For too many years I was a "gym lollygagger" going to the gym too inconsistently and when I did I measured my results on how much time I would spend there. I was basically checking the health check box and got zippo results. A few years ago I finally came to my senses and signed up for a personal trainer spending a pretty hefty monthly OPEX (Operating Expense) for a committed 12 months.
Yikes what did I do and why? Spending a good chunk of change every month for a 12-month commitment was going to make me take it seriously and also I now had a professional helping me meet my goals. But the light bulb moment came when I started my partnership with Hubspot. What? In early meetings with some of the Hubspot execs they would refer to inbound/digital marketing is like going to the gym - you need to do the work every day to get the results. Blogging, social media, SEO, content creation, campaigns etc. I was told is like lifting weights, the treadmill, calisthenics etc - the more you do and the more consistent you are the better the results. If you are an "inbound lollygagger" like a "gym lollygagger" you'll get no where.Why am I writing this? It's pretty simple as I see it. It's impossible to argue that the marketing and sales world hasn't turned upside down - it absolutely has. Just look at retail - brick and mortar sales are plummeting and Amazon sales are going through the roof - people are going through the buyers journey on-line. The buyer is now in control and the seller needs to "get found" and nurture them through the buyers journey. Whether the buyer is looking for a bicycle, TV or SaaS - doesn't matter. And to do inbound marketing you must go to the gym - if you don't you will fail. I have seen it far too often where the business owner says he/she is committed to inbound but gets impatient after a few short months and opts out. What does he/she usually do then? He/she hires a sales rep, hands that person a list (usually a few years old) and says "start calling". Yikes! Oh, and guess what - that rep is gone in less that six months.
