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.

• A Partridge in a Pear Tree:  Quite simply, this is your product/service—the reason for the eleven other “days”
• Two Turtle doves:  Your sales and marketing team, for without one, the other's success does not matter.
• Three French hens:  The coop is full of hens, and while they have similar traits, they are also different. So too are people! Identify the “personas” you want to reach with your product/service, and then tailor your message accordingly.
• Four Calling birds:  You notice calling birds, even if you try to ignore them you hear them, and you want your clients/potential clients to hear your calls…calls-to-action, that is, so make sure you give them a reason to go to your site, or interact with you on social media.
• Five Golden rings:  The golden opportunities for your clients and potential clients in the form of offers, whether they are free guides, whitepapers, or eBooks. 
• Six Geese-a-Laying:  These geese happen to represent drip campaigns:  timely placed messages to your clients/potential clients based on where they are in the sales funnel or existing relationship.
• Seven Swans-a-Swimming: Swans tend to travel as a pair or a small bevy, whereas other birds travel in sky-darkening flocks.  Since they are large and loud, though, you tend to notice them even if they are fewer in number.  Email is the same way! You may not send as many as you used to, but when they receive them, your clients/potential clients certainly notice.
• Eight Maids-a-Milking:  Your sales team nurturing the leads coming their way from all the great marketing.
• Nine Ladies dancing and Ten Lords a leaping:  Inbound marketing is fun, so take a few moments to grab the lads and lassies around the office to celebrate how well everything is going. Then dive right back in!
• Eleven Pipers piping:  Your delighted clients spreading the word.
• Twelve Drummers drumming:  The massive hoards who want to be your client!

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!

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