The first step in optimizing your online presence is making sure you have a website worth optimizing. That means creating a site that your target visitors will be glad they found once they arrive, and will spend some time with because the site provides the information they need in an easy-to-find manner. It’s like planning a large event or party in your home. If you had a noisy furnace, an unfinished bathroom, or paint peeling on your eaves, you’d want to take care of those issues before you send out invitations. Graphic Design. Information Architecture. Content. Technology. MORE >>

Image via Wikipedia. When it comes to your direct mail campaigns, you’ve probably over-farmed your land. You’ve been emailing and snail mailing the same donors you have done for a decade. It is time to leave the land fallow and let the lists rest. You have probably responded to lower donations and attention by relinquishing too much power to your direct marketing firm and they have been much more aggressive than you’re comfortable with, sending out many more snail mail and email donation requests than ever before. Well, in agriculture, it is possible to over-farm your land.  MORE >>

B2B and industrial marketers are usually tasked with two main responsibilities: Fill the top of the sales funnel (ToFU) with high quality leads. Maximize the middle of the funnel (MoFU) for converting more leads into sales opportunities. Achieving those two objectives are difficult enough, now add to that the constant pressure of having to lower the cost per lead at the same time. That’s why more B2B and industrial marketers are turning to content marketing to lift their lead generation ROI. This was followed by Lead Generation (ToFU) at 48% and Lead Nurturing (MoFU) at 40% (See chart). MORE >>

You’re probably stressed. It’s likely that you (and your customer contacts) are doing the job that used to be done by three people. The information density of our wold is overwhelming. Budgets and resources have been cut. It seems that everything is working against our ability to connect with customers and share information that could influence a purchasing decision and close a deal! On the Internet side of the business, a new model for personal power and influence has emerged.  So now I want to take this idea a step further and push this thinking a new way. So how can we use Web 2.0 MORE >>

The first step to great marketing is having a great marketing plan. However, not everyone bothers to plan – even though most agree that it is the foundation to successfully achieving your marketing objectives. I’ve always liked these quotes on planning: “bad planning on your part does not constitute an emergency on my part” and “He who fails to plan, plans to fail.” ” If you haven’t started your marketing plan exercise, now is the time! And here are 5 steps to help you along the way… 1.  Identify your business goals. Have they changed? MORE >>