Now that you've passed out, dream about scaling a cliff without a rope.

"I didn't want to go to a big company and I didn't want to go to a startup. Scaling a company: that's the most enjoyable phase. That's what I like doing."

That's a quote from Bill Watkins, Ex-Seagate CEO, in a recent San Jose Mercury News article about him becoming the CEO of a clean-tech company.

Scaling a company. The most enjoyable phase. It kept ringing in my ear like the morning after a rock concert.

Aren't we always scaling our companies? (Man, I love that song...)

Most SMB businesses in the HR marketplace -- and most businesses across the board with fewer than 20 employees comprise 87 percent of the total U.S. private employer base (and they're doing better by the way) -- are actually having to do three things simultaneously, or at least in rapid repetitive and cyclical succession:

• Starting up - educating the market, brand and relationship building, and differentiating from competitors
• Scaling - educating the market, brand and relationship building, and capturing market share
• Nurturing - educating the market, brand and relationship building, and maintaining market share (customer service)

All of which share:

• Educating the market (customers, prospects and influencers)
• Brand and relationship building

And all of business, big and small, are constantly starting up, scaling and nurturing -- especially in this erratic, post-economic-apocalyptic world. When you think of buzz-kill in terms of marketing investment, there's a lot of work to be done.

A lot of hard work that includes:

• Planning marketing activities
• Managing marketing activities
• Executing marketing activities
• Tracking marketing activities
• Measuring marketing activities (publicity, traffic, leads, improved SEO)

In order to take the three steps of starting up, scaling and nurturing, you've got to allocate staff and resources to take these three steps:

Step One: Strategy, Messaging and the Search-Optimized “Marketing” Web site

Before engaging in any marketing, you need to have a strategy –- a long-term plan of action designed to achieve a particular goal and the messaging to drive that strategy. Then you need a Web site with a strong online presence that is search-optimized to improve the volume and quality of traffic to a Web site from search engines via natural (“organic”) search results.

Step Two: Content. Content. Content.

How many times do we have to say it - a primary goal of your Web site is to convert visitors into prospects (then nurture them into true leads). But without site traffic, you have no prospects. And without great content, in addition to SEO, you have no site traffic, only virtual crickets chirping.

Step Three: Promotion.

Okay, now you have a winning strategy, powerful messaging, and a great Web site that is search-optimized. And you have lots of great content and processes in place to generate fresh content on a regular basis. Now you’re ready to promote and distribute that content to generate visibility, traffic and leads.

Promotional tactics being everything from:

• Direct email and print marketing
• Search-optimized press releases
• Media relations and pitching
• Analyst briefings
• Partnerships/affiliate programs
• Content download campaigns (articles, white papers and research reports)
• Blogging
• Podcasts/Video
  
• Webcasts
• Trade shows
• Speaking
  
• Mobile
  
• Online radio
• And now we've got social media marketing - the sharing of relevant content and the building of trust and relationships with very specific prospect groups

Now that you've passed out, dream about scaling a cliff without a rope.

C'mon. You can do this marketing thing. We're here to help.

Post by Kevin W. Grossman (join me on Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn - and now join HRmarketer on Twitter!)