DISQUS

Aaah.

That's why I've been getting the "JoeBlow" just subscribed to your Friendfeed.

Clever. But, reminiscint of the "upload your contacts, we'll spam them" days of social networks.

Nevertheless, I just subscribed (and spammed) 300ish of my Twitter subscribers who are also using Friendfeed.

Now, I have to go make a rule in Gmail so that friendfeed emails go into there own folder too, just like Twitter follower notifications.

The batchblue peeps are awesome. They've built an easy to use tool that is perfect for SMBs and solopreneurs.

Nice hire. Perfect guy for the job. J

Great article, Max!

I know from lots of hard data and antectdotal experience that our "corporate" blog is very well trusted by many people. We get lots of leads and sales as a result of it. And many more people tell us all the time that we put out great content that they trust.

Of course, many business blogs don't "engage" in conversations or tell the whole side of the story. Many don't stop promoting long enough to educate. So, it depends entirely on the company.

However, I like to tell people that a blog is just a piece of software that lets you update your website and get feedback. It's how you use it, that counts.

Maybe we have a long way to go to get marketers to start "talking at" their audience and start "conversing with" their industry.

Paranoia anyone?

I suggest that if your employees can do their jobs better by talking to people outside of the company, they should be using social networks. Arguably, that's everyone in your company, not just your sales and marketing folk.

If you treat your employees well, you shouldn't have an issue. So, instead of trying to control how they do their jobs, focus on making their jobs something they enjoy. Empower them.

Awesome insight, Max "Because to grant attention is to acknowledge; and acknowledgment is the basis of all relationships."

I just want you all to know that I didn't shower or shave until 6:30 PM today, even though I managed to respond to your comment on my blog, as well as your question on the HubSpot success forum. I did other stuff today too. I do calls all the time with my 11 month old squeaking in the background (my wife and I both work from home and we have a babysitter come in) and I usually just tell people I work from home. It usually elicits a chuckle and we relate like human beings should and talk about kids and working from home, etc. :-)

We still sleep at HubSpot. We just take turns sleeping. Shifts. Somebody has to pay attention to that forum!

Moreover, this is a great article. I still always prefer to pick up the phone when someone has a question, so I can make sure I understand what they need. But, I always ask if it's a good time to be calling.

@SEOinBlack

We actually work with many SEO firms.

And all of our sales professionals can hold their own with an SEO professional.

Not sure whether you're jealous of our success or genuinely think that we are doing something wrong?

Just to allay the latter concern...

Website Grader does refer a lot of traffic to HubSpot's website and blog where someone might opt in to receive information or a call.

We follow up with people who are looking to improve their internet marketing strategy and execution. Not everyone buys, but we do get to help many people. Our main service goes into a lot further depth at guiding our clients towards online marketing success leveraging SEO, blogging, PPC and social media, as well as best practices for lead capture.

Many times, we work with SEO consultants on mutual clients. Consultants bring us clients who want to collaborate on their SEO with their consultant (or if the consultant wants to have better tools and reporting in place) and we sometimes refer clients who need additional help to SEO consultants who have experience using our tools successfully.

We'd be happy to work with you if you are good. You should complete a demo request. We can see if there's a fit or not.

Thanks to all for the feedback.

@Mike. Send me a link to your WP blog and I'll see why it isn't working.

@graywolf. The people that get higher scores can generally do even more. So, you're right, it's dangerous to think a "high" score means there's not potential for improvement. In fact, I talk to companies with 1,000s of pages and 1,000s of links (two things that affect website grade score significantly) every week who have 90ish scores who have SO much more untapped potential.

@hobo. would appreciate you sending me an email with what is inaccurate, so we can address.

Email is firstinitiallastname at hubspot dot com.

Congrats, Israel. Being a dad is the best thing in the world.

Great balanced post about WebsiteGrader.

You are very right. People shouldn't obsess over their scores. There's some "actionable" advice in the report.

But, to really improve their scores, they need an internet marketing plan that takes their business goals into account.