B2B Lead Generation | Laugh and Learn – Episode 38: The Art of the Sale. In his weekly B2B marketing show, Jeff Ogden, President of Find New Customers ( [link] ) shares a key marketing lesson using wit and humor. In this show, he highlights some self-deprecating humor from IBM – making fun of self. We hope you enjoy this week’s show and we urge you to tune in every Friday for a new episode. Jeff Ogden ( @fearlesscomp ) is President of the B2B lead generation consultancy, Find New Customers. Filed under: Demand Generation. Demand Generation MORE >>

Sure, you may get a lot of your news from social media. But you can also use social media to spread your own news and maybe even generate some media attention of your own. It won’t happen overnight, and it’s not guaranteed that if you tweet at a reporter, he or she will cover your story. But there are a few best practices you can follow that will increase your chances. Here are five tips for getting media coverage using social media. How to Generate Media Coverage Using Social Media. Pay attention to what journalists are posting. Do they respond to comments? Answer questions? MORE >>

At SIGMA, we have developed a methodology for assessing the maturity of an affinity marketing organization. This was developed based on over 25 years of direct marketing services experience in working on the marketing needs of both affinity and non-affinity organizations. We would normally conduct the assessment on-site, interviewing a number of marketing and business managers. Depending on the size and complexity of the organization, the on-site interviews span a day or two. These assessments have allowed us to develop a four stage score card for each of 6 performance categories MORE >>

Compete.com regularly ranks the world's top websites. Checking out the top 10 lists for sites with the most unique visitors in June 2011, I decided to conduct a deeper investigation into just what it is about these sites that makes them tick. Amazon, sitting at number 7, stood out to me immediately. No surprise here. Amazon is constantly exemplified for its web and marketing prowess. In fact, this is true for many of the sites on Compete's top 10 list, which is why it tops my own list of lessons marketers can learn from Amazon's web strategy. Use the Crowd to Create "Segments of One". MORE >>

Webinar. Stop Marketing In The Dark! You can’t automate what you can’t see. What: Complimentary Webinar. When: Wednesday, August 17. Time: 11:00 am Pacific. 00 pm Central. 00 pm Eastern. Enough already! Marketing automation is not the Holy Grail, it’s merely the means to pursuing it. The game is really about visibility. That’s your opportunity, and that’s what you should be focusing on. Join Jeff Ogden for a reality check: Why marketing in the dark doesn’t work, and what you should be doing to: • Shed light on what your prospects are doing. Sign up for this webinar today! MORE >>