The first inbound marketing success story I ever heard is still my favourite proving how inbound marketing can take your business from near bankruptcy to industry leader

Marcus Sheridan started River Pools and Spas in 2001, along with two business partners, a pickup truck and a dream.  7 years of hard work, sacrifice and a lot of drive had resulted in a successful and expanding in-ground pool construction business.

Until November 2008.  Everything changed when the stock market crashed.  Within days, four customers withdrew their deposits.  From there, things went from bad to worse.  The company was on the brink of complete financial ruin.  Credit lines maxed out, no foreseeable projects and 16 employees sitting at home with nothing to do… things looked bleak.

In desperation, he turned to the Internet for new marketing ideas that could help save his business.  He could see how the Internet was changing the dynamic of business, but until this point there didn’t seem to be any relevancy to a local business that installed pools.

As he searched online, he came across concepts such as blogging, inbound marketing and social media.  In his own quest for information, he realized that consumers also turn to the Internet for information and answers.  It struck him that companies who position themselves to provide that information and to genuinely provide help, can gain attention, consumer trust, loyalty…and sales!

Marcus Sheridan decided to start thinking like a potential swimming pool consumer, instead of as a business-owner.  He wrote down every question he could think of that any customer had ever asked.  He took each question and created a blog post to answer it.  He focused solely on informing the customer, and resisted the urge to advertise or promote his company.

Almost miraculously, Marcus Sheridan completely changed the course of his business.  Seemingly destined for bankruptcy, he instead became a reliable go-to source for everything pool-related.  River Pools and Spas became an industry leader.  Even now, if you Google “How much does a fiberglass pool cost?”, River Pools and Spas based in Virginia, US ranks first in Google search;  regardless if you search from the United States, Canada, Ireland or Italy… pretty impressive.

One man’s drive to save his business, led him to the Internet to find answers.  As a result, he made the decision to provide answers to consumers, who were looking online to find answers.  In doing so, he not only saved his company, but became an industry leader.  As a result of the high quality, non-salesy content on his page, his business now ranks first in Google search at a global level.  The power of blogging for businesses personified!

Image credit: http://www.nytimes.com/

Author: Naomi Sirmans (@naomisirmans)

Ever wondered how good your marketing is? Get a free assessment here

//