No business exists in a vacuum –nor should data. Data seems impermeable yet is vulnerable if left hermetically sealed off from the real world. According to Marketing Sherpa, contact data degrades at a rate of 2.1% per month. This degradation rate of 12% every six months means a database of 10,000 prospects today will have lost contact information for 1,200 of those prospects by January 2010. languishing database of prospects translates to lost marketing dollars. By passively ignoring your database of sales prospects you are actively crippling your automated marketing campaign MORE >>

If you're a B2B company, LinkedIn’s network is the ideal platform to connect your business to over 120 million professionals. Even though LinkedIn company pages are a great headquarters for your business on LinkedIn, they’re not yet customizable enough to function as effective landing pages. Here are five ways you can improve your company’s presence and begin increasing your lead flow. Use Your Company Profile More Effectively. LinkedIn recently added company status updates which work similarly to Facebook’s Wall feature. Recruit Staff via LinkedIn. MORE >>

Here’s a quick list of things I wish I had known when setting out to create a business blog: You should write everyday, but writing everyday doesn’t mean publishing everyday. You should constantly be thinking about what you’ll write about, and you should be writing down whatever comes to mind. Every now and again that might come together into something you can use, often it won’t. The point isn’t to blog on demand, but to occasionally knock out a post that demands to be read. Just because you posted something to be read doesn’t mean it will be. MORE >>

Here are some key takeaways from the infographic, and some of our own insight: Just because it's new and shiny doesn't necessarily mean that it's a good fit for your business. Facebook is great for interacting on a more personal level, and it can also act as the "social hub" of your business, centralizing contact information, news, company history, etc. Being aware of the platform's unique strengths and weaknesses, along with your audience's social media habits, will arm your business for social success. It's great for sharing blog posts, videos and photos, along with Q+A. MORE >>

The report, which gives a, “detailed overview on how companies are using the internet to generate leads for their consumer-focused businesses.&#. Econsultancy has released its 2010 Online Lead Generation Report which is produced in association with Clash-Media , a lead generation specialist. It is a paid report, but the freely available summary is still full of some great statistics and facts on the state of lead generation today. The report is also full of useful graphs and charts and is definitely worth checking out. Do any of the findings we’ve mentioned here surprise you? MORE >>