A Good Question

Many of the social media sites have expereienced a real surge in the asking and answering of questions. The ensuing discussions can be quite interesting, thought provoking and worth the read. Not to mention the value of participating in these discussions in terms of SEO, exposure and thought leadership.

My day-to-day interactions with clients are peppered with questions and answers. Usually they center on practical advice from our experiences, best practices and what’s working with our clients. Here’s a typical question from last week:

“How long do you keep touching a contact before assuming they are not a viable lead?” I thought that was a very good question, but before I could answer, she continued. “……3 weeks, a month?” I was about to say 12-18 months before learning there was such a big delta between our approaches.

I tried easing into my answer. First, I first pointed out the typical buying cycle after generating a lead:
– 11% purchased within three months of inquiring
– 17% purchased within four to six months
– 25% purchased within seven to 12 months
– 47% bought in a year or more

Then I hoped my answer of 12-18 months would resonate as they considered the number of opportunities they would be abandoning after just a mere few weeks.

Have a question? Send it to me. I promise to return a quick, practical answer.

Susan Linman
susan@dunthorpemarketing.com

New Website and First Blog

June 16, 2009

Welcome to our new website and our first official blog. Before starting, I asked for advice on what constitutes a good blog. These are the recommendations I received:

Set a schedule. Blog often.
Don't worry if your posts suck a little.
Susan: Whew, that’s a relief…..
Write casually but clearly. Write quickly.
Add something new.
Join the bloggy conversation.

I’m thinking about the shoemaker’s children today. You know the story of that old shoemaker who outfitted his clients with new shoes, while his own kids went barefoot.

That story applies to us and our (very) old website. We even had a prospective client say he almost didn’t call us because our website was so outdated. Ouch. We’re glad he called. So is he.

Now I am pleased we have launched this new website and I hope it better represents our company, experiences and value to clients. I hope you’ll find the resources helpful and filled with ideas you can put to use.

Thank you for visiting.

Susan Linman