weeks since I last posted, I resolved to write & publish a post that day. That rush was a mistake, and it produced a poorly written piece. It now has taken me twice as long as usual for me to be happy with it. Worst of all, it could have easily left a negative impression with a new reader.

My usual method for writing a post starts when I’m struck with an idea, then I write a draft at night, and finally revise & publish the following morning. I find that the initial draft helps me flesh out my angle on the subject, and the re-write lets me see everything with fresh eyes. It wouldn’t be unreasonable to say that at least 40% of the post will get trashed or completely re-worked. I have no problem with this, as I feel it ensures that I’m posting quality content.

Unfortunately, in my haste to get something posted, I did one draft of my recent Yellow Pages post, and hit “Publish”. I wasn’t happy with it, but I really wanted to get something up. If I were to use the gym analogy for this, it was only a couple of laps around the track  just so you can say that you worked-out.

Therefore it wasn’t a surprise to me when Josh Nason of SendLabs pointed out several examples of poor writing & grammar in my post. I was frustrated because it was all little things that I didn’t take the time to correct, like that Yellow Pages is, in fact, two words, or that I switched pronouns (i.e. “you”, “they”, etc.) like LeBron switches teams. What upset me the most were the spelling errors. Spelling errors indicate a lack of pride in your work. If you’re not proud enough of your writing to do something simple like spell-checking, what does that say to your reader?

Essentially, the concept was good, but hadn’t been given the proper amount of attention. I was upset with myself and wanted to make sure that every blogger follows the old carpentry rule of “measure twice, cut once”. Because businesses complain that they don’t have time for blogging, they certainly don’t have time to craft a poorly written post that could require PR backtracking, or worse..

So, always make sure to follow these 3 easy steps when sitting down to write:

1.) Give Yourself Enough Time – Much like running, blogging becomes easier with regularity. Set aside time in your calendar to write. If you simply tell yourself “I’ll write today”, you’ll find excuses not to do it. Then, when you finally sit down because you need to get something posted, you’ve created an unnecessary sense of urgency for yourself.

2.) Start with Something in Mind – I find a lot of inspiration for posts throughout the day, but ideas can quickly be forgotten. Keep a piece of paper, or use a Notes app, to quickly put your ideas somewhere safe for later. By having a handful of ideas ready to go, you’ll easy overcome that first hurdle of “what do I write about”.

3.) Don’t Publish Garbage – Don’t be afraid to let something sit on the shelf until it’s ready. Imagine if a potential customer comes to your site for the first time because of a poorly written post. Don’t let that bad first impression cost you money. Unless something is extremely time sensitive, let it wait overnight. Even if your post is only 200 words and written purely for SEO, make it readable.

Go forth bloggers, spend your time wisely, and be happy with your posts.

Imagine my shock recently when a reliable source informed me that the annual spend on phone book advertising (e.g. Yellow Pages, Idearc, Superpages, etc.) still topped $13 billion.

Yes, that’s a “B”. B-I-L-L-I-O-N.

Despite almost every man, woman, and child in the United States being connected to the Internet, small business are still being convinced that phone book advertising is still worth the money. If you’re reading this post, you’re probably shaking your head.

Hell, most small business owners that spend money on the Yellow Pages admit that it’s probably a waste of resources, but they don’t know what else to do. And, to their credit, this is because the phone book companies have done a great job of building a salesteam that is very good at convincing everyone that advertising with them still makes sense. I’ve often heard the phrase “a marketer doesn’t get fired for buying another advertisement”, and the phone companies certainly play into this mentality

If you think about it, phone book advertising was the pre-Internet version of Inbound Marketing. Rarely would anyone flip through their copy of the Yellow Pages to just read phone numbers. Instead, consumers only picked up that stack of dead trees when they needed something. They would flip to the florist section, for example, and see a great ad for a local florist, and that ad was appearing at the perfect time. Unfortunately, the cost-per-impression, let alone cost-per-conversion (i.e. impression to phone call, etc.) was high. But, the big question is whether that florist’s ad also appeared under Gifts, Funerals, Weddings, or Anniversaries.

That is why search marketing, both organic & pay-per-click (PPC), are a much better way to get found. With 52 million Americans living in households that only use wireless phones, that means that over 25% of households aren’t even being delivered a Yellow Pages. Instead, they use this thing called the Internet. Some people are starting to realize this, which is why the estimated spend on PPC in 2010 will top $7 billion.

With even a small phone book advertisement costing thousands of dollars per year, if not thousands per month for larger advertisements, that is money spent with little ROI. If even half that money was spent on simply optimizing your small business website, you’ll start to show-up for all those searches that will get you customers. While the price for an Inbound Marketing consultant can be several thousand, and good Inbound Marketer will not only help you get found, but also help you convert more visitors into leads.

That’s the beauty of Inbound Marketing. You’re not forced into one, two, or even three categories. Instead, you can go after every word or phrase that will help you get more business. Just being under the label of “plumber Manchester NH” is boring, when a good localization strategy will make sure that you also show up for “how to fix a leaky shower head”, “installing a garbage disposal”, or “frozen pipes NH”.

Next time the phone books come calling, say no thank-you, and then fire-up a search for “Inbound Marketing Strategy” in your city.

photo courtesy of Obsolete: The Book

Any person that knows anything about Search Engine Optimization (SEO) will tell you that the real way to start ranking better is have more inbound links.

So, where does one start getting those links? Well, you can buy links (expensive), ask people (inconsistent), or place your links on sites (easy). Sites like Digg, Reddit, Youtube, and Slashdot make it easy for you to submit content, and get a link to your site.

The best part is that with the amount of traffic that these sites get, you’re likely to get in front of a lot of eyeballs. Mashable recently wrote about how Reddit publicly posted a screen-capture of their Google Analytics numbers. From June 14-July 14, 2010, Reddit had 8 million unique visitors, 36 million visits, and 400,000,000 page views. If you even get a tenth of 1 percent of that traffic to just LOOK at your link, that’s 8,000 people. I can’t think of a small business that wouldn’t mind having 8,000 new people suddenly know about them.

And that’s all free. 8,000 free impressions. Imagine what your local radio station or newspaper would charge you to get you in front of 8,000 for every ad.

In terms of “how to”, it’s pretty simple:

1. Create content that people would actually want to know about (e.g. blog post, video, news release, etc.)
2. Go to Reddit. Click on the big “Submit a Link” button.
3. Create an account.
4. Submit your link.

Voilà! You’ve now started link building. Now that you’ve started here, try the same thing with Digg.

images courtesy of Mashable

Because I spend my days preaching the gospel of inbound marketing, I feel that it would be hypocritical to not actually live by its ideals. For the most part, I already turn to Google the instant I start looking to purchase anything. Whether it’s a new hat or a plumber services, I do my research through the web and my personal networks.

The thing about shopping in this manner is that it really, really works. After I saw someone wearing a baseball cap with a Punisher logo, I wondered if there were other comic book inspired hats. A simple search engine query of “comic book baseball hat” landed me a number of results and prices.

When I needed a plumber or a landscaper, simply appending my city (Manchester, NH) to my searches returned to me a list of possible contractors. In both cases, I visited their sites at night, filled out a form, and converted myself into a lead, and turned into a client the next day.

So, it is my commitment to continue being a consumer/purchaser that rewards companies that embrace inbound marketing.

To this extent, I promise:

1. My list of possible vendors will initially be composed through search engine queries.

2. That I will reach out to my networks via social media, email, phone calls, and text to ask for suggestions or reviews of companies on my list.

3. To cross reference my list of vendors and my network’s review with any additional information available on line, such as user generated reviews, professional reviews, and independent blogs.

4. That I will leave accurate reviews, raves, and rants that will help other searchers in the future. I will do my best to temper any strong emotions, and not use social media simply as a means to strong-arm companies unnecessarily.

5. My activities of search & selection will be my preferred method of buying, but understand that smart marketers will sometimes grab my attention with traditional advertising using remarkable “push” content that may sway my final decision.

So, these 5 points shall be the basis of my Inbound Marketer’s Manifesto.

Any suggestions on how an inbound marketer should drink their own champagne?

Today Google announced that their new indexing system, Caffeine, was completely released across all their systems. Between this, and Google’s personalization of results, the SEO industry is officially dead. D-E-D…dead.

(Okay, let’s take a deep breath and think about this.)

To people that do this type of stuff, this shouldn’t be a surprise. In fact, Google started rolling out Caffeine last fall and many searchers started to be presented with personalized results. At the end of the day, Google is updating their system with an eye to future. Google is trying to make sure that they always give searchers the best results. This now includes social media updates, recently published content, and location based results.

If you really want to see the differences, create a Google Search Story and then compare the results of the video with your own searches. My money says that they’ll be different, and that my searches will yield different results than yours. All this means that “ranking #1″ for a certain search term is an antiquated idea. You might be #1 for a search term Monday-Thursday, but then a Twitter feed or Google Local results outrank you during the weekends or during full moons

(By the way, I really like the Search Story I made for HubSpot: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4pKWJMyrHSU)

But, focusing on rankings has always been a myopic concept. Unless you just want a lot of traffic to just have a lot of traffic, a high ranking for a search term means nothing. A smart marketer is going to find value in rankings because they produce traffic that achieves your metrics of success (e.g. conversions, time on site, pages viewed, etc.)

This means that any SEO firm or consultant that promises a #1 ranking, without telling you how it will actually help your business grow, is nothing more than a Thigh Master infomercial. All hype, but “your results may vary”.

Good content is what people want and Google is going to do everything it can to give searchers the best results. If you make a commitment to create remarkable content for your audience, and optimize it correctly, it will show up for the correct search terms. It’s your job as a business owner or marketer to then convert your traffic into sales leads or transactions.

The search optimization world isn’t ending. The sky isn’t falling. If you’ve embraced Inbound Marketing, you’re already better than your competitor that doesn’t, and now you’re going to be even further ahead.

photo by Refracted Moments

Do you own a restaurant and wonder how social media can help your business? You don’t need a table for one. I recently attended a Social Media Breakfast NH where the theme for the day was “Feeding Social Media”. The two presentations were from local restaurants discussing their use of social media for their business.

Because I always include “open a restaurant” on my list of things to do when I win Powerball, I’ve already started developing a social media strategy for my 5-star establishment (it will be American Fusion, for those that care). So, here is how I would use social media to promote my restaurant and get more people through the door.

Claim Your Brand

There are a number of places online where it is critical that restaurant owners/managers make sure their business information is correct. If you don’t do this, it is easy for there to be incorrect information listed online (e.g. office phone numbers, wrong addresses, misspellings, etc.). Because of this, you need to make sure that you “own” you brand online.

Google Places – This is where you will tell Google all the correct contact information for your location, and to properly claim your address for Google Maps. If you don’t do this, you’re leaving it up to the Google spiders to figure out your address, phone number, etc. I know of two local restaurants that have incorrect phone numbers come-up from a Google search.

Yelp – It’s my understanding that bad reviews are the bane of every restaurant. You can’t stop the reviews, but you can make sure that you’re aware of them. In social media, you don’t get any points for ignoring negative comments, but can win gold stars for being responsive. Make sure your info here is up-to-date, and that you address any negative rants quickly. As a rule of thumb, think about what you would do if this person was making the complaint in person.

Foursquare – While still building steam, this is the most popular location-based social tool. If you leave it up to your fans to create your venue, there could be several instances of your location. Make sure the address, name, and contact information is correct, and ask Foursquare to merge any multiple instances. Also, Foursquare gives you the ability to offer specials to users.

Promote Yourself

Once you make sure that you’ve planted your flag, the next step is to start making sure that it’s easy for hungry surfers to find you. The ultimate goal of promotion through social media is to get people in the door. Because the focus of social media can shift quickly (does anyone remember MySpace?), you don’t want to focus all your online marketing on one service you can’t control. Always, always, use your own web site as the base of your activities.

Facebook – The current 800 lb. Gorilla of the social media world. Set up a Business Page and let people “Like” you. Fill out the basics, post specials, use the Open Table integration (if applicable), and put up pictures of all your great dishes for people to “Like”. The great part of Facebook is that your updates will show up in the News Feed of your fans, and if they comment or like anything that you post, it will then appear in the News Feed of all their friends, letting you reach another audience.

Flickr – Flickr is a media-sharing site and is one of the best places to post pictures. As a restaurant, every plate is an edible piece of art. Takes pictures of everything and post them to Flikr (and Facebook). Use the captions to describe the dish, as well as include a link back to your site. If you want to get advanced, allow your pictures to be used by others, with attribution,  under a Creative Commons license.

Twitter – Twitter is going to be a great way for you to publish your specials, get yourself into the minds (and phones) of your followers, and listen for mentions of your name. Start by creating an account, updating the profile information, picture, and background, and then get tweeting. If you aren’t familiar with Twitter, download HubSpot’s free Twitter for Business Kit. I would also suggest that you do a search for other local restaurants & chefs to follow. Also, Twitter becomes much easier with a tool like TweetDeck.

Those 6 sites/services are great places to get started using social media for your food business. The important thing to remember is that social media isn’t a “set it & forget it” thing; it isn’t a billboard that you create once. You need to be active in the space. Check your accounts once a day, post something new at least one a week, and get out in front of any negative comments. Social media doesn’t have to be scary.

Update (7/13/2010): A good friend of mine, and owner of Porters Bar & Grill in Boston, offered this suggestion: Have your staff, especially bartenders, update their statuses to say that their working. He said it’s amazing how much that will help fill an extra couple of seats for the night.

photo by Uwe Hermann

I know I’m doing back-to-back posts on Foursquare, but I wanted to get this informaiton out before National Foursquare Day.

Foursquare Grader – This is the latest Grader tool developed by HubSpot. Check out how you stack-up, and get suggestions on which should be your next badge.

4Square Badges – This is the most complete listing of Foursquare Badges I’ve seen. Go through the list and learn how to become worthy of badge-envy.

Foursquare Cops – A funny spoof on the “Cops” television show. This is about a pair of out-of-shape, under-qualified cops that keep public safe from Foursquare cheaters.

Foursquare is sweeping the nation, and April 16, 2010 is National Foursquare Day. Why 4/16? Because April is the 4th month, and 16 is four squared (4^2). Get it? (It’s a math joke.)

The really cool part is that some communities, including Manchester, NH,  are starting to rally around National Foursquare Day. I was recently notified that local advertising agency wedü got behind the idea and started a Facebook Fan Page.  As a Manchester resident, I’m psyched to see this type of involvement and wanted to offer some suggestions about how to participate, both for individuals and businesses.

If you aren’t sure what Foursquare is, the Business Insider has a good post on What is Foursquare. As a quick note, this article was written in January of 2010 and states that Foursquare has over 275,000 users. As of April, Foursquare is quickly approaching 1,000,000 users.

Also, if you don’t want to take my advice, take it from Dennis Crowley, Co-Founder of Foursquare. He recently sat down with HubSpot’s Mike Volpe to discuss some tips for businesses using Foursquare. See the interview at HubSpot’s Internet Marketing Blog. (Full Disclosure: I work for HubSpot.)

With the 16th being less than a week away, here are some ways that people & businesses can get the most out of the day:

Foursquare Users

1. Check-in everywhere. It doesn’t matter if you don’t think that CVS isn’t cool enough for a check-in, the point of the day is to Foursquare the world. If you go somewhere, and feel that it legitimately deserves a check-in, do it.
2. Don’t Cheat. Really, this is all about having fun and supporting business in our community. Don’t do fake or drive-by check-ins. It just isn’t cool.
3. Add Venues. Cities like Manchester don’t have a saturation of Foursquare users yet, and not every business is listed as a venue. Do your part and add places to the list. If a venue is already listed, take the extra effort to categorize and tag it.
4. Ask About Foursqare Day Specials. Some businesses don’t know about Foursquare Day. If you’re visiting a business, ask if they are doing anything special for Foursquare Day. Maybe they are, maybe they aren’t. But, I guarantee that if enough people ask, it will create buzz. Oh, and don’t forget to Be Polite.
5. Plan a Swarm. Since Foursquare is a social app, you should get social. Try to get enough people out & in one place so we can get a Swarm Badge. (I suggest the Fisher Cats game that day.)
6. Connect Your Social Media Accounts. I’m usually opposed to having my check-ins go to Twitter and Facebook, because I feel it creates noise in those channels. But, since this day is all about Foursquare, I’m going to say bring the noise, bring the funk.

Businesses

1. Make Sure Your Business Listing is Up to Date. Do a search on Foursquare for your business to make sure everything is correct. If there are multiple entries for you business, you can ask Foursquare to merge the listings.
2. Add To-Dos & Tips for Your Business. To-Do’s are suggestions for what to do, eat, or try at your business. Clue people into something cool, or have them say hi to your rockstar employee. The great thing about Tips & To-Do’s is that Foursquare will offer them up to people when they check-in at your venue, or near it. Picture a potential customer checking-in at the coffee shop across the street and they get a Tip that your business has the world’s best “thing”. That’s timely advertising.
3. Offer a Special. More businesses are starting to offer specials for their Mayors, but that is only 1 person at a time. Because Foursquare Day is a big event, do a Foursquare special for anyone that checks-in at your business on 4/16. Make sure to get your special listed at http://www.foursquaremanchester.com
4. Tell Your Staff. Nothing’s worse than getting all jazzed-up for a special, but getting a blank stare from an employee. Make sure everyone in your organization knows about Foursquare Day.

That’s about it. Get out your Blackberries, Droids, & iPhones, start checking-in, get those badges, and explore Manchester!