Blogs are mostly written from the experience of the individual blogger. This post is no exception — it came to mind when I heard a prospective client repeat one of the following statements, which I had already heard dozens of times. It occurred to me then that it might be time to share this list of bad thoughts so that other B2B marketers might see the possible error of their ways. “Our target is IT. They won’t respond to direct mail marketing. They do everything online.&#. “I’m reaching everyone I need to reach with email.&#. Frankly, that’s impossible. Yikes! MORE >>

The Sales Lead Management Association recently invited its members to vote for the 50 Most Influential Sales Lead Management Professionals. Jim Obermayer , host and author on the Association’s blog, has been conducting a series of interviews, each featuring one of the “winners.”. As a member of the Association and subscriber to its blog, I have been reading and learning from each interview. Recent interviewee Joe Lethert of Perfomark gave two answers that were so on-target for B2B marketing best practices that I feel they are worth sharing. If you don’t have one, build it. MORE >>

I’ve been delinquent in keeping up with my favorite blogs and staying up to date on today’s latest B2B marketing practices. Today I tried to catch up. All of the advice was very good — excellent, in fact — but it was also painful advice. That’s because, without exception, every post concerned big-picture B2B marketing [.] 5 B2B marketing ideas you can implement (almost) instantly. is a post from: B2BMarketingSmarts. MORE >>

I love my clients. But sometimes I am frustrated by how long it takes from the beginning of the creation of a marketing program to its final implementation. Programs that should take a few weeks often take months. This is especially a problem in the fall because, although September and October are traditionally terrific months for B2B marketing efforts, November and December are full of breaks and holidays that typically reduce results. But those technologies are useless if approvals on the copy, the design, the content offer, the data selection or any other element of the program take months. MORE >>

It’s always nice to read someone else’s very solid argument in favor of some B2B marketing position I advocate. had this experience last week when reading the words of Peter Helmer on the MENG Blend blog. His post “For an Effective Elevator Speech, Obey the Ten Commandments” discussed one of my favorite topics — [.]. B2B Marketing Messaging Web Site Copy Business Communications Elevator Pitch MORE >>