Sorry, dear readers, but this Friday I’m on a bit of a rant. If I see one more boring PowerPoint presentation, I’m going to vomit! Let’s keep this really simple. What should be in a PowerPoint presentation? Few words — if you have more than 8 words on your slide — kill it. Pictures — people love images. Use them to convey your ideas. iStockPhoto is a great and inexpensive source of images. Story — people respond to stories. Tell a story in your presentation. Simple — less is more. Few slides. Less words. Watch Steve present here. MORE >>

What would you do if Gmail crashed, your facebook account got suspended for suspicious activity, your LinkedIn network disappeared, or the Fail Whale moved in permanently? Online networking and collaboration services provide us with great tools that have become part of our everyday routine. It's important to remember, however, that we don't own that data. If something were to go wrong with one of your service providers, you could lose access to all your information - contacts, files, correspondence, documents. EVERYTHING. You backup your hard drive (don't you?!?), admit it. Now - off we go! MORE >>

Most conversations I have with marketers revolve around how to feed the top of the funnel and help prospects become sales-ready leads that their salespeople willingly pursue. It's one of the things I help them focus on doing. The problem happens when that becomes the sole focus of marketing. was catching up on my blog reading and came across this statistic in a post over on Copyblogger in the second in a series of posts about lessons learned by Dan Kennedy, who - in case you didn't know - is one of the most highly paid copywriters of all time. You ready? " Wow. Right? MORE >>

 . There is an argument around the blogosphere that is DRIVING ME CRAZY.  . When it turns to the topic of measurement and social media marketing, many “authorities&#  flippantly rely on the “double standard&# argument — If you’re trying to measure the value of SM, you might as well measure the value of a cell phone, the company car and the receptionist.    One popular blogger and author recently said if your manager asks for the ROI of your social media initiative, you should ask him for the ROI of his pants.  This is lunacy.  1) Never get caught with your stats down  . MORE >>

On a recent sales call, the prospect told me he is working with a pay-for- performance appointment setting company like Green Leads. The difference, and the reason for the call, is that he wants more meetings per month, but the other vendor is " dictating the pace " at which he gets them. Was I dreaming? Did I hear that right? If you are paying for performance after the meeting takes place, isn't the vendor incentivized to deliver the exact number of meetings you ask for? Establish and manage to a Service Level Agreement (SLA). That's their problem, not yours. Is there a skill issue? Messaging? MORE >>