Earlier this summer, I won $3,588 with a single blog post that I wrote in the middle of the night. And in this post I am going to share with you exactly how I did it.

No Jedi mind tricks, just the application of three standard marketing principles, including understanding your audience, comparing the competition, and making yourself stand out.

First a little background: Infusionsoft held an online contest to find their biggest fan and the prize was a year of their software for free ($299/month X 12 months = $3588).

This was a great chance to get some exposure on their website with other Infusionsoft users at minimum, let alone a chance to wipe out a $299 monthly expense, so needless to say, I was motivated to write a blog post about why I am Infusionsoft’s Biggest Fan.

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This post is written specifically for Google Analytics and Infusionsoft users, but even if you use another provider for your email marketing and/or shopping cart software, many of the following tips still apply, so please read on.

We integrate Google Analytics with Infusionsoft in our online marketing in two primary ways; analyzing our email marketing campaigns, and tracking website conversions. With a planned approach for Google Analytics and Infusionsoft, I am able to answer the following online marketing questions with relative ease:

1. What type of visitor is filling out my Infusionsoft web forms, and where are they coming from?
2. How much of my website traffic is coming from my email marketing campaigns?
3. How effective are my sales funnels on my website?

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Written and distributed by Infusionsoft on August 12, 2010

Customers Across the Globe Share Their Love for Infusionsoft Marketing Automation and Email Marketing 2.0

GILBERT, Ariz. – (BUSINESS WIRE) – Small business owner Jennifer Bourn, founder of Bourn Creative, has a lot to smile about. The founder of the Sacramento-based online marketing and design firm has been named Infusionsoft’s “Biggest Fan.” Infusionsoft, the leader in email marketing 2.0 for small businesses, concluded its Biggest Fan Contest awarding Bourn a free, year-long subscription to Infusionsoft valued at nearly $4,000. In addition, Infusionsoft named two runner-ups, Jarrod Morris of Integrity Safe as the “Most Creative Fan” for his Old Spice campaign spoof and Brian Johnston of Johnston Search for “The Craziest Fan,” both winning a Flip Mino HD video camera.

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Ok. I woke up this morning, grabbed my phone to do a quick scan of my email, and check in on Facebook and Twitter. Last night I posted the Infusionsoft’s Biggest Fan article and I shared it on my social networks.

When I checked in with Facebook this morning I saw that a friend of mine commented on the post (Don’t go looking to see who posted it. I deleted the comment so there wouldn’t be any embarrassment), and here’s what he said:

“Email Marketing is Outdated! Just FYI!”

I couldn’t believe I was actually reading this statement. I actually laughed at the ridiculousness and ignorance of this comment. Was he serious? There was no way he could really think that right? I was a bit more than surprised and had to tell Brian what I just read.

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The marketing team over at Infusionsoft is a pretty smart bunch. In an attempt to find some happy customers to feature in their marketing and to get some great free advertising, they’re holding a contest to see who is Infusionsoft’s biggest fan.

Well, Guess What? Infusionsoft’s biggest fan is me!

Yes, we do a lot of online marketing strategy and planning for your clients, but we also manage all of the implementation from email marketing, to website marketing, to information product marketing and more.

Every client seemed to have a different combination of tools they were using and as a result, I have worked with a lot of different service providers. Some used a combination of QuickBooks and Constant Contact, some used a combination of 1ShoppingCart and aWeber, some used PayPal and iContact. The different combinations of tools were immense. But there was one thing that was consistent in all cases – the fact that they needed (and were paying for) multiple service providers.

One client was even paying a virtual assistant more than $2,000 a month to manage her list and keep it current between her shopping cart database and her email marketing provider’s database.

When Bourn Creative decided to focus on proactively marketing and growing our business, I knew that I didn’t want any of the solutions that my clients were using. It was a pain in the butt to manage marketing lists across multiple systems and they were spending a lot of money trying to do it efficiently.

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I subscribe to a lot of email newsletters, and I know that trading my email address for free products, videos, and reports would subject my inbox to a steady stream of email messages with an intended up-sell…

But the email I got the other day really irritated me and inspired this post.

A while ago, I opted in to this person’s website who is a self-proclaimed social media expert (who I will not disclose out of privacy concerns) with my first name and email address and watched the free video, which wasn’t that good and didn’t really provide any value. The free video was just a lame sales pitch.

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Last week I attended Infusionsoft’s annual users conference, InfusionCon 2010 at an absolutely beautiful resort just outside of Phoenix, Arizona.

You can read my other blog post on the conference here InfusionCon 2010: Why Infusionsoft is the Ultimate Marketing Software.

Even if you are not an Infusionsoft user, there were a tremendous amount of great resources and tips to learn from the vendors and speakers about marketing your business online.

One of the key concepts that Infusionsoft and their presenting affiliates preached was the importance of following up with your prospects throughout the sales and marketing process.

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I am writing this post as I look out at a beautiful garden and enormous Las Vegas style swimming pool from my hotel room near Phoenix, Arizona where InfusionSoft is hosting their annual user’s conference InfusionCon.

Bourn Creative uses Infusionsoft as the engine to automate our marketing efforts and regularly recommends the software to our clients who are ready to take their marketing to the next level.

While it is not the least expensive software on the market, we and about 1000 other entrepreneurs at this conference, and thousands more around the world truly believe it is the best online marketing automation tool and a big key to achieving marketing success and business growth on a massive scale.

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Written and distributed by Infusionsoft on February 8, 2010

Infusionsoft Unveils Email Marketing 2.0 to Revolutionize Small Business Growth; Next-generation Email Marketing is Behavior-Driven and Adapts Dynamically to Drive Sales

PHOENIX, AZ – (MARKET WIRE) – 02/08/10 — Infusionsoft today announced the availability of Email Marketing 2.0, ushering in a new era in small business growth with email marketing that dynamically and automatically adapts and responds to customer behavior in order to increase sales and customer satisfaction. Infusionsoft is the first company to combine CRM with email marketing in a single system for a simple, automated and powerful next-generation solution that enables small businesses to target their marketing like never before. Email Marketing 2.0 is supported by new features in Infusionsoft’s flagship product, a free trial for new users, as well as an array of educational resources to help customers get started with their first Email Marketing 2.0 campaign.

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Yesterday I flew down to Los Angeles to attend the one day InfusionSoft Double Your Sales Tour stop. Yes, I did learn a lot about this amazing software that is going to revolutionize the way that entrepreneurs and small business manage their database, email campaigns, and shopping carts. And yes, I did purchase it for myself (Woot!). That part of the day was totally expected. What I didn’t expect were the fantastic content-packed presentations by some amazing entrepreneurial minds. One of them was Jay Conrad Levinson, author of the Guerilla Marketing books and marketing legend. I got to take my picture with him too, which was awesome. Jay shared with us 20 ways Guerilla marketing is different than traditional marketing and while taking notes, I just knew that I had to share this information with you!

Traditional Marketing: You must invest money to make it work
Guerilla Marketing: Money is not needed. Time, energy and imagination is needed.
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