This week we attend the Inbound Marketing Summit in Boston at Gillette Stadium.  The guys at New Marketing Labs did a great job of putting together a quality conference.

For us, it was great to meet people that we’ve connected with online and put a face with a name as well as meet a lot of new people that we can learn from.

As with all conferences, there were a few hits and a few misses but I’m sure that everyone has a different take on what those were.

Some of the panels and presentations that really stood out and offered value to us were:

• “Turning Social Into Steak – How to Isolate and Evaluate Social Media Performance” by Chris Penn at Edvisors
• “Startup Marketing: Tips From the Trenches for Entrepreneurs” by Dharmesh Shah at HubSpot
• “World Without Media: What Will Fill the Void” by Paul Gillin at Paul Gillin Communications
• “How To Build Effective Email Marketing Programs” by the guys at iContact, Email Data Source, and RatePoint
• “Marketing Convergence: The Realization of High Tech and High Touch in Today’s Social Environment” by John Jantsch at Duct Tape Marketing
• “The Social Inbox: Extending the Reach of Email” by Greg Cangialosi at Blue Sky Factory

I’ve linked to their presentations where available. Brian Solis also introduced a visual of the Social Media Compass which will be in his new book next year.

I’ve also added some of the pics we took at the conference and networking event here.  Included in those pics is one of the best ads I’ve seen in a long time from Kaspersky.

Finally, I managed to snag one of the 50 early copies of Dharmesh Shah’s new “Inbound Marketing” book.  I’ll probably do a review of that in the near future.

I’ve had a wonderful time working as the Community Manager for FYIndOut.  It’s been a pleasure working for the Company but I must bid a farewell.  I wish the FYIndOut team all the luck in the world and look forward to seeing them grow and prosper.   If you would like to reach me, you can Tweet me at www.twitter.com/brettkopf

(Picture – Kissing the War Goodbye)

One of the things we’re asked all of the time by companies is “Why should I take the time to list my business solutions on your site?  Even if it is free.”  And while we discuss the benefits such as:

• Amplifying your company’s word-of-mouth by letting customer refer and rate your solutions
• Compete based on your quality and not marketing budget
• Increase your opportunities to be found by prospects that have never heard of you
• ….and more

 

One of the best reasons to list your company and solution on our site is to immediately improve your Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and inbound marketing. 

By adding your company and just one of your business applications or services to our site, you’re increasing the number of external web pages your company name and solution name are mentioned in and have inbound links in 15 pages. 

Every other solution added adds another eight quality pages explaining your solution to prospects and improving your SEO and SEM. Adding content such as white papers, case studies, presentations, and videos also make a direct impact on your SEO.  In addition, adding relevant tags to your content and solutions also go through as keywords on search engines.

Once again, the goal of our site is to be the central place for businesses to find and promote business information, applications, and services.  We want to connect buyers and sellers in Small to Mid-Size Businesses (SMBs) as efficiently as possible by using the same practices we’re all used to in our consumer lives to help our businesses.  As more and more companies join our site, the more value we add for everyone.  We built this site to help people, not search engines.

But in a day where the majority of traffic comes from search engines, every bit helps.  Listing on FYIndOut not only builds your brand and reputation with prospects, it also builds your SEO.

Information overload

Businesses and individuals alike are feeling the pressure of effectively finding and managing all the information on the web. FYIndOut Research acts as a central location to research and manage information that can help them with their business. Users have the ability to find and submit the business content and vote on how helpful they are. This is more than just your standard social bookmarking as our research includes white papers, case studies, presentations and more submitted by our registered solution providers. Tired of going from company site to company site finding the relevant information? Now you don’t have to.

Here’s how it works

Our Research section is broken into eight categories so that professionals can easily find the information important to them and their business. All of the research content comes from two sources:

1. Professionals like you that want to share information that can help other’s businesses succeed.
2. Any and all content that registered solution providers add to our site, including; white papers, case studies, presentations, videos, blog posts and more.

You can search and submit relevant business news articles, documents, presentations or videos. If other professionals find the content helpful, they can vote for it. If they don’t, they can vote against it which moves it down the list. Only registered users can submit and vote on research, which means only the most helpful information gets displayed. That’s right, instead of guessing whether or not some white paper or case study is helpful or more than just a brochure, now you’ll know.

Research Example

Let’s say you are a manager at XYZ Inc.  Lately you’ve had some trouble effectively strategizing for the downturned economy and are wondering if you should use Social Media to connect with clients? You’ve heard the hype and potential, but are weary of the outcomes and unsure how to set up a winning strategy.

Step 1

Step 2

Step 3

SUBMIT EXAMPLE  

 

Have a great blog post that can help other professionals? Just find a great presentation on SlideShare?  Go ahead and add them to FYIndOut if you believe they’ll help others.  Here’s how.

 

Step 1

 

 

 

Step 2

Solution Reviews

 Benefits of submitting a review

• Share your knowledge and build your reputation.
• Help other professionals and business owners that need to make the most of their time and money.
• Helpful posts will generate more traffic to your site.
• Hey, it’s good karma.

Benefits of research

• You no longer have to scour the web to find good business information and documents, find the best business information in one place.
• Find out what white papers, case studies, articles, videos, and presentations are actually helpful without sending a vendor your contact information.
• Share content with peers and build strong relationships.
• Interact with professionals by rating articles you deemed helpful or unhelpful.

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