The Best Inbound-Marketing Resources: HubSpot and Impact

A new, totally overhauled version of TheSolopreneurLife.com went live on December 8, 2014. Since then the website has experienced the following results:

• Page views are up 119 percent.

• Leads are up 850 percent.

• Closes are up 636 percent.

This post explains how I did it.

Victory Leaves Clues

Credit goes to inbound marketing

In the area of free inbound-marketing resources, I’m here to tell you I’ve found no better resources than Massachusetts-based HubSpot and Connecticut-based Impact.

Inbound marketing refers to marketing activities that bring visitors in, rather than having to go out to get prospects’ attention. Common inbound-marketing tools are: blogs, e-books , e-newsletters , podcasts , video, whitepapers, and social-media platforms.

HubSpot is an inbound-marketing software platform that helps companies attract visitors, convert leads, and close customers. HubSpot’s target customers are marketing and ad agencies. Impact is one of those marketing agencies. (In their content, HubSpot and Impact till a lot of the same ground, but they come at it from different directions.)

I’ve learned a lot just by studying the two company’s websites and how they do things. Their sites are a wonderful convergence of form and function, design and results.

In their blog posts, e-books, and other content, there’s no guesswork or hunches. That’s because their recommendations are based on testing and research. It’s a refreshing departure from much of what passes for online expertise.

A 636-Percent Increase

All of that content is marvelous, but I wouldn’t be writing about it if not for the results.

In the overhaul of TheSolopreneurLife.com , I’ve leaned heavily on the free information that HubSpot and Impact make available on their websites.

Impact, especially, was a huge influence on nearly pixel you see at TheSolopreneurLife.com. For example, an article by Impact Marketing Director John Bonini sparked my decision to eliminate sidebars on blog posts.

From my study of HubSpot, I overhauled my forms and landing pages.

As I said above, since my new website went live:

• Page views are up 119 percent.

• Leads are up 850 percent.

• Closes are up 636 percent.

Oh yeah.

A Very Good Place to Start

To begin digging into the Impact and HubSpot resources, go to:

• Impact Learning Center

• HubSpot Marketing Library

And this is fun: Impact’s blog-title generator.

I subscribe to HubSpot and Impact e-mail updates, and it’s not uncommon for me to begin reading their stuff before I’ve climbed out of bed in the morning.

On Twitter, I follow HubSpot Section Editor Ginny Soskey @gsosk , and Impact Content Marketing Manager Carly Stec @CarlyStec. The number of blog posts that carry Soskey’s and Stec’s bylines is crazy. Whatever they’re being paid, I say it’s not enough!