People ask what is my ROI. By definition ROI is the (gain from investment-cost of investment)/cost of investment. If the gain from the investment is less than the cost, you will have a negative ROI and that is bad. Business owners are looking for a positive ROI but the biggest question is when will that ROI have to turn positive. Most businesses find a 2 year payback to be an acceptable term for their ROI to become positive. From our results, the ROI will continue to become more positive over time.
Here is an example of questions you might ask as a business owner. "My business gets no traffic and I want to consider business blogging as a way to increase my site traffic."
Question: What ROI are you looking for and by when?
Answer: If your answer is less than 2 years, business blogging may not be for you. This type of marketing is likely not to pay off in less than 2 years and certainly not in 1 year. You will however, begin to build an online presence that may prove to be a wise long term strategy. Especially if your competition is not paying attention.
Ok, so you know that the ROI will take time and you are on a long time horizon to make your website presence work for you.
Question: What are the total revenues your company needs to make to recover a $10,000 annual spend.
Answer: $75,000 in revenue. My average customer spends $1400 so I would need 54 new clients to pay for this investment in year 1.
Question: Great, so if you get 54 new clients in the next year, how many site visits do you need to get 54 new clients? We use a Inbound Calculator (below) to determine the number of site visits you will need to begin paying back that investment.
In the case above, this business would need to see 714 site visits per month in order to begin to see a return on investment. Along the way, the business will begin to see improvements or momentum in the number of site visits and leads with strategic placed calls to action in place. However, don't expect to pay for that investment until about the 1 year mark if you have zero site visits or a site that is just beginning this work. It takes time to build a rapport with the search engines. Google and Bing want to see you are the real deal that is putting out purposeful content that your online visitors show interest in.
The example below shows a case study that has 11 months of consistent business blogging activity. Based on current results, this client should expect a continued increase in traffic with his continued strategic business blogging effort.
Based on several industries of data we have seen, this shows what you can expect to happen with your company's traffic (based on very little initial traffic). You should see significant improvement of organic traffic through a consistent business blogging effort. Our research is proving that for most businesses, it will take at least 6 months to begin seeing momentum of site visits, leads and clients.
You're a business owner and hear about article writing and don't know what all the fuss is about, right? You have way too much on your plate to fit another 5 hours a week to write about your business, what is hot, what is not, what your clients want to know about, what deals are out there, what to be aware of, what are the comparisons of the service or product of your companies vs. the competitors, or that 57% of businesses (see more useful business stats) have acquired a customer through their business blog. Get the point?
I read that Best Buy is closing 50 stores and I thought, Duh! I would go there a year ago to check out what they have, use my bar code scan on my iPhone, walk up to the sales guy and say " hey, can you sell me that laptop for this price?". He would say "Ahhhhhh, we don't match Amazon" or something silly like that. As I hit buy on the amazon app, I thought, this is crazy. Here I am using Best Buy to check out what I'm about to buy on Amazon. Now a year later, Best Buy is closing 50 stores and we all know where that is going... Can you say BK and I'm not talking late night food cravings.
So what happened? The same thing that is happening to every business in the U.S., people are sitting there hanging out at the airport, on the subway, in line at the DMV, stuck in traffic, or even on the john for that matter and are looking stuff up. If you are anything like me, you have despised sales people for years and yes, I am a sales guy at heart. With the onset of smartphones and tablets, you have been searching more online and researching a lot more. You may be in the 65% that read a blog at least once a month (and growing I might add) and find that when you go to buy something you know more than the sales guy more often than not. Have you been to Radio Shack lately? OMG, those sales people are so bad. More of us than ever are researching by reading more online and blogs are a great way to get valuable information that is current and useful.
Ok, you could care less about anything above because you're busy, I get it, you don't have time, your head is in the sand, well, maybe it is in weeds, but you only care about results and ROI. Me too! So here you go, my business started blogging one year ago. So one year into it, I am showing the results found on Google Analytics. So if I did absolutely zero else on my site and just blogged, I will get in the favor of the Queen Google and if I was getting X business with 1000 hits, it is reasonable to say I will get 2.5 X business with 2500 hits as long as those hits are with the same type of keywords. You be the judge but for me it was absolutely yes.
I will also say there is a thing called MO (mentum). If you have the Mo on your side and you have been doing this work (or project out a year if you have not started) and your competitor has not, the chart is one that continues in a straight line up with site visits. There is no way around it. Give Google great content, and they will be loving on your site. Article writing does just that and my company Cedar Creek Cabin Rentals is living proof of that. Check out the case study from the HubSpot software we used to achieve the results.
Getting the idea? Let me break it down into 3 Easy Steps if you are thinking that this makes sense.
1. You Need Software- There is no strategic way to start this process without software. If you have no budget, go for WordPress but if you are a business with a $40K/year marketing budget and are not sure of the results you are getting on that spend, use the best in class HubSpot software to begin an inbound marketing campaign. This will give yo
u the foundation of keywords to start blogging around (ie. Business blog writing for this article). The software will also give you your ROI which you are not getting now from any outbound marketing strategy.
2. Blog- You must put up consistent Optimized Remarkable content or fresh articles. Again, if you have a budget to work with, you should consider offloading that to a article writing service. This takes time and energy and a well thought out strategy. Have the time? Then by all means start on your own using the software above or write some of your blogs but supplement that by outsourcing blog writing too. A minimum of 3 per week is advised.
3. Call to Action- No blog is worth its salt if you are not offering something to the reader. Whitepaper, E-book or other useful information works best. See Step 1 on how to provide calls to action. Yes HubSpot software helps with this too.
If you a run small- to medium-sized business, you know how important it is to forge strong bonds between your company and your customers. An up-and-coming business today has to be constantly seeking out new leads and courting them, since the competition online is so vast. Then once you've got them, you need to hang onto them and keep them excited about your products.
A good blog can do all these things. It's one of the most effective communication tools you can have today.
However, not everyone has the time to blog themselves, or an employee with the time and writing skills needed to do it. That's where business blogging services come in. These services are designed specifically to match you with great content writers who can do your business blog writing for you, and at a bargain price. In terms of returns on the investment, these business blogging services can be an excellent value.
Business Blogging Services Are Affordable!
There are two basic ways you can go about purchasing blogs. First, you could hire an inbound marketing firm (you know, like us!) to handle your blogging, as well as other aspects of your inbound marketing campaign. Prices vary significantly, but even spending a thousand or two a month, you're still getting a quality marketing team for less than the cost of a single new employee.
Or, if you want to do it yourself, there are a number of brokerage sites such as TextBroker and Zerys, where you can place orders directly. While you don't get the full service this way, you can easily get quality content for only around 2-3 cents per word. That means, if you want a month's worth of 500-word blogs (once a day for every weekday), you're only paying around $300 a month.
That's a lot of outreach for a low price. But speaking of outreach...
Increase Leads Through Blogging
A blog is probably the single most cost-effective lead-building tool you can have. According to a HubSpot blogging can bring you, on average, an 88% increase in website traffic. And among those who blog, 69% of companies believe it to be a significant lead-building tool. For most companies, that means thousands more eyeballs a month, all looking at your content. In fact, after twelve months of blogging, companies were reporting, on average, a 48% increase in leads!
That makes business blogging services an excellent all-around investment.
There are two ways blogging helps increase your leads. First, any articles that get shared by readers on social media immediately get seen by their social network friends, increasing your visibility significantly. This can also lead to lively debates on your message boards, encouraging return visits.
The other is the boost it gives to your SEO.
Blogging And Search Engine Optimization
A blog is the centerpiece of any SEO campaign. Trying to do effective SEO without one would be nearly impossible. Among the many SEO activities a blog can provide:
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“Farming” your keywords to increase their visibility on Google.
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Creating an internal network of links (called a Silo) establishing you as an authority in your area.
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Outbound links increase your connection to quality websites and encourage them to link to you.
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Increase your site's visible activity by posting daily, which also encourages search spiders to continually re-index your site.
In short, paying for a business blogging service gives you a lot of bang for your buck.
The Time To Start Blogging Is Now!
Two-thirds of companies blog; chances are your competition is already doing it. You get increased leads, better communication with your customers, and increased customer retention, all for an extremely low price. Whether you're outsourcing blog writing or doing it yourself, this is some of the most cost-effective marketing you can find anywhere.
Until next time, if you've got a story to share about your experiences with a business blogging service, tell the world about it in the comments. There are a lot of firms out there, and it's great to hear about the experiences you've had with them, good and bad. Let us know in the comments section below! 
Ok, So you are spending marketing dollars on outbound marketing (print, radio, email blasts, TV, trade shows) and it is beginning to net less and less than ever before. The spend every month is really getting on your nerves because your business is down. So, Question number one. How much is business down from last year? Chances are if you are spending money on this outbound marketing, you only can gauge by asking a client where they found you and they may not remember or just don't know. So the likely answer is "I don't know" or "I can't remember" or even if they do, is it really that accurate?
Well how would you like to implement a marketing spend that you will know exactly what you spend and what is your result? The technology is here now and it is called inbound internet marketing. The results below show a client of 98toGo that went to an inbound marketing a year ago. These clients below did one thing differently than prior to the engagement. They outsourced their business blog writing. As you can see, business blogging has proven to yield some significant results.
The HubSpot software is used to track the results and as you can see: visits, leads, and customers are off the charts. The 2nd client shows a similar chart and a similar action plan of blog creation to create more organic traffic. Just looking at the chart you may not notice the increase in traffic but if you focus on the year over year green or organic traffic you will see the benefit. A doubling in organic year over year traffic. That meant this client could spend less on paid search and begin to implement a long term organic and inbound marketing strategy that feeds on itself and has improved over time. The numbers just don't lie. 
So, whats the point? Well if you know what is generating you leads and clients, would that help you to know where to spend future dollars? Do you know if you send an email, exactly how many clients you get from that email? If you did, would that help you with future emails? Can you say that currently with your all of your outbound marketing spend?
It starts with a great software and a remarkable blog content that gives information to your readers to help them in their buying decision. This is absolutely hard work and does costs money but ultimately you must ask, do you want results you can track? Is your current outbound strategy giving you that?
Consider shifting part of your outbound spend to an inbound marketing strategy and see for yourself if the results you are getting worth the spend you are making.
You need articles and you needed them yesterday! You're busy and don't have the time to write tons of content and that is why you employ the business of an article writing service. But, sometimes turn-around can take forever between editing and proofreading, or sometimes the words in the article just aren't clicking. That's when an article writing service on steroids comes into play. They've got the muscles for a quick turnaround, awesome writing, and already
optimized content for your business.
Articles can be found nearly anywhere online, most places filled with huge archives and databases of content ready to be sold or written specially for you by talented writers, but, what makes a service stand out among the rest? What makes a service right for you?
Their writers understand SEO and can implement it
Understanding what SEO does is well enough for some people, but, writers creating online content should know the ins and outs of SEO and should know how to optimize an article, even while blindfolded. A writing service should provide articles that are 100% optimized and ready to go, without the hassle of finding an
Atlanta SEO expert to review it.
Quick turnaround and lightning fast editingWhile some articles will take longer than others, depending on word count and level of research, most writers will probably write at least 20 articles a day. Heck, some writers will probably see 50 articles pass through their desk in a given day. Quick turnaround is a must and so is quick editing and proofreading.
Precise writing, Undeniable wit
Stringing along coherent and entertaining sentences takes some skill, and business owners shouldn't just accept whatever article is created for them. All content should have great writing, whether it's made to make the reader smile or get riled up, it needs to invoke an emotion and get people interested in your business. Don't accept articles bland as tap water.
Reasonable pricing for all businesses
Articles generally sit between $10 to $50 a pop, depending on the writer or writing
service. Unreasonable pricing is a 300 word article for $400, of course. An article writing service on steroids will provide all sorts of reasonable pricing for their clients to help accommodate businesses big or small.
Razor-sharp researching skillsOne part of article writing is research. People with strong Google-fu understand where they need to go in order to get answers and write articles that make them sound like a master are people employed by writing services on steroids. If the article sounds like it was written by an amateur, readers are going to pick up on that and you'll feel like a phony. And we don't want that.
Understanding deadlines
Like we said earlier, you need content now and a busy writing service will understand that. Editorial Calendars are to be feared and adhered to by writers and editors alike, even when it comes to
content writing. A service which doesn't provide a product on time needs to be booted immediately.
All of these are required of an awesome writing service, hands down. All of these attributes can be found and can be inexpensive for you to use, you just have to know where to look. Unfortunately, there's no set way to find a service like this, but, it is possible. Not to toot our own horn, but, we pride ourselves in some kick butt writing service.
Do you have a writing service on steroids worth sharing? How has your experience with content writing been?
I had a man cave built 4 years ago. Now, know this: my man cave was conditional. Once the man cave was built, then I would move in with my girlfriend. She was cool to this idea. We both thought that building a man cave was a good idea before move-in. It gets really comfortable downstairs in the basement in my man cave. No windows. Usually nobody but me hanging out.
Let's ponder this for a moment... Long ago, way back in the days when men slept in caves, survival meant leaving the cave to kill a big beast or to fend off competing tribes. Communication was minimal. Grunts and pointing mostly.
Fast forward to today - the world is quite different. Especially for business owners like myself. I think that businesses survive and thrive by getting out of their caves. The wonderful world wide web has made it easier to get out of the cave. BUT, it's a scary, sometimes confusing internet world for those without the right tools or weapons.
Fortunately, I've discovered a tool that makes it a lot less scary and a lot more certain. That tool is called HubSpot. It's the best in class software which provides for successful inbound marketing efforts.
This past month was a new beginning for Atlanta Asphalt Paving company. They chose inbound marketing agency 98 To Go to help them leave their cave. We demo’d a tool (HubSpot) and a process called business blogging. They like this affordable inbound marketing solution. Now they can leave their cave and go out to slay their competition.
Tell me about your man cave in the comments below.
Do you wish to leave your cave and not get wounded, but instead become more successful?
We get this type of question all the time so we wanted to go over some questions that may help you make the choice to begin the process of starting your business blog writing.
Do you believe in marketing? If you do, do you believe that the internet will be a way to net you business in the future? If you answer no to this, come back in a few more years.
Do you understand the difference between marketing and sales? If your sales does your marketing then how are they generating their leads? Where do they get your clients? Most businesses lump the two together. A focused marketing approach typically works better than a sales guy trying to get leads. Sales is best working the leads generated from marketing.
Are you spending money on marketing now?
If yes, would that be considered outbound marketing (tv, radio, yp, print, trade shows) or inbound marketing? Inbound meaning the leads are coming as they are searching for you vs. a marketing approach being pushed out in attempt to get the attension of the few that are interested.
If it is outbound marketing, what is your current ROI on that spend and how do you quantify that? What is the cost per lead on that spend? What is the cost per customer on that spend? How is your existing outbound marketing effort working for you?
Have you looked into Inbound Marketing?
If you spend marketing now outbound and you are not happy with the results, would it makes sense to consider spending money on inbound internet marketing knowing you will be able capture your exact number of leads and the customers that will result? As a result, you will be able to determine your exact ROI.
Here are a list of case studies utilizing inbound marketing that you can look to. Case Studies by tag.
Here is the result of a 98toGo case study and why we formulated 98toGo. Our clients case study.
After one year, our client is now on a track to spend $35K (2012) in paid search vs. $100K in 2011. That's a $65,000 per year reduction in paid search spend. How was that possible?
The organic traffic is up 90% (see chart below). During that time, rather than ignore the internet for a way to produce leads, we helped to capture 9391 leads (see chart below) that can now be nurtured to become customers.
So with all of that, let's find out together the ROI for your company by taking a part of your outbound marketing and move that to the lowest cost per lead via Inbound Internet Marketing.
Are you a small business that wants to gain an edge, save money and stay current with today's internet world? Then read on. I've identified 4 different tools that are hot and trending up. I've used four of these tools with my business; with great results and some nifty cost savings.
Nobody can deny that the Internet has changed the world. Aren't we fortunate? Everything in the world is changing for the better, thanks to the Internet and technology that give us clever applications and cloud-based solutions. This is especially true for the small business owner.
We are living in the Global Village coined in the 1950s by Marshall McLuhan. More and more people join the global village everyday. Approximately one out of every three persons in the world already is inside the global village, and one out of every seven persons in the world is inside the social web.
Below is a snapshot of 10 of the top 20 Internet countries.
Tools or Apps for the Small Business That Can Save Money (and Time!)
After thinking about our quickly expanding (and CONNECTED!) world enabled by the Internet - I easily came up with my hit list for 4 must use tools.
1. Dropbox
How cool is it to not worry about sharing documents, slides, and large files easily with colleagues and clients? The cloud-based platform is Dropbox. And, get this, its easy to set up and its free for under 2GB of space and $99 - $199/yr for 50 to 100GB of file space. Teams of 5 can get 1 TB of space for only $795.
Collaborate across the hall or around the globe. There's a nifty FREE app for smartphones tool; Dropbox works with Windows, Mac, Linux, iPad, iPhone, Android, and BlackBerry. This tool works even when you're not online. However, it can't synchronize files when working on them simultaneously.
Bottom line: Dropbox' claim to "simplify your life" is true. Get this cloud-based, service that's ideal for working with files you can store in a single folder. It beats iCloud - Apple's version - for now (let's see what Google rolls out to compete!)
2. Quickbooks Online
Here's another cloud-based beauty. It is an accounting service that rocks. Forget the desktop, or the remote-desktop dial-in version - go with Intuit's QuickBooks Online product. It is targeted at mobile professionals, small businesses and others needing access to their financial data anytime.
There's no software to install and very little management required. I am surprised at how straightforward QuickBooks Online was to setup, learn and use. There's a lot more to the product for those with in-depth bookkeeping knowledge. One account is $13/mo. while multiple user accounts range from $27 - $40/mo.
Bottom line: Most small businesses with be most satisfied with the Essential version since it includes automated invoicing and you can directly update from a QuickBooks software version. However, to apply expenses to a customer or to integrate with cool tool #4 Mavenlink (see below), Plus is the best QuickBooks Online solution for you.
3. HubSpot
The company HubSpot is going to make a huge dent in the world. It is already making inbound marketing popular and achievable. This fast-growing software company is truly an all-in-one marketing tool for businesses that want to generate leads and continually improve their market positioning. The price is competitive with similar offerings and the feature set is expansive. The interface is pretty easy to use and HubSpot integrates with a lot of third party applications.
At 98toGo we use it and we require it for all of our clients. It is a best in class tool for putting content onto your business website and for measuring the impact of your internet marketing efforts. It stands out on these qualities:
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Price - from $200/mo. for Basic to approx. $1,400/mo. Enterprise
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Customer Service - top notch, patient. 9a-6p.
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Variety of Features - To help market businesses smartly
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Ease of Use - Even I can use it
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Customization - lots of apps and integrations
4. Mavenlink
Want a project management tool that is fairly simple, intuitive, Facebook-like in its approach to help you organize projects? Try or buy Mavenlink, especially if SalesForce or Basecamp is too expensive. We use this solution to help manage our various marketing clients in real-time. It helps us communicate to each other and to the client while sharing ideas and tracking tasks quite well.
This nifty low cost tool (annually for less than $900) also features file sharing on a private and secure cloud, Google Apps integration, and email integration. Mavenlink provides the benefits of an online centralized workspace, without causing extra work.
Bottom line: Manage unlimited projects, reduce administrative work, and synchronize QuickBooks with Mavenlink’s intuitive online project collaboration tool.
For more on business apps and what's trending up - check out this nifty infographic from the excellent business blog at Mavenlink:
Business blogging or outbound marketing? Outbound marketing or business blogging? Or maybe
both? If you're wondering which one is better for your business, you're reading the right article. Both of these things can be pretty important for a business depending on how you use them, but, which one can be more beneficial in the long run?
We don't necessarily want to start any flame wars here, but, it seems like business blogging will give you more bang for your buck. Don't believe us? It's all right, skepticism is healthy and that's why this article is here right now, to help you see the benefits of business blogging versus outbound marketing.
Outbound marketing is the use of "outbound" tactics, such as cold calling, telemarketing, and all that jazz. This type of marketing has been around for what feels like forever, and unfortunately, is starting to show its age. While some businesses may still see great results with effective outbound marketing, the way the world is going with the Internet, other methods are going to be much better.
Business blogging is the art of utilizing a company blog to reach customers, fellow businesses, and generate even more leads to land on your website. Blogging is getting up there in the years when taking in consideration other forms of online advertising, but, still remains popular and efficient. If you don't have a business blog, then you're missing out and need to make one right now!
As for you with business blogs and don't know what exactly to do with it, or need a little blog boost, go ahead and read on. The benefits of business blogging are all laid out.
Blogs are smiled upon by Google
Let's be honest: Google rules the Internet. When your website and blog are seeing the love from Google, it really shows. And when it isn't, well, good luck ranking on their searches. Business blogging helps your reach go even farther and it isn't intrusive or bothering people during their dinner time.
Business blogging can convey lots of information, be personable, and not annoy people. All very wonderful things!
Blogging is cheaper
Yup, business blog writing in the long run will be even more inexpensive than an outbound marketing campaign for your business. Instead of spending thousands on probable leads, you can keep a steady stream of content on your blog going and see a steady response toward your company.
Less is more, you know
With outbound marketing, there's a lot of planning, strategy, and guessing. The benefits of business blogging is creating a single strategy, monitoring one thing, and making sure to keep a steady stream of content in order to get hot leads and new customers coming in. Less is more because of how effective it can be, rather than trying everything under the sun and hoping for the best. Efficiency, yay!
Content marketing is hot, hot, hot
Between content marketing and outbound marketing, we'd put our money on content marketing. While both can certainly help out a business, using content in order to have a bigger reach and make your business known is a lot more effective in today's modern times than using outbound tactics. A blog is a steady source of content marketing. and relatively easy to maintain and you have the options of outsourcing blog writing. Either way it's a win-win for any business owner!
Whether you use one over the other or even both methods, business blogging is here to stay and will continue to be effective. Does your business have a blog? Have you seen a difference in business because of it?
You've probably heard constantly about content marketing, how "content is king," and other
things on the Internet about the importance of content for your business. While you may shrug it off as Internet Marketers and writers just trying to get your money, there is a lot of truth in all of the hype and trends.
When creating content writing for your business, whether it's a blog or YouTube channel or articles for press release websites, someone has to create that content and make it so people are engaged, reading, and actually will check out your business. Those people are called content writers and they are your best friend.
Why are they your best friend? Because with online marketing changing so drastically, some of the most consistent ways to bring in new customers and communicate with loyal ones is to create content online. Almost every single company--if not every company--has a company blog where they write interesting content. Do you blog? Or is your business blog collecting dust and feeling neglected? Other content includes writing meaningful articles that give useful information to the reader, press releases, and even writing out scripts for YouTube videos. Have you thought about a Content Strategy? A content writer can do all of this and more.
What else can a content writer do for your business?
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Instead of doing all of the work yourself (and that's a lot of work!), hiring a writer who understands how to piece together great sentences and keep your readers interested is much easier and more profitable.
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Content writers, especially ones who specialize in online content, are awesome with SEO, social media marketing, and making a piece of content go viral. It's in their blood. They understand keywords density, back linking, long tail keyword placement, and all of that other Internet mojo.
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Another important piece of writing is editing and proofreading, which a writer can do in their sleep. And they can do it fast.
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If you find the right writer for your business and continually use their service, they can 
eventually become your go-to person for content marketing and will be able to know what's best for your business' content marketing campaigns.
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Most writers can be found online on freelance job bidding sites, with a quick Google search, or you can even send in your content requests to websites like Zerys or Media Piston. There are several options, all of them rather inexpensive.
Most writers are freelancers who draft up contracts with businesses, some of them lasting for years. Now, doesn't that sound like a best friend for your business? We think so. Of course, finding the perfect writer is all up to you and what you are looking for. Much like finding the perfect employee, the right writer can benefit you immensely and continuously.
If your budget is big enough for an epic content marketing campaign, you could potentially hire multiple content writers. Or, if you handle lots of different contacts who need content, you can outsource your business blog writing to great writers to help you with the work. It's all one giant circle of content that would make Simba proud. If you're in need of a writer, keep in mind that a content writer should have excellent writing skills, precise editing, reasonable turnaround, and of course reasonable prices.
Do you employ a writer? Have you had a go-to writer for a couple of months or years? Tell us about your writer experiences in the comments below.
