The Cheap Revolution

20 Must Have Resources for Internet Marketers

Internet Marketing Tools/Software & Tools to Help Marketers

HubSpot – HubSpot is a powerful, web-based online marketing system that helps small and medium sized businesses capture and convert more qualified sales leads by an optimized web presence.  We like HubSpot because it is robust, easy to use, and they provide great support as well as a lot of opportunities to learn more about Internet marketing. Definitely a must-have if you’re a marketer who works with small or medium sized businesses. You can test drive HubSpot for 7 days.

Constant Contact – As a marketer, you know you need a “mix” of marketing activities to accomplish your marketing objectives. E-mail marketing is still a viable method of reaching your Internet marketing goals. We still use Constant Contact and we’re pretty happy with it. If you’re not sure, you can sign up for a free trial. Read also: 7 Alternatives to Constant Contact here.

Wordtracker – if you’re serious about keyword research, Wordtracker is an investment you need to make. Not only will your keyword research get done faster, but Wordtracker helps you find the most profitable and competitive keywords and you’re able to save your keyword research by project. They have annual and monthly subscriptions as well as a free trial. There are many keyword research tools out there, but Wordtracker is definitely one of our favorites.

Huddle – Managing your Marketing projects with Huddle is a snap! Huddle offers online collaboration, live conferencing, project management software and document sharing. There are five packages – from FREE to enterprise. Depending on what you need, it can be a cost-efficient way to manage your marketing projects. We use Huddle to keep track of our clients and marketing projects and continue to be pleased with the service.

Radian 6 – if you’re an Internet Marketer using Social Media, then you know how important it is to monitor and measure community engagement. Radian6 is a powerful platform that is comprehensive and easy to use. It’s a must have if you’re serious about social media!

Premium Marketing Resources

Market Motives – Get online marketing certified in SEO, PPC, Web Analytics, PR, Social Media, E-mail Marketing, and more.

Marketing Sherpa – Premium membership gets you case studies, how-to guides, research reports, certifications, and more.

Marketing Profs – Paid membership gets you access to marketing articles, case studies, videos, webinars, discounts on conferences, etc.

SEOMoz – Becoming a PRO member gives you access to a host of SEO-related tools. A must-have if you’re into search engine optimization.

eMarketing Association – Paid membership gets you resources, discounts on seminars, reports, whitepapers, articles, and a lot more.

Internet Marketing Books

Inbound Marketing: Get Found on Google, Social Media, and Blogs - a how-to guide to getting found via Google, the blogosphere, and social media sites.

The Art of SEO (Theory in Practice) – If you are new to SEO, you'll get a complete and thorough SEO education, as well as an array of effective tactics, from basic to advanced. Seasoned practitioners will find this book useful as a complete reference to SEO best practices.

Socialnomics: how social media transforms the way we live and do business – an essential book for anyone who wants to understand the implications of social media, and how businesses can tap the power of social media to increase their sales, cut their marketing costs, and reach consumers directly.

Trust Agents – Written by marketing rock stars Chris Brogan and Julien Smith, this book shows you how to tap into the power of social networks to build your brand's influence, reputation, and, of course, profits.

Web Analytics 2.0: The Art of Online Accountability and Science of Customer Centricity – As an Internet marketer, you know the importance of web analytics. This book provides specific recommendations for creating an actionable strategy, applying analytical techniques correctly, and solving challenges such as measuring social media and multichannel campaigns.

Internet Marketing Conferences in 2010

Affiliate Summit West – January 17^th to 19^th in Las Vegas, NV

Social Media Conference – January 28^th & 29^th in Miami, FL

Search Marketing Expo West – March 2^nd to 4^th in Santa Clara, CA

South by Southwest Interactive – March 12^th to 16^th in Austin, TX

Business to Business Forum – May 4^th to 5^th in Boston, MA

Your New Job and using OPC - Other People's Content

I again had the pleasure of being a guest blogger for the Small business Blog at HP Logoworks.  This month's post was on  Social Media marketing and how to use Other People's Content for creating your Social Media content.  In that post, I talk about some of the new jobs you can try out.   In today's Whacky Wide Web, we all have to get used to wearing different hats. 

Here are some new jobs that you can fill while creating your next Social Media post using Other People's Content. 

1) The researcher.  You can aggregate content around a specific topic to create a new Blog Post.  A little research, organization and some commentary to bring it together can go a long way.  

2) The commentator.  Read an online report and deliver some useful summary points.  Ask insightful questions.  Take a Point of View relative to the report and become a new generation commentator. 

3) The evangelist.  Find someone's perspective that you like and promote it.  No one likes a cheerleader who is cheering for themselves - but we all look for good tips on who we should follow.  Help your favorite online personalities promote their message with your platform.

What new jobs are you creating for yourself in today's citizen-publisher economy? 

Read the full post at the Logoworks Blog on Other People's Content . 

Photo Credit: RAIJSI

Flying Blind: Metrics are #1 challenge blocking online-offline marketing groups

Flying blind just isn't as much fun as it used to be. 

Recently, eMarketer published results from a recent study (Q1, 2009) of marketing organizations.  The marketing organizations are having trouble collecting and correlating information from multiple channels, with diverse vendor-partners managing those channels.  

eMarketer writes:  

Unfortunately, the necessary data is currently scattered across organizations. Data formats are inconsistent and so is terminology. Until these problems are solved, marketers attempting to integrate traditional and digital advertising channels will continue flying blind.

I think the problem is bigger than that, though.  True... finding, collecting and integrating the data is difficult in most organizations today.

But that hides the real question.  

What should you be measuring? With multiple marketing channels, there could be hundreds (thousands?) of variables you could watch...  Which metrics are the right metrics?  Internet market and web analytics have led to an explosion of quantitative data that can be leveraged.  Offline analytics are getting better as well through improved survey techniques, in-store kiosks, video monitoring, etc.

Should you pay attention to num of widgets sold? avg sales price? num of clients? num of visitors? landing page bounce rates? ... 

which leads to:

that depends on your objectives. 

What are  your objectives? 

Do you seek to increase the number of customers or visitors?  Maybe you wish to emphasize a specific product mix?  Are you hoping to find customers who become loyal and longtime members of your community?

Your objectives depend further on your business Goals, Vision and Strategy. Do you hope capture new markets?  Deepen customer intimacy?  Improve brand recognition?  

Choosing the right metrics (or Key Performance Indicators, KPIs) based on your business strategy can help to both simplify the measurement process and improve the effectiveness of conversations around KPIs.

I imagine a lot of organizations don't spend time on metrics because when they do, they are overwhelming.  Instead,  a few, well-placed, well-segmented KPIs can go a long way towards streamlining the understanding of how well your marketing engines are running.  Good KPIs should be simple and easy to understand.   A one page dashboard that ties the KPIs into the specific business objectives can go a long way towards improving your marketing effectiveness. 

It means you can move with nimbleness.  You can react weekly... even daily to what is happening.  Yet all of those actions are aligned with your big picture strategy.

Strategy can take a lot of different forms.  What it really means is that you are taking a comprehensive and integral perspective on the challenge of marketing a product and company.

So... my question, which apparently was NOT on the survey, is:

How many of you employ a strategically-focused marketing approach - one driven by specific goals that are supported by measurable results?

Do you think such an approach is preferable?  Is it practical?  Why or why not? 

Climbing the Pyramid of Marketing Mastery

Team and a Dream's Skip Shuda provides a short introduction on the "Marketing Pyramid of Needs" in this five minute screencast.

This simple framework encourages you to follow the three simple marketing steps towards mastery of "See it, Say it and Be it".  By walking up each step of the pyramid, you can ensure that you have all the elements in place for a successful marketing effort. It can also help you to answer questions like, "When am I ready for a Blog?" or "Can Social Media really help my company?". If you haven't done the necessary preparatory work, then your premature marketing efforts can be wasted.

Furthermore, the framework sets the stage for the successful measurement of marketing efforts.  A marketing metrics dashboard is a key component to ensure that you stay on the path to Market Mastery once you've started your journey. The framework is discussed in more detail on a recent article at the HP Logoworks Blog article "See it. Say it. Be it. Multi-Channel Marketing in a Web 2.0 World" by Skip Shuda.

By: Skip Shuda