The Catcher in the Rye. Moby Dick. Pride and Prejudice. The Grapes of Wrath. Tale of Two Cities. If there's one thing those books have in common for me, it's that they were part of my high school summer reading lists. Remember those? You'd receive a list of books before the end of your school year that you'd have to read in preparation for the next school year. Maybe you were excited by all of that reading; maybe you weren't. Since we're so close to the beginning of summer, I thought I'd share with you what should be on every good B2B marketing and sales careerist's list this summer. MORE >>

Most sales people today have found that using LinkedIn as a research tool to identify specific prospects has been a fantastic way to find the needle in a haystack of potential leads. However, LinkedIn doesn't always show you all the names of the individuals your search produces: So how do you find this specific person's name? Just three more clicks. Click on the Title, which brings up the full profile. Remember the Title, and look to the right where it says Viewers of this profile also viewed. Once there, find a contact with a similar title/company -- In this case, Gerardo (hard to see). MORE >>

Sometimes I think George Lucas just didn’t “get it” when he made the Star Wars prequels. You know, the “other” Star Wars movies? He had made the greatest trilogy in the world in Star Wars , The Empire Strikes Back , and Return of the Jedi. For years, with fans clamoring for more movies, Lucas said that either he wasn’t ready to make them or the technology in cinematography just wasn’t ready. To fans of the original trilogy, Lucas fell woefully short with Episodes I-III. Sure, the newer movies had better effects, but the end result was miserable. MORE >>

Merger Provides Global Enterprise Software and Technology Companies with Deeply Integrated, Quality Pipeline Generation Services. SCOTTSDALE, AZ (Marketwire – May 4, 2011) – Today, at the SiriusDecisions Summit, Green Leads announced the acquisition of Target 250 to form the fastest-growing pay-for-performance demand generation company in the industry. The companies are combining to provide global enterprise software and technology companies with deeply integrated quality pipeline generation programs in both North America and Europe. and Europe.” MORE >>

There are so many demand gen vendors out there, and if you are a demand gen professional in sales or marketing, we've probably called you. Outsourcing some or all of your appointment setting or lead generation activity to a third party vendor is a task that shouldn't be undertaken by responding to one cold call. Words of wisdom from two industry leaders: Trish Bertuzzi, Inside Sales Expert , @bridgegroupinc : "Hiring a third party lead gen vendor is like dating… the chemistry is either there or it is not. Cost per lead is a narrow look at the success of a program. Autodialers? MORE >>