The Ideas behind an Inbound Ecosystem

Two ideas underline the importance of the inbound ecosystem concept. First, any one individual is no more than six people away from any other person in the world (more commonly known as the six degrees of Kevin Bacon). This theory suggests that everyone on earth is no more than six acquaintances away from any other person on the planet. Digital disruption creates a world in which everyone connects. It is your choice if you choose to acknowledge it, participate in it, and take advantage of it.

The other concept is Stanley McChrystal's Law. The retired US Army general said, “It takes a network to defeat a network.” His reference is to terrorist groups relating to national security, but the principle applies here as well. Successful inbound organizations will marshal the ecosystem's resources and lead their network of connections to successfully serve a set of customers and by extension everyone in their networks. Inbound organizations recognize that we are all connected, and no one can succeed alone.

Companies that participate in inbound ecosystems are frequently organized differently. They often feature loose connections, allowing for maximum flexibility and large amounts of autonomy. Traditional companies that haven't embraced inbound ecosystems tend to be hierarchical and bureaucratic, with set rules and procedures to make decisions.

If everyone's customers are already connected and part of a vast digitally enabled network, you can either support that network or ignore it.

Dan tells this story:

There are lots of times when I'll go visit a company that uses a competing software product, and I won't even mention HubSpot. I'll say, “I don't care what software you are using today. I'm here to help.” Let me know your biggest inhibitors to growth, I am happy to offer my expertise and do the best I can to help you grow. Sooner or later, you might decide you want to improve your lead generation, customer acquisition, customer engagement, or competitive advantage and hopefully, you will remember my visit. I don't care if you buy software today, next week, or ever. What I'm looking to do is to establish the relationship so that if you are ever in that position, you will think of HubSpot first. When the time comes, when you raise your hand, BOOM. We will be ready to go.

Are you helping as many people as you can? Do you have educational materials, videos, checklists, or white papers that would accelerate people's ability to solve problems if you made them available to everyone, for free? How would this information be perceived in your market, by your customers, and by prospects?

Todd is a member of a group of HubSpot partners called CoGrow, which acts as a peer group to share best practices and experiences. What makes this group unique is the founding idea behind it, which is to work together, to grow together, to make everyone in the group a better agency and better marketers. Also, to work together to grow the total audience for all of our services. One tactic the group uses is crowdsourcing content to attract more followers. Technically, all of the members are competitors, but that is not a barrier to sharing and working together. The ecosystem is far more valuable than the threat of aiding a potential competitor or losing business.

Building an inbound ecosystem also creates a barrier effect to your competition. The more interconnected relationships exist in an ecosystem, the more value for each member. Getting the members to align their visions, investments, and shared outcomes helps improve the relationship for everyone.

Inbound organizations apply most of the same principles of an inbound culture to the ecosystem. Transparency, putting people first, building autonomous teams, and making decisions close to the nodes in the ecosystem all apply.

Every organization exists within an ecosystem. Inbound organizations realize the power of helping everyone in that network. The simplest way to help everyone in your ecosystem is to help them grow their business.

Inbound ecosystems are not necessarily a profit center, but they are an investment in spreading the philosophy that can help your company grow. Everyone in the ecosystem must benefit, and as the ecosystem grows in size, the value for everyone grows accordingly.

Examples of adding value to your ecosystem include:

• Connecting buyers and sellers (like Cerasis in Chapter 10)
• Inspiring people to join a community with a strong mission and vision
• Sharing information or expertise around a particular problem
• Promoting speakers, books, and content to your audience
• Referring business to others
• Co-marketing with complimentary products or services
• Collaborating to create content and jointly promoting it
• Sharing your expertise with 3 and young entrepreneurs
• Creating a networking group of your skill set peers across industries

Inbound organizations nurture ecosystems as a natural extension of the inbound philosophy and culture. It requires a People First mindset and helping before selling.