HubSpot is brilliant but you can’t afford it

Posted by Chris on September 13th, 2012

HubSpot’s Inbound Marketing system is amazing. Started by ex-Venture Capitalist Brian Halligan and web architect and blogger Dharmesh Shah who basically saw that startups and growth companies needed a new way of marketing, HubSpot is a truly revolutionary concept ( Inbound Marketing ) and system.

As a business angel and sales, marketing and business strategy specialist with startups and growth companies I have recommended HubSpot to a number of my clients. Some have installed HubSpot and I have been privileged to be involved in the installation and operation of the system. One has changed from HubSpot to WordPress. This was a change that I resisted as I was sure that HubSpot style Internet Marketing was the future and would, eventually, lead to great results for my client  but as I debated the pros and cons of HubSpot and WordPress with my client I could see that it just was not going to work for them. It was too expensive and required skills that they and I did not have. Neither did they have the skills required in their partners.

In fact it turned out that HubSpot was moving upmarket -away from S.M.B.’s and towards larger companies and enterprises. I don’t think that it is any mistake that HubSpot’s pricing page’s –   http://www.hubspot.com/pricing/ – highlight a professional package that’s going to cost $600 per month plus, potentially, $1000’s in setup and consulting fees. You would probably be looking at $20,000 per annum as a typical spend. I think HubSpot are being very fair in highlighting that on top of the licensing fee there are other costs aswell. If you don’t have certain skills in house e.g. Landing Page and Call to Action design skills and analytical skills then you will need to find a partner for this and pay them aswell.

Despite all this I am STILL going to recommend that you look at HubSpot and understand what it offers and can achieve before making any decision not to use it. You HAVE to understand what the HubSpot system is trying to achieve ( Visitors, prospects and customers ! ) and you have to understand most of the ways that it achieves this. The HubSpot mantra ” Get Found, Convert and Analyse ” should be burned into your brain in the same way that it is burned into mine.

You must understand that a website is virtually useless if it is not FOUND, if it does not CONVERT visitors into prospects and customers and if you cannot ANALYSE how you managed to get FOUND and CONVERT  visitors to customers.

I can tell you that it is very exciting watching the traffic building to your website which results from the creation of great content and the distribution of that content through social networks.

It is also fantastic to watch how many visitors converted to leads and how many of those converted to orders.

Unfortunately when you are spending around £250 a month ( as my client was doing ) you are not getting the Professional package and you do not get much support so if you can’t do a number of things in house then you are never actually going to achieve the results that you need which means that you will never actually pay for the cost of HubSpot.

This is why I have spent months and months developing the WordPress based Internet Marketing Ecosystem which I believe is more suited to the average SMB and even large business. Of course in the last year or so HubSpot has developed the HubSpot plugin for WordPress and also Dharmesh has emphasized the importance of the WordPress world by investing in WPEngine ( the WordPress focussed Hosting company ).

STOP PRESS !!! January 2013 – The Internet Marketing Ecosystem ( mentioned below ) has now been incorporated into Centripetal Network Consultings’ Digital Marketing Ecosystem. Watch this video >>>> HERE <<<< to see how a system that provides all of the functionality of a HubSpot system at a much lower cost has evolved over the last couple of years.

Internet Marketing Ecosystem – Update, Clarification and Future

Posted by Chris on September 3rd, 2012

The Internet Marketing Ecosystem ( I.M.E. ) has been producing some great results recently even when only partially implemented. You can find previous blogs on the I.M.E by searching on that term here. ( Use search box ). The I.M.E. is a strategy and a process rather than being absolutely rigid about the specific brand of product used. e.g. I recommend the use of WordPress for websites and blogs but websites and blogs based on other technologies and brands may also work using the strategy and process.

It should also be noted that if a website is already in place ( of whatever technology or whoever it is supplied by ) I.M.E. recommended products can be added and the strategy and process employed.

To summarise the recommended components ( products, brands etc ) are:

– A WordPress based website.

– A WordPress based blog.

– A Twylah page.

– Various Social Network pages such as Twitter, Facebook, Google +, Linkedin , Pinterest, digg etc. etc.

The WordPress website and blog and the Twylah page form the ” core ” of the I.M.E. Typically fresh, relevant ” content ” is produced on the blog and the Twylah page ( using the Twylah Power Tweet facility ) and then shared to the Social Network pages ( I use the Twylah share facility which I call Power Sharing ).

If we bear in mind that our overall objective is to get FOUND ( via Google etc. for relevant words and phrases ) to CONVERT visitors into prospects and customers and to ANALYSE how we did it ( basically noting what particular efforts produced the best results with the help of e.g. Google Analytics ).

If we also remember that producing a high ranking ( easily FOUND ) web and blogsite is dependant on ( amongst other things ) – It having relevant, frequently updated content; having on page S.E.O. and also having authoritative backlinks. Whilst conversion relies apon ” channeling ” the visitor through a sales funnel via relevant headlines, landing pages and Calls to Action.

The I.M.E. fulfills all of the above criteria. It would take a long time to explain all of the ways that it does but we can take a few  examples:

A blog posted on the WordPress Blogsite ( or page ) can then be Power Tweeted via the Twylah platform ( initially placing the Power Tweet into your Twitter community ). It can then be ( power ) shared to Facebook, Google +, Linkedin, Pinterest and Digg. This creates backlinks from all of these places to your domain ( the WordPress web/blog and Twylah page are all in your domain ).

It is worth remembering that Google is now looking at the whole picture rather than simply relevant keywords and phrases and backlinks so the fact that a piece of content is being shared ( liked, ReTweeted etc. etc. ) around multiple social networks is a powerful indicator to Google.

Poundbury Systems uses IME for Internet Marketing in Dorset

Posted by Chris on August 25th, 2012

Dorset based computer and telecommunications provider Poundbury Systems is dominating Google searches for ” Managed Backup Dorset ” by using a combination of the Internet Marketing Ecosystem ( IME, see link below ) and it’s own hosting facilities and National IP network ( also see below ).

Recently, Poundbury Systems launched a Managed Data Backup service from it’s Headquarters in Dorset. As part of it’s promotional campaign Poundbury Systems wanted to ensure that it was found for relevant searches using Google and similar search engines ( Many potential customers use search engines to obtain information about particular products or services).

Poundbury Systems has a WordPress based website and blogsite which is hosted in Poundbury’s Hosting Facilities in London. It is important to understand that these are high performance U.K. Hosting Facilities ensuring that a properly structured web/blogsite has the best chance of achieving a high Google search position for relevant search terms. ( Whilst the exact influence of website hosting performance on Google ranking is debated amongst SEO experts, the fact that it is a factor is not usually debated ).

The first thing to understand about the use of an Internet Marketing Ecosystem is that you must understand what search terms you want to rank for ( this means what would someone type into the Google etc search box in order to find your products or services ). In this case the products, services and therefore search terms are ” Managed Data Backup ” and similar and related words and phrases.

The ” Managed Data Backup ” blog post below was created to complement the web page dedicated to that subject here – http://www.poundbury.com/futureline-assure/ . So this meant that there was relevant content available. The links to the web page and blog post were then distributed via Poundbury’s Twitter, Twylah and Facebook pages ( amongst others ).

I also shared the links via my personal Internet Marketing Ecosystem.

The results are pretty stunning with Poundbury Systems occupying the first 4 natural search results ( this may be subject to a particular persons search results but has been tested by a number of people ) when there are nearly 6.5 Million search results ( roughly equates to people searching on this term ). Other search positions are also occupied by either the Poundbury web/blogsite or elements of my IME e.g. there is a Twylah post appearing.

There is no Pay Per Click payment being made and no ” Black Hat ” SEO techniques have been used. This is simply achieved by understanding what the company wishes to be found for and writing and distributing relevant content. i.e. Content Marketing.

It is anticipated that this particular blog post will be found by people searching on the phrase ” Internet Marketing in Dorset ” or similar and will therefore be of interest to those who might want to use Poundbury System’s excellent Hosting facilities and the Internet Marketing Ecosystem.

Relevant Links:

Internet Marketing Ecosystem link : http://mandarainmaker.co.uk/wordpress/2012/03/12/the-internet-marketing-ecosystem-this-is-the-way-it-is/

Managed Data Backup link : http://www.poundbury.com/poundbury-launches-fully-managed-data-backup-solution-from-dorset/

Poundbury National IP Network link : http://www.poundbury.com/internet-connection-dorset/

Internet Marketing Strategy – Lichfield – Update using IME

Posted by Chris on July 23rd, 2012

When it comes to dominating the search results for Internet Marketing Strategy Lichfield the Internet Marketing Ecosystem ( IME ) is clearly working really well. A search on ” Internet Marketing Strategy Lichfield ” today shows that we have FREE ( natural ) listings for 5 of the results on the first page.

The M&A Rainmaker ( WordPress ) blog – this one – heads the listings. Followed by a Pinterest listing, a Digg listing and a Twylah listing. The Pinterest and Twylah listings mirror their growth in the Alexa rankings ( just read this morning that Pinterest is now the No 3 social network ). Despite Digg’s problems it remains a solid way to get a Google ranking and in my estimation is a key component of the IME.

My IME is now benefiting from years of continuous content updating and posting. Remember that in the IME the WordPress website/blog and the Twylah page are the ” core ” of the IME. Often ( but not always ) content is generated via this WordPress blog and then posted to Facebook, Twitter ( which automatically generates posts to Twylah ) , Linkedin, Google + and Digg. Posts to Twylah can be re-posted to Facebook, Linkedin, Google + and Digg ( to name a few ) if required.

In addition to building our networks on each of these social networking platforms we are also creating links from e.g. Twitter, Facebook, Twylah, Pinterest, Linkedin, Google+ and Digg back to the M&A Rainmaker WordPress blogsite.

Each of these systems are powerful in their own right but when combined in the Internet Marketing Ecosystem they are virtually unbeatable – as the Google search results show.

Remember that some of the keys to a high ranking website ( one that gets found for the searches that you want it to be found for ) is that it has relevant, continuously updated content; that it has on page SEO and that it has authoritative links from websites that are regarded as having authority. All of these criteria have been completely satisfied. Mostly though we have to make sure that our posts talk about the subject that we want to be found for in an appropriate way. Google ALWAYS tries to give searchers the results that they want.

Talking about individual performance on specific networks there have been some wonderful comments on Twitter lately from friends in the U.S.A. ( you will remember that a key part of my success with the IME has been knowledge of systems like Twylah and Pinterest – which eminate from the U.S. ).

Here’s a comment from Mike Martino

LICHFIELD England – Many great philosophers have come from the City of Lichfield yet none have mastered the art of  like Chris Windley.

who has been very kind and generous in his praise of my activity on Twitter.

 

Chris Windley is now a Six Figure Mentor. Find out how to get more traffic, visitors, leads, orders and CASH from your website. Turn your Internet presence from a liability into an ASSET !!! Click >>>>>>>>>>>>HERE <<<<<<<<<<<< for more information.

 

 

XeeMe and Twylah point the way to Internet Marketing Ecosystem

Posted by Chris on April 22nd, 2012

When I wrote the blog http://mandarainmaker.co.uk/wordpress/2012/03/12/the-internet-marketing-ecosystem-this-is-the-way-it-is/ recently it was my view on the ” state of the art ” in terms of creating what I call an Internet Marketing Ecosystem.

Last Week I was involved in the XeeMe Xweek chat about Twylah. http://xeeme.com/_/system/appspub/XWeek/XWeek-Twylah.cfm This was a great event where Kelly Kim, co-founder of Twylah got to answer set and spontaneous  questions about Twylah. Based on this online chat session ( my first such XeeMe chat ) I highly recommend these chats.

Participants in the chat included Mindy Koch ( http://xeeme.com/MindyKoch ) and Irene Kimmel ( http://xeeme.com/irenekimmel ) and I was quite fascinated to see their XeeMe profiles ( the first time I had really seen anyone’s XeeMe profile ). As per my Internet Marketing Ecosystem philosophy they have a web/blogsite ( both WordPress ) which are themselves pretty state of the art and then multiple social media accounts, bookmarking sites and Internet Influence summaries ( Klout, Kred, PeerIndex ).

XeeMe has little ” How active am I on this site ” indicators which I quite liked and it’s sort of good to see that Mindy and Irene are not as active on some as they are on others ( because I have no idea how they would maintain all these presences !! ).

Some of my influences in coming up with the description of the Internet Marketing Ecosystem include a number of ” auto-posting systems ” whereby a piece of content ( text, picture or video )  can be automatically posted to 10’s or even 100’s of social media and bookmarking sites automatically thereby creating 10’s or 100’s of powerful backlinks to e.g. a blog post almost immediately. I signed up to at least 2 of these auto-posting systems but I never actually used them in anger for loads of reasons including the fact that I thought Google would probably blacklist them at some point.

The objective of these systems always fascinated me though.

At that time I was focused on being FOUND on the Internet i.e. getting a high ranking position for a particular search word or phrase. Later on, with the help of HubSpot I became more interested in not only being found but also converting visitors to the content into long lasting subscribers and hopefully revenue generating customers.

Mindy’s ( WordPress ) Blog at  http://social-drivers.com/ reflects her XeeMe profile in having Subscribe areas, Influence areas and Twylah trending ( Twitter ) topics.

The CONVERSION of visitors through appropriate Landing Pages and Calls to Action is an area that Twylah helps with. ( e.g. Posts on Twylah automatically convert into Landing Pages ).

The other area that I have not looked into is what Mindy and Irene are using to ANALYSE where visitors to their web/blog sites are coming from ( there are a lot of possible sources bearing in mind the extent of their ecosystems ).

It is also not obvious what systems they are using to MONITOR relevant conversations.

I also thought it was interesting that Mindy had XeeMe and Twylah as her ” summarisers “. Here is her Twitter summary:

Mindy Koch

Mindy Koch

@mindykoch

~SEO, Social Media, and Brand Positioning Strategist~ My entire social presence:  My tweeting presence: 

Maryland · http://XeeMe.com/MindyKoch

WordPress then Digg then Twylah top Lichfield Internet Strategy Search for Chris Windley

Posted by Chris on April 7th, 2012

Key components of the ” Internet Marketing Ecosystem ” by Chris Windley are a WordPress based web or blogsite; the Twylah page ( derived automatically from Tweets on Twitter ) and the use of Digg.com. ( Alongside Social Media sites like Facebook, Twitter itself, Linkedin and Google +.)

WordPress currently ranks as 18th in the worlds most ” powerful ” websites. Digg ranks 186. Twylah ranks 10,935. ( http://www.alexa.com/siteinfo/twylah.com ).

Google is the top website, Facebook the 2nd, Twitter the 9th and Linkedin the 12th. So, when you post something on a WordPress web/blogsite
( like this one ) then re-post on Digg, Twylah and all four Social Networks mentioned it is not particularly surprising that a search on ”  Internet Marketing Strategy Lichfield ”  reveals that the WordPress post itself is at search position  3, the Digg post at position 4 and the Twylah position 8 on the first page of a search that has some 244,000 results.

As we know getting Found for a particular search term or phrase is a function of a web or blogsite having relevant content, on page SEO, high quality links and a powerful platform. All of these ingredients are present in the ” Internet Marketing Ecosystem ”  that I have created.

The core or epicentre of the Ecosystem is the web/blogsite and the Twylah page the other websites mentioned are supporting players to the content posted on the web/blogsite. The Ecosystem is extraordinarily powerful when it comes to achieving a high ranking position for a particular word or phrase.

This is a content driven strategy – it is not an SEO driven strategy and therefore it is complimentary to Googles recent announcement that it will penalise over-SEO’d websites.

N.B. Chris Windley’s Brandyourself profile can be found >>>>>>>> HERE <<<<<<<<<<<<<<

The Internet Marketing Ecosystem – This is the way it is !

Posted by Chris on March 12th, 2012

For a change I am not going to write this blog with a view to it getting found ( recently I was talking to someone about the fact that – for those in the know – most content is ” written to rank ” – in search engines. ) I have loads of content on here that is written to achieve a ranking objective.

I also saw recently some debate about the fact that a website should be built to be found ( for the products and services that you provide ) with some people saying that a website was for ” validation ” rather than being found via search engines and converting visitors into prospects and later, customers. Frankly I think that is ” tosh ” and anyone who builds a website and does not want it to be found is crazy !!

There are still loads of people who think that the only thing a website needs to be found for is the company name – LOL !! ( If someone knows your company name then one of your other marketing methods has already worked ).

The fact is that it is not even about building a website any more it is about building an effective Internet Marketing Ecosystem ( as I call it ).

If we consider what one of the leaders of ” Inbound Marketing ” ( HubSpot ) has done then it has moved from providing software that graded the effectiveness of a website ( Website Grader ) to software that grades the effectiveness of the Internet Marketing Ecosystem ( Marketing Grader ).

An effective Internet Marketing Ecosystem will comprise of the following components:

A ” website “.

A blog.

A number of Social media accounts ( Linkedin, YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, Google + etc etc )

These are the basic requirements. Knowledge and membership of other sites is also required/advised like:

Internet Press Release sites.

Digg.com

Various ” Bookmarking” sites.

Twylah.com

The website and blogsite ( which may be one and the same ) should be based on a ” powerful platform “. WordPress would be a typical example of this. ( WordPress ranks 18 on Alexa so you are building your content on one of the most powerful platforms in the world ). Platforms like HubSpot’s are also becoming important ( for a variety of reasons including being ” powerful ” ).

If you build your website on a “powerful platform ” and then get the on page SEO right ( Titles, tags etc  ), populate it with relevant ( keyword and phrase aware ) content and then keep blogging on a regular basis you will get noticed by the search engines ( spidered ) and you will start to collect links ( from other websites ) to your website.

( In doing the foregoing you will have fulfilled most of the conventional requirements – On page SEO, Relevant changing content and a start on backlinks ).

If you build networks on e.g. Twitter, Facebook, Linkedin, Google + and YouTube then in addition to the engagement that you can achieve with fellow members you will be able to post items with links back to your web and blog sites. Whilst the value of backlinks from Social Networks is debated ( amongst SEO types ) there is a value and in any event prospective customers are being driven ( led? ) back to your web/blogsites.

Of course there is a way to build networks ( on social networks ) which will be covered elsewhere, but the fact is that they are a necessary part of the ” ecosystem “.

In order to ” convert ” all the visitors to our website and blogsite into prospects we will need ” email sign up box’s ” and various ” Call to Actions ” e.g. sign up here and you can download a white paper. You may even have a ” Buy one now ” button where appropriate.

Finally you will want to know what aspects of the ” ecosystem ” are working best in terms of ” Being Found and Converting visitors to leads “. Are they coming from you being found in search engines ( for your keywords and phrases )?; are people just typing in your company name or url?; are your email marketing campaigns working best?; is Twitter, Facebook, Linkedin or Google + the best at sending you new visitors.

This requires an analysis system like Google Analytics ( plus other apps ? ) or an ” all-in-one ” system like HubSpot.


Copyright © 2007 M & A Rainmaker. All rights reserved.