Conversations on Website Conversion discussion

Continuing in the same theme of measurement, chapter 12 is about measuring your people. There are a lot of different ways to do this, but our book forwards four measurements that make a great inbound marketing employee. A good inbound marketer is a Digital Citizen, who is very Analytic, with great web Reach, and who can create remarkable content. These properties correspond to the sort of properties you would have looked for in a traditional marketer (someone who understands their craft, can appreciate numbers, has a wide range of contacts, and who can provide ideas), but they are specifically tailored to the world of online, inbound marketing.

This chapter devotes little time to the idea of training existing marketers/employees to fulfill these crucial inbound marketing roles. This may be writing them off a little too early, and taking things a little too cynically. Do you think that you can teach an old dog new tricks? The analogies of old marketing and inbound marketing are incredibly tight, and there was a day when the internet was new, and knowing how to use it grew with time. What portions of DARC do you think are teachable and learnable? Would you be better off starting fresh with a new face?

I like working in a team environment where each of us has strengths and weaknesses and we complement each other. Someone of my generation went to college and did research at the library and typed their term papers on an electric typewriter - someone of my nephew's generation, who is in college right now, does their research online and e-mails their term papers to their professors....it's a huge change!

The key is a willingness to learn from each other. In many things of this new digital age I am way behind the experience and capabilities of a 20 year old....yet in managing people or the day to day running of a business I'm way ahead of them -

So in picking and measuring people, I'm always looking for good team players - people who will fit in with my existing team and where their skills will strengthen the skills of the team as a whole - someone we can all learn from and who in turn is excited about learning from us.

The "team" aspect seems to have been a bit overlooked in this chapter--the main focus was on measuring individual people. I guess that the assumption is that when you are working mainly online, you have to rely on people to be a lot more self-directed. They have to contribute to your team effort, but they will not necessarily be steeped in a team environment.

I think that this assumption does not necessarily reflect the only or "best" decision to be made in hiring; I agree with you Marty, I think that one of the most important things is to find someone that is going to be a good fit with the vibe that you already have going. If someone doesn't fit, it can add more stress and frustration that just isn't necessary.

It's important, though, to measure people individually and as a team to see what you are missing and where you can improve, and what you should look for in a new addition.

I also agree with you Marty! A team with a diverse set of skills and openness to learning is key. I can imagine though that the questions based on D.A.R.C. (a Digital Citizen who is Analytical, has Web Reach, and who can Create remarkable content) will come in handy when trying to hire a savvy employee for a web based business.

To sum up this chapter and the associated comments - can YOU have a conversation with your candidate? Your DARC will be responsible for the engagement of your customers in a conversation. These conversations should lead to conversions with the right chemistry.