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Inbound Marketing, written by Brian Halligan and Dharmesh Shah, is a primer on the use of social media to build your web presence, performance,  and profit.  "Inbound marketing is a style of marketing that focuses on getting found by customers. This sense is related to relationship marketing and Seth Godin's idea of permission marketing. David Meerman Scott recommends that marketers "earn their way in" (via publishing helpful information on a blog etc.) in contrast to outbound marketing where they used to have to "buy, beg, or bug their way in" (via paid advertisements, issuing press releases in the hope they get picked up by the trade press, or paying commissioned sales people, respectively)." See Wikipedia for additional theoretical background of the Inbound Marketing principles.

The authors organized the book  into four sections: definition and the nature of inbound marketing, the most cost effective ways to be found on the internet, how to convert internet visitors and prospects into leads and ultimately into customers, and definition of  critical marketing metrics for making better marketing decisions. The book presents case studies of inbound marketing in action.

In 2006, Brian and Dharmesh started Hubspot, an inbound marketing software company that helps businesses join the inbound marketing revolution.  The team of marketers over at  Hubspot has published several entertaining and informational videos; it is worth subscribing to the Hubspot YouTube  channel. There is a funny Inbound Marketing - The Movie Trailer YouTube Video of "Anna Darling, a struggling marketer on a mission to bring inbound marketing to Outbound Enterprises, who  refuses to adhere to her company's dated and ineffective marketing methods. Through her struggle, Anna learns that through faith, courage and data ... anything is possible. Coming to a marketing team near you."

Inbound Marketing University (IMU) is a free marketing retraining program for marketing professionals—as well as marketers between jobs. Instructional webinars  include topics such as Blogging, Search Engine Optimization,  Facebook & LinkedIn,  Viral Marketing, Email Marketing, Twitter,  Calls to Action and Landing Pages, Lead Nurturing, PR, Video & Content Marketing, and more. The IMU Faculty includes  Ann Handley, Mack Collier, Lee Odden, Chris Brogan, Elyse Tager, David Meerman Scott, Rand Fishkin, Jeanne Hopkins, and others.  The IMU's training program prepares you for the Inbound Marketing Certification Exam.

The book and the Hubspot  website contain cutting edge content, the IMU training is valuable, and is an no-cost  introduction to the best practices of marketing masters. Get started now and give your self the gift of learning from the best.

Inbound Marketing: Get Found Using Google, Social Media, and Blogs (The New Rules of Social Media)
 


Comments

04/21/2010 10:33am

This is a most useful piece of information, Dwana. I watched the recommended videos and read some of the ideas posted. I feel inspired. Thank you so much.

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