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Why HubSpot is Launching a Podcast Network

Company News
May 12, 2021/by
Why HubSpot is Launching a Podcast Network We've built HubSpot on the belief that you earn attention by being of value. That belief is at the very heart of HubSpot's success; creating remarkable content is what makes a remarkable brand. We've spent the past decade investing in educational content to help all kinds of business builders be successful. Marketing, sales, customer support, customer success, product, engineering, entrepreneurs are all helping to build and grow businesses. And, we've provided free education through our blogs, YouTube, Academy, and podcasts to help. With nearly 114,000 customers now using HubSpot to scale their companies, our ambitions around content have only gotten bigger. It's why we're excited to announce the launch of HubSpot's Podcast Network, a new audio destination that is home to six great shows that represent a wide range of business topics and backgrounds. Together, this collection covers the scope and mastery every company needs to find success. The inaugural members of the network are: Entrepreneurs on Fire, which delivers the inspiration and strategies you need to fire up your entrepreneurial journey and create the life you've always dreamed of. Business Infrastructure, which provides solutions and real-life stories to owners and operators of fast-growing small businesses seeking practical tips for creating the operations and business infrastructure needed to grow a company. Being Boss, an exploration of not only what it means, but what it takes to be boss as a creative business owner, freelancer, or side-hustler. ...
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18 Funny Out-of-Office Messages to Inspire Your Own [+ Templates]

Vacations
May 12, 2021/by
18 Funny Out-of-Office Messages to Inspire Your Own When it comes to the final days before vacation, people tend to fall into one of two camps: 1) those who watch the clock incessantly, and 2) those who are so busy before they leave, they might even forget to put up an out-of-office (OOO) email message. If you're anything like I am, you probably fall into team two. That doesn't leave a lot of time to get creative. But if you plan ahead, you might be able to craft some hilarity. In this post, I’ll go over what an OOO message is and share some of the best examples I’ve found on Google, as well as a few from my coworkers). Also known as "autoresponder emails," out-of-office messages run the gamut. From funny, to clever, to snarky, this message can both show your personality and let senders know that, well, you’re out of office. While you can keep it simple, you can also have some fun with it. What should I put on my out-of-office message? First things first: let’s go over the basics of an OOO email. In your away message, you typically include the following: A quick “I’m out of the office” phrase. The date or time range you’ll be out. Who to reach out to in case the sender needs immediate attention. A sign-off. Putting it all together, your autoresponder would read something like: “Hi there, Thanks for your...
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Clubhouse vs. Podcasts: Which Should Marketers Use? [Data + Expert Tips]

Marketing Strategy
May 12, 2021/by
Clubhouse vs. Podcasts: Which Should Marketers Use? Ah, Clubhouse versus podcasts — an age-old debate. Just kidding. But, while both of these audio tools are relatively new to the business world (in fact, Clubhouse is less than two years old), they've both attracted large, engaged audiences. And, even though each audio tool is vastly different, they serve similar purposes. Hear me out: Podcasts, at their core, are meant to inspire and provoke interesting conversations around a variety of topics, including crime shows, celebrity interviews, health and fitness, or business and entrepreneurship (to name a few). Clubhouse operates on a similar principle: to encourage lively conversations and debates around a variety of niche topics. As Clubhouse Founders Paul Davison and Rohan Seth have said, "The thing we love most is how voice can bring people together." That message — of the importance of voice to bring people together — is just as true for podcasts as it is for Clubhouse. Which leaves many marketers wondering: Which one is more worth my time? Here, we'll explore the pros and cons of investing your time and resources into podcasts vs. audio chat rooms like Clubhouse, and which is ultimately a better long-term decision for your brand. Since I'm no podcast or Clubhouse expert, I've collected the wisdom of various experts on both sides to paint the full picture. Let's dive in. Clubhouse vs. Podcasts: Which Should Marketers Use? To start, let's explore a recent survey I conducted on which audio activities people prefer...
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How to Stop Procrastinating and Become a Joyful Writer [Infographic]

Content Creation
May 11, 2021/by
How to Stop Procrastinating and Become a Joyful Writer Whether you're a full-time blogger or a social media marketer who's occasionally tasked with writing social media copy, I'm willing to bet you've experienced the temptation to procrastinate in the middle of your writing process. Maybe you type your introductory sentence and then open Pinterest. Perhaps you finish a section of your post and then, losing steam, decide to wash your dishes, instead. Whatever it is, we've all been there. Writing is a tough and tedious process, and there are plenty of moments where procrastination is much more tempting than writing one more sentence. But if you're on a tight deadline, it's critical you're able to stay focused. Here, Henneke Duistermaat, founder of Enchanting Marketing, dives into strategies writers can use to avoid procrastination the next time they're on a tight deadline and can't afford to spend any more time refreshing their Pinterest feeds. Let's dive into the strategies you can use to stop procrastinating during your writing process — and how to become a more joyful writer,...
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Running Into Issues in Shared Excel Sheets? Learn How to Lock Cells

Excel
May 8, 2021/by
Running Into Issues in Shared Excel Sheets? Learn How to Lock Cells Ever left something perfectly fine and came back to a total disaster? Any pet owner will probably say, "yes." At work, the same can happen when collaborating on a shared document. It's usually an accidental keyboard stroke that does it. Unless it's done by your cat, in which case, it's not accidental – it's definitely sabotage. While a mistake like this is understandable, it can be frustrating and time-consuming to fix. When working on shared Excel sheets, you can prevent these mishaps altogether by locking cells and protecting your worksheets. Whether you're working on an upcoming report or planning out next quarter's budget, learn how to prevent anyone from changing or deleting important information on an Excel document. Can you lock cells in Excel? Yes, you can lock cells on Excel by following a few simple steps. When you lock a cell in Excel, you restrict users from making changes to your sheets. It's particularly helpful when working on a project that involves multiple team members. For instance, let's say you're the marketing director and you've asked each channel lead (email, website, social) to report their quarterly numbers for an upcoming meeting. You wouldn't want someone accidentally deleting important information, or changing formulas or conditional formatting before consulting with key stakeholders. This process ensures that only pre-approved users can edit the cell, which will save you a headache in the future. Another method is locking your...
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Tired of Waiting for IT to Generate Your Reports? Try Ad Hoc Analysis

Marketing Reporting
May 8, 2021/by
Tired of Waiting for IT to Generate Your Reports? Try Ad Hoc Analysis In midsize to large companies, it's standard to have business intelligence (BI) analysts generate reports on behalf of employees. Having a designated team is great, as it signifies you have the resources to process large volumes of data. However, it can be a roadblock to decision-making. Generating a report can take several days and if your team is already receiving many requests, it can take their focus away from higher priority tasks. This is where ad hoc analysis comes in handy – you can run your own queries as you need them. Discover the benefits of generating your own reports and the tools that will help you do it. Non-technical users – who may be unfamiliar with structured query language (SQL) – can use it to answer questions that require immediate answers. With the ad hoc model, everyone is empowered to dig into the data and find exactly what they're looking for, without having to go through someone else. Why is this helpful? It: Saves time – When everyone is able to run their own analysis, they don't have to wait days or weeks for IT to get to it. It also allows your IT team to focus on top priorities without being distracted by one-off tasks. Speeds up the decision-making process – This also enables your team to make decisions quickly, as they can access data to support their decisions. Empowers...
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25 of the Best Free WordPress Themes for Bloggers in 2021

wordpress themes
May 8, 2021/by
25 of the Best Free WordPress Themes for Bloggers in 2021 As a blogger, you want your website to reflect your unique voice and style. You also want visitors to have a positive experience navigating your site — that is, reading posts with ease, searching for topics of interest, and discovering other content that makes them excited to return. A WordPress blogging theme can help you achieve the exact look, feel, design, and layout you envision, without the need for coding. We’ve curated this list of our favorite free WordPress themes for bloggers like yourself — in no particular order — to consider using for your website. 1. Astra Astra is a fast and lightweight theme that’s suitable for a variety of use cases. This flexible foundation makes Astra a quality option to consider when building a blog. The theme comes with several ready-to-use blog websites that can be imported, modified, and used out of the box. Many bloggers get by just fine with the limited customization options for backgrounds, typography, and spacing within the free version of Astra. But for several advanced features like auto-loading previous posts, adding author sections, and removing featured image padding, you’d need to opt for the Pro or Agency plan. Astra is one of the fastest themes available, and its compatibility with all major page builders (such as Elementor, Beaver, and Brizy) make it a great option for bloggers. Image Source 2. Kadence Kadence is a lightweight and fully-featured...
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Lead Source: What Is It and Why It’s Valuable To Your Team

Marketing Operations
May 7, 2021/by
Lead Source: What Is It and Why It's Valuable To Your Team The more you know about your buyer personas, leads, and customers, the easier it is to effectively target them. This entails identifying the channels and platforms in which they spend their time and understanding their needs and challenges. It also means knowing how your leads find your business — how and by which method they come across your company. This is known as a lead source. Lead Source In this blog post, we’ll review the definition of a lead source, why lead sources are so important, common types, and best practices for managing and tracking them. Why do lead sources matter? By understanding and identifying lead sources, you’re able to gain context around why and how your audience members find you. As a result, you can improve the customer experience and buyer’s journey with targeted content, communications, interactions, and more. This allows you to determine which lead sources are most valuable to your business so you can hone in on them as well as measure your success over time in attracting and converting leads. Additionally, knowing which lead sources bring in the most qualified leads helps you focus your resources where they matter most and where you’ll get the greatest ROI. Identifying and understanding your lead sources is also a major part of lead management, the process in which you manage — or nurture — your leads until they decide to convert. These are all...
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The Complete Guide to Lifecycle Marketing

Marketing Strategy
May 7, 2021/by
The Complete Guide to Lifecycle Marketing Savvy marketers know it's rare to reel in customers at the first encounter with a brand. Winning people over takes time, thoughtful touchpoints, and a whole lot of trust. Fortunately, there's a strategy that includes all of these and more. It's called lifecycle marketing, and it's how companies attract and retain customers beyond that impulse purchase. All businesses create their own unique lifecycle marketing strategy, but the purpose is the same: to engage customers, increase revenue, and grow a brand. Different from the buyer's journey or conversion funnel, lifecycle marketing considers a customer long after they make a purchase. The focus is to bring in buyers and turn them into loyal brand advocates. But what does that look like for your company? In this guide, we'll cover: What makes lifecycle marketing so effective Marketing strategies to attract customers and keep them coming back Considerations for engaging campaigns How to use email for every lifecycle stage Let's jump in. A lifecycle can be short or long. Companies like Nespresso or Whole Foods Market have shorter cycles and need to attract people back almost immediately after they purchase. But companies with lifecycles like Mercedes or Avocado Mattress play the long game of customer retention and advocacy to bring in more business. The ultimate goal is to always get customers and keep them coming back. No matter the cycle length, there are various stages that make up any lifecycle marketing...
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How to Conduct a Market Opportunity Analysis

Conducting Market Research
May 7, 2021/by
How to Conduct a Market Opportunity Analysis I have most of my best ideas at 3:00 AM or in the shower. But turning those shower ideas into a business opportunity requires further investigation. That’s where market opportunity analysis comes in. While you and your team may have many new business ideas you want to explore, you don’t have time to head down every path. Some of those paths may even end up being dead-ends. How do you choose which ideas to pursue, and which ones to let go of? Market opportunity analysis can help you narrow down your options to the ones with the greatest potential. Who should conduct a market opportunity analysis? That answer is, "everyone." All sizes of organizations will benefit from better understanding the industry in which they’re operating or approaching. Whether you work in B2B, B2C, government, or non-profit organizations, defining and analyzing the market will help you make better decisions. This kind of analysis can help you grow your existing business, pivot into new markets and opportunities, or expand into the periphery of your current market. There are many reasons to take the time and examine the full range of options before forging ahead. Here are five important benefits you’ll get from market analysis. 1. Make better long-term strategic decisions. Your business is impacted by many external factors. Without taking the time to examine the current market trends, you’ll be flying blind. A market opportunity analysis can provide the insight you need to see...
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