I closed 2009 with the order of a book I had a feeling was going to be a big inspiration and tool for my business activities. Titled, “CRUSH IT!: Why NOW is the time to cash in on your passion.”, this book promised to bring me a powerful tool to hone my passions into a sizable business endeavor. The author, Gary Vaynerchuck, did just that with his Wine TV show, a video blog online where he created and built his personal brand and by extension his company’s brand as well.

I was disappointed. And very much so….

But not about the book, or its content. No! This is a book I need to make time to read again (and again and again, srlsy!). I finished reading it in two sittings, I have a newborn so I have a reasonable excuse why I had to put it down. But really I could not put it down. I was reading it and a dauting feeling beset me, there is so much I need to start doing, so much my clients can learn, so much any prospect clients need to find out and employ. It’s the kind of information you strongly feel you need to share with people. And for 3 weeks all I could think about was the Inbound Marketing tactics presented in that book. For those 3 weeks I was torn between what my true passion is, really. Because the truth is there are various things I love to do. I sew slings, mei tai’s, wrap-style diaper bags, pouch slings. I write poetry, stories and have a ton of ideas for blog-posts. I love to sing and write new music. And I am passionate about service, product and communication quality. I love creating an ad, flyer or website that really connects the vision of the customer to technology that works AND to result oriented ease of use.

Going back to my disappointment; I was irked, sad and disappointed because I waited 7-8 WEEKS to receive it and that was very frustrating because I knew with great certainty, this book would change the way I approached my work, passion and business activities. And to a great extent it has, because of course the shift from outbound to inbound marketing is the hardest thing, it’s the get-off-your-butt-yes-you-there-and-share-tidbits-with-the internet-regularly-marketing. And then I have to look a disbelieving customer in the eye when I mention tweeting as a marketing activity. They literally raise their brows asking me “so, you mean I have to tell the computer what I’m up to, all the time? Can’t my secretary handle that? Or you?”. Well evidently I can as an IMVA, but my purpose and aim is to help people get started with the process and here and there re-educate and expand minds so they can embrace this inbound marketing and use it to the very best results for their business. A much bigger goal!

So this post is mostly to whet the tongue and get inquisitive minds buzzing, what IS the big deal surrounding Inbound Marketing? Why should a butcher, supermarket, jewelry shop or bakery care about what is happening on twitter, facebook and myspace? And why would anyone want to know what I’m doing and get regular, if not hourly, updates of my activities, thoughts and whereabouts?

ONE WORD: CONNECTING

Gary was very clear, real life happenings often land on the internet. A client that has a complaint may post his/her frustration online where the people in their network will see this poor review about your company. When you are not active in these networks there is no way you can respond and amend the situation. What is worse, bad reviews can go viral. What is viral, you may ask? Ever heard of videos posted on YouTube landing on CNN because they caused an uproar, had millions of views and nearly half as many comments, and people everywhere giving input and expressing their take on the issue presented in the video in question because the topic really caught on?

Now, one thing has got to be clear, responding is tricky. The person representing your organization who is posting the reply should always bear in mind the level of involvement and helpfulness you want to convey as a company. It has to also be genuine. A reply that consists of fluff will most definitely enrage the public, who is avidly reading the interaction. So a wonderful opportunity to portray your company in the best light opens itself, a wonderful opportunity to build rapport with the end-user, visitor, lead, client that has taken the time to express his/her concerns openly in a way that you can track it. Because the truth is, you are in a great position, you can actually listen in on the word-of-mouth that you receive and you can influence it, preferably positively.