What are your pointers for an import/export agency wanting to use HubSpot for lead generation and authority building?

Quora to show subject matter expertise and 'nurture' your relationship with cold leads to generate more educated and eager signups. We did an episode on Quora marketing: (https://anchor.fm/marketing-automation/episodes/A-Quick-Intro-To-Quora-Marketing---General-Strategy-e1vlpr/a-a4noru) https://youtu.be/X9Akg7Z-KPI?rel=0 In fact, Quora is getting pretty busy due to the fact people like me have gotten very good at marketing on Quora. The ‘white hat’ version of this is below. I consult with founders and marketers to help them execute on this very strategy to help grow their personal brands which inevitably grows their business. The name of the game for marketing on Quora is showing THOUGHT LEADERSHIP (https://right2revenue.com/managed-thought-leader-creation-program/). This will result in: 1. More credibility to whatever you promote anywhere. 2. Recognition of your brand (it shows up next to your name if you edit your tagline correctly). 3. Targeted and educated traffic to your landing pages. Here are the steps in this thought leadership strategy: **Step 1 = Choose a topic** * Strategy: I start with the focus keyword for your product/service. For an example, I am about to focus my attention on the keyword “thought leadership” because I want to find those most-interested in building their personal brand recognition and credibility in a field (i.e. a Quora topic). For a founder of a SaaS tool, this would probably be the pain point your tool solves - the search term that you want to get traffic from. **Step 2 = Create a sheet with question links, total answers, views of the top answer, average views per answer (if you have time), and followers.** * Strategy: You need a formatted database of the potential for your content on quora so you can prioritize your time. * How data-miner, but I employ a team of data specialists trained in grabbing the right content from the right places on Quora (https://right2revenue.com/product-category/data-enrichment/), and then going about enriching that data to grab linkedin profiles and email addresses. **Step 3 = Answer them in a google doc** * Strategy: This is so you can make copies of the content and turn it into multiple types - i.e. a linkedin article, an article for your blog, a number of tweets… Also, if you have collaborators (editors), you can simply give them access to this doc. * How: Simply create the doc and share it. One doc per question. **Step 4 = Edit and publish related answers as an article on your blog** * Strategy: You want to have it on your blog and indexed first so you have attribution and the chance to outrank the quora question with the same headline, or at least be close to it. * How: Add the version of your answer to your blog. **Step 5 = Submit that article URL to google to be indexed using your webmaster tools (search console)** * Strategy: As mentioned, you want google to crawl/index your answer on your site before they index the same text on quora. * How: Head to your webmaster tools (https://www.google.com/webmasters/tools/) **Step 6 = Bring your friends and colleagues into a Quora ‘Pod’** * Strategy: You need initial engagement to ensure exposure of your answers. The first 24 hours are key, so find a group of people who also publish on Quora and create your own pod. * How: Reach out to colleagues, ask if they answer questions on Quora. If so, start a WhatsApp or Telegram group and invite them. Post links and share there. **Step 7 = Publish the answers to Quora** * Strategy: Now that the answer is on your blog, go ahead and format it for Quora. A video is ideal, but at least add some images. * How: Head to http://Quora.com (http://quora.com/) **Step 8 = Share the links to the answers with your friends and colleagues.** * Strategy: This is where you post to your pod or email/message friends to engage immediately after posting. * How: Any way you prefer. Or... hire me to do it all for you :) ~~<>~~

Message me, I live in Shanghai, China.. If I understand better maybe I can assist you.

Selling to enterprise customers is about demonstrating value while reducing risk. You will need to show irrefutable proof that your solution will address a pain - ideally, one that is both urgent and important (Eisenhower matrix/Covey). The best way is to point to tangible examples of where you have solved the problem before - through documented case studies, testimonials from industry luminaries, etc. Most enterprise solutions have been developed with the involvement of at least one customer to ensure there is some semblance of product/market fit. If that is your situation, you need to use that customer as a proof-point. In the absence of an existing customer, you need to find someone (a champion) who is willing to accept greater risk in return for the benefits of being an early adopter. The offer to them could be financial (free/reduced cost/pay when you're happy), exclusivity, customization/ personalization/integration,... - something that will provide extra reward for taking a chance with you, in return for allowing you to use them as proof when the value is proven. As well, expect that an enterprise will limit their risk by testing your solution in a controlled setting - in one department, a specific project, a parallel implementation with another product, etc. with very specific, measurable objectives and expected outcomes. Selling to enterprise customers can be daunting. Decision-making can be slow, complex and political. The reception area is full of existing account managers with big expense accounts and six figure salaries who call on the customer every day. But, if you can find a way to successfully break into the market, large companies can be like lemmings - and one sale can lead to many. Good luck! Ping me if you think I can be of help.

#1) PROVE THE ASSUMPTION: Start with a dropshipper's existing products to figure out what sells best before you spend money on manufacturing and warehousing. Amazon is perfect for this - they will pay you 4%-10% to promote 253,000,000 products (http://bit.ly/1q2M85R) - you can sign up at https://affiliate-program.amazon.com/ Alternately, get very small amounts of the product (maybe even just buy some from a competitor) and try selling them on ebay and amazon. Nothing hurts more than having $50,000 of imported product gathering dust in your fulfillment warehouse while listening to a voicemail from a debt collector. #2) SOURCING There are several options here. Many people prefer Alibaba.com. Warning - if you use Alibaba, you are stepping into a tank of pirahnas. There are more scam "manufacturers" on Alibaba than real ones. Use Escrow or AliSecure Pay if you buy. If the supplier says they only take T/T, Western Union, Moneygram - just say no! I prefer American Made when possible. If you're like me, try Ariba's Discovery Service - http://bit.ly/1q2NFZu - which will allow you to find suppliers with a physical presence in the USA. Note: Many things can be made on demand (someone purchases, one gets made and shipped) instead of in 500+ manufacturing runs. Start there if you can - Books on CreateSpace.com, Clothes on CafePress.com, Playing Cards on MakePlayingCards.com, etc - to test out your exact product. #3) START YOUR SITE This is an entire topic in itself. One of the fastest ways I know for newbies to start in e-commerce is with a SquareSpace.com store. Other options include GoDaddy.com and BigCommerce.com. If you can stand to use the templates they provide instead of trying to customize them, you'll save yourself a lot of hassle and expense - customization usually looks terrible unless a designer/coder was hired to do the work. If you do customize, find someone on odesk.com or elance.com. #4) MARKET Figure out where your competition is advertising. Are they getting free, "organic" SEO results on Google? Using social media to drive billions of dollars of sales? (NOTE: That was a joke - don't count on social media as the nucleus of your marketing campaign. Please!) Are they paying for Google ads ("PPC"), buying email lists, using strategic partnerships for promotion, relying on shopping portals, using banner advertising, or something else entirely? There's probably a good reason - figure out what it will take to play in those waters. At the same time, try to find a small enough niche that you can win in it. #5) BEWARE Be careful about artsy things. If someone is attracted to something artistic, it's usually because there is a story behind the art for them, or because it's cheap. If you're going to try to sell artistic things, you may want to consider doing some serious research first about who has been successful in that area. Look at etsy.com to see handmade artsy items (very cool). #6) WORTH A LOOK Worth checking out as you start your journey: Art.com, yessy.com, Artfire.com, ArtPal.com #7) DEEP FOUNDATION If you need help, reach out for a 15 minute call and we'll discuss a go-to-market strategy specific to your goals.

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