Date : Tuesday March 20, 2012 Time : 3:00pm EST / 12:00pm PST Duration : 29 Minutes Registration : [link]. Top 5 Reasons Sales Hates Marketing The war between Sales and Marketing is legendary. In an attempt to stop the fight, marketers have tried desperately to align sales with marketing. The blunt truth however is that sales isn’t really interested in "getting aligned." Not until marketers can at least fix these 5 problems: Marketers pass along lousy leads. Marketers force technology on sales. Marketers waste resources. Marketers believe selling is easy. Marketers have bad attitudes. MORE >>

Insular Thinking hurts lots of companies. While it’s imperative that companies look outside and at other industries for ideas, some companies are insular. For instance there’s a marketing software company in the Midwest we did quite a bit of business with over a year ago. The marketing leadership there (except the Chief Marketing Officer) tells me, in effect, “Don’t Call Us, We’ll Call You.” ” A VP there said this to me: “As I’ve said numerous times, we will let you know if we have any additional engagements. The Need for Fresh Ideas. MORE >>

Wichita State University CIO Dr. Ravi  Pendse  last month issued a provocative challenge to educators to rethink their tools and tactics if they are to remain relevant a decade from now. Addressing a  regional edition of the popular TED conference  in Wichita, KS, Dr.  Pendse , who is both the CIO of Wichita State University and an award-winning professor, said he chose the term “relevant” deliberately. Educators must not only adopt the tools the students use but also adapt their curricula to the topics that interest those students. he asked. he asked. MORE >>

While researching my new book  Return On Influence , I immersed myself in the world of the Internet elite and concluded that on the social web, the badges of “social proof” really do matter … probably more than real achievement! So it may come as a surprise that I have made a decision to ignore them, for good business reasons. Social proof is a critical concept behind influence in both the offline and the online worlds. In the absence of enough information to make our own decision, we turn to signals from others to help us find a way forward. Driving the wrong behaviors. MORE >>

What has changed in PR? Once upon a time, PR for business used to be simply about gaining coverage in the local and national press. There’s no doubt that developing a credible and consistent profile for your brand is as important as ever. Or that gaining positive recognition within industry media channels is both highly valuable and highly desirable. Today, many businesses continue to undertake their own PR activities, or buy in PR support to help boost their profile. In a recent LinkedIn survey 18% of companies stated that they will continue to do so in the year ahead. MORE >>