What's your definition of 'inbound marketing'?

For me, it has everything to do with building trust so you generate the right leads for your business.

Interestingly, since publishing this article in July 2012, quite a few marketing automation companies in addition to HubSpot have committed to inbound marketing and defined the term.

Here are the top four I came across.

Do you do personas in your business? Have you integrated them into your inbound marketing?

If yes, then please add your perspective to this article in the comments.

If no, you'll be interested in the persona tool from HubSpot which makes integrating personas into your inbound marketing not only seamless, but also impossible to ignore. 

However, even if you don't use HubSpot, you can apply personas to your marketing, so read on!

What are the signs that your inbound marketing efforts are generating success?

After all, you've been working intensely, publishing blog articles regularly and consistently, creating new offers and promoting those with call-to-action buttons and landing pages.

If your business doesn't yet have a blog - or has one that might benefit from a reset - here are 10 tips for starting that business blog.

For perspective, I originally published this article in March 2012 a day after a #KBTribeChat about Blogging for Business that Todd Vendituoli hosted. I met him in person a few months later at Coverings 2012.

>> See Tile Industry at Coverings 2012 via Tweetup, Twitter Chat, Trends

The Twitter Chat reminded me that I had wanted to address this topic. As I revisit this article six years later, I'm reminded how critical it is to not just have a blog for business, but also to put it in the right perspective. These top tips should help.

Are you wondering how effective inbound is compared to traditional outbound marketing? Try these 27 inbound marketing assessment questions to figure out what you're missing out on.

What is Inbound Marketing?

Think how a magnet attracts iron... Similarly, inbound marketing makes use of content to attract visitors to your website.

Inbound marketing helps your business get found online because your content shows up in search by virtue of addressing topics of relevance to those searching.

What's your take on why blogs for business?

Do you consider them useful? A necessary evil? Something to run away from? A digital doodad with possibilities, but too confusing to pay much attention to right now?

Blogs Are Critical for Business

I consider blogs critical for business. In fact, I can't imagine any business serious about connecting with customers and getting found online being without one.

Without a blog, how do you create meaningful content for your customers?

If you're serious about inbound marketing, you'll want to embrace business blogging. Why? Because the two fit together like hand and glove.

Here's how it all comes together.

Not Sure About Inbound Marketing?

If you aren't fully sure about inbound marketing, don't immediately discard the idea. You see, inbound marketing is all about attracting interested visitors to your website and business. You do that with remarkable, delicious, relevant content that you publish regularly on your business blog.