(This is the last post in our series on sales organizations’ emerging use of social media as a channel for shaping demand.). In the previous posts in this series we discussed  the  importance of social media  for social selling ,  ensuring reps profiles match their organization , the  reality of social media  use in B2B sales, and   IBM’s approach to supporting social media use. So what conclusions can we draw? 1)      Social Media and Social Selling are here to stay. Social media is not a passing fad and as online networking increases the spillover into B2B sales is somewhat inevitable. MORE >>

Tweet. Yesterday, Chris Abraham of Reputation.com presented our latest Biznology® Webinar  about taking back your online reputation. In today’s 24-hour news cycle, crisis response is essential to every company’s communications strategy; however, after all the dust settles and it looks like you’re in the clear, what happens when all of the negative press finds its way onto Internet search? How do you prevent all this bad news from making it to the first page of Google results?  Is it even possible? MORE >>

Interviewing thousands of customers about their buying process has convinced me that while the buyer is attempting to buy something he wants, he is also determined to see through any deception or manipulation. Sellers are often convinced by gurus that manipulation is the right way to increase sales; it is a strategy that directly contradicts one of the buyer’s main goals: “I will not be fooled.” ” Here is Part 2 of a 4-part series, in which we examine how customers choose a product or service. read more. MORE >>

Posted in behavioral targeting Personalization. What does personalization really mean? You’ll be forgiven if you have absolutely no idea. As trendy catchwords go, “personalization” has become a go-to term for websites and online marketers, laden with all the possibilities of connecting with individual consumers and a departure from the limitations of a one-size-fits-all approach. Nearly every online marketing vendor touts some form of personalization as the secret sauce for helping to target customers. It makes sense. The problem is, it hasn’t been done successfully thus far. MORE >>

LinkedIn recently made recommending your connections a lot more easy – maybe too easy, in my opinion! This blog post is about how endorsements work and how to use this new feature in a practical and professional manner. I’ll write about my opinion that it’s too easy in another post. Why Did LinkedIn Add Endorsements? It used to be that the only way to provide a recommendation on LinkedIn was to go to the Recommendations option under the Profile menu , write your recommendation for someone, submit it for their review, and upon their approval it was posted. So, endorse away! MORE >>