Inbound marketing, built around a strategy of content marketing, is becoming major strategy for in business marketing.  But to be successful, there is one considerable hurdle you must get over.

Inbound marketing is now synonymous with content creation.  Content is the marketing net you use to initially engage potential leads.

There is a lot of advice available to help small businesses get started with content marketing, such as this article about the 8 Fundamentals for a successful inbound marketing strategy.

Take note of #2:  Your content must be remarkable enough to break through the clutter.

This step is blithely added to the list, as if it was something you could buy in a package and stick on your website.

Yet the author goes on to describe how you must educate, inspire, and entertain to engage an audience.

Yep.  All you have to do is create remarkable content.  That’s like saying all you have to do is improve your balance to become a professional tightrope walker.

Glibness aside, for the small business owner this advice can be frustrating.  Creating an executing a remarkable content creation strategy is major undertaking.  Not only is remarkable ideation a potentially unachievable goal (any struggling writer can tell you how that goes) but then you must have the time and discipline to create content regularly (any writer who’s dealt with writer’s block can tell you how that goes).

So small business owner’s be warned:  articles that make content marketing sound straightforward – even easy – are not doing you any favors.

Remarkable results require remarkable work.  Inbound marketing can pay-off, but only with serious planning and execution.