Other B2B companies try to skip the leads-to-salespeople-to-sales process, instead encouraging prospective customers to initiate purchases themselves from print or online catalogs and/or via order forms, e-commerce sites, phone calls or purchase orders. Although “Generated qualified leads&# and “Helped me close business&# were listed as benefits seen by the users of social media, they were near the bottom of the list of eight choices, and no information was given about actual numbers of leads, sales or ROI. What’s all this have to do with social media? Not bad! MORE >>

TechTarget's 2009 Media Consumption Report provides insight into the types of content that technology buyers seek through the buying cycle; you can see the chart in this blog post. Instead of making this content product- or service-focused, produce useful – and entertaining – information that the prospect can use whether or not she chooses your solution. Educate them – Make it easy for prospects to learn about your products or services by walking them through your Web site in a way that aligns with their role and place in the buying cycle. MORE >>

TechTarget's 2009 Media Consumption Report provides insight into the types of content that technology buyers seek through the buying cycle; you can see the chart in this blog post. Instead of making this content product- or service-focused, produce useful – and entertaining – information that the prospect can use whether or not she chooses your solution. Educate them – Make it easy for prospects to learn about your products or services by walking them through your Web site in a way that aligns with their role and place in the buying cycle. MORE >>

The session will be held on March 11, 2009 at the Metropolitan Ballroom & Clubroom in St. Featuring local social media experts, the session will provide an overview of social networking sites, search engine optimization and emerging new media to watch for as well as discuss what’s working, what’s not and what’s here to stay within the social media universe. Tom has also created successful interactive marketing and PR programs including video, blogging, podcasting and social media optimization. Louis Park, Minn. from 8 a.m. to 9 a.m. The program will run from 8 a.m. MORE >>

If you have any questions, feel free to let me know, and if you’re interested I hope you can share this information with your readers. receive dozens of scripted link requests daily all promising the tremendous benefits achieved from reciprocal linking despite the abundance of information available today touting the dangers of excessive linking from Google’s point of view. Online Marketing Blog TopRank’s internet marketing blog on the intersection of digital PR, social and search engine marketing. Please don’t. That’s what AdRants is for. Kudos! MORE >>