Imagine this…you arrive at the airport, with just enough incredibly productive time before your next flight. You head off to your gate, only to receive a call from the airline letting you know your gate moved, so you keep on trekking. You sit down, plug-in, and hone in on your to-do list. Fingers flying across the keys, head softly nodding to the ever-present music in your headphones, when BOOM…everything around you goes dark and the dreaded battery low indicator starts flashing again!
Topics: Pro Tip, Marketing 101
If you are like me, all you see flashing across your TV during commercial time, splashing through your various news feeds, or inundating your inbox is advertisements for gym memberships, top-of-the-line juicers, and a multitude of other items targeted at all those resolving to get healthy and lose weight this year. These companies are brilliant because they know each January 1st the gym fills up with well-intentioned first-timers. By February 1st, however, when the free personal training sessions end, or that top-of-the line juicer begins to collect dust, all the energy those companies spent on marketing is for not.
Topics: inbound marketing, Small Business
With marketing, there is almost never one correct answer. Most times, what works for one company may not work exactly the same for another company - even in the same industry. There is certainly a try-test-adapt-try again methodology. Notice I said almost. If you are a professional, then listen up because your LinkedIn profile image may need help! There is really only one correct answer on what your profile image should be. It should be a clean, professional headshot of you. Period. This is one of the few times there is not another answer.
Topics: Personal Branding, Pro Tip
My family and I recently returned from our 5th annual trip to Key West in early December. This tradition started when my wife and I went down for the 1st Annual Key West Triathlon (TRIKW), which also happened to be my first triathlon ever. Back then, it was just the two of us, but this trip has morphed into a full family excursion with 2 children in tow and in-laws joining. It is always great being back down in the keys, but it is a little sweeter now that we live in Virginia as opposed to just a few hours away in Jacksonville.
Topics: inbound marketing, Brand Management, Client Experience
I can not believe it has only been 6 months since we launched Adaptive. With all of the energy, sacrifice and investment that went into this, there were a few things that kept us highly motivated.
- Love and support of our families
- Our awesome client base
- Knowing that we were doing things the right way, and producing visible results
As we prepare to look forward to a New Year, I wanted to take a moment and re-visit some of the top branding & inbound marketing blogs of 2014.
Topics: inbound marketing, branding
Last Friday morning I showed up to my 5:15 am workout not quite sure what to expect. The “Q” or leader for the morning posted a tease the night before mentioning a “12 Days of Christmas” style workout. Since I am in North Carolina, the geese are in high supply, but they are currently not laying eggs, and I haven’t seen any cows recently in downtown Charlotte. Needless to say I was perplexed, but prepared. As we jogged to our workout location, the Q covered the concept of the workout: we would do X number of reps for each exercise based on which “day” of Christmas it represented, so while 2 tricep dips didn’t sound daunting, it certainly added up after 12 rounds!
How does my affection for working out before the sun apply to your inbound marketing success…simple…cumulative consistency makes for effective results.
Each exercise on its own was easily accomplished, although not super effective to get the desired burn, but all together, the workout was not only complete, but incredibly productive. Since dips, push-ups, and squats are NOT what you need for successful inbound marketing, I’ve take creative liberties to give you a “12 day” guide to success for your inbound marketing campaign.
Notice how you start seeing great results in the last few “days”. This is a result of the key to success: consistency! You build upon your great foundation over and over again, and clients, both new and existing, notice.
Once you stop singing the jingle, get on out there and start implementing. Wishing you great success and a delightful holiday season!
Feeling inspired? Grab your free checklist below, and run your next campaign like a pro!
Topics: inbound marketing
Before I go into how to use hashtags, let’s start with what they actually are.
“Using hashtags to categorize Tweets by keyword: Peo
ple use the hashtag symbol # before a relevant keyword or phrase (no spaces) in their Tweet to categorize those Tweets and help them show more easily in Twitter Search. Clicking on a hashtagged word in any message shows you all other Tweets marked with that keyword.” - Twitter
Topics: social media marketing
Do you go all-in, or dip your toe in the water?
Topics: inbound marketing
I recently had coffee with a friend to chat through a work problem: his boss kept showing up to potentially lucrative account pitches in a rumpled suit two sizes too large and Crocs. We’ve all heard the phrase “put your best foot forward” or “suit up” and unless the industry dictates it, a Crocs-clad foot is certainly not subscribing to those theories. In today’s virtual society, donning your power suit is no less important, although the application is slightly different: your social media wears the power suit these days!
As I read the menu of a new restaurant last week, I had a mild panic attack since the asterisk noted “only one substitution” per order. I am rather particular about what I eat, so instead of doing my typical song and dance with the poor waiter about being “that person” I sat back and thought about my decision. The contemplative time with the menu gave me a chance to think about all the places we make substitutions and how infrequently we actually try something the way it was designed before making changes.
Topics: inbound marketing