DISQUS

I think you hit the nail on the head John. In my opinion, that's what blogs are all about. You build trust with your readers over time by giving them a great, free education.

Readers of your blog will naturally consider your service if and when they are "in the market."

Tony

LinkedIn for me has been one of many experiments that never seemed to go anywhere. I see it as one of many promising tools offered by the "Web 2.0" Gods.

I would imagine that one has to work this tool very regularly to get much out of it. Like so many other web-based, free tools out there, it's easy for LinkedIn to slip off my radar screen for weeks at a time.

Great advice John. I used your Instant Press Release tool for the first time a few weeks ago and surely will use it for future releases.

I would argue that a good business blog is really one big manifestation of what you are talking about. Is your blog so valuable that your clients can't do without it? That's certainly what the DTM blog is becoming for countless small business owners.

Way to practice what you preach!!!

John,

Great post. I think it's all too common for business owners to throw software (and money) at a problem without getting at the real root cause. I've learned this lesson the hard way several times.

Step one in any software manual should read:

"Look yourself in the mirror and figure out why you purchased this software in the first place. Fix that problem first. Then come back and learn how to use our system."

Incidentally, I use Zoho CRM and am quite happy with it. But as you've stated so well, that's really not the main point.

Tony

Barry,

I have seen similar practices start to take root in the world of podcasting. A very savvy friend of mine, who I finally hired to start producing my own podcast, made great strides in building up his own listenership by calling in to other very popular podcasts and participating.

He would always start by saying "Hi, this is Alan from the [xyz] podcast and I was wondering..."

In this new paradigm where anyone can "publish," any sort of listener participation is usually greatly appreciated and rewarded.

Tony

I agree John. Istockphoto.com is a great bargain. We just used it today to pick up three stock images for a web design client with a very tight budget. I would also suggest www.photocase.com for absolutely beautiful free images.

Tony

What a great idea John!! One of our biggest challenges in promoting our Corporate Podcast Production service is one of education. Our potential customers don't even know where to begin with their questions about our service.

Placing an "FAQ" section on our blog would go a long way in providing a frame of reference for potential podcast clients.

Thanks again for another great post!

Tony

Great post John. I totally agree. Podcasting for us has been an amazing way to reach out and make connections in the business community. It's the perfect way to have and share a true experience with a prospect in a non-threatening way.

In fact, we often pull any old visitor to our building into our studio for at least a brief interview. People never forget that unique experience.

By the way, we featured the fabulous Duct Tape Marketing Blog on our latest podcast. You can find it at http://www.greatbigpodcast.com.

I hope you enjoy it and thank again for the wonderful service you provide for all of us business-owners/marketers.

Tony

Barry,

Thanks for this great information. I'll have to give it a look and see if I can muster up the courage to post my own company to Wikology.

I recently did a little seminar for our local client base on wiki technology with the hopes that they might see some useful applications for it. I was somewhat surprised to find that almost none of our attendees - all business professional of some sort - had any clue that wikipedia was a site that they themselves could modify!

I do think that once the technology was explained to them, many of the folks could start to see potential business uses for it. All in all it was a fun little experiment.

We decided to feature wiki technology on one of our podcast episodes: http://www.greatbigpodcast.com/?p=6

On a totally unrelated note, I just wanted to say that I really enjoy your posts on the cre8asite forums. I just now discovered this blog, so now I have much more of your content to read and learn from.

Keep up the good work!!

Tony Valle

John,

As always, this is a great post! Lots of really nice ideas here. In fact, your last idea of creating a "local online community, including a blog" really struck a chord with me.

I just had a good friend of mine over this morning for a segment on my podcast. He's a business coach that I happen to think is one of the better ones in my area. His interview was packed with lots of great info and I found myself thinking "Gee, I wish I could find a way to be able to spend a little more quality time around Jim."

Well, your post makes me think - Why not start a local blog with trusted experts as a way to market ourselves and grow our friendship?! When it's posted, I promise I'll attribute the idea to good ole' duct tape marketing!

Keep up the great work!

Tony

John,

I just caught your podcast on Live Office. Thanks a bunch for the scoop! I did sign up for the beta account. As you guest stated, I was instructed that a software key would be sent to me in one or two weeks. The wait is kind of a bummer but I really look forward to trying it out.

Thanks again for the great information.

Tony

Congratulations on your new product John. I'll have to check out your podcast on its benefits. I continue to enjoy your insights shared through your podcast. I often listen to you during my commute.

Kelly,

Thanks for the great suggestion. I'm always looking for that next great book to try out. I also look forward to hearing your podcast.

Take care!

Tony

John,

Boy did this post hit home for me! I think I suffer from the very thing you are talking about. We have tried things in the past and I find that even the ones that work start to feel mundane.

Another issue is that business owners have a hard time being patient with a campaign. We started mailing out targeted post cards several years ago. After the first month, we had no responses. We wanted to cut our losses, but we decided to give it just a few more months. Our phone did finally start ringing and everything turned out fine.

By the way, I really enjoy your podcast! I hope to have my own up and running within the next few months.

Keep up the good work!