The Magic of Inbound Marketing: A First Million Success Story

Dixie Vogel unlocked the key to making her First Million. After ten years of avoiding marketing like the plague, Dixie joined the First Million Club and discovered the most effective approach to market her business was easier than she thought. She figured out how to attract the “perfect fit” customers and partners entrepreneurs dream about, the kind of people who don’t just boost your revenue, they also make you happy. (Customers who make YOU happy–that’s a switch!) Let me tell you, bucko, if dealing with your customers feels like a chore, you’re never going to have the stamina to get anywhere near that First Million. So listen up!

A successful freelance web designer who built her client base mostly on referrals, Dixie launched Good Karma Host, a web hosting company, in 2008. She wanted to reach more people and also make the transition from freelancer to building a fully-fledged business. “I know how to run a one-person show,” says Dixie. “I joined the First Million Club to learn how to manage and grow my company like a business and attract the kind of clients I want to work with.”

Dixie’s business and life philosophies are intertwined, and far from conventional. How many web hosting companies do you know that are on a mission to make the world a better place? Dixie is in business to help people, but like so many entrepreneurs, she didn’t know how to reach them. Until she learned the value–correction, the MAGIC–of inbound marketing.

With a goal of entrepreneurs who are in the business of helping others, Dixie created a plan to develop a multi-user website, a community hub where she would provide services beyond web hosting, such as email list management and website technical support. So rather than chase after customers through advertising or random lead generation, Dixie is creating a place where like-minded customers and partners will come to her.

Why will they come to her? Because she will provide a crapload of killer information and brilliant ideas. I hate to get all Kevin Costner on you, but when it’s true, it’s true: If you build it, they WILL come. The key is to build something useful and authentic.

“In applying what I learned in the First Million Club trainings I was shocked to discover that when I focus on what I want to build, people will show up,” says Dixie. “When I focused on my niche market more specifically and started talking about it in guest blog posts and forums, people sought me out. Within a two-week span I got two new clients that are exactly the type of people I want to work with, and two new specific partnering opportunities–and I didn’t seek any of this out. They came to me!”

Marketing is an area that inspires procrastination in many entrepreneurs, so Dixie was in good company. But once she realized she didn‘t have to reach out and grab her customers, she finally set up her mailing list and started to actively grow it, and began looking for opportunities to give back in ways that tie those efforts directly to her business. And she is very excited about the results.

“When you get a client that fits, it’s like a breath of fresh air. I’m at a point in my life where I want to work with the kind of people who get me, and I get them, and we make each other happy. With the First Million Club approach, that’s exactly the type of customer I’m attracting.”

So how much easier would it be for YOU to make your First Million if you had win-win partnerships that fit like a glove, and a client roster full of people who genuinely make you happy every day?

By AJ Harper