You see this in a lot of do-it-yourself videos, particularly if they’re composed in a work environment. lot of professional videographers have developed the skills they need for fast and high-quality online production and people are learning some basic best practices: Have a story to tell and a script to work from. I spent some time with comic video whiz Tim Washer  (also @timwasher ) at B2B Forum last week, and he followed up with a few questions about how B2B companies are using online video as part of their content marketing programs. would add Cisco to that list. MORE >>

This required almost no work on my part. What’s worked for you when tweeting from events? Reciproal doesn’t work.” A list of tips for building a quality business Twitter following that I recently contributed to The CMO Site mentioned the value of being the eyes and ears of your followers. When you attend a conference, play reporter and tell your followers what you’re witnessing,” I advised. An experience from this morning demonstrates the value of what amounts to sharing notes you would probably take anyway. Twenty-six new followers is a pretty good week. MORE >>

This is why the interview format works so well. It's even better if you can tell the person how you're putting their advice to work. Back in the early days of my career, I made a point to go on frequent informational interviews. These meetings, which were usually conducted in person, gave me a chance to sit down with people who were successful in their field and to learn from their experience. never overtly asked people for a job or anything more than a little of their time. My goal was to learn, and possibly to make an acquaintance that could prove fruitful in later years. MORE >>

That’s the herd mentality at work. Surveys, A/B tests, website analytics and marketing automation are essential tools for professional marketers, but you don’t have to be a statistician to understand whether or not your campaigns are working. Most small businesses are terrible at marketing in general and online marketing in particular. That’s understandable: The founders are usually more passionate about what they do than about promoting themselves. However, “Most small businesses are doing Facebook without knowing why they’re doing it.”. Tip #3: Keep it simple. MORE >>

And given access to social networks at work, people will use them to play and waste time. The disconnect between CIOs and the emerging world of social business became clear to me at a conference I attended about two years ago. entered the room late, but figured I could quickly catch up on the proceedings by checking the Twitter stream of attendees. With an estimated 300 senior IT executives in the room, I expected there would be plenty of chatter going on. To my surprise, not a single tweet had been logged during the past hour. Same Old Song and Dance. Playing pays off. MORE >>