A new B2B marketing community site, B2B Marketing Zone officially launched today. Conceptually the site is a bit like Social Media Today and other targeted content portals, though it's the first (that I'm aware of at least) focused specifically on providing information for B2B marketers.Hosted by community organizer (I mean that in a good way) Tony Karrer using his Browse My Stuff technology, B2B Marketing Zone features content from rockstar B2B bloggers like Brian Carroll, Paul Dunay and Ne... Read Full Story
Looking for the best career search websites? Online tools to help you check out that prospective employee, new next-door neighbor or potentially significant other? Specialty search engines? The story behind LOLcats? Resources to improve your Internet marketing skills? Find music online? Record and promote podcasts?Find the answers to these random and unrelated questions and more in this set of valuable but difficult-to-classify posts from the last year.Help wanted. Desperately. by Reflections... Read Full Story
Search marketing guru Gord Hotchkiss wrote an intriguing post last Thursday on neuroplasticity—the ability of the human brain to constantly adapt to its environment. In Grandma Via YouTube, he points out while this happens throughout our lives, and is generally called simply "learning," "there are two phases where the brain literally reforms itself in a massive restructuring: right around two years of age and again as teenagers."Pondering the implications of this in an age of rapid technologi... Read Full Story
Everyone who writes a business blog ultimately wants the same thing—more traffic. The posts below, some of the best of the past year on business blogging, provide helpful guidance on launching a new blog successfully; techniques for increasing visits to an existing blog; sources of free and cheap images to help your blog posts stand out; increasing your exposure through blog directories and RSS sites; and developing relationships with other influential bloggers in your industry.How To Launch ... Read Full Story
With all the hype that's built up around social media marketing, it probably shouldn't be surprising to see a backlash of sorts in the form of a spate of recent articles suggesting that social media is worthless for marketers. These remind one of the link-baiting SEO is dead articles that pop up periodically.For example, Luis Paez takes some liberties with statistics to make the case that social media is useless for marketing. There's even a term for this alleged uselessness: social notworkin... Read Full Story
Looking for some helpful tools to enhance your online reputation management? How about slick tools to creating a social media email signature or conducting a video chat session? Or perhaps something more serious, like spying on your competitors or conducting global economic research?Find cool web-based tools for all of these purposes and more here in some of the best tools and reviews of the past year.LookupPageThis is an essential site for personal online reputation management. LookupPage le... Read Full Story
Given that, depending on whose numbers you trust, organic search accounts for 75-80% of all clicks while search ads get just 15-20%, it's fair to ask the question: with a limited online marketing budget (do you know anyone who has an unlimited budget?), why spend scarce dollars on paid search at all? Can't I get most of the clicks for "free" using SEO rather than paying for clicks on search ads?Well, in a word, "no." Here's why companies need to invest in both ... Read Full Story
As new technologies evolve, so do the etiquette standards of accepted behavior associated with them. Ever gotten an email in ALL CAPS, from someone not realizing they were virtually shouting? What about talking loudly on cell phones in a quiet train car or other public place? Today these seem like obvious etiquette missteps (well, to most people anyway) but early on, when people were learning the rules, they weren’t as apparent.As video conferencing becomes commonplace, video calling provider... Read Full Story
What are the real reasons many seemingly-promising business ideas fail? How can you increase customer loyalty? Why do corporate marketing departments often seem so chaotic—and how can they operate more like a well-oiled machine? What do sales people need from marketing when launching a new product?Read about all of this and more in some of the best articles and blog posts from the last year on marketing strategy and branding.The 6 Untold Reasons Why Businesses Fail by GrowthinkDave Lavinsky e... Read Full Story
Note: This is the final article in a four-part series of guest posts on B2B branding strategy and website design from Rebekah E. Donaldson ("Red") and Cris Rominger of B2B Communications.When approaching a re-skin or redesign of your company’s website, it’s helpful to keep in mind both branding goals and user goals. For example, consider these questions:Website branding goals Do the changes communicate professionalism? Are they appropriate for our industry/market?Do the changes rend... Read Full Story
