Inbound Marketing: Get Found Using Google, Social Media, and Blogs Hardcover – January 1, 2009

The Inbound Marketing book has this quote: "The purpose of business is to create and keep a customer - Peter F. Ducker". If you as a business owner has not embraced the new culture that is driven by community and social media, then it's time for you to do so if you are really serious about creating and keeping customers and many thanks to Brian and Dharmesh that now you can gain their wisdom by reading Inbound Marketing book. The book rightly states that "The true power of inbound marketing lies in its ability to not only stretch the top of your sales funnel (pull more people in), but also stretch the middle (get more to convert). The authors have done such an awesome job that this book can be used by business owners specifically small business owners to educate themselves about the new culture and take immediate actions following the To Do list given at the end of every chapter.Being working on a product focused around User Generated Content (UGC) I have read many books, articles and blogs on marketing, specifically internet marketing and social media and for me this book is an outstanding reader's digest summary of the following must-read books: The New Rules of Marketing and PR: How to Use News Releases, Blogs, Podcasting, Viral Marketing and Online Media to Reach Buyers Directly (New Rules of Marketing & PR: How to Use Social Media, Blogs,), Search Engine Marketing, Inc.: Driving Search Traffic to Your Company's Web Site (2nd Edition), Social Media Marketing: An Hour a Day, and Windmill Networking: Understanding, Leveraging & Maximizing LinkedIn: An Unofficial, Step-by-Step Guide to Creating & Implementing Your LinkedIn Brand - Social Networking in a Web 2.0 World. On top of that, this book adds more value with 'To Do' lists and Inbound in action case studies. And guess what, it's only 200 pages. I wish I had this book few years ago.This book is divided in 4 parts.The first part is more like a warm-up session. It introduces you to the Inbound Marketing concepts and power of it. I appreciated the authors for using the Wellesley vs. New York analogy to convey the power of hub.The second part is on get found by prospects. This section revolves around remarkable content. The word "remarkable" itself was made popular by none other than Seth Godin in his book "The Purple Cow" where he talks about remarkable marketing. Before you start, a word of caution: The ideas, tips and tools presented by Brian and Dharmesh are secondary meaning that you have to have a remarkable product or service in the fist place. This book is not about making your business rank first on Google or Y! or Bing overnight. In fact Brain and Dharmesh advocate trying out these tools and finding what works or not for your business and have a chapter entirely on commitment, patience and learning. This second part has chapters on how to get found in Blogosphere, Google and Social Media. Now do not get any false presumptions that it's just one chapter on each. The authors have done a remarkable job of covering all the vital details. For example, in the get found in Google Chapter, you will find nitty gritty details like earlier words in the page title carry more weight than later words, optimizing URLs, factors that affect link value etc., and in the get found in Social Media, they describe in detail the differences between Digg and StumbleUpon.The third part is on converting customers (from visitors to leads, prospects to leads and leads to customers). Authors use the acronym VEPA to walk you through the process. You gotta read the book to understand what it is. This section helps the small business owners by providing solid information on creating functional forms, grading and nurturing leads, broadening your reach and tracking progress.The last part - making better decisions- talks about making better marketing decisions, hiring the right people, picking up and measuring PR and watching your competition. I really liked the chapter on picking and measuring your people (Digital Citizens vs Digital Visitors, Web reach etc.). If you are a business owner, this section helps you hiring the right people, what to look into PR when selecting one, how to watch and track your competitors' web reach.Overall, this book is a required reading for any business owner, but is particularly very well suited for small business owners who do not have budget to hire SEO or SEM consultants and who would like to try themselves. It covers not only the technology (to the extent required), but also the practical aspects of how to implement.Another interesting thing I noticed is that this book is not overwhelmed with tens or hundreds of references to white-papers, articles and other URLs. It does refer to a handful resources such as Blue Ocean Strategy (book), [...] (web tool) and [...] (blog aggregation web site). I understand that it is sometimes useful to have plenty of references, but in reality, business owners hardly have time to read books, let alone go through the references. So that means once you have finished reading 200 pages, you will be all ready! go! action! in fact, as the authors suggest, you can take one step at a time like starting with Blogosphere then Google or then Social Media.I have thoroughly enjoyed reading every page of the book and learned many new things. I really appreciate and applaud the authors for sharing the secret recipes of their business (HubSpot).In the end, I would say that if you want to quickly get up to speed on the latest and great internet marketing and social media aspects or you are a small business owner who is planning to embrace the new culture then you gotta read this book.Awesome Job Brian and Dharmesh!

Why I Read this Book: The glory goes to the one who can attract the most eyeballs. This is the best step by step guide I've seen to leveraging the power of social media.Topics Covered:Dramatically increasing traffic to your website or blogInbound marketingOnline positioningLinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter and the future of online marketingReview:How many of you have web marketing down cold? Do you totally understand how to use Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, Digg and all the other less than intuitively-named social networking tools out there? There are few people who can answer yes to either of those questions and those of you who can, it may be the case that you might not know what you don't know.The space is endless and for many, overwhelming. Ever since I used what I learned in Internet Riches to launch Reading For Your Success almost four years ago I have barely kept up with all the tools that have hit the web. It's easy to get frustrated. And generally frustration leads to demotivation, which is exactly where many of us are today (I know it's where I've been). We have no idea how to use the unbelievable set of nearly-free tools available on the web. So we launch websites and write blog entries hoping they will get found. That's just not good enough anymore. The good news is all that's required is dedication and a fire in your belly to learn and grow-which happens to be all we've ever needed for success.Armed with those two things, I highly recommend you dive into Inbound Marketing. It is the answer to your social networking and marketing prayers (or at least it seems to be for me). One of the 2010 goals I set for Reading For Your Success was to become competent and begin my journey towards mastery of web marketing and social media. Then out of nowhere this book fell into my lap. A long-time mentor recommended it to the members of his company's board and before long I was deep into it. I could not put it down. For me, a how to book does not get any better than when it's written in just that format-step by step explanations followed by instructions and a case study of it actually working in the field. Every chapter flows just like that. First teach, then provide an example from real life, then end with a numbered list of what you can do to put this stuff right to work. I bet you could even become an inbound consultant of your own after digesting what these guys have to teach.Inbound Marketing is written in such a simple format. The chapters are short, there's plenty of useful diagrams and you know exactly what to do at the end of each chapter. Sure, the authors might not win any literary awards for their work but it's about time an author wrote directly on purpose without trying to be overly cute and eloquent and just get to the point: The world wants to understand how to get loyal visitors to their site, and this book is their teacher. The old way of outbound marketing (high-priced media ads, PR firms, direct mail and email marketing) is dead. The new way of inbound marketing (using online social networking and media tools to create and spread remarkable content and intrigue users to visit your site) is what is taking our concepts to prime time. Who knows, it might have even helped our president get the title he currently has. The tools are that powerful.After reading it cover to cover and then going back through with a fine-toothed comb, I sketched out an action plan that is going to get my 2010 goal off to just the start I needed-for Reading For Your Success, for my investment fund and for myself.Here's what you'll learn:Give your brand a top Google ranking-find your place on the first page of search resultsBecome a celebrity in your extended network using LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter and other social mediaStart and promote your first blogSEO and SEM-what they are and how to use them to multiply the eyeballs on your siteMethods for creating remarkable contentTest your web offering to get the highest conversionYoutube as a means to drive traffic and get your audience raving about your contentDiscover and leverage your most efficient online marketing channelsAnalyze your current inbound marketing effectiveness and create a game plan for getting to the next levelClear criteria for hiring the inbound marketers of tomorrowNot only are these skills essential for having a chance in getting your website, blog or product seen in an evermore crowded and competitive marketplace online, but these skills are becoming table stakes for the job descriptions of the future. Whether you're making your own as an entrepreneur or hope to bring something unique to the table at someone else's business, you cannot ignore the social media tidal wave for much longer. It's a new year. You likely have an idea you want to run with. And if you see the wave headed your way, I say you grab a board and paddle out. Inbound Marketing is the best way yet I've seen to ride that wave. Now go get found!