Yep. I said it. Hubspot isn’t the Holy Grail of internet marketing. Sure, it has great content and I have learned a lot from 
Hubspot. Heck, I’ve even been published in a few Hubspot e-books in partnership with Who’s Blogging What. But just because you read HubSpot’s features, you download their ebooks and watch their free webinars, it doesn’t mean that you are an internet marketing expert.
Let me explain.
- No website knows everything. I’m sure even the folks at HubSpot can tell you that. So can the folks at Mashable. And whatever other blog you may be reading at the time. Just because a blog or website has high prestige doesn’t mean all their ideas are the best ones.
- HubSpot is an internet marking company. Company as in, for-profit. Haven’t you recieved a follow-up email or call from their representatives after a webinar or e-book download? HubSpot releases great content because it helps them get customers. Yes, it is free in a monetary sense, but you are giving your personal information to a company looking to sell you their services. HubSpot is actually pretty smart when it comes to content marketing. Deliver great content and the customers will come.
- How much of ‘it’ is remarkable? I think HubSpot has 4 of my email addresses, probably because I have about 8 email addresses and keep forgetting which ones I’ve used in the past. But this means I get about 4-8 emails a week from them, asking me to sign up for webinars that have already run or yet another webinar about Facebook Marketing. When you are actually immersing yourself in internet marketing and social media for 40-60 hours a week like me, this gets old. I am not saying I know it all– I definitely believe that I learn something new every day– but I would say that I learn more by experience than anything a webinar can teach me.
- Going to HubSpot doesn’t make you an expert. Anyone can take a webinar, anyone can download a free e-book. But wouldn’t you agree there is a distinct difference between actually implementing Facebook campaigns and just reading about them? Same with reading “Running for Women” by Kara Goucher and running a sub-4 marathon. I could read her book in one Saturday. Does this mean I could go run a marathon on Sunday? Nope. Great, you know about websitegrader.com and Twitter. So do thousands, millions of other people. Tell me what else makes you special.
- There are tons of other resources out there. Some of which are independent marketing experts who write damn great content. Some of which have just as good (or better) e-books and studies as HubSpot. These blogs include Social Media Explorer, Social Media Examiner, econsultancy, Mari Smith’s Blog, Laura Lake’s Marketing Blog,Duct Tape Marketing, The Anti-Social Media, Brian Solis, Ignite’s Blog, Social Media Today, AllFacebook… I could keep going here but you get the point. The main thing is, don’t put all your reading in one basket. Expand your horizons. Maybe you’ve heard of all the blogs I’ve listed. Awesome. But I’m going to say that the colleague who told me, “I read the same blogs as you do” surely hasn’t because he/she wouldn’t have to tell me they read the same blogs as me. You don’t have to prove a point. You just have to show results.
Reading books, blogs, e-books, webinar transcripts, presentations, etc. can make you better at your job. But the only way you get to expert status is by being the one that writes the blogs, e-books, books, webinar transcriptions, and presentations that everyone else wants to read. And this my friends, this is what HubSpot is doing right. While their stuff isn’t re-inventing the wheel, it is introducing solid content to people who want to learn (and who also may be perspective customers).
So bottom line, instead of asking your potential social media marketing expert whether or not they have a Twitter account or have ever downloaded an e-book, maybe you should ask them if what their average Facebook Page impression rate and monthly “like” growth is per client. Maybe you should ask them to prove how they have helped other companies instead of being impressed that they have over 15,000 followers. Sure, peacocks look pretty when their wings are spread, but who knows how smart they are?
Kelsey Jones
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Hi There –
Thanks for bringing up all those other great blogs, we work with most of them and also enjoy their content offerings enormously. And, it’s nice that you are included in Jeff Ente’s “Who’s Blogging What” ebook, sponsored by HubSpot. We respect him a great deal because he always delivers great information.
Not sure who wrote the post but if you send me your 4-8 email addresses, I’ll be certain to not send invitations to download remarkable content or register for a thought-provoking webinar to each of those in-boxes! Have you tried unsubscribing any of your email addresses from our lists?
It’s okay that you don’t want to become a HubSpot customer. We still like you.
Jeanne Hopkins
Director of Marketing, HubSpot
This is so funny because it was my social media tool in Hubspot that brought me to your twitter account today! I hear what you are saying though. I am with you that the million emails are a bit crazy. And how many webinars can one really take in a lifetime, much less in a week?
My business partner and I just finished their Certification today as well and I have to say that I am very pleased with their training information and customer service.
Another really good thing about Hubspot is that non-tech people can gain control of their websites. I hated asking my “web guy” to help with every little thing I wanted to change or add on my site. Now, I can do it all myself!
Love your blog. Your services and writing are fantastic too. Keep up the awesome work!
Tiffany – organic wine fanatic
Eticawines.com
Thanks for the comments Jeanne and Tiffany. I have unsubscribed most of my email addresses (did so shortly after writing this post). I know HubSpot has some great tools and qualities– after all they are experts in what they do– I just think it is too easy to automatically take a create company and default to them for all information. Expanding your horizons is always a good thing.