Lessons Learned From Inbound Marketing

We're living a revolution!  We're living a revolution in the way people communicate.  We're living a revolution in the way people find products and choose companies to do business with. We're living a revolution where the companies that attract our attention are not the ones with big budgets and glitzy TV ads.  Inbound Marketing: Get Found Using Google, Social Media, and Blogs (New Rules Social Media Series), by Brian Halligan and Dharmesh Shah, is about gettting found online, through search engines and on sites like Facebook, Twitter and YouTube. The great thing about inbound marketing is that anyone can do it.  It doesn't require a lot of money, but it does require an investment of your time and creativity.
I am fairly new at blogging and Internet Marketing so I was eager to read this book and find information that could help my marketing endeavors.  Here is a list of things that I learned from Inbound Marketing;

1. You do not have to invest thousands of dollars on web site design.  The authors suggest that you add a blog to your site.  This is something that can be updated on a regular basis.  It is important to create lots of compelling content that will attract people to your site. 
2. Measure the outreach of your web site by using a Web analytics tool like Website Grader. This is a free sevice that offers a wealth of information. It is important to track the number of other web sites linking to your site. Each time a new web site links to yours, it is a vote for your site being "remarkable". It is also important to track your Delcious bookmarks and the number of your pages being indexed by Google.
3. When it comes to SEO, the most important part of your blog article is the title.  If you want articles to be read and spread, then you need to get really good at crafting catchy titles. Many copywriting experts recommend that you spend half your time writing the article and half your time writing a good title. 
4. You should encourage blog readers to leave comments.  Your request for comments at the bottom of every blog post should look something like this; "Please let me know your thoughts in the comments section below."
5. Use Google Reader to subscribe to blogs that are relevant to your business and interests. Leave thoughtful comments on these blogs on a regular basis. You want the author (and readers) of the blog to notice and appreciate your comments and then wander over to your blog for a look. 
6. This book provides detailed information on how to get found using social media sites. The authors highly recommend the following sites; Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Digg and StumbleUpon.
7. "Conversion" is the art and science of encouraging site visitors to further engage with your business. It is important to provide compelling call-to-action for visitors to further engage: subscribing to your e-mail newsletter, filling out a form to receive a free product, adding your blog to their RSS reader, entering a contest, etc. 
8. This book provides very useful information about recruiting, evaluating and developing inbound marketing experts. The authors provide interview questions to determine if the candidate is a "Digital Citizen" or a "Digital Tourist."
9. The authors provide important information about hiring a Public Relations Agency.  Do you really need a PR agency?  How do you evaluate a PR agency?  Once you get a PR agency, how do you measure their success?
10. You must have commitment, patience and learning to be a success at inbound marketing.  The authors suggest that you go to your calendar and block out some time every day of the week for the next three months during which you will create content, optimize that content for search engines and social media, publish that content, market the content, and measure the results.

This book review is just a brief glimpse of the information available in Inbound Marketing: Get Found Using Google, Social Media, and Blogs (New Rules Social Media Series).  I recommend this book to Internet marketing beginners as well as experts.  The book includes an excellent "Tools and Resources" section that you can use for future reference.  Now is the time to get on track with inbound marketing.  The future is bright for savvy marketers who will implement the information in this book.

Please let me know your thoughts in the comments section below.