If you're an inbound marketer and you haven't checked out Quora yet, you probably should. Quora is a simple, no frills Q & A site with a twist. It's really fast, and it's full of real, bonafide thought leaders. Quora is the new kid on the block, the new coffee shop on the corner that everybody's talking about. I jumped onto Quora last week after hearing good things about it from some heavy hitters I follow such as Robert Scoble and Chris Brogan. Here are some early impressions and some reasons why you should add Quora to your daily inbound marketing routine.
Newness doesn't always translate into greatness, but Quora is wildly popular. Why? Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn have been around for a while, and maybe people have gotten a bit bored with them. Something new but useful may very well fit the bill. It doesn't hurt that many of the Web's real thought leaders have jumped on board and are freely engaging with the rank and file (like me). To me, this is really cool, because they generally only talk to each other on the main social networks, and it's nice to mix it up with the "big boys and girls".
It's all about asking questions and getting answers from experts. This is not a new concept. Every forum in the world does this, but the difference is that this forum is wide open. I don't have to be "connected" to Chris Brogan to get a valuable answer from him, and it's likely that you will get an answer from some well respected people, as long as you ask an interesting question. I don't have to know you to follow you, and vice versa. It's also much faster than LinkedIn, like a cross between Tweetdeck and LinkedIn Answers. This combination of getting answers in near-real-time combined with an open community of thought leaders is powerful, to say the least.
Quora is attracting lots of thought leaders and people seeking answers from thought leaders. One of your goals in inbound marketing should be to establish yourself as a thought leader in order to build your personal brand and create new business relationships. What better way than to get into Quora and answer questions? If you know what you are talking about, your answer may get "voted up", which can place it at the head of the answer stream. Your exposure and reputation get magnified. Consider also how fast this thing is growing due to its newness and apparent legitimacy. I don't have the statistics, but I'll bet they are mind blowing.
Bottom line - jump into Quora and make it a regular part of your inbound marketing activities. I'm finding it addictive.
