Now that we’ve admitted that we aren’t customers, we can progress to step 2: actually talking to a customer.
Ironically, the closest many marketing people come to the sales cycle is the 2-way glass in the focus group facility.
Which is nice. But you’ll learn the most, and fastest, about your customers (in the B2B complex sale) [...]

Social media is a hybrid venue for B2B marketing. A little bit sales, a little bit brand positioning. A little bit news distribution, a little bit 1-1 conversation.
Outcomes of certain social media tactics can be measured.  But the big difference between social media exposure and traditional brand advertising is the opportunity to build 1/1 relationships [...]

OK, take this for what it is: a collection of opinions posted in a public forum not custom-tailored for your situation. (And those opinions formed while observing lots of organizations, conferences, events, grassroots movements, etc, which may not be yours.)
But here’s the thing. Most sponsorship benefits aren’t very meaningful to a business.
Really. Let’s be honest. [...]

Another reaction to the Barcamp-style event I attended last week…
Ten years ago, I founded a concert series called SALON: live classical and jazz music concerts in people’s living rooms. It occurs to me that the Barcamp forum has a lot in common with the structure I have developed over the years.
- User generated. The audience [...]

Attended my first barcamp-style event today. (What is a barcamp?) Fascinating mix of very old and very new ideas about community and events! And in-person relationship building plus social media. Loved the experience, both as a marketer and as a human being.
Here’s how I saw the barcamp format play out at this event (vs traditional [...]