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CONTENT TYPE: Article | TOPIC: None

The major problem with blogs is that they are a relatively new—albeit rapidly growing—Web phenomenon. As a result, they constitute a more or less uncharted realm for companies, with few official policies or guidelines.

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Here's to you! You just got deputized to handle demand generation. You're not sure if you should reach for the champagne, or the antacid... From this point on, you're a metric-driven marketer; your success is measured by the number of leads you generate. Just don't take your eyes off the end game: revenue. How can you avoid lead myopia?

CONTENT TYPE: Article | TOPIC: Writing

Numerous people have studied the process that creative people go through to develop their ideas. Most of these students of creativity agree that ideas come from a subconscious process that takes two relatively unassociated thoughts and combines them together to produce a new thought—a new idea.

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It's no longer the world of work you knew when you graduated from college. The tried and true career management techniques you've been using just don't work in today's marketplace. Working hard, writing a compelling resume, staying connected to head hunters are all so... 20th century. To achieve the highest level of success and fulfillment today, you must immerse yourself in the Web 2.0 frame of mind. That means developing a new set of career management habits.

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If you are flying from Los Angeles to Tokyo, you can learn how to say "how are you" in Japanese. The lesson is provided as part of the JAL in-flight entertainment in four language categories: numbers, dates, words, and dialogue. Other airlines also offer interactive audiovisual language programs, including Virgin Atlantic, Air France, and Singapore Airlines. It's all part of the trend toward brand engagement, one of the two great trends reshaping branding today and tossing such tired, 30-year-old theories like "positioning" to the dustbin of marketing history.

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Before it was released on July 4, 2002, many expected the $7.3 million game would join the ranks of the $436 hammer and $640 toilet seat as a study of excess. Few predicted "America's Army" would become the artillery's most effective marketing tool, conveying the authentic military experience in a voice that prospective recruits want to hear.

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Whether your company has an ongoing customer relationship, such as a bank or magazine publisher does, or your sales effort is based on single-unit sales and repeat purchasers, attrition affects us all. It behooves us to better understand the what and why of attrition and exactly what, if anything, can be done about it. The first question one should ask: "Is customer retention a problem in my company?"

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Marketing within social networks and Virtual Worlds is becoming a viable means for reaching and influencing the attitudes and behavior of consumers in ways that was never before believed possible. In fact, marketers who have dabbled in Virtual Worlds recognize the enormous potential of the medium... but have ventured only far enough to reveal the tip of the iceberg.

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Changes in the way customers buy technology are stressing existing vendor channel and partner organizations, processes, and capabilities. As a result, companies need to rethink the ways they allocate their channel marketing resources and how they use marketing infrastructure to scale their channel operations, particularly as they target the small- and medium-sized business market.

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This MarketingProfs Classic, originally published January 8, 2002, remains as relevant today as ever. As Nick Usborne writes, some words really can make a difference on your site. They are not "powerful" in isolation but, in the right context, can make an important difference.

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The day just ended, and you can't stop thinking about the cool new feature that may improve your online venture. Basic questions keep popping up. Is it going to bring more visitors? Is it going to improve their experience? How much is it going to cost? And then, you recall that only two days ago you were dealing with the same dilemma. Different feature, though. Sound familiar? The day just ended, and you can't stop thinking about the cool new feature that may improve your online venture. Basic questions keep popping up. Is it going to bring more visitors? Is it going to improve their experience? How much is it going to cost? And then, you recall that only two days ago you were dealing with the same dilemma. Different feature, though. Sound familiar?

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Last year, a study by comScore Networks found that an average of 63% of online searchers who proceeded to complete a purchase did so offline rather than online. Just as online and offline shopping have fused into a single experience, marketers have the opportunity to follow suit by fusing their isolated marketing efforts into a single initiative.

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Sandra Zoratti, vice-president of worldwide marketing of the soon-to-be-formed InfoPrint Solutions Company, a Ricoh/IBM joint venture, added interactive marketing to the InfoPrint Solutions Company marketing mix to multiply the reach of the sales force in pursuit of the coveted small and medium-sized business market. Here is an overview of Sandra's innovative marketing communications approach.

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If you're like most marketers, you're probably struggling with the best ways to help your salespeople have more meaningful conversations with customers and prospects. Here are five quick tips for creating scripted conversations to help salespeople more effectively communicate your company's business value to customers and prospects.

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If your business targets a local region, the trick is connecting with those in your own back yard. It's wonderful to rank well in search engines for a competitive search phrase, but if your product is only available to a small subset, how much time and bandwidth can you afford to waste dealing with visitors from too far afield? By taking the right steps early you can get better search rankings from your SEO campaign and, more importantly, attract an audience from the right locale.

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Selling is not so much about the features of our products or services—or even the benefits the customer receives. Rather, it is about our relationship with the customer. People do business with people they trust.

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With spring comes not only a new season but a "sticky" new segment. Book Club is back for "Round Three" with the hottest book of the year, "Made To Stick" by Chip and Dan Heath. "Made To Stick" analyzes why some ideas survive while many others die. But that's not all; the authors have deconstructed why ideas that didn't have revenue incentives, like urban legends and fables, have amplified across social groups and through many generations. Here, they discuss this plus more of the book's concepts.

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Lead nurturing has become an integral component of an overall marketing strategy. While there is an ever-growing incentive to implement an effective lead nurturing strategy with business partners and prospects, determining which specific tactics to utilize can prove challenging.

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There is no reason why every company can't deliver an exciting image to its audience; one that generates the kind of buzz and excitement usually associated with companies like Apple, Victoria's Secret, Benetton, Absolut Vodka, and Sony. It may seem impossible to produce a whole lot of steam for things like sand paper, accounting services, and facial tissue. But even the most mundane offerings can get hearts racing and the blogosphere blogging.

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Executives in every industry are demanding definitive results linking marketing spend to business impact, and tradeshows are no exception. Exhibit managers need solid data when selecting the right tradeshows for their companies.