Episode #172 - October 28th, 2011 Intro How to interact on Twtter: Include #HubSpotTV in your tweet! On the show today is Mike Volpe (@mvolpe), Karen Rubin (@KarenRubin) and special guests Jon Wuebben (@jonwuebben) and Andy Paul (@ZeroTimeSelling) As always, all the old episodes are in iTunes. If you like the show, please leave a 5-star review! Anyone is welcome to come by the show to watch as part of the live studio audience - 4pm Friday Halloween Doing it Right http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/10/15/nightmares-fear-factory-terrified-reactions-photos_n_1007519.html The Nightmares Fear Factory, a haunted house in Niagara Falls, Canada, has started taking photos of scared audiences and posting them on Flickr Traffic increased by over 10,000 percent The activity sizably increased engagement on our social platforms Flickr, Facebook, YouTube and Twitter, and our website temporarily crashed; going from approximately 600 visits per day to over 60,000 unique visits in less than 24 hours ABC News, The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, ComedyCentral’s Tosh.0, Huffington Post, Newsweek And they add that more than 100,000 would-be visitors have been too scared to complete their tour and chickened out by shouting "NIGHTMARES!" and getting a guide to take them out. Marketing Takeaway: Content that is worthy of remarking on (or remarkable content) is the key to breakout success. Headlines Social Media Updates http://blog.hubspot.com/blog/tabid/6307/bid/28099/Twitter-Introduces-New-Changes-to-Users-Timelines.aspx** hovering over a tweet in your Twitter timeline will reveal an "open" button. Clicking this will expand into the full exchange of replies and mentions that tweet received. The new Twitter updates will allow any media-containing link (such as a photo or video on a site like TwitPic or YouTube) to expand inside the actual stream and display as the picture or video. This eliminates a user's need to click on the actual link The new update will display a horizontal list of users who have retweeted that specific update upon click. For all tweets, not just your own. http://blog.hubspot.com/blog/tabid/6307/bid/28088/Google-Launches-New-Features-Adds-Support-for-Google-Apps.aspx** Google has added a visual layer of explanation around social sharing analytics. Ripples enables inbound marketers to see how their content is shared and which influencers help drive the most sharing activity. The new 'What's Hot' section on Google+ will appear after your regular updates section and use a special Google algorithm to rank popular stories. Google for the first time provides the opportunity for users to edit images in Google+ Apps users can now sign up for Google+ using their Apps account. Apps users will be able to share posts directly to other users within their organizations. Marketing Takeaway: It is not about the functionality, it is about how you use the network. Gronkowski Ruffels Feathers for Twitter Fame http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/10/27/rob-gronkowski-bibi-jones-porn-star-patriots-apology_n_1035409.html Last Friday, adult film star Bibi Jones posted multiple pictures on Twitter posing with New England Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski. The petite blond was sporting Gronkowski's Patriots jersey in the images and the tight end was shirtless in one of them. The pictures ultimately made the rounds and became fodder for various sports personalities. On Wednesday, Gronkowksi apologized for the images and any damage they may have caused to the reputation of the Patriots. http://content.usatoday.com/communities/thehuddle/post/2011/10/rob-gronkowski-i-didnt-intend-anything-to-hurt-the-reputation-of-the-patriots/1 Rob Gronkowski posed shirtless with adult film star BiBi Jones, who was wearing his No. 87 New England jersey. Jones posted the pics on her Twitter account. "I asked him if I could put it on Twitter because some athletes wouldn't want that since I do do adult films, and they don't want to be associated with that. He was really cool with it because I have more Twitter followers than him." Either because of the photo, or more likely the controversy, he has 5,000 more followers. Marketing Takeaway: In the quest for more Twitter followers, stay true to your brand. Special Guest: Andy Paul http://zerotimeselling.com/ Andy Paul is the creator, author and founder of Zero-Time Selling, a sales transformation and training organization. What is Zero-Time Selling and how is it different from other sales methods? Why should the CEO of an SMB adopt Zero-Time Selling? What are some of the 10 Zero-Time Selling solutions? What is the investment involved with Zero-Time Selling? What are the first things an SMB should do to start Zero-Time Selling? Where can people learn more about Zero-Time Selling? Avoid Self Sabotage http://zerotimeselling.com/avoid-self-sabotage In Zero-Time Selling I spend a lot of ink talking about the importance of follow-up and how to use responsiveness to create value for the customer and win more orders in less time. A prolonged drought had driven several million thirsty ants from my backyard into my kitchen. The “hotline” offered up a recording that invited me to leave a message for one of their customer service technicians. Then the exuberant female voice on the recording proudly trumpeted: “Our company policy: your phone call will be returned within 24 hours. Guaranteed!” I called the next pest-control company on the list. A live person answered the phone and set me up with a same-day appointment. Many companies fool themselves into believing they are offering great customer service when, in fact, they are advertising the opposite. Marketing Takeaway: Make sure you or your sales team are following up on leads very quickly. Special Guest: Jon Wuebben http://www.contentlaunch.com/ Author of Content Rich: Writing Your Way to Wealth on the Web New book coming out in Jan - Content is Currency: Developing Powerful Content for Web & Mobile Tell us about your new book, how is content currency? If there was one takeaway marketers should take away from your book, what would it be? Has Content Become Advertising for Advertising? http://news.cnet.com/8301-1023_3-20124834-93/has-content-become-advertising-for-advertising/?part=rss&subj=news&tag=2547-1_3-0-20 Over the past few years, however, a flood of subpar content has seemingly taken over the Web, driven by high-growth sites such as Demand Media and the AOL-owned Huffington Post. These types of sites have enjoyed surging traffic by creating relatively simplistic content, repurposing and "aggregating" premium content, and gaming Google's search algorithm. The primary financial driver supporting subpar content is what's known as "personalized retargeting," where ads follow a users around the web. If a publisher can get enough eyeballs looking at content, by hook or by crook and regardless of the quality of its offerings, it can sell retargeted ads against that undifferentiated audience. In this model, content has essentially become advertising for advertising--i.e., for retargeted ads. Marketing Takeaway: Unique and valuable content is still a powerful part of inbound marketing. Marketing Tip of the Week - Take an old blog article, and improve it and then promote it in social media. Less