People want answers to their questions, and they are asking their questions on Internet search engines such as Google, Bing and Yahoo. B2B marketers – don’t throw your valuable marketing dollars away on SEO or pay-per-click ads. Create and post valuable content on your website and on social networks so that you will get found by qualified prospects. Why is content relevant to your industry and the products and services you provide so important? Most Internet users skip paid ads and look at organic search results. Contact us today about our how we can help you. MORE >>

Show up in new and innovative ways (Twitter chats, Google+ circles are two examples – join #b2bchat on Twitter Thursdays at 5 PM PDT). I manage marketing and social media for some of my clients, and imagine my surprise when I found that a marketing services vendor in my network was following not one, not two, but many of my clients or customers on Twitter. I’m on my Friday morning marketing soapbox to say that this is not only creepy, it’s sad, and it can happen to you! It’s sad for someone who has to follow and not lead. Be original, organic and true. MORE >>

Another example of bad writing is in press releases distributed online to get picked up by Google and drive more traffic to websites. Tweet. Marketers who want to get found online have a dilemma: they need to write for the search engines and for the readers, their prospects. Unfortunately today I see both good writing that clearly won’t work for the search engines, and really bad writing that has keywords and phrases in all the right places but doesn’t speak to the reader. In my experience, these press releases can be highly effective and can make your phone ring. MORE >>

Later when we had to create reciprocal links to appease Google, now a frowned-upon practice? Remember the days when SEO was king? Way back when we optimized for Inktomi and Overture? have news for you. It’s over. SEO as we knew it is dead. But, long live SEO, because it’s re-emerged through SMO. Social media optimization is the art of optimally using social media platforms to increase awareness of a product, service, event or brand. Search engines measure traffic to websites from social media outlets as evidence that your content is relevant and people are talking about it. MORE >>

Having reciprocal recommendations is similar to reciprocal links that Google used to favor for SEO rankings. What is the right number of LinkedIn recommendations on your profile? Should you have 5? Most professionals I know suggest fewer quality recommendations over quantity. Of course, this depends on your level of experience and the number of positions you’ve held. We had a great discussion on this very topic at an Institute of Management Consultants Los Angeles breakfast meeting. I curate my LinkedIn recommendations so it doesn’t dilute my reputation. The more the merrier? MORE >>