The B2B Lead » Laura Koether http://blog.reachforce.com B2B Marketing and Sales Tips Tue, 16 Mar 2010 14:55:47 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.4 en hourly 1 Social Bookmarks – Is more really better? Marketing and Sales Tip #203 http://blog.reachforce.com/sales-and-marketing-tips/social-bookmarks-is-more-really-better-marketing-and-sales-tip-203/ http://blog.reachforce.com/sales-and-marketing-tips/social-bookmarks-is-more-really-better-marketing-and-sales-tip-203/#comments Mon, 16 Feb 2009 16:33:51 +0000 Laura Koether http://blog.reachforce.com/?p=592 Is it better to have a lot of social bookmark icons on your blog, or ones that are relevant to your space? I have heard (and seen) different opinions on this. What do you think?

I personally think you only need to have ones on your blog that are relevant to your audience.  So how do you going about finding these?

I don’t know if there is an easy way, or if it depends on what you are looking for, but I used sites like Social Poster to look up social bookmarks.  Then, I went through them individually and searched “marketing” to see if there was anything. That’s how I made the decision of what is on this blog as of now.

Any ideas or know where to find other applications like this to help B2B Marketers?

]]> http://blog.reachforce.com/sales-and-marketing-tips/social-bookmarks-is-more-really-better-marketing-and-sales-tip-203/feed/ 0 How to Find Industry Blogs – B2B Marketing and Sales Tip #197 http://blog.reachforce.com/sales-and-marketing-tips/how-to-find-industry-blogs-b2b-marketing-and-sales-tip-197/ http://blog.reachforce.com/sales-and-marketing-tips/how-to-find-industry-blogs-b2b-marketing-and-sales-tip-197/#comments Mon, 02 Feb 2009 17:54:18 +0000 Laura Koether http://blog.reachforce.com/?p=588 I know you have probably read somewhere that even if you aren’t blogging yourself you should at least be out there to see what other people in your space are talking about.  The best way to do this is by reading industry related blogs.  To ensure you are keeping up on a regular basis, set up your Google Reader.  All of this sounds great but where do you find the right blogs to read for your business?

Here’s what helped me:

  • Alltop – or “all the top” sites on the web. ReachForce’s space is B2B Marketing and I looked here for “all the top marketing news.” It has all the top Marketing blogs (even including this one!) based on results of Google searches, review of the sites’ and blogs’ content, researchers, and our “gut” plus the recommendations of the Twitter community, owners of the sites and blogs, and people who care enough to write to us.
  • Just Google your space…like “B2B Marketing Blogs.” First on the page was Big List of B2B Marketing Blogs by Marketing and Strategy Innovation Blog. And keep moving down the page for more. Other bloggers also compile lists of top blogs in their space. For example, Web Market Central has a list of Marketing-Related Blogs.
  • When looking at other blogs, be sure to check out their blogroll. It is a good way to see what blogs someone else follows and recommends.

So…now start looking for blogs in your industry and get into the conversation!

]]> http://blog.reachforce.com/sales-and-marketing-tips/how-to-find-industry-blogs-b2b-marketing-and-sales-tip-197/feed/ 1 Day in the Life of a Social Media Marketer – B2B Marketing and Sales Tip #187 http://blog.reachforce.com/sales-and-marketing-tips/day-in-the-life-of-a-social-media-marketer-b2b-marketing-and-sales-tip/ http://blog.reachforce.com/sales-and-marketing-tips/day-in-the-life-of-a-social-media-marketer-b2b-marketing-and-sales-tip/#comments Thu, 08 Jan 2009 18:31:07 +0000 Laura Koether http://blog.reachforce.com/?p=583 I know not every company has the option to hire someone specifically for online/social media marketing and here at ReachForce I do have other responsibilities, but my main job is to get ReachForce more interactive online.

There are many reasons companies aren’t taking on social media initiatives – they’re scared, they don’t have the time, they don’t understand the value, etc.. And you already have enough work as it is, right? All true, but as you have probably heard by now…social media is worth investing some time into. To help, I have listed below what I do at least once every day (I have sort of made my morning routine around it), and hopefully you can pick out some things you can start doing on a regular basis too so you can get started online.

Google Reader – This is most important to get started in social media. Every day I read our Google Reader we put together with blogs in our space. I go through reading (skimming) and pick out posts I think would be good for us at ReachForce to comment on.

Twitter – I have my own account and ReachForce has a company account that I update a few days a week. If you aren’t twittering today you should at least be checking out search.twitter.com to see who is talking about your company.

LinkedIn – I scan LinkedIn Answers for ones I think ReachForce can help with or we may have an opinion on. And there are many times our Marketing Director (Amy) is able to offer some good marketing advice. This process has been made easier with the help of groups I have joined and the weekly email I get with discussions, and with inbound marketing system HubSpot.

Facebook – We have a ReachForce corporate page. When needed, I upload photos or videos, put our events coming up or send a message to our fans. I usually always have to update our RSS feeder from our blog…for some reason it doesn’t do it on its own? Anyone else having this problem?

Social Bookmarks – I use Digg and StumbleUpon the most. I feel right now we get the best traffic from them. I recommend using it for your own blog if you have one, or recommending other people’s post you like. (Use your Google Reader to find these)!

Blog – At ReachForce we do have a blog and we post at least 4 times a week. I don’t write all the content, but I do manage it.

To help stay on top of what is going on in the social media realm I look at mashable.com and subscribe to Chris Brogan’s blog and newsletter as a start.

Okay, so this is most of my morning routine (yes it is a little time consuming, but this is what I was hired on to do). Hopefully you can pick out bits and pieces and start putting it in your routine. For those of you who do use social media on a daily basis, what else do you do every day?

]]> http://blog.reachforce.com/sales-and-marketing-tips/day-in-the-life-of-a-social-media-marketer-b2b-marketing-and-sales-tip/feed/ 0 Publish your Content for Free – B2B Marketing and Sales Tip #182 http://blog.reachforce.com/sales-and-marketing-tips/publish-your-content-for-free-%e2%80%93-b2b-marketing-and-sales-tip-182/ http://blog.reachforce.com/sales-and-marketing-tips/publish-your-content-for-free-%e2%80%93-b2b-marketing-and-sales-tip-182/#comments Fri, 19 Dec 2008 17:25:29 +0000 Laura Koether http://blog.reachforce.com/?p=566 So…you have written white papers and eBooks and they are up on your website. They are probably on the resources page and get their fair share of downloads. That’s good, but with some of the free publishing sites out there you can get more exposure.

I have started to put ReachForce content on some of the sites and wanted to share the results, compare with you or ask if you had suggestions.

Content placement sites:

Scribd – the best content placement site I think. You can publish, discover and discuss original writings and documents. It’s easy to set up…sign up and make an account for free, then just upload your documents. I have uploaded all of ReachForce’s eBooks and have gotten 5476 views as of today. People can add your works to their favorites and rate them. You can join groups an add friends.

Docstoc – provides the platform for users and businesses to upload and share their documents with all the world, and serves as a vast repository of documents in variety of categories including legal, business, financial, technology, educational, and creative. I uploaded all our eBooks and have 300 views and 30 downloads as of today.

edocr – upload your documents for sharing by the professional and business community. I uploaded our eBooks, again, and we have 618 views so far. One of our eBooks was featured on the front page when first uploaded.

whitepapers.org – is “all the world’s whitepapers in one place.” I really haven’t figured out how to see how many views or downloads our whitepapers have had.

The pros of publishing your content on sites like this is that it is free to do and can bring unexpected visitors an exposure. The biggest con I can find is that there is really no way to find out who downloaded our content (with information like an email address). To help with this, we added links to all our whitepapers and eBooks to hopefully drive traffic back to our website.

Suggestions?

]]> http://blog.reachforce.com/sales-and-marketing-tips/publish-your-content-for-free-%e2%80%93-b2b-marketing-and-sales-tip-182/feed/ 4 The New Rules of VIRAL Marketing – ReachForce Book Club http://blog.reachforce.com/sales-and-marketing-tips/the-new-rules-of-viral-marketing-reachforce-book-club/ http://blog.reachforce.com/sales-and-marketing-tips/the-new-rules-of-viral-marketing-reachforce-book-club/#comments Thu, 11 Dec 2008 16:36:21 +0000 Laura Koether http://blog.reachforce.com/?p=516 We are big fans of Mr. Scott and his eBook, The New Rules of Viral Marketing, which gives tips on how to spread your ideas for free using word-of-mouse. Or in other words, “one person sends it to another, then that person sends it to yet another, and on and on.” With the internet, it is now easier than ever to start a viral campaign, but “marketers need to learn how to harness the amazing power of word-of-mouse.”

This eBook is full of case studies and other “people’s success so you can apply some of their ideas and lessons in your own word-of-mouse efforts.” Most of this is at the beginning, so if you are short on time I would start on page 14 for the real meat.

David’s formula for success:

“A combination of some great-and free-Web content (a video, blog entry, interactive tool, or e-book) that provides valuable information (or is groundbreaking or amazing or hilarious or involves a celebrity), plus a network of people to light the fire and links that make your content very easy to share.”

To help achieve this success, David provides specific advice on how to launch a viral campaign using YouTube videos, e-books and other techniques. I’ll pick out some points I thought interesting (or that I haven’t thought about before) and list them here, but make sure you go back and read the eBook for all the tips.

How to help your eBook get shared:

  • Present you eBook in a landscape format, rather than the white paper’s typical portrait format. This makes it easier to read and signals to the reader that the content is interesting.
  • Consider writing in a lighter, more conversational style than you would in a whitepaper, marketing brochure, or Web page. Think of the writing in an eBook as you would write for a blog.
  • eBooks should always be free and should never have a registration requirement.  (This has been hotly debated for a while now on how to balance capturing leads and distributing content.  What do you think?)
  • Put a Creative Commons license on the content so people know they can freely share your copyrighted material.
  • Create a landing page from which people can download your eBook. (All of our eBooks and whitepapers have landing pages set up on the ReachForce Resources page on the website.)
  • To drive viral marketing, (you have to read the eBook for the rest of this great tip)!

9 tips for using YouTube (here are a few)

  1. Your video should be no longer than three minutes. (Come on, who has time to just sit and watch a 10 minute video…unless it is really funny or something). If you have a lot to say, consider creating a series of posts.
  2. Don’t attempt “stealth” fake customer insertions. Be authentic and don’t try to sneak in company promotion where you can. (YouTube itself can catch unauthenic video and that might cause harm to a brand).
  3. Make sure bloggers know about the video. The best way to do this is when you are reading and commenting on blogs in your space, next time you comment link to your video (if it makes sense to).

Other tips he mentioned:

  • Use interactive tools (like Hubspot’s Website Grader)
  • Don’t break the bank with expensive advertising
  • Don’t beg mainstream media to write about you

I have left some really great tips and specific advice out, so go back and read what all David has to say about viral campaigns. Have you had success with viral campaigns? What did you do?

David Meerman Scott is an online thought leadership and viral marketing strategist. The programs he has developed have won numerous awards and are responsible for selling over $1 billion in products and services worldwide.

]]> http://blog.reachforce.com/sales-and-marketing-tips/the-new-rules-of-viral-marketing-reachforce-book-club/feed/ 0 Get Found Online – ReachForce Book Club http://blog.reachforce.com/online-marketing/get-found-online-%e2%80%93-reachforce-book-club/ http://blog.reachforce.com/online-marketing/get-found-online-%e2%80%93-reachforce-book-club/#comments Thu, 20 Nov 2008 17:25:25 +0000 Laura Koether http://blog.reachforce.com/?p=396 HubSpot’s ebook, Get Found Online, is right on the money. Today’s marketing is changing from outbound to inbound, and “consumers are going to the Internet to start their purchasing process.” For businesses to remain competitive, their websites need to be found online through search engines, the blogosphere and social media sites.

Luckily, this eBook gives detailed steps on how to be found on each of these inbound marketing techniques. Here is a short outline which should entice you to read the eBook for all the great how to tips (pages 5-9) to get found online.

How to get found on search engines:

  1. Find Keywords – choose keywords that your target market is using
  2. On-Page SEO – place keywords in the page title, URL, headings and page text
  3. Off-Page SEO – build more links
  4. Measure & Analyze

How to get found on blogs:

  1. Read – other industry blogs
  2. Comment – join in on the conversation (even link back to your own blog)
  3. Write – find the right blog software, blog weekly and promote your blog
  4. Measure & Analyze

How to get found on social media:

  1. Guidelines for Engagement – join communities and provide useful information, don’t just sell your company
  2. Publish, Share, and Network – everyone can publish and share anything, everyone can network with anyone (through content placement sites, linking to others an online communities)
  3. Measure & Analysis

I manage all the online media for ReachForce, and found these tips extremely useful. It is really cool to see how many people go to our website from our blog and social media sites. Think of any other useful tips while reading Get Found Online? Please share!

HubSpot is an inbound marketing system that helps your small or medium sized business get found on the Internet by the right prospects and convert more of them into leads and customers.

No book club next week for Thanksgiving (you have an extra week to read)! Look for us on Thursday, December 4th talking about Marketo’s Best Practices in Lead Nurturing…enjoy!

]]> http://blog.reachforce.com/online-marketing/get-found-online-%e2%80%93-reachforce-book-club/feed/ 2 Best Practices for Cold-Call Prospecting – B2B Marketing and Sales Tip #170 http://blog.reachforce.com/sales-and-marketing-tips/best-practices-for-cold-call-prospecting-b2b-marketing-and-sales-tip-170/ http://blog.reachforce.com/sales-and-marketing-tips/best-practices-for-cold-call-prospecting-b2b-marketing-and-sales-tip-170/#comments Mon, 10 Nov 2008 17:17:30 +0000 Laura Koether http://blog.reachforce.com/?p=321 More great sales tips from Brian McRae, Market Development Manager here at ReachForce.

Cold calling is a discipline that every successful salesperson must adopt to be successful.

Our key steps to successful prospecting:

  • Script your voicemails, e-mails, and live connects.  Then practice, practice and keep practicing.  Be mindful that you have about 15 seconds to make that first impression.  Avoid clichés, apologies, “ums” and weasel words.  Instead use strong, powerful language to get the prospect’s attention.  You have to “reach through the phone” in order to generate interest in your message.
  • Approach every dial with a little bit of courage and a little bit of confidence.  Remember that you are providing your prospect with an opportunity to derive real value from your product or service.  Be bold to capture their attention and intelligent enough to keep it.
  • Develop a routine for dialing every day.  Nolan Ryan says “I wouldn’t ask anybody to do anything I wouldn’t be willing to do.”  So if you’re managing a team…
  • Know your desired outcome prior to the call.  What specific goal do you want to achieve with this call?  Our team’s goal on a first cold call is simply arouse enough interest to set a meeting with the prospect to further discuss our value and solutions.
  • Execute.  Every single day.  Remember that the difference between amateurs and professionals is that professionals do it, even when they don’t feel like it.

If you are looking for more…here are 10 other great tips!

]]> http://blog.reachforce.com/sales-and-marketing-tips/best-practices-for-cold-call-prospecting-b2b-marketing-and-sales-tip-170/feed/ 0 LinkedIn Adds Applications – B2B Marketing and Sales Tip #166 http://blog.reachforce.com/sales-and-marketing-tips/linkedin-adds-applications-b2b-marketing-and-sales-tip-166/ http://blog.reachforce.com/sales-and-marketing-tips/linkedin-adds-applications-b2b-marketing-and-sales-tip-166/#comments Thu, 30 Oct 2008 19:07:08 +0000 Laura Koether http://blog.reachforce.com/social-media/linkedin-adds-applications-b2b-marketing-and-sales-tip-166/ New stuff to do now!

I got the heads up from Chris Brogan, and now I want to share with all The B2B Lead readers about the new applications LinkedIn has released. On first glance I was really impressed. The list is not sooo long with applications (like Facebook) that have nothing to do with the business world, and I really think these apps will make LinkedIn much more interactive and useful.

So far I have downloaded the 2 apps for blogging and My Travel (to tell everyone I’ll be at Dreamforce next week), and am still exploring the others. Other applications let you show what books you are reading, upload slideshows and more.

Go check it out and start using. What other applications would you be interested in seeing?

]]> http://blog.reachforce.com/sales-and-marketing-tips/linkedin-adds-applications-b2b-marketing-and-sales-tip-166/feed/ 3 The Most Important Question Salespeople Should Ask Themselves – B2B Marketing and Sales Tip #165 http://blog.reachforce.com/sales-and-marketing-tips/the-most-important-question-salespeople-should-ask-themselves-b2b-marketing-and-sales-tip-165/ http://blog.reachforce.com/sales-and-marketing-tips/the-most-important-question-salespeople-should-ask-themselves-b2b-marketing-and-sales-tip-165/#comments Tue, 28 Oct 2008 14:56:21 +0000 Laura Koether http://blog.reachforce.com/sales-tips/the-most-important-question-salespeople-should-ask-themselves-b2b-marketing-and-sales-tip-165/ Another sales tip by Ryan Ohls, a Market Development Executive at ReachForce.

My sales career started when I was a 22-year old kid…and let’s just say my phone skills were not very polished at that point.  However, in one of my first weeks of making calls I had a prospect ask me a very poignant question.  He said, “Why should I do business with you when there are so many other options available to me?”

I had no answer.  To this day I have no clue what kind of mealy-mouthed response I came up with.  At the time I thought the guy was just a jerk.  Looking back though, I see how significant that question really was.  In fact, it’s possibly THE single most important question every salesperson should answer.

Why should your prospects do business with you?  What makes your offer and your company unique?  How do you know you’re not being perceived as a commodity?  You should be able to wake up from a deep sleep in the middle of the night and immediately be able to answer that question if asked.

But wait – there’s a catch.  When you go through this exercise always follow each of your answers with “So What?”

“We offer full installation and a 12-month warranty…So what?”

“We use prettier colors than everybody else…So what?”

In other words, “why should your prospects care?”  Eventually you will get to the root of what THEY find important, not you.  Chances are they don’t care about the things you think are impressive about your company.

How can you distinguish your company in the minds of your prospects to the point you literally have no competitors?  A company or a salesperson that figures this out has adequately answered “the most important question in business.”

]]> http://blog.reachforce.com/sales-and-marketing-tips/the-most-important-question-salespeople-should-ask-themselves-b2b-marketing-and-sales-tip-165/feed/ 0 How to use LinkedIn Answers in Marketing- B2B Marketing and Sales Tip #162 http://blog.reachforce.com/sales-and-marketing-tips/how-to-use-linkedin-answers-in-marketing-b2b-marketing-and-sales-tip-162/ http://blog.reachforce.com/sales-and-marketing-tips/how-to-use-linkedin-answers-in-marketing-b2b-marketing-and-sales-tip-162/#comments Thu, 23 Oct 2008 17:26:19 +0000 Laura Koether http://blog.reachforce.com/buzz/how-to-use-linkedin-answers-in-marketing-b2b-marketing-and-sales-tip-162/ Hopefully by now you have an account on LinkedIn, or at least plan on joining in the near future. LinkedIn is a professional online network that enables you to connect with classmates and colleagues, and then 6 degrees of separation later, connect with your connections’ connections.

LinkedIn’s main purpose is for business professionals to network with other business professionals. Other ways LinkedIn has become more interactive (and something you should look into) is to join groups, discussions happening within groups and what is really cool…LinkedIn Answers.

LinkedIn Answers is a great tool to showcase yourself as a thought leader in your industry, listen to what other people in your industry are talking about and find out answers to some questions you might have. I browse questions people have posted a few times a week and look for questions that pertain to BtoB marketing, lead gen, social media, etc. I will answer it or pass it along to someone in ReachForce that would be better qualified.

Recently I got our sales team on board to look and see what potential prospect’s questions are.  This gives them a chance to look like thought leaders as well and gain valuable insight into their prospects needs. When you ask a question, it shows on your profile so all of your connections can see it and you can interact with anyone that answers you.

Other proof of value? Got it. Last week on one of my browses, I came upon a question that ReachForce could be the solution and passed it along to sales and now they are talking. Also at a conference I attended, one of the speakers said he was asked to be a speaker because of his answer to a LinkedIn Question. Pretty cool, right?

How to find and get started with LinkedIn Answers:

  • See “Answers” in the top header
  • Once clicked, scroll down and browse the categories on the right (I usually look in Marketing and Sales category)
  • Start scanning questions

Have you been using LinkedIn Answers? Any tips?

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