Follow Companies on LinkedIn

Last week LinkedIn announced a feature that we’re all familiar with. Following is a social media verb that has been synonymous with Twitter and to some extent Facebook when you would “fan” company. Now you can follow a company on LinkedIn.

No Brainer for Sales

Every V.P. of Sales on the planet should hold a brief meeting with their sales team to encourage each sales person to follow companies of interest on LinkedIn. You can now follow activities of a company including new hires, promotions, announcements.  Sales people can keep tabs on activities in companies of interest. It’s especially valuable to follow activity of individuals to learn of opportunities in your relationship building and business development plans.

No Brainer for Partner Marketing

Many of us partner with other companies whose products or services we resell or support. Partner marketing is a valuable aspect of managing relationships with strategic partners. For example, we are a Certified HubSpot Partner. So, naturally I follow HubSpot on LinkedIn as shown above and here below.

In the notification settings I’ve chosen to get a weekly digest of news from HubSpot. This can be a simple reminder for me to check in on their activities so I can stay current on activities at the company.

LinkedIn doesn’t get as much hype as Facebook and Twitter. There are many people however who recognize how valuable it is for business networking, relationship building and business development. This new feature allows you to follow a company in a new way that can be very productive. It’s very simple. Anyone in a business development role should consider following companies of interest.

Which companies do you follow on LinkedIn? I invite you to follow Find and Convert on LinkedIn.

Interview with Brian Halligan, Co-Author of Inbound Marketing

Podcast interview with Brian Halligan, CEO of HubSpot.

I interviewed Brian Halligan, CEO of HubSpot to discuss his new book, Inbound Marketing, Get Found Using Google, Social Media and Blogs, which Brian co-authored with his co-founder and fellow MIT alumnus Dharmesh Shah. First, I asked Brian to briefly describe HubSpot. In full disclosure, Find and Convert is a HubSpot partner.

HubSpot is an inbound marketing software company which is about three years old now. HubSpot helps companies transform their marketing strategy from the ground up through a methodology which is implemented and managed on their web-based software platform. HubSpot software helps marketers run their organic search engine optimization, PPC and social media strategies with analytics and lead intelligence to measure results.

Inbound Marketing – The Book

Brian describes his new book as a cookbook for marketers that provides the transformation from old style marketing to the new inbound marketing. The book describes how marketing has changed over the past 5 years. In his book, Brian and Dharmesh outline the five steps in becoming an inbound marketing centric business.

1. Create lots of content
2. Optimize that content for Google and social media
3. Spread that content
4. Measure results
5. Convert website visitors to leads and customers

A New Mindset

If you’ve read my blog before or listened to any of my recent podcasts you’ve heard me say that the new marketing is a mindset. It’s a new way of thinking. It’s all about creating content and building relationships through your content. As Brian points out in his book, marketers need to make the shift away from interruptive marketing to inbound marketing. He says the modern marketer is half a traditional marketer and half a content creator. When a marketer creates “remarkable” content, other content producers will remark about your content. In fact others will link to your content. And, links are the currency of the web which will produce traffic to your website. In fact, Brian says the modern marketer’s content becomes a magnet to their website hub.

Not Your Father’s Marketing

I asked Brian how marketers can embrace inbound marketing? In response he takes us on a trip down memory lane (you may not be old enough to remember his story). He says that marketing hasn’t changed much over the last 50 years. But, during the past 5 years it’s changed a lot and will continue to change in the coming years. In 1965 television ads worked exceptionally well. People had to watch the ads. They had no choice. In fact, they had few choices in their media consumption. Today, consumers can block out ads across most media platforms including television, radio. email and web browsers. In short, consumers can filter out most advertiser’s interruptions.

Are You Worthy?

In years past any company with a healthy budget could advertise and sell products. Even bad products could be marketed and sold with a big budget.  Today, the friction is far less for great ideas with less money required to get the word out. Good products with good positioning and happy customers can sell by spreading the word around the web. Bad products (unworthy) can’t hide anywhere in the current marketing paradigm.

Measuring Results

A common question asked by marketers about inbound marketing is how do you measure results? Not surprisingly, Brian and Dharmesh devoted a chapter to this question. Their advice is to look at campaigns using the funnel metaphor. Study the flow of visitors to your website hub, the conversion to leads, to opportunities and ultimately to customers. Study all the web channels that filled your funnel and see which ones have produced the best results in the funnel. The ones that work best you should  “double down” on and nix or revise the ones that don’t.

What’s Remarkable Content?

I asked Brian how does a widget manufacturer produce remarkable content? One of the case studies in his book is Whole Foods. They are a natural and organic grocery food retailer. As part of their inbound marketing strategy one of their buyers blogs during his trips to France.  He blogs about his meals during his trips, and the cheeses he bought on his trips. He cites another example of a fishing rod manufacturer who creates lots of content about the industry, not about the product. The magic sauce of inbound marketing is not to sell your product through your content. He says marketers should turn their website into a magnet about your industry to attract people. Invite customers, analysts and others interested in industry topics to engage with your content. Allow your content to become a magnet and engage people in ways that can convert into leads. It’s a very common mistake when marketers jump on the web and create content all about their products.  Marketers can be very successful inbound marketers if they talk about industry issues and watch others link to your content.

Watch Your Competition

Marketers can easily watch their competitors in the age of social media and tools like Google Alerts. HubSpot created a series of tools under the Grader brand. Marketers can use Website Grader to measure their own websites, as well as their competitors side by side.  Other Grader tools such as Twitter Grader and Facebook Grader allow marketers to watch their competitors on a frequent basis with a lot of transparency. Marketers can watch the competitive trends. Startups can be very aggressive by watching competitors closely.

Why Now?

In this chapter Brian and Dharmesh stress that marketers should not wait to embrace inbound marketing.  The barriers to entry to beat the top content producers are high. The longer a marketer waits to become an inbound marketer the harder it will be to catch up. All the great content that marketers produce will generate links back to their website hub. The content becomes a permanent asset on the web.

Marketing Crystal Ball

I asked Brian what’s in his marketing crystal ball? To answer this question, he referenced the large old style marketers like P&G who have allocated big money to advertising over the past 50 years. This approach to marketing built Madison Ave. Brian predicts that in the next 50 years inbound marketing will flip Madison Ave on its head. Advertisers have fewer media outlets to turn to because consumers are watching less television and reading less print. Instead consumers are going online using Google, social media and blogs. Brian predicts the next group of companies that will become Google-size success stories are those who engage on the web through remarkable content. The next Coke will not be an interruptive marketer. The next Coke will be content producers with a great product. I partially disagree. I think this will happen in the next 5 or 10 years. It won’t take 50 years. Just look at Zappos.

Two Real World Examples

I asked Brian for two great examples of inbound marketing. But, I required that he describe his own company as one of them. You may think this was a softball. But, the truth is that HubSpot is a poster child for inbound marketing. I asked Brian to describe their success with HubSpot TV. He described the early days of HubSpot before the product launched.  He was actively blogging about inbound marketing several times each week.  He rapidly adopted the mindset of constantly creating content. So, it started even before HubSpot launched version one of their software product. This approach eventually led to the development of their free Grader products (great content) described earlier. One day one of HubSpot’s product developers, Karen Rubin, suggested starting a TV show! Though some people initially laughed, she convinced V.P. Marketing Mike Volpe, himself a prolific content producer. The rest is history. HubSpot TV is more than one year old now with a loyal and sizable audience. It airs live every Friday at 4pm eastern and is syndicated in iTunes ranking #1 for inbound marketing and other related terms. Shameless plug: I was a guest on HubSpot TV in August. I had a blast!

The other success story Brian told is from his book about a company called 37Signals. I learned that this company has long provided inspiration to HubSpot. They are a small software company out of Chicago with really great products. They created a wildly successful blog called Signal Versus Noise. This blog was once a top 100 blog. They also created a book, and their reputation spread very quickly. I pointed out (unknown to Brian) that we are a 37Signals customer. We use their Basecamp product in our client engagements. And, we learned about Basecamp through word of mouth. Proof positive that inbound marketing is for real.

At the end of my interview with Brian he said something which I believe is profound in its simplicity and its reality. Brian said “Inbound Marketing is not rocket science. The sooner you do it the better off you are!”

Brian, I couldn’t agree with you more…I wish you and Dharmesh success with your new book, Inbound Marketing which is available everywhere.

Inbound Marketing Book Review

I’m writing a review of the new book Inbound Marketing: Get Found Using Google, Social Media and Blogs by Brian Halligan and Dharmesh Shah. I haven’t read the book yet.

There are two questions I need to answer before you read my review. First, why am I reviewing a book I haven’t yet read? And, why am I reviewing a book when I have a book of my own to promote?

Reviewing this book before I’ve read it is easy because I know a lot about this topic and about the author’s credentials.  In case you don’t know, Brian Halligan and Dharmesh Shah are the co-founders of HubSpot. In full disclosure, my inbound marketing agency, Find and Convert, is a HubSpot partner. In short, we are so aligned with every word that comes from HubSpot that endorsing this book site unseen is a no brainer. Let’s put it this way. If I didn’t align with this book it would call into question our own belief in inbound marketing principles.  And, nothing could be further from reality than anything short of full embracement of inbound marketing strategies from the founders of HubSpot.

As for the second question, even though I have my own book to promote, I’m not greedy. Inbound Marketing is a book that supports everything I stand for professionally.

In Inbound Marketing you’ll learn or gain further insights into why every business needs to become a magnet to its customers by being easily found on the web. You’ll learn how people don’t tolerate outdated sales messages and outdated shouting through outdated marketing media where the marketer has a one-way message mentality. You’ll learn how any competitor can out market another competitor through remarkable content. You’ll learn how social media is not an option for any business. You’ll learn how to produce leads and convert leads into customers through inbound marketing. You’ll learn how to build and retain your staff for an inbound marketing strategy.

Inbound Marketing, the book, is full of examples of companies who employ compelling content marketing strategies that attract buyers through the web.

Here’s a chapter breakdown of Inbound Marketing, the book.

Shopping Has Changed, Has Your Marketing?
Is Your Website a Marketing Hub?
Are You Worthy?
Create Remarkable Content
Get Found in the Blogosphere
Getting Found in Google
Get Found in Social Media
Convert Visitors into Leads
Convert Prospects into Leads
Convert Leads to Customers
Make Better Marketing Decisions
Picking and Measuring Your People
Picking and Measuring a PR Agency
Watch Your Competition
On Commitment Patience and Learning
Why Now?
Tools and Resources
Tips from the Trenches for Startups

In a few days I’ll launch a podcast interview with Brian Halligan discussing Inbound Marketing and its strategic impact on businesses around the globe. If you want to be notified of that podcast interview subscribe to my blog in the upper right.

Inbound Marketing is a book I’ll recommend to all our clients. I recommend you put it on your reading list.

YouTube or MyTube? Video Content Marketing

Podcast/Video Interview with Shaun Pope of Endavo Media

This podcast interview with Shaun is about using video content marketing in a Marketing 2.0 strategy. Shaun is the co-author of the video chapter in my Marketing 2.0. social media book. Endavo Media is an Internet TV platform that allows a marketer to easily upload video content, brand it, control it and monetize it. It allows any marketer to create “branded entertainment.” Shaun points out that those companies having the most success with video have fun with it!

A video excerpt of this interview will be posted on the branded Find and Convert video channel.

Marketing 2.0: Content Marketing  & Relationship Building

YouTube is a popular tool. Shaun refers to it as: “YouTube is really their tube.” While YouTube has ease of use and wide distribution in its favor, the reality is that YouTube gets all the branding benefit of your video. Your video on YouTube   brings the audience to their platform, not your platform. Marketers should strive to bring their audience to a branded entertainment destination.

There is some value to uploading video on YouTube. It’s a free video service.  It’s easy. Your videos are  displayed by topic. But, because your video topic is tagged, YouTube will display other videos with similar tags. So, people can easily find your competitors videos or get distracted by other videos because YouTube will display “like” videos. In other words, you can lose control of your audience on YouTube.

In a branded video channel you maintain full control of your video content and give your target audience a branded entertainment experience. You control the calls to action, the links, the messaging, the channels and generally the whole experience.

I refer to the branded entertainment concept as “my corporate tube.”

Examples of Companies using Video Successfully

Rick Short, MarCom Director at Indium Corp., has produced video about their solder paste product. Some of his videos are funny. But the humor is generally only humorous to their target audience. It’s like an inside joke. Outsiders wouldn’t consider it funny. Like the video of Rick giving his wife a present at a restaurant. The present was a tub of solder paste. His wife didn’t think it was funny. But, his audience does…These funny videos strengthen relationships with his global audience by humanizing an otherwise technical topic.

TurfNet: They are an association of golf course administrators.  TurfNet TV uses fun and humorous content. They recognize the importance of ongoing story telling that attracts their audience.

HubSpot TV: Weekly internet TV show on Friday at 4pm hosted by Karen Rubin and Mike Volpe.  They deliver great tips and advice on inbound marketing strategies. I like that they emphasize the low cost infrastructure of HubSpot TV. They use a camcorder and show topics on a plain sheet of paper. They understand that video is important, but it’s a cog in the wheel. They produce a lot of content across multiple social web platforms, blogs, Twitter, forums and video.

Many people in today’s global economy have basic video production skills because the tools are so readily available to the masses. Whereas in years past video was restricted to professionals with expensive gear.

Market Leverage: Affiliate Marketing TV

Market Leverage is an affiliate marketing network. They bring together content publishers and merchants. They promote different offers from publishers to affiliates on their branded Internet TV channel. They have a lot of fun with it. Their audience understands them and enjoys their video.

Strenghthening Your Brand

A weak brand = weak sales. A strong brand can result in strong sales. People buy from people they are comfortable with. Video content goes a long way toward straightening your brand. Video content should be a staple in very Marketing 2.0 strategy.

Video content production is a terrific way to bridge the gap between sellers and buyers.

I have produced a brief summary of my book: Marketing 2.0 on my branded video using the Endavo Media platform. It is MyTube. Check it out.

I hope you’ve been inspired to use video content in your Marketing 2.0 strategy!  Don’t hesitate to share your comments below about how you’re using video or other examples of Marketing 2.0 companies doing it.

@berniebay

Podcasting Tips From Master Host Susan Bratton

Podcast Interview with Susan Bratton, CEO of Personal Life Media.

As a podcaster, I have long been a fan of a handful of other podcasts that cover the topics that I cover, namely web marketing, new media, online marketing, and all related topics. One of my favorite podcasts is produced by Susan Bratton, called DishyMix, a podcast show where Susan interviews interesting and accomplished guests in and around marketing, advertising and new media. So, I invited Susan to be interviewed for my podcast and she graciously accepted…Boy was it fun!

Susan has many attributes I enjoy and I will share them with you in this blog post. But, you should listen to the entire podcast to learn how Susan is making an impact in our economy and how you can too by following her tips. No matter your industry, Susan’s advice can be applied with measurable results.

Susan is the co- founder and CEO of Personal Life Media, a media publishing company for people on the leading edge of culture. Susan is a Silicon Valley exec who knows everybody in new media, advertising and anything marketing. Susan is widely adored and recognized as a “super connector” among interesting and influential people in the web 2.0 and new media world.

PLM is about helping people change their lives. Susan calls it edutainment. Each one of Susan’s DishyMix podcasts make me a little smarter.  She interviews fabulously interesting people. In each of her interviews she seeks to bring her audience “brain science,” personal growth and leadership examples. She brings her guest’s deep expertise to her audience while also about allowing you to get to know each of them as a human being. This combination of professional expertise and human interest makes DishyMix a very engaging podcast show!

From 16 to 40 and Counting

Susan launched Personal Life Media with 16 shows. Now PLM is comprised of 40 shows and growing. Susan recognized that podcasting is a communication platform that allows anyone who views herself as a publisher of content (an individual or a business), to do just that. Publishers have always produced a profit through paid sponsors, paid advertisers and paid subscribers. That’s exactly how Personal Life Media exists in our eco system. Susan has transferred this economic model to the podcasting medium with success that isn’t slowing down.

In addition to the 40 shows PLM is launching a new category called “online information products.” These will comprise ebooks that offer their target audience multiple benefits through a combination of audio lessons, video lessons and text based content. PLM has 15 information products in the hopper!

Podcasting as a Business

In December 2008 Lee Odden created a list of the top podcasts. DishyMix came in first in social media podcasts and my Find and Convert podcast came in third in the fan voting (Susan referred to it as a bake-off).

Susan is quick to point out that podcasting is a medium for marketers to get their message out to a target audience. Susan’s advice to businesses is to consider podcasting when one or more people in their business are comfortable in front a microphone and/or camera and a commitment can be made to producing regular podcast shows. Most businesses have plenty of content which can be re-purposed into a podcast. Interviewing interesting guests is a common approach in any industry. While monetizing podcasts can be achieved through advertising, sponsorships and a subscription model, most often a business can monetize their podcasts by using it as an effective way to communicate to their customers and surrounding community. In short, podcasting is an effective medium to build relationships with your customers and differentiate your business.

Susan’s advice on business podcasting includes the suggestion that a podcast can be better than a blog if the podcaster is one who doesn’t like to write but likes to speak. “You must love it. If you like to talk rather than write and you can sustainably do it, it’s a great communication medium,” says Susan.

Any business can tap into an existing or new audience through iTunes, which is a free distribution channel for podcasts. Businesses who create a podcast show are using new media as a corporate communications vehicle.

Talk Show Tips: 72 Secrets “Master Host” Techniques

Susan’s new e-book was inspired by her rapid success in podcasting. She humbly realized that her success qualifies her as a “master host” and she set out to create a package of information sharing tips. And boy did she ever! Talk Show Tips is packed with audio, video and text based tips that will make any podcaster, no matter how experienced, a more effective show host.

Talk show Tips provides podcast show hosts practical ways to organize a show. It offers awesome preparation tips for each interview so that your guest sees how prepared you are for the interview with killer questions and background. It also offers communication guidelines with your guest so they feel prepared for your interview. The ebook also shows how to conduct and promote a flawless podcast interview.

I suggested that Susan come back on my show in the future after I have finished consuming all the content in Talk Show Tips. I was truly blown away by all the content in her ebook but I didn’t finish it in time for this interview. She agreed to come back to see the difference (before and after)…

Measuring Results

I asked Susan how she measures results for all PLM shows, including DishyMix. Susan uses a service from VoloMedia. This service measures how many people have downloaded a show with ads in it. It measures completed downloads, not just clicks on a podcast file. Their numbers are reliable allowing her to measure the penetration of her shows.  Volomedia allows Susan to say that there are about 1 million downloads per month of her 40 shows on Personal Life Media. Of course, the ultimate measurement is the revenue she produces through her advertisers and soon from subscription sales and online information products.

Memorable Show Guests on DishyMix

I asked Susan to name some memorable guests from her DishyMix show. That’s a tough question with sooooo many fabulous guests. But, here is a short list she mentioned:  Sir Ken Robinson, author of The Element; Dacher Keltner, author of The Science of a Meaningful Life; Linda Resnik, author of a new book, “Rubies in the Orchard: How to Uncover Hidden Gems in Your Business” is half marketing genius and half auto-biography of an amazing billionaires.  Other notable guests include Steve Wosniak, Marcus Buckingham and Bert Decker.

A Memorable Speaking Experience

Susan emceed a conference called Happiness and Its Causes. Susan was a little nervous before the event due to the anxiety from some of the organizers.   A friend advised her to imagine a golden chord extending from her body as a tap root anchored into the earth. She advised Susan to take a deep breath and blow it through the grounding-chord to relieve all the stress. It worked and Susan went on to emcee a very successful event, which is a common occurrence for her.

Susan’s Three Pillars of Social Media Marketing in Business

Listening: The most popular action in social media among businesses. You can learn a lot about your customers, your market, your competitors and your employees by listening.

Appvertising: As Susan explains “Brands who create useful aps or sponsor useful aps for their target consumers are brilliant players at a high-level of sophistication in the social influence marketing sphere.” She cites examples such as ClearSpring, Gigya and RockYou! as well as SocialMedia.com and ContextOptional.

Participation: Facebook fan pages such as the Find and Convert fan page and the DishyMix Fan Club where Susan gives away all kinds of goodies to her listeners (I could learn something from this – huh).  Susan also cites consumer generated content experiences like HP on YouTube described in an interview with Daina Middleton as well corporate Twitter accounts like Personal Life Media’s Twitter account.

Inspiration, Entertainment, Education

My interview with Susan Bratton was inspiring, entertaining and educational. I guess I can say it was edutainment! Susan’s passion and intellect are enjoyable. Her advice is commendable. Her enthusiasm is contagious.

Susan is simply a fun gal with a ton of wisdom and success to share with you and me. I hope you enjoy the podcast. I’d like to hear from you with your comments about this interview including questions for Susan for the next podcast.

Follow Susan Bratton on Twitter.

Follow Bernie Borges on Twitter.

Connecting to Twitter Followers Through the Mail

Podcast Interview with Steve Tingiris: CEO, Enthusem.

Steve Tingiris is a serial entrepreneur currently working on Enthusem which is his third venture.   Enthusem is a very interesting play on social media marketing.  In fact, it’s a totally different twist on any kind of marketing.  Steve’s premise for creating Enthusem is based on a revelation that came to him during his second venture at ProspectSmarter.

Steve understands that traditional marketing is about filling the top of the sales funnel to get results through the bottom. Historically, marketers attempt to get their message in front of as many targeted people as possible (the top of the funnel).  Usually response rates in the 1, 2 or 3% range would produce respectable results. Steve noticed that even the most creative and compelling marketing campaigns have produced lower and lower response rates in recent years. The problem is (in part) we all get bombarded with so many electronic messages it’s hard for marketers to stand out.

Steve believes that, through the phenomenon of social media, it’s not a requirement to get in front of thousands of people any more. The power of social media allows individuals to get the word out for other individuals and businesses.  The Enthusem model is based on the premise that anyone can reach anyone with a personal message.

Steve created Enthusem to turn the funnel upside down. Rather than marketing to many, Steve believes marketers can create relationships with select individuals met online by creating an offline message sent through a printed postal message. But, it’s not just any printed, postal message.

Here’s how Enthusem works. You visit the Enthusem website, sign in and select “send a card.” You can upload your address book or add an address one at a time. Once you’ve identified the person who will receive your card you select an image from the image library for the face of the card, or upload your own. Then, you type a personal message and attach a digital link (optionally). The image on the front of the card is very important. It’s the first step in personalization. The card is mailed in a translucent envelope so the image is visible through the envelope which makes it stand out. For example one of the most popular card images has an image of the Twitter logo and says “Following you on Twitter.” You can upload any image to place on the face of a card.

When someone receives your card, if they type the link retrieval code provided in the card, the sender receives an email alert informing you the name of the person who retrieved the digital link you included in your card. Many marketers are getting creative with these links. You can include a link to any digital file including URLs, documents, images and video. When I attend tradeshows, I take photos of people and selectively mail a card to them with an attachment link to their photo.

Thinking Outside the “Box”

One of Steve’s colleagues at Enthusem, Marc Fors sent a a card to the CEO of Box.net using an image of their board room which he found online. Through a creative personal message in the card, the CEO of Box responded to the digital attachment. A meeting was set up and within 60 days Enthusem inked a deal to offer Box’ 2 million users the ability to send a personal card through Enthusem directly from Box or from LinkedIn which has Box integrated into it.

Let’s summarize this…Enthusem sent a piece of postal mail to the CEO of a silicon valley company and within 60 days inked a deal. That “campaign” cost Enthsem $4, plus a round trip ticket to San Francisco to ink the deal. Sweet!

At the Inbound Marketing Summit in San Francisco, I showed a sample Enthusem card to Chris Brogan. He was very intrigued by Enthusem’s integration of social  networking and postal mail. The following week, Chris called the Enthusem office to learn more about it in response to an Enthusem card sent to him.  Apparently, other Twitter followers had sent those “following you on Twitter” cards to Chris.

Enthusem has been building a fast growing Twitter following.  By walking the walk, Enthusem’s team selectively mails a card to some Twitter followers and many of them have responded to the digital attachment link. Some have even called Enthusem to become an affiliate or reseller.

Most people are used to getting bombarded by electronic messages, but they’re not used to getting a personalized postal card.

Find and Convert and Enthusem have launched a new joint offering which is called the Twitter Marketing Plan. We build a Twitter following for a client using best practices. As followers build up, we selectively send them an Enthusem card with a digital attachment. The idea is to take the contact offline. As attachments get picked up, a viable follow up can occur to explore a measurable relationship.

The Twitter Marketing Plan is popular because Twitter is popular, and this program allows marketers to use Twitter in measurable ways. The marketer can see a tangible result from Twitter by taking the online contact into an offline conversation which can be measured.

Steve’s insight for Enthusem is premised on the need for marketers to get smarter about engaging prospects. He believes marketers need to focus on true relationship building, not mail merge relationships. And, hitting people up with a sales message in social media isn’t very effective. Steve says “people filter out messages that are not relevant, not interesting and not personal. Marketers must communicate in more personal and interesting ways. Companies who do this well will be more successful.”

We have partnered with Enthusem for a special trial offer at http://www.findandconvert.com/enthusem-greeting-cards/.

To learn more about the Twitter Marketing Plan, call or email us.

Follow Enthusem on Twitter at http://twitter.com/enthusem.

Follow Bernie on Twitter at http://twitter.com/berniebay.

You just may get a “following you on Twitter” card one day…

Justin Levy Podcast Interview

Podcast Interview: Justin Levy – General Manager New Marketing Labs, Co-Owner of Caminito Argentinian Steakhouse in Northampton, MA.  Justin is also the chief blogger behind the Prime Cuts blog, where he offers advice on how to prepare meals, select wines and he also provides video examples on a variety of culinary topics.

I wrote about the Caminito Steakhouse in my forthcoming social media book. Justin uses social media to create community and buzz about the restaurant. When Justin first bought into the restaurant, his best friend and head chef was struggling with the business. It was declining. So, Justin set out to market the restaurant on the web. He first focused on SEO to own the top rankings in Google for desirable keywords like “steakhouse Northampton.” He became very active on Facebook and Twitter and created great results. The restaurant has been growing 20% each month, year over year as a direct result of Justin’s social media marketing efforts. Justin has branded himself, which has a very positive impact on the steakhouse. As he meets people on the social web, and at conferences they visit the restaurant and tell their friends about it.

In this podcast, you’ll learn how Justin juggles a busy life between the restaurant and planning three major events called the Inbound Marketing Summit. And, because we ran out of time, we didn’t even discuss New Marketing Labs new Internet TV venture. I guess I’ll have to have Justin back on the show again. Ya think?!

New Marketing Labs is Chris Brogan’s social media agency. NML works with medium and large brands to “move the needle” using new media. The upcoming Inbound Marketing Summit conferences are coming up April 28th and 29th in San Francisco, Dallas May 27th and 28th and Boston September 30th and October 1st.  The event theme is turning strategy into action. They’ve lined up speakers who are recognized thought leaders, and sponsors who have products and expertise that implement new media strategies that turn strategy into action.

The Inbound Marketing Summit has an impressive speaker list. Speakers include Timothy Ferris, Tim O’Reilly, David Meerman Scott, Chris Brogan, Charlene Li and many others.

Find and Convert is one of the sponsors of the Inbound Marketing Summit. I plan to attend each event and will also speak or participate on a panel session.

Justin is offering Find and Convert podcast listeners a VIP $200 discount at the Inbound Marketing Summit website.

You can connect with Justin Levy on Facebook,

Maybe we’ll see you at one of the upcoming Inbound Marketing Summit events…

Bernie Borges, aka @berniebay

Measuring Brand Equity Through Social Media Marketing

There are several tools available to help marketers measure the effectiveness of their social media marketing efforts.  Some of them include free tools like, Blogpulse, Trendpedia, Trendrr, Google Blogsearch and other vote-centric sites such as DIGG, StumbleUpon and Reddit.  These tools are some of the most popular and readily available tools used to track, measure and monitor social media content.  They are all free to the user community. 

In the spirit of sharing good content, Nathan Gilliatt, Principal at Social Target, LLC has published an impressive list of tools to monitor social media results which include commercial tools which have a cost.  The list of tools is growing every day. 

But, how do you measure brand equity? Admittedly, measuring brand equity is somewhat intangible.  But, that depends on your perspective (is the glass half full or half empty?).  Large companies place a lot of importance in measuring brand equity.  But, most companies are not Nike.  So, how do the rest of us measure brand equity? 

In social media marketing there exist new opportunities to positively affect your brand equity.   It all starts with the people in your company who are active in social media marketing.  Previously, I’ve used the example of Matt Cutts from Google.  When someone from your company takes a visible position in a social media community, and they effectively communicate meaningful stuff that the community truly appreciates, you are positively affecting your brand.  How do you measure this? 

If you hire a PR agency with good social media skills, that’s one way to measure it.  If you use some of the tools described above including some of the commercial tools, that’s another way to measure your brand equity.  But, here is a simple tip that takes ten minutes and doesn’t cost a dime.  Go to your Google Analytics account or equivalent website traffic analytics program.  Assuming you have had your analytics in place for more than one year (which you should have), look at the traffic that came to your website from the keyword “your company name” (insert the name of your company).  Study the traffic coming to your website from your company name over different periods of time starting with a period of time before you became active in social media marketing.  If you are actively engaging, listening and interacting with your community in social media, you will see an upward trend in traffic to your website coming from some combination of your company name or the name of the person (or people) who are actively involved in your social media strategy.  I’ve experienced this firsthand as both “find and convert” and “bernie borges” are two of the top five keyword phrases driving visitors to our website.  Likewise, the Find and Convert blog home page is in the top three most frequently visited pages in our Google Analytics account.  These two data points alone tell me that my efforts in social media are positively affecting our brand. 

The lifecycle of social media is a continuous loop.  The good news is that when you apply the simple principles discussed here, good things can happen.  But, the flip side is that the “continuous” part of it is such that if you discontinue participation you can lose all the benefits.