This is a guest blog post by Brent Leary , co-founder and Partner of CRM Essentials LLC , a CRM consulting/advisory firm focused on small and mid-size enterprises . Brent also hosts a Social CRM podcast "CRM Playaz" with Paul Greenberg . You can connect with Brent on Twitter @brentleary and join him on his webinar today "How to Use Social Media to Attract More Customers" .
How did I get here? That's what I've been asking myself lately. I'm an introvert with an accounting degree for crying out loud. But after leaving PriceWaterhouseCoopers a few years earlier, in 2003 I co-founded CRM Essentials, a two-man operation focused on implementing Salesforce.com for the SMB crowd.
But in 2004 I had an opportunity to write an article for CRM Magazine's website where I was able to share my opinion on a few things going on in the industry.
A funny thing happened after that article was published: people responded with emails and phone calls. I was even invited to speak at a conference. That exposure led directly to a two-year Salesforce.com implementation project.
Blogger ... With Attitude
I eventually began writing a regular column for a local magazine, although it wasn't carried online. But I had been reading these blog things that were pretty good. I finally got the nerve up to start my own blog in June 2005. It allowed me to say things about changes in the industry that I couldn't say anywhere else, without being edited, censored or lobotomized. And while nobody had been waiting with bated breath for my blog to arrive on the scene, it felt kind of good to put my thoughts out there.
It took several months, but I found my blogging voice, and began connecting with people interested in the things I was interested in. Comments started rolling in, along with links. I even received an email from a guy named Brian Halligan. He had just co-founded a startup called Hubspot, and had found my blog. He thought I was in synch with their approach to small business.
The Microphone Fiend
The blogging was going well, but then I kept hearing about this podcasting thing. I had recently started a radio show on the local business talk station. With the show only airing in Atlanta it wasn't reaching all the people we thought would be interested in hearing it. So I turned it into a podcast with its own site, iTunes listing and "the works."
Within a few months thousands of shows were being downloaded from as far away as Australia, India and the UK. I even received invitations to keynote conferences in places I had never heard of before.
Blogging and podcasting allowed me to reach people in ways I would have never been able to do any other way. I was talking with best-selling authors, executives with major corporations and movers and shakers in my industry. I was also building relationships that eventually led to business opportunities I would never have guessed I would have.
So THAT's How I Got Here
I'm still blogging on my site, but I also write regularly for sites like the American Express OPEN forum , SmallBizTrends.com and Inc.com's technology site. I also do a podcast with my friend and CRM guru Paul Greenberg that we call the CRM Playaz . And you can find me on the social networking sites, especially Twitter. And recently I co-authored Barack 2.0 , a book about how the Obama campaign utilized social media, and the lessons small businesses can learn from them. The book actually started as an online article, which morphed into a webinar, a blog, and finally a podcast.
Looking back on it I can honestly say that all this social stuff has paid off. All the blogging to an audience of one (thanks Mom!) was worth it. All the time spent editing mp3 files was worth it. All the reading and commenting was well worth it. Even the stuff I tried that didn't work was worth it. It was all worth it because it led me to valuable relationships with people who I collaborate with, do business with and share ideas with.
I can honestly say that social media has changed the way I do business forever. It's changed the way I do life forever as well. So I guess I do know how I got here after all.
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Inbound Marketing Blog Feed
Arel Tsalach 3:13 PM on April 14, 2009
Brent & Mike,
Great Webinar! Thanks.
Quick question: How can an eCommerce startup that is going to launch in about 3 months start build customer base with social media?
ethnicomm 3:14 PM on April 14, 2009
Best statement IMHO was where you stated that even the stuff you tried that did not work provided a benefit. I think most people think too much about failure and not enough about the possibilities of success.
Thanks for the inspiration.
hannah knowles 3:14 PM on April 14, 2009
thanks for an interesting webinar today - some useful tips on tools but I wonder do you have any tips on how to find your blog voice and how to speed up or make smooth the getting started process?
GNito 3:14 PM on April 14, 2009
I am totally resisting doing the social media thing even though I KNOW it's a must - afraid that it will eat up huge chunks of my time. Also seems like a huge committment to have to update all these different sites every day...would it be a good idea to start with just one (i.e., twitter or facebook?)
Mark 3:14 PM on April 14, 2009
can you provide a list of all the websites you mentioned in the course of today's webinar
Marshall 3:15 PM on April 14, 2009
Marketers are increasingly focusing on the growing baby boomer market (I guess that the next big segment). Whats the representation of this segment in sodial netwoeks? If their presence is small how should a social media marketer reach them?
Seema 3:17 PM on April 14, 2009
If you're a local company working on expansion, how can you use social networking to grow locally while avoiding the hazard of giving your business idea away to other, non-local entrepreneurs? Also, is there a particular age group to which social networking is more likely to apply?
Gavin Fenton 3:19 PM on April 14, 2009
i ma looking to set up RSS on both my site and blog - should i keep both sepearte or is it preferrable to merge/cross populate these two resources - if so what app shoul di use?
Amy Nowacoski 3:20 PM on April 14, 2009
One comment that I did want to make is that Twitter, Facebook, Flickr, etc are just tools, and they each need to be evaluated for the job at hand - right tool, right job. You should never Twitter just because that's what everyone is doing. Have a goal, think it thru before jumping in. And, still using Twitter as an example, you may decided that Twitter is not a great tool for you. For example, I've been talking about social media with a day care center and I don't think Twitter is a good tool for them. I don't believe in using other people's children as a marketing tool, and there are some serious privacy/security concerns when dealing with children. Now, if it was a doggie day care service, I'd say, tweet now and tweet hard! I'd love to get tweets about the awesome day my pug is having at daycare.
Remember, right tool, right job.
Gavin Fenton 3:23 PM on April 14, 2009
can you advise on which blog platform to use, I am setting up a business blog and understand that there are both usability, hosting and SEO implications - i have narrowed it down to either Google or Word Press [hosted or not hosted]
Paul Sherland 3:29 PM on April 14, 2009
To Amy's point above about the daycare center. I think you might find Twitter useful to announce your blogposts or your podcasts regarding daycare. Hopefully, potential and current clients will see your Tweet and follow the link back to the information you're providing and then be part of a conversation with you. Just a thought.
Mike & Brent -- great webinar! Great quote also about using "marketing speak" with Web 2.0 tools.
Amy Nowacoski 3:36 PM on April 14, 2009
Paul, I'd rather seem them use their time to network with their current families. They do much better with word of mouth than with any advertising. We're actually working on developing a word of mouth campaign.
Brandon Livengood 3:46 PM on April 14, 2009
When trying to promote a product on Twitter how far is to far when it comes to Tweeting. I would like to promote alot of things we have available as special offers and items we have for sale. But we don't want to come off a spammers on Twitter which we are not. We just want to get our products out there for promotion and of course sales.
Leslie Kohler 3:48 PM on April 14, 2009
Brent,
Thank you for sharing your wealth of knowledge today, and for telling about the trials and tribulations you faced in jumpstarting your career. I love your blogger voice! It's inspiring to hear that writing was instrumental to your success, particularly since publishing articles is one of my marketing goals. With that being said, I better get down to it.
Paul Sherland 3:51 PM on April 14, 2009
Hi Amy, thanks for the response. If the blog posts or podcasts were about child care, they might help your word of mouth effort. Certainly wouldn't suggest using them to advertise, i.e., marketing speak -- just as informational tools to help establish your reputation and expertise.
Good luck! Paul
John Maxwell 4:03 PM on April 14, 2009
Great webinar -- I'm a believer in leveraging social media. I saw an up-tick in product downloads and unique visitors after I started using various social media venues.
Malene stanley 4:55 PM on April 14, 2009
Soooooooooo useful - thank you!
Brent Leary 5:48 PM on April 14, 2009
Thank you all so much for the kind words about today's webinar. I think it will take a little time (and space) to answer the questions, so I'll be doing a follow up post on my blog to answer them, and will leave a comment back here with a link. I will try to get it posted tomorrow.
Thanks again!
Brent Leary 5:55 PM on April 14, 2009
This is what I love about social media and sharing. Here's a link to a post at www.fillupbanks.com that lists and describes some of the tools I mentioned in today's webinar:
http://fillupbanks.com/twitter-services-to-optimize-productivity/
Big thanks to Fillup Banks!
Ginger 10:05 AM on April 15, 2009
Thank you, Brent, for sharing your experience and helping us new bloggers and business owners connect the dots.
Your enthusiasm is catchy! It is also evidenced by the quality of your presentation.
Thanks again!
Emily Sheetz 10:46 AM on April 15, 2009
Thanks for this post. There is a revolution afoot and you described it beautifully. I've just started Twittering and Blogging and already the results are astounding. I feel a 100 yards ahead of most people in my field.
S. Jenkins 10:55 AM on April 15, 2009
Awsome, the world is changing and we need to change with it. Our thinking and our actions!
Tracy Randazzo 11:48 AM on April 15, 2009
How are CRM vendors incorporating ROMI on social media activities/campaigns into their offerings? Are companies employing tools like Google Analytics and Tittergrader?
Pam 1:06 PM on April 15, 2009
Am I the only one who found little of interest for a B2B business, just a lot of self promotion?
Peg Mulligan 2:07 PM on April 15, 2009
Brent,
Thanks so much to you and Hubspot, for an informative presentation yesterday. You provided great examples of how Barrack Obama used social media to collect contact info for the campaign's CRM application, via the announcement of his vice presidential nominee.
Your presentation also provided helpful tips and examples of tools to use as we integrate captivating content into the more operationally-oriented CRM model.
I look forward to reading your book: Barack Obama's Social Media Lessons For Business.
Thanks again!
Fillup Banks 2:39 PM on April 15, 2009
Wow Brent!
I was just trying to relay information and it already brought me traffic. That proves Social Media is a great way of marketing.
I'm just curious about how you found out I posted something about you.
M. Crane 10:05 AM on April 16, 2009
Wow is all I can say - thank you so much for opening our eyes to what is happening around us! I just stumbled across a link that let me to the webinar! I have a whole new view of twitter!
Ron Harris 10:14 AM on April 16, 2009
Hello Brent & Mike,
What a host of great information. There is no doubt a social media revolution underway (hint: Twitter). Investing time in learning all about Twitter will bring plenty of benefits. Your readers might be interested in The Twitter Video Tutorial series found on my blog at http://www.digitaldrake.com/welcome-to-my-twitter/
B. Lichty 12:03 PM on April 16, 2009
Brent,
Thanks for the great info. Especially enjoyed your examples from Barack 2.0 and Popeye's Chicken using Twitter. It made me think differently about Twitter and how it can be used in marketing. I'll definitely share the webinar with others!
T 9:10 AM on April 17, 2009
Hi,
Sorry, I know your content made sense and all that but I just couldnt stay awake past 23.33.
Perhaps a different style of presenting? or a text version of this seminar?......
T 9:13 AM on April 17, 2009
that was the "How to Use Social Media to Attract More Customers - Free Marketing Webinar" btw
Ellie Mirman 11:33 PM on April 21, 2009
@T - a link to the webinar recording is now included in the blog article, or you can view it here: http://www.hubspot.com/marketing-webinars/social-media-crm-archive/
jonathan 4:09 AM on June 09, 2009
i need to attract more clients 2 my site for adventure camping and luxury holidays in east Africa