I think the role of “content” in the marketing mix is one of the most fasciating discussion topics around.

How much is enough?

How do you break through?

Can you win on the back of quantity alone by overwhelming competitors?

So I was delighted to have the opportunity to thrash this discussion around with the brilliant Tom Webster on our latest Marketing Companion podcast. In this latest edition, we talk about:

• The dirty little secret of content marketing
• How quantity works against quality
• The Hubspot Problem and the content mill
• Quantity and the discoverability advantage
• Guest posts — Strategic advantage or content snacks when you need a meal?
• How is SEO adapting to new content realities and search?
• The most important content-related metric
• How content marketing is like a retail price war
• Why content marketing encourages plagiarism

Yes, that is a lot of ground to cover in a 30 minute podcast but I think we get the job done and have some fun along the way too. Hope you enjoy the show and I would love to see your comments in the comment section below.

To listen now:

Other Ways to Listen to the Podcast:

• Click here to download Episode 2 or subscribe in iTunes
• Click here for the show’s RSS feed – for Android listeners.

Program note: Christopher Penn weighed in with another perspective on this topic of content and SEO. Worth a read!

The post The Content Mill: Can Quantity Beat Quality? appeared first on Schaefer Marketing Solutions: We Help Businesses {grow}.

        

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Receiving the email or phone call from your boss is never pleasant.  “All hiring is on hold until further notice.   We are short of our bottom line number. The CEO wants to approve all hires until the beginning of next year.  This means no hiring except in extreme circumstances.  You have to make the rest of 2013 with the sales heads you have.”  Now you must make the number with less than a full team.   Getting a hiring freeze from corporate is out of your control.  But what you do about it is not.

Sign up for SBI’s 7th annual research tour:  "How to Make Your Number in 2014:  A Sales Strategy You Can Execute."   It is an onsite session with you and your leaders.  And by participating, you will get our Hiring Freeze Survival Guide.  It is 10 steps to implement now to sell more with less people. In the guide you will learn:

• Make the number with the remaining sales people you have
• How to keep the people you currently have. It will help you answer the question. “Do I need a retention plan or do I need a productivity driver?”
• Prepare yourself so when the hiring freeze is lifted you can hire immediately.

Sales VPs consistently have hiring freezes placed on them. These typically happen mid to late fiscal year. Trying to make your number without a full budgeted sales headcount is difficult.  Missing even more than 5% of your budgeted team can cause a missed quota.  There are 10 best practices Sales VPs have taken to ensure this doesn’t happen.  Below are five of the 10:

1. Sales Manager/VP field sales rides: Participating with your sales reps on more field calls leads to increased revenue.  By increasing the frequency you ride in the field, you will sell more business.  When an executive meets early in the buying process, win rates can improve up to 80%.   It also allows you to coach and develop the sales rep further. And coaching is proven to raise results.
2. Team Culture Building:  Keeping your current team is now more important.  Sales people like to be included in a team environment.  You can emphasize this by building a collaborate culture. Create an atmosphere for success by involving other team members in deal strategy discussions.  Establish a fun atmosphere with good feedback channels.  Play a game or have a contest.  Make the sales job fun.
3. Social Selling Emphasis:  Social Selling is a modern prospecting methodology that fills the funnel with opportunities.   Training your sales team how to social sell will immediately improve your sales pipeline.  84% of decision makers begin their buying process with a referral (source: Edelman Trust Barometer). Sales people get referrals more often through Linked In.  Proper use of Linked In will have your reps mastering social selling.  And in turn increasing sales sooner than then outdated prospecting: cold calling and email.
4. Big Deal Strategy Reviews:  Dig into the tactics of the big deal and not just skim the surface.  Uncover where they are in the buying process.  Figure out who is on the Buying Decision Team (BDT).  Discuss and strategize how to neutralize the competition.  Especially the competitor ‘Do Nothing’.  The rule is every missing budgeted open head you need 3 more big deals. Fill the pipeline with these big deals now.  And work the Big Deal Strategy Process.
5. Virtual Bench Interviewing:  When hiring freezes are lifted, a Sales VP must move fast.  The best ones interview during the no hire period.  They are always looking to not only fill open positions but upgrade. Schedule interviews with yourself and sales managers weekly.  Prepare the candidates knowing they won’t be hired for a certain time.  And if you find one you like, nurture them.  You can then get someone on board shortly after the freeze is lifted.

Sign up for the "How to Make Your Number in 2014" research tour.  This session will get you numerous productivity tools including the Hiring Freeze Survival Guide.  It will provide the other 5 best practices.  You can’t afford even one person to miss on your team.  And imagine if everyone on your team made their numbers but you missed? 

Hiring Freezes don’t have to be the sign of missing the number.  Get tactical with the 10 best practices:

• Get the Big Deal Reviews on the calendar today.
• Demand each one of your Sales Managers interviews a candidate weekly.
• Book a social selling training in three weeks. Then task someone to get up to speed on it to conduct the training.
• Schedule your field rides with sales reps today.  Plan out the next 60 days.
• Start team building today.  Introduce gamification to make it fun, establish friends and get feedback.   to your sales team.

A hiring freeze is out of your control.  But don’t let it affect you.  Use the 10 proven actions to make the number with less than budgeted sales people. No one will remember what circumstances lead to you missing the number.  But they will remember you not making it.

Author: Dan Perry

Follow @DanPerrySBI

Follow @MakingTheNumber

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Getting your content shared on social media is a crucial part of any content marketing strategy. In fact, shared content ranks higher in search engine results than other types of content, says content marketing evangelist Joe Pulizzi.

When people talk about your content and share it, not only can you improve your search rankings but you can drive your business objectives, Pulizzi said in a recent interview, How to Use Content Marketing to Regain Some Control of the Buying Process.

"For the most part, unless it's something really negative, [people are] not going to be talking about you on social," he says. "What you want them to do is share your really awesome, amazing content. And if it's not awesome and amazing and changing the lives of people, they're not going to share it. If it's just mediocre, it's not good enough. It's not gonna make it."

Now that title probably has you stunned.

Stop and think about this for a moment. The customer turns you down and you’re supposed to be happy?

Something just doesn’t compute.

Yes, things do compute and the fact you’re happy after the customer turns you down is an indication you’re motivated and confident.

Success in sales and, for that matter, in life comes from being able to deal with setbacks and not allowing them to destroy you.

When you can have a customer reject your offer and you’re still confident about the job you do and your motivation is still high, then you’re game on and ready to play again.

I see too many times where people take a rejection and allow it to destroy them. They allow a single rejection or even a couple of rejections to define their ability to sell.

One way to look at a customer turning you down is by realizing if every customer were to accept your proposal and every sale was easy, then you wouldn’t be needed.  I had a boss early in my career who said, “If sales was easy, I wouldn’t need you. All I would need is your dog to carry the paperwork into customers.”

Yes, customers will reject you and there will be times when it doesn’t seem like much is going well. Yet, by remaining confident and motivated, you’ll be in a much better position to bounce back.

Failure just makes success that much sweeter.  Failure is our classroom from which to learn.   We learn far more from our failures than we do from what we do right.

Next time a customer rejects you, use it as your chance to learn and to test your confidence.  Rejection is only permanent if you allow it to be. Don’t let rejection define what you do and what you believe.

Copyright 2013, Mark Hunter “The Sales Hunter.” Sales Motivation Blog.

Compensation is one of the most difficult facets of a sales organization to manage. In large companies, it’s not just the often diverse compensation plans that complicate the practice, but global rep dispersion and their home currency play large parts as well. Companies are increasingly looking to compensation management tools for help consolidating and standardizing compensation for the entire sales force.

Exploring how companies use compensation tools was the purpose of our recent brief titled “Using Tools to Standardize Sales Compensation.” We brought the topic to three member organizations to see how their compensation management teams were using tools. We asked five main questions:

1. What is the high-level structure of your sales organization and compensation team?
2. What are the attributes of your sales compensation tool (vendor, access rights, payout currency)?
3. What has worked well with the compensation tool at your organization?
4. What are the challenges associated with the compensation tool at your organization?
5. Do you have any additional key considerations for instituting a compensation tool?

Two of the companies in our brief use the compensation tool Callidus while the other company uses Iconixx. Both of these tools provide a two-sided platform with visibility for both the compensation team and individual rep’s personal compensation plans. The uniform tool structure and customization possibilities helped the profiled companies to more easily facilitate compensation payment and adjustments.

However, when seeking to improve compensation efficiency, executives remarked that the company focus should be placed on organizational consolidation and simplification rather than tool usage. At each of the profiled companies, compensation tool installation was coupled with a sales structure change that served to align compensation plans and management strategies.

CEB Sales Members, check out the full report: Using Tools to Standardize Sales Compensation and use the profiles to compare your organizations’ compensation processes. Also, review the Compensation topic center to learn how to better design and communicate compensation plans.

Image by qisur

Developing a new product shouldn’t feel like you’re fighting in the dark. There’s an easier way. What you need is a structured road-map that gives your business a clear path to follow.

Actually developing the tangible product or service is only a small part of the new product development process, which includes the complete journey from generating the initial idea to bringing the product to market.

By setting out the steps involved, and sticking to them, your product development will become a more focused and flexible approach that can be adapted for all different types of products and services.

#1.   Idea Generation

The development of a product will start with the concept. The rest of the process will ensure that ideas are tested for their viability, so in the beginning all ideas are good ideas (To a certain extent!)

Ideas can, and will come, from many different directions. The best place to start is with a SWOT analysis, (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats), which incorporates current market trends. This can be used to analyse your company’s position and find a direction that is in line with your business strategy.

In addition to this business-centred activity, are methods that focus on the customer’s needs and wants. This could be:

• Under-taking market research
• Listening to suggestions from your target audience – including feedback on your current products’ strengths and weaknesses.
• Encouraging suggestions from employees and partners
• Looking at your competitor’s successes and failures

#2.   Idea Screening

This step is crucial to ensure that unsuitable ideas, for whatever reason, are rejected as soon as possible. Ideas need to be considered objectively, ideally by a group or committee.

Specific screening criteria need to be set for this stage, looking at ROI, affordability and market potential. These questions need to be considered carefully, to avoid product failure after considerable investment down the line.

#3.   Concept Development & Testing

You have an idea and it’s passed the screening stage. However, internal opinion isn’t the most important. You need to ask the people that matter – your customers.

Using a small group of your true customer base – those that convert – the idea need to be tested to see their reaction. The idea should now be a concept, with enough in-depth information that the consumer can visualise it.

Do they understand the concept?

Do they want or need it?

This stage gives you a chance to develop the concept further, considering their feedback, but also to start thinking about what your marketing message will be.

#4.   Business Analysis

Once the concept has been tested and finalised, a business case needs to be put together to assess whether the new product/service will be profitable. This should include a detailed marketing strategy, highlighting the target market, product positioning and the marketing mix that will be used.

This analysis needs to include: whether there is a demand for the product, a full appraisal of the costs, competition and identification of a break-even point.

#5.   Product Development

If the new product is approved, it will be passed to the technical and marketing development stage. This is when a prototype or a limited production model will be created. This means you can investigate exact design & specifications and any manufacturing methods, but also gives something tangible for consumer testing, for feedback on specifics like look, feel and packaging for example.

#6.   Test Marketing

Test marketing (or market testing) is different to concept or consumer testing, in that it introduces the prototype product following the proposed marketing plan as whole rather than individual elements.

This process is required to validate the whole concept and is used for further refinement of all elements, from product to marketing message.

#7.   Commercialisation

When the concept has been developed and tested, final decisions need to be made to move the product to its launch into the market. Pricing and marketing plans need to be finalised and the sales teams and distribution briefed, so that the product and company is ready for the final stage.

#8.   Launch

A detailed launch plan is needed for this stage to run smoothly and to have maximum impact. It should include decisions surrounding when and where to launch to target your primary consumer group. Finally in order to learn from any mistakes made, a review of the market performance is needed to access the success of the project.

New product development can be made much simpler and focused, with a higher likelihood of success, by following these steps to guide you.

Have you had any problems with product development? Share your hints and advice below.

In a business context, video is becoming one of the most effective ways for companies to engage, inspire, educate and connect more effectively with customers. However, few companies leverage the power of video to its full extent, and in today’s digital age, video is becoming almost as easy to create as PowerPoint presentations. According to a Cisco Visual Networking Index forecast, video will account for nearly 69 percent of all consumer Internet traffic by 2017, up from 59 percent in 2012. Given this statistic, it is no surprise that most of us have something to learn if we are going to create videos that grab attention and inspire viewers to act. To reach our most important audiences, including current and potential customers, video for business should include content relevant for the viewer, the right timing and pace, and it must be measurable. Above all, it must communicate how your products or services help solve a real problem for viewers. Remember, they’re watching to find solutions.

Personal: Know Your Audience

The first and most essential element of a successful business video is an understanding of the target audience. For viewers to press play and then keep watching a video, we need to know what problems the video will help solve. The better you as the creator understand how your products and services help viewers get “unstuck,” the more effective you’ll be at keeping their attention and creating preference for your wares.

An important consideration when making content personally relevant is the structure and style of your script. What kind of approach should you take? Is it humor? Does it include jazz or blues music?  Should you invest in speakers with British accents or someone a little off-beat? The answer to that question is all of the above, if it will inspire viewers. Use whatever works for your audience and is consistent with your company’s brand personality. One structure most often used, and one that almost always fails? – “This is my widget. Let me tell you all of the attributes I built into it that make it superior.” On the other hand, a structure that almost always works well approaches content from the viewer’s perspective – “Here’s problem XYZ. Here’s how we solved the problem and how you can too.”

Make Sure the Video Length Hits in the “Sweet Spot”

Did you know that the average attention span of an adult is 2.8 seconds? On the Internet, attention spans are about half that. This is why it’s essential to know your audience and grab the viewer within the first few seconds. I think we can blame attention span a little bit, but the ‘sweet spot’ is that a video should only be as long as it needs to be. Cut the fat out, make sure it’s stays highly focused. Each piece should be helping to tell the ‘story’ and moving the viewer forward to resolution. TechSmith recently did some research on viewers – we found that depending on the type of content, some viewers will watch longer videos. For entertainment videos, you have about 60 seconds. For informational videos you have three to four minutes. For instructional videos, as long as eight minutes.

Cut Once, Measure Twice

How do you know if your video is bearing the fruit that you hoped? Web analytics lets you know more than which videos are driving traffic to your site. Many analytics services can dig deeper to understand how viewers are interacting with content and what actions are being taken, if any. Google Analytics, Salesforce and Optimizely are just a few that can get you started. While some options are free, others come at a reasonable cost and provide insights like where people stop watching, which sections are most effective at eliciting response, and when people choose to share a video on social networks. All valuable information for improving your future videos.

The paradox of video’s success is that consumers are becoming more selective about what they watch, making it paramount for companies to understand the nuances of video creation in order to get it right. It’s important for all of us who are moving toward video as a marketing tool to create content that is personable, to the point and measurable. Making video doesn’t have to be hard and there are many instructional tools available to ensure success. Bottom line is, if businesses are not using video or using it incorrectly, they are losing out. So what are you waiting for?

While the sins covered in this blog post might not rival the seven deadly sins featured in Dante’s Divine Comedy (and yes, I am making a vain, content marketing attempt to jump on the Dan Brown bandwagon), we marketers are far from guilt-free.

So here goes. My name is John Hayes, I’m a marketer and it’s been forever since my last confession.

I’ll admit it, I’m a terrible procrastinator. It’s not that I don’t get things done. I just don’t get them done during the nine-to-five, and as a result, work eats into my life more than it should.

I guess I’m lucky in the fact that I love my job. But I also love my family and could do a better job at finding a balance.

During my working life, I have personally identified seven deadly sins that I’m doing my best to abstain from in order to become more productive. Perhaps you can identify with them.

1. Watching stats: Analytics are a huge part of any online marketer’s job. I personally find the analytical data provided by email marketing tools like iContact or events software like Eventbrite hypnotizing, and within minutes of sending an email I will often find myself hitting the refresh button again and again, watching my opens, click-throughs and resulting sales rise. Analytics are incredibly useful for optimizing your campaigns (and you should be doing this), but watching stats for the sake of watching them gets nothing done.
2. Meetings: I’m lucky in the fact that I now work remotely and therefore am rarely called into many unnecessary meetings. But in previous roles, I found myself sitting around countless boardroom tables, discussing absolutely nothing for hours on end. Yes, managers need to make decisions, and for any business to succeed, there needs to be an element of collaboration. But is it really necessary to include the whole team to make even the smallest decision? If you find yourself wasting too much time sitting in meetings, take a leaf out of the late Steve Jobs’ book and walk while you talk.
3. Waiting for other people: There is nothing more frustrating than waiting for people. When you make an appointment, that is the time you are meant to meet, not the time you leave your desk or run out the door. Over my career, I’ve wasted numerous hours waiting on people. Now, If someone is running late and hasn’t called me with an update, I wait 10 minutes before moving on to something more productive. If people are too rude to not turn up on time, show some self-respect and don’t hang around wasting even more time.
4. Getting Lost in Social Media: Social media can be like quicksand. It can suck you in, and before you know it, you’ve lost the day. If you (or your team) are struggling with a social media addiction, set some house rules and try and keep any non-work social media usage out of office hours.
5. Over planning: They say a business that fails to plan, plans to fail. While this might be true, it doesn’t mean that planning should take precedence over everything else. If a simple plan turns into a lengthy document, you are probably missing the point of planning: the action that follows. I’m a great believer in restricting my planning to a single sheet of paper, featuring several bullet points, and then running at the task.
6. Seeking Perfection: If you look at everything in minute detail and then delay projects because things are just not good enough, you’ll never finish anything. Don’t aim for perfection; you’ll never attain it. Good enough is good enough.
7. Worrying about the competition: Do you spend so much time keeping your eye on the competition that you forget to watch your own business? Instead of following your competitors’ every move, ask your clients what they want from you.

What prevents you from getting the job done? Share your confession in the comments box below.

This post first appeared on the iContact Blog.

In the movie Jerry Maguire, Jerry expressed his love in a long-winded speech to Dorothy and her reply was the simple phrase: “You had me at hello.” Your subject line can do the very same thing for your email marketing and leave your readers swooning.

Your readers’ inboxes are a crowded place these days and with all that competition, you’ve got to up your ante to stand out. If you’re sending email on a regular basis to subscribers that have opted-in and want to hear from you, you’re off to a good start. But you’ve got to hook ‘em with attention getting subject lines, so you can reel them into the content of your email. Here are five subject line types and real-life examples to guide you on your way to success.

1. Humor: Use a little humor, something a bit cheeky or nostalgic in your subject lines to engage your readers. Take for example this subject line from retailer Tory Burch that plays on the name of a popular band, Jane’s Addiction: “Jeans Addiction: Our New Denim Collection.”

2. Call to Action: This type of subject line has a clear, “do this” message. Our example comes from MZ Wallace with their simple, “Vote to Win.” In just three words they tell you exactly what they want you to do. It also piques your curiosity getting you to open the message to read all about what you could win.

3. Personalization: Placing a reader’s name or other information about him or her in the subject line can be either open-inducing or, it could get you a quick click into the trash bin depending how you use it. In this example, social media network, LinkedIn treads lightly by including my first name to make me feel “special,” indicating this information is just for me, “Top News for Kim: Google Latitude to be retired August 9.”

4. Exclusivity/Offer: With the recent changes at Gmail, promotional emails now get filtered into a special tab in a user’s inbox, but otherwise your promotional emails need to stand out. Try out different subject lines that state free shipping, a percentage off, a dollar amount off or other offer language to see what resonates most with your subscribers the most. Our example is from Piperlime, a division of retail giant, Gap Inc. Piperlime entices their subscribers with bargain basement language of, “Extra 25% ALL SALE. New styles just added.” They even went for all caps in the “all sale” language. If you do this, do so sparingly as it’s the online equivalent of screaming and that’s never pleasant.

5. How-to: By providing helpful and useful content to your subscribers, you provide them a great service and benefit. That’s what makes how-to content so compelling. Birdy Botanicals, a natural skin care company based in San Francisco, nails it with their subject line for eating right tips, “A Key to Great Skin – Easy Tips for Adding Superfoods to Your Diet.”

Get more subject line tips in our free Savvy Subject Line Writing for Success guide.

Do you have your reader’s at “hello”? How will you use these subject line ideas to keep them hooked on your content?

When you make online purchases, would you buy anything sight unseen without ever reading a customer review or seeing a high star rating? Neither would I, and neither would most of your potential client base. Testimonials are pretty much the same thing as a product’s rating or a customer review.

You can talk as much as you like about how amazing of a job you’ll do, or how professional you are on your site – but nothing really hits home like a previous client saying it for you. Testimonials give future clients access to past clients; Neutral third parties that can corroborate your story that you’ll do an excellent job. It’s basically a list of references, just like you would add to your resume when applying to a job. A resume is nearly worthless if a potential new employer can’t verify the facts with past references. Testimonials are your past references that new clients can check and verify your claims.

We can all agree that testimonials are important to attracting new clients, but how do you get them?

If you have never asked a client for a testimonial before, never fear. It is actually pretty easy, as most clients are more than willing to oblige. There are many ways of asking for testimonials, and I am going to share with you a few of my favorite ways of not only getting testimonials, but of getting the right kind that hits on all the important points, making you look like the rock star designer you are.

Why “just asking” isn’t usually enough

The first and most obvious method is to be direct and simply ask for one. However, this comes with a drawback. If you just come out and ask a client, giving them no direction, the resulting testimonial runs the risk of being poorly worded, or weak. This isn’t necessarily your client’s fault, as many of them aren’t writers or simply don’t understand what goes into a really persuasive testimonial. For this reason, it’s generally better to offer a bit more direction when asking a client for a testimonial.

Tactic 1: Feedback Surveys

One of my favorite ways is to ask your client fill out a feedback survey as soon as the project is complete, while it’s still fresh in their minds. When you ask them, tell them it’s going to help you moving forward, and that you really value their comments and opinion (which hopefully, is true.)

Asking them to fill out a survey and telling them that their opinion matters is usually very well received; many clients even consider it flattering. This is going to make it much more likely for them to want to help you in taking the time to fill out the survey.

It’s important to ask for this while “the iron is hot,” for a number of reasons. First off, if you wait too long, your clients are less likely to remember the details of the project and how great of a job you did. This isn’t because they don’t remember or realize that you did a wonderful job, but more likely because they’ve simply moved on emotionally. After all, they are buy people, and have new projects they’re working on at that point. But if you did a great job and ask them right when it’s still fresh in their minds, they are much more likely to still be riding the emotional high of a successful project outcome. That emotion will give you all the ingredients you need for a great testimonial.

When using a feedback survey, the trick is to ask specific questions that are designed to get positive responses about various aspects of your work. If you ask something generic like ‘How did I do?’ you’re going to get a generic answer back, like ‘You did a good job’. This isn’t very useful, and doesn’t make for a strong, provocative testimonial. Asking very specific questions is your way around getting a weak, generic response from your client. What questions should you ask?

“What were your existing frustrations with your website, logo, project, etc. before coming to me?”

This is a great question for clients because it gives them a good baseline for them to talk about how and why they weren’t happy with what they had before they came to you. This helps create an introduction or a beginning of the story.

“How happy were you with the finished product? Did it meet or exceed your expectations?”

This is another great question as it asks them how happy they are with your work and with what they obtained from you. They often will easily speak directly about how happy you made them, giving your testimonial some emotional punch.

“How would you describe your experience working with me?”

In this case, hopefully it will prompt them to say something about how easy it was to work with you, or how much they enjoyed the process. This is powerful because everyone wants to work with people that are a pleasure to be around. If your testimonial says how easy you were to work with, it makes the decision of hiring you much easier.

These three questions when used together really tell a well-rounded story about the entire process. It tells about why they came to you in the beginning and how frustrated they were at the start, how easy and enjoyable it was to work with you, and how happy they were with the finished product. This makes for a really great testimonial. There is a fourth question you can ask as well, though it’s one that has to be asked a bit further down the road:

“How has your new logo/website/etc. impacted your business thus far?”

This obviously can’t be included in the initial survey, because if you just wrapped up your work they really can’t tell you how it’s impacted their business just yet. If you ask them to answer this question in a month or two and come back to them for the answer, by then (hopefully) they’ll be able to add another dimension to the testimonial. This makes the testimonial a lot more impactful and vibrant, as it tells other future clients about how your work directly impacted someone’s business.

Now once you have your answers or survey back, you need to ask your client if they mind if you use their answers as a testimonial. They usually won’t mind – in fact, most will be flattered that you value their answers enough to publicize them. Still, if they learn later that you’re using what they said in a public forum without their knowledge, they might get upset that you didn’t tell them the whole story. The principle here is: Just ask, but ask AFTER you get the survey back.

Once you have their permission, you’re going to want to trim down their answers and take the best parts to craft a shorter, powerful testimonial. This generally involves combining their answers together into a paragraph. However, it’s also important not to edit too much, or get deceptive with your editing and take things out of context. Make sure everything in the testimonial comes across just as your client intended it. But the best testimonials are edited and short, because once again most people skim more than they read online; so don’t make these testimonials overly long.

Tactic 2: Email Excerpts

Another tactic for getting strong testimonials is to just use snippets from positive emails you got from clients. This works well if you have a very busy client who may not have time to fill out a feedback survey. If you get a great email from a client that says something really positive, about how happy they are and how great it’s been working with you, you can edit something like this down to make a strong testimonial as well. Many times, an email that’s sent by the client is going to be the strongest testimonial of all, as they are sent without being prompted and often are written in the moment. However, just like with the survey, always get permission first, and edit it so that it makes sense as a testimonial. You don’t need to post the entire email and its context to get a great testimonial out of it.

Tactic 3: LinkedIn

If you’re on LinkedIn, you can actually recommend someone else’s skills or work, or be recommended yourself. When you recommend someone, you can actually write a small paragraph about how and why you recommend them and how you enjoyed working with them. If you happen to have a few recommendations from clients on LinkedIn, by all means repurpose these as testimonials – because a LinkedIn ‘recommendation’ is basically the same thing.

Furthermore, LinkedIn actually makes it very easy to ask for a recommendation. They give you a prebuilt email to ask people you’re connected with. However, I wouldn’t recommend using the generic template email that LinkedIn provides if you’re looking for a recommendation. Instead, customize it for who you’re sending it to; you’re much more likely to get a positive response if it looks like you have put in the time to personalize the request. This can be a great tool for obtaining testimonials from clients, and you can ask them right in the request if they mind you using it on your website.

No matter which method you use to obtain your client testimonials, I recommend asking your subjects if they could provide you with a photo of themselves. Photos of your past clients can really add another dimension of credibility. Using a testimonial with a picture of the person next to makes it seem much more genuine and real. And if you want to make it really easy for your clients to say yes to this request, simply ask them if they mind if you use their LinkedIn profile photo. In general, the easier you make it on them, the more likely they are to say yes. However, not everyone will agree to it, as some people are camera shy or don’t want their images online, but it never hurts to ask. This can be a powerful tool to complement a well written testimonial, as it creates that much more connection with anyone who reads it.

header image courtesy of theilluminated

Content has become one of the most critical aspects of marketing over the past 3-4 years. No reasonably sized company is lacking a “content strategy”. There are even “Chief Content Officer” and “VP of Content” titles springing up in numerous places. To a large degree, this is part of the Marketing Automation movement, which requires a lot of content to nurture, intrigue, entice, warm-up, and attract new leads. In fact, not surprisingly, the Marketing Automation vendors – Marketo, Eloqua, Hubspot, Act-On, Pardot – are some of the very best content marketing companies around.

But a vast majority of that content is aimed at prospects, not customers. And that which is aimed at customers is often for the purpose of upsell, not retention. Many companies can’t divert their attention from acquisition long enough to pay the appropriate attention to existing customers.

In a past life, I worked at a company where, as the VP of Customer Success, I had a very hard time finding a slot in Marketing’s email calendar to send an email to customers that didn’t ask them to buy something new. There was no time for a “we love you” email, or a note on “tips for using our product more efficiently.”

This needs to change with the times.

With the recurring revenue portion of many SaaS- or subscription-based companies becoming a larger part of their overall business models, even exceeding 50% in the maturing companies, marketing to existing customers for the sole purpose of ensuring or increasing retention is an increasingly critical part of the marketing strategy.

So let’s talk about why you need to provide real content to your existing customers and how to do that effectively.

There’s an old Steve Martin comedy bit titled “How to be a millionaire and not pay taxes.” The first line after introducing the bit is this – “First, get a million bucks”.

In many ways content marketing is similar. “First, get a lot of highly valuable content. Then…” Of course, the real challenge is accomplishing that first major task. But, presumably, your company is full of experts on your product and your market space. Before you tap industry experts for guest blog posts or pay someone to provide you with content, take advantage of all the expertise you already have like your Product Managers, Customer Success Managers, Support Reps, and Consultants. And they don’t have to be writers to provide great content. Writing can be Marketing’s role. Just get smart people to share their intelligence and wisdom about your products.

One great thing about marketing to current customers is that they already know your company. No subtle marketing messages necessary. Simple and straightforward articles like “Raise your ROI with Acme by using the XYZ widget” are perfectly fine. In fact, it’s better than fine. It’s what your customers want, and probably expect, from you. Why? Because the vast majority of them really, truly want to maximize the value they are getting out of your product(s). With that truth in hand, you can provide them with valuable tips, tricks, and best practices and they will welcome it. And by automating this information exchange from Customer Success to customers, you can reach those customers, with real value, that you just can’t afford to touch one-on-one, at least not very often.

Making your customers more successful with your product(s) is reason #1 for content marketing to your existing customers. Reason #2 is to increase brand recognition.

Few companies have brands like IBM, Google, or Apple. Your customers need to be reminded of your value to them and how cool it is to be your customer. It reinforces their brilliant decision to purchase your product(s) in the first place and affirms your place in their business, and psyche, when it comes time to renew or re-evaluate your solution.

Don’t take this lightly.

Those of us who deal with customers every day don’t often think about branding exercises with them. After all, they are already customers. Your direct users are acutely aware of your presence in their lives, but that may not be as true for the ancillary users and, most importantly, the executives. Providing interesting and relevant content to all parties will help you maintain “stickiness,” assuming your products really are bringing true value to your customers.

This is especially valuable for those companies that use the “land and expand” model, as many SaaS companies do. That model assumes that your first set of users at any given company, are not where your product ends. That means you have additional prospects within each of the companies to whom you have sold your solution, and those prospects may or may not have heard of you. So, branding exercises that include your existing customers may have tremendous value, especially if they display thought leadership.

Not only is this an important practice to implement, but it’s easy. The bottom line is simply this – marketing to your existing customers is actually easier than marketing to prospects for a couple of reasons:

1. They are thirsty for your expertise.
2. Your message can be much more direct and there are many more people at your company who can help provide content.
3. You already have permission to email them.
4. You probably know something about how they are, or aren’t, using your products.

Thought leadership has been proven to be one of the most valuable forms of marketing during the growth of the digital marketing age, whether that is email, blogging, or twittering. And no one knows your products and your customers like you do. So, don’t be shy about this and don’t wait any longer.

Let the writing begin!

Welcome to the customer-driven economy, where the good a company does is increasingly becoming its defining competitive advantage. While CSR, cause-marketing, and sustainability might have seemed like nice-to-dos just a few years ago, articulating how your brand brings its core values to life is now critical in terms of the reputational, employee productivity and bottom line benefits- or liabilities- to your company.

It’s no longer good enough to just “have a social media presence.” Marketing 3.0 will be won by those who become purpose-driven social brands, and to do so, the CMO, CSO, CSR, and Foundation leads must align to bring a cohesive brand story to life.

Check out our latest infographic below with some cold hard facts that make it clear the future of profit is purpose, and the most iconic brands of the future will be those that drive the most meaningful social change.

5 Tweetable Takeaways

76% think it’s ok for brands to support good causes and make money at the same time.

55% have boycotted a company in the last 12 months because of irresponsible business practices.

54% say their company’s purpose is not clearly conveyed to all employees.

53% would NOT invest in a company that does not actively support a good cause.

81% consider CSR when deciding where to work.

Thanks to the creators of all the original studies, they contain a wealth of data vital for your company’s future: 2012 Edelman GoodPurpose® Study, Havas Media “Meaningful Brands” Global Report 2013, 2013 Deloitte Core Beliefs & Culture survey, 2013 Cone Communications/Echo Global CSR Study

If you’d like hands-on training from some of the best marketers in the world on how to become a purpose-driven, social brand and create passionate customer communities, come to our 2013 We First Social Branding Seminar, Sept 24-25 in Los Angeles.

Is recruiting new employees the same as selling? Absolutely. In fact our best recruiters possess many selling skills (it does help that we specialize in sales recruiting so we kind of know a thing or two about sales). But wait you say. In a recruiting scenario isn’t the employer the buyer and the candidate the seller? Well, yes and no. Yes the employer is the buyer, but the desirable candidates – the ones you really want to hire – usually have multiple suitors so in that sense, the employer is the one that must assume the role of selling in a relationship with a prospective employee.

Here are the other ways recruiting is like selling.

Qualifying – You need to ask questions to determine if a candidate has the right mix of skills, experiences and sales DNA to be successful in your role, much like you would qualify a prospect to determine if they have the problems and pain that your product or service alleviates. Furthermore, you need to be honest about what it is like to work for your company, to make sure they are comfortable with that, because the last thing you want is for someone to accidentally join a company they don’t suit and then want to leave after you have invested time in training them.

Selling – You have to sell potential candidates on the value of working for your company much like you would sell prospects on the merits of becoming one of your customers. You have to demonstrate how your company will address their needs and aspirations or as the case may be frustration they are currently experiencing in their career.

Handling Objections – Often candidates, particularly those that are employed and not necessarily seeking to make a career move, will have questions and reasons why they might not take on a new role at this time. It is the job of the recruiter to listen, get to the real heart of the concerns and handle the objections carefully to make sure they are addressed without getting a candidate to make a move for the wrong reasons.

Negotiating & Closing – The perfect negotiation occurs when you sell something that someone wants and needs. Not only does that leave both parties satisfied, it creates the likelihood for future dealings. When you’re recruiting new sales reps, you’re also trying to arrange the perfect negotiation – one where you both feel good about the relationship you are creating long term. Pay them too little and they may be demotivated. Overpay them and you may be frustrated with the return on your investment.

Recruiting is a lot like selling, so if you are recruiting, we hope you love selling.

To your success.

Last year, researchers looking at a massive dataset following high school seniors in Wisconsin found that high school popularity was correlated with higher income later on.

It turns out that the effect might not be from popularity after all, but from family.

When you compare siblings, even if they vary significantly in popularity, they end up in about the same place.

That's great news for the less popular younger siblings of the world.

In an NBER working paper, Yale's Jason Fletcher reexamined the effect of high school popularity on earnings with a much broader dataset, they found about a 2% income boost for each additional friend by age 35. But when comparing siblings and accounting for fixed family effects, that completely disappears.

The Wisconsin survey only allowed people to nominate three classmates as friends, so 60% of respondents didn't get any nominations. This dataset (from a national longitudinal survey) allows for up to 10, and includes a broader range of states and ages, making the result stronger.

This suggests that some combination of family life, genetics, and parenting has more of an effect on future income than high school popularity.

The earlier paper suggested that popularity was a good proxy for well-developed social skills that might help people adjust to the workplace later, and the sort of strong network that helps advance a career.

What you learn at home and how you're raised turns out to mean more.

Here's the table showing the results. In the right-most columns, when family effects are accounted for, the effect of popularity (In Degree) vanishes:

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While many companies obsess about how to turn their data into value, we find they spend too much time on the "data" and not enough time on the "people" side of the equation.

Getting the people side of the equation right, however, is not just about hiring the best talent (though that's important, of course). In our experience, companies overlook two critical items: 1) Identifying the roles they really need and 2) building a "customer-service" mentality in their advanced analytics bureau.

The right team

Big Data talent is a critical issue. By 2018, the United States alone could face a shortage of 140,000 to 190,000 people with deep analytical skills, according to the McKinsey Global Institute. But companies need to spend time upfront to identify the kinds of roles they need to make the Big Data machine run rather than just rushing to recruit math and science jocks. While different companies will have different talent needs, here are five important roles to staff your advanced analytics bureau:

1. Data Hygienists make sure that data coming into the system is clean and accurate, and stays that way over the entire data lifecycle. For example, are the time values being captured the same? One data set might be measuring calendar days in a year (365), another working days in a year (260), and yet another hours in a year (8765). All the values have to be the same so that comparisons are possible. Or have old data fields been populated with new types of data but under the old field names? If this is not addressed in the database, new product data may override old product data, rendering a meaningless result. This data cleaning starts at the very beginning when data is first captured and involves all team members who touch the data at any point.

2. Data Explorers sift through mountains of data to discover the data you actually need. That can be a significant task because so much data out there was never intended for analytic use and, therefore, is not stored or organized in a way that's easy to access. Cash register data is a perfect example. Its original function was to allow companies to track revenue not to predict what product a given customer would buy next.

3. Business Solution Architects put the discovered data together and organize it so that it's ready to analyze. They structure the data to ensure it can be usefully queried in appropriate timeframes by all users. Some data needs to be accessed by the minute or hour, for example, so that data needs to be updated every minute or hour.

4. Data Scientists take this organized data and create sophisticated analytics models that, for example, help predict customer behavior and allow advanced customer segmentation and pricing optimization. They ensure each model is updated frequently so it remains relevant for longer.

5. Campaign Experts turn the models into results. They have a thorough knowledge of the technical systems that deliver specific marketing campaigns, such as which customer should get what message when. They use what they learn from the models to prioritize channels and sequence the campaigns — for example, based on analysis of an identified segment's historical behavior it will be most effective to first send an email then follow it up 48 hours later with a direct mail.

It is important to map the movement of data across the Big Data team and ensure that all data hand-offs between humans and machines have clear owners. This mapping ensures that each person in a given role is held accountable for complete delivery, not just for completing his or her individual tasks.

Developing a client service culture

It's demoralizing to build a product or service that no one uses so the burden is on your team to demonstrate how its models can benefit internal business owners. That requires thinking of the business owners as customers. As any good retailer will tell you, you need to understand your customers to be successful. Have regular meetings with them to understand their needs and get feedback on the performance of the team's models. Always ask yourself, "Who in the business will be helped by my analytics?" and "Do they agree you helped them succeed?"

We also see Big Data initiatives fail because the internal customers don't have confidence in the team and don't trust the models. Trust starts with being transparent. Be completely open about who is working on what. Provide estimates of realistic finish times. Be clear about trade-offs when determining which models to build so your internal customers make an informed decision that will get to the best end product.

To ensure adoption of a service bureau culture, measure personal performance by business success not just volume or speed as too often happens. Track how many new models were used by internal customers to drive new results. Some companies have developed bonus criteria for members of their Big Data teams based on how quickly and broadly a model was adopted by the internal customers rather than how innovative the model was. This approach prevents the classic war of words: "I built a brilliant model. It is not my fault no one is using it!" It also nips in the bud the problem of building analytics for its own sake rather than for business impact.

Creating a successful analytics team requires both the right people and the right culture. When it comes to Big Data, your teams should spend less time worrying about crunching it and more time focused on serving it.

Last week, I observed six senior Fortune 100 executives discussing a desperately-needed digital strategy. They each sported the obligatory hallmarks of business success: expensive Italian suits, carefully manicured hairstyles and company-issued smartphones resting on dark leather compendiums. You could almost smell the overhead. As the meeting progressed, it was clear that these Ivy-schooled individuals were slick, sharp, and well-structured. But when the time came to discuss promising start-ups in their industry, the surprising bitterness began:

"Why are we talking about Company X? I could probably buy them on my credit card."

"We are the kingmakers in this industry. Entrepreneurs should be tripping over themselves just to meet with us."

"I could have joined Company Y in the early days. But I decided to work for a real organization."

As the percentage of U.S. adults involved in start-ups hit a record 13% in 2012, the White House proclaimed that "entrepreneurs are the engine of our economy" [PDF]. But the three-hundred-pound-diet-coke-drinking-pepperoni-pizza-eating-founder in the room is that, in the minds of most American adults, entrepreneurship remains the domain of misfits: an odd pursuit of unwashed nerds that were unwilling or unable to secure real jobs and build "respectable" careers. Said one executive I spoke with: "I struggle to find any value in today's start-ups, because I believe entrepreneurship is all about luck." Another simply proclaimed: "Some choose to make apps and toys. I opted to get a real job." There is evidence of similar pessimism overseas. In a recent study [PDF], just 36% of Chinese students surveyed agreed that "entrepreneurs are popular amongst my friends and family members." Only half agreed with the statement that, "when looking for a life partner for my sibling, we would prefer an entrepreneur over a person who has a job." Even those who actually choose the bumpy path of starting a company often do so out of desperation, not choice. Although start-up ecosystems are surging around the world, it's clear that our negative attitudes towards entrepreneurship require significant reform. Founders, as the Erasure song goes, "need a little more respect."

Instead of rallying behind innovative entrepreneurs, we shower disproportionate reward on the "cubicle capitalists": the salary-heavy, mission-lite brazen careerists who hide behind ever-inflated titles and ascend the corporate ladder with pure personal gain in mind. While writing Passion & Purpose, I met dozens of recent graduates who, rather than applying their newly-acquired knowledge to solve important problems, had prematurely opted to extract value for themselves. Said one young executive: "I had big ideas when I started, but now it's all about getting promoted to partner." Said another: "I know I'm just pushing paper. But I like getting paid six figures for working nine-to-five and ordering room service at fancy hotels." Certainly not everyone who works at a large company fits this description, but most of us know someone who does: the type that creates activity instead of change, engages in endless office politicking and gets more than their fair share of promotions, bonuses and cushy paychecks at a time when the situation calls for bold new ideas. Harvard Professor Deepak Malhotra recently summarized this unfortunate predicament: "If we take more money home than the value we create, we are unintentional thieves. It's really that simple."

Entrepreneurs, we need you.

The pursuit of entrepreneurship, either independently or within an existing company, is not for everyone. Founders face real challenges. Said one: "I can't get a mortgage - the bank won't even look at me." Another lamented: "My wife divorced me because my business failed." Economists would argue that the high start-up failure rate (over 75%) combined with our loss-averse nature means your son or daughter probably should learn how to defend the status quo. But landing a secure, high-paying job is not an excuse to knock the "misfits": the courageous few entrepreneurs who choose to risk their own careers, reputations, and financial security to improve the world for us all.

The irony in the "entrepreneur versus large company" debate is that all of the latter exists because of the former. Those Prada-wearing executives are so precisely because one or more individuals once took a calculated risk with limited resources at their disposal, and built a company capable of providing secure employment to many. But this isn't about pitting those working on start-ups against the corporate types, nor is it about the merits of joining a fledgling organization versus a large company. Being an entrepreneur is a mindset that can be practiced in any situation and regardless of seniority or prior experience. Whatever your title, you are free to choose progress over process. If you manage others, you have the option to usher in real change by elevating those who display true innovation over those simply seeking a promotion.

For all the founders who were ever discarded by the establishment, know that your contribution is valued. My hope? That the tide turns and we begin respecting the very entrepreneurs on which the world is built.

Writing a book is at the top of many boomers’ bucket lists. As a new author myself (shameless plug: Second-Act Careers), I appreciate that. But I also know that figuring out how to go from bucket list to the best-seller list can prove a bigger challenge than you think.
 
That’s why I decided to spend some time at ThrillerFest last week in New York City. Now in its eighth year, the conference is a one-of a-kind networking and educational event for aspiring and seasoned thriller writers. At a speed-dating-inspired session there, would-be authors pitched their projects to dozens of literary agents.
 
First Published After 40 
 
One of the things that intrigued me most about this conference was how many of its featured authors didn’t get published until they were over 40, sometimes not until their 50s.  

Physician Michael Palmer, whose first novel came out when he was 40, told me: "My initial writing dream, besides simply finishing, was to see my name on the cover of a novel and maybe to give copies out to friends and family for Christmas. When my agent phoned to say that the outline of the book had been bought by a major publisher, she asked me to guess how much my advance was going to be. My initial guess, with fingers crossed, was $5,000. In reality, it was 50 times that, and suddenly a second career was a big reality."

Today, Palmer splits his time between working as a physician and a novelist. His most recent medical thriller is Political Suicide.

6 Tips for First-Time Authors
 
Here are six of my favorite take-away tips for anyone itching to publish a first novel, thriller or otherwise, in midlife (plus, a bonus: a few thrillers and mysteries you might enjoy reading this summer):
 
1. Leverage your life experience. Did you ever notice how many thriller writers came out of careers in government, the military, law and medicine? That’s no coincidence. They’re able to bring authenticity to their spy novels, medical mysteries and courtroom dramas because they’ve walked the walk and talked the talk.

Plenty of other first careers can provide great material for second-career, first-time novelists, too.
 
At ThrillerFest, I learned, for example, that Daniel Palmer (Michael Palmer's son) is a former e-commerce pioneer who penned three novels about the dangers of our technocentric world (his latest is Stolen) and Maria Hudgins is an ex-high school science teacher and author of archaeological and travel mysteries (most recently, Death of a Second Wife).
 
So think about ways you could weave your previous work and adventures into a compelling story.
 
2. Wait to put pen to paper (or fingers to keyboard). Coming up with a great tale is a bit like producing fine wine: You can’t rush the process.
 
“The more time you take thinking about the idea, the better chance you have of developing the plot,” says Phillip Margolin, a former criminal defense attorney and author of multiple New York Times best-selling thrillers, including Capitol Murder, his latest.
 
During one of the ThrillerFest sessions, Margolin pointed out there was a three-year span between the time he came up with the germ of the idea for Gone, but Not Forgotten and began writing it.
 
While working on his book outlines, Margolin keeps asking himself questions (who, what, where, when and how) and continually refines the plot. He often spends four to six months developing and revising the outline before starting to write.
 
3. Model the masters. One of the best ways to learn to write well, which will up your odds of getting published, is by studying books you admire. Analyze the ebb and flow of their plots as well as the authors’ word usage and character development. 
 
Even seasoned authors find this technique helpful. M.J. Rose, the best-selling author of 13 novels (Seduction just came out) and founding board member of International Thriller Writers, told me she often reads her favorite books three times. The first time is to simply enjoy the story. The second is to focus on the writer’s style. The third is to dissect the book’s tone and structure.
 
Incidentally, Rose – a former advertising exec – self-published her first book, Lip Service, in 1998 after several traditional publishers turned it down.
 
4. Be willing to ask for feedback. “If you want to be a writer, you’ve got to be able to handle criticism,” Margolin says. “Everyone needs help and every book needs work.”
 
Finding the best people to critique your book can be a process of trial and error. If you know any editors or agents, ask them for feedback. If not, consider joining a local writers group. (Check with the continuing education coordinator at your community college or your reference librarian for nearby groups).
 
Just try to avoid asking family or friends for their opinions if they’re not in the publishing world. “They mean well, but they’ll drive you crazy,” Margolin jokes. On top of that, they probably don't have the expertise and wisdom to provide good advice.
 
5. Learn about the business of the business. Selecting the best method for publishing your book – going with a traditional publisher, an e-publisher or a print-on-demand service – can be a project in and of itself. Each alternative offers distinct advantages and drawbacks, so take your time exploring the options. If you hope to attract a traditional publisher, you'll generally need to have an agent.

Brace yourself for repeated rejection, however, if you do decide to pursue the traditional route in hopes that a publisher will oversee and pay for the book’s production, design, editing and distribution, assist with marketing and anoint you with instant prestige. 
 
Virtually no one lands a publishing deal quickly. Even best-selling author Diane Mott Davidson wrote three novels before one was accepted for publication, when she was 41. (Her newest Goldy Schulz suspense novel, The Whole Enchilada, comes out in late August.)
 
I still laugh thinking about what my daughter, Juliana, told me after I received my sixth rejection letter: “Don’t worry, Mom, all that means is now you’re officially a real author.”
 
6. Don’t go it alone. Most writers tend not to be joiners, by nature. But as I saw at ThrillerFest, it pays to attend conferences with your peers. They’re wonderful venues for learning, networking, connecting with agents and meeting people who can help fuel your writing. 

The next ThrillerFest conference will be held next summer in New York (July 9-12, 2014). Other possibilities coming up: the Southern California Writers' Conference (and Retreat) in San Diego, Feb. 14-17, 2014, and the Romance Writers of America Conference in San Antonio, July 23-26, 2014.

To find more get-togethers, including summits for writers in particular regions and novelists in other genres, check out the robust listing in the Conferences and Residencies Database on the Poets and Writer’s Magazine website.

Most important, have fun!

“Understand the reality of the business you are getting into,” M.J. Rose says. “Then, write because you enjoy the process – not because you expect to have the next New York Times best-seller.”

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You've probably heard that social media, especially LinkedIn, can help you find a job. Whether you are currently employed and open to opportunities or between positions, statistics suggest LinkedIn is a useful tool. A survey of hiring managers by Bullhorn Reach says 97.3% of those surveyed used LinkedIn as a recruiting tool in 2012.

Having a profile is a great first step, but if you're like many professionals, you could probably leverage LinkedIn better to help you reach your career and job search goals.

Take a close look at your profile and how you use the network and make sure you aren't making these mistakes on LinkedIn.

1. Your profile isn't 100% complete.
You set up a profile, isn't that enough? Not exactly! Check your profile and make sure LinkedIn tells you it is "100% complete." If it's not, take the steps needed to fill it in. Perhaps you need to reach the required 50 contacts. Have you added your education and filled in some skills? Have you included your zip code, and filled in all of the sections? Do you have a Summary and have you described your work experiences? Don't forget to include a photo; people are much less likely to want to learn more about you if you don't add a picture to your profile. When your profile is not complete, you will be harder to find on LinkedIn, and you don't get the full benefit of the network.

2. Your profile lacks compelling details and keywords.
When recruiters or others search LinkedIn, they see many results listed. What will inspire them to select your profile? To start out, make sure you use a friendly, but professional looking photo. Create a headline (the information right under your name) that makes it clear why someone should want to learn more about you. Don't use your current job title as your headline; be descriptive and tell people why you're great at what you do. When you compose your descriptive headline, or pitch, be sure to include keywords, the words people are most likely to use when they search for someone with your background. Take advantage of the opportunity to tell your story in your LinkedIn profile.

3. You never modify your profile.
Social networks don't work as well when you "set it and forget it." Keep an eye on how often your profile comes up in search and how many people view your profile. (You can see this information when you view your profile - scroll down and look on the right side of your screen.) If the numbers are low, update your titles and your headline and tweak your descriptions to try to capture additional search traffic.

4. You haven't customized your LinkedIn URL.
The most obvious sign of a LinkedIn novice: a non-customized URL. When you edit your profile, look under your photo. If the URL listed is a series of random letters or numbers, be sure to edit it and select your name, or some version of your name if you aren't able to secure your name as a URL. Once you customize your URL, it makes it a lot easier to share it on your business cards and your resume.

5. You never post updates.
There's a reason LinkedIn is called a "social network." The point is to share insights and information with your network. You can do this via the "update" feature. What should you say? Share ideas, links to interesting articles, and pass along links people in your network share.

6. You're not following companies.
You can learn a lot by following a company on LinkedIn. Even if they don't consistently update their page, you can easily see people in your network who work for the company and use the data at your fingertips to see if the company promotes from within (check "Insights"), and where they tend to recruit. Of course, you'll also see any jobs they post, and have the opportunity to be one of the first to apply.

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While startups might question the relevance of the MBA, it's hard to argue with the salary bump you get after graduating from a top school, or the fact that nearly 40% of Fortune 100 CEOs have the degree. Clearly, there's something that companies value about the degree.

One of the core teaching methods, pioneered by Harvard Business School, is the case method. Some of the most difficult situations in business history are laid out for students, and they're expected to come up with a rigorous and well reasoned solution all on their own. It's the tried and true way to train students expected to be the top executives of the future. 

We reached out to some of the country's top business professors and asked them to tell us which case studies they think are the most essential for future business leaders, and have broken out the key lessons here. 

Thanks to Professor Jennifer Chatman of UC Berkeley's Haas School Of Business, Professor Aaron Chatterji of Duke's Fuqua School of Business, Professor Timothy Vogus of Vanderbilt's Owen School of Management, Professor Gautam Ahuja of Michigan's Ross School of Business, and Professor Laurence Capron of INSEAD for their input. 

How Lululemon kept its cult

Case: Leadership, Culture, and Transition at lululemon

Key takeaway: Figure out how to bring the founders into a strategy rather than alienating them. 

What happened? In mid-2008 new CEO Christine Day took over from founder Dennis "Chip" Wilson. The decision came as the company wanted to expand and become more corporate. At the same time, Wilson was concerned about maintaining the culture and values of the company.

Day faced entrenched problems like outperforming stores, a poor real estate strategy, and barriers between various parts of the company. She used her experience from helping expand Starbucks worldwide to align the whole company with a strategic plan. She even convinced the founders to attend advanced management programs at Harvard and Stanford so they could better understand how the company must change. Worth around $350 million at the start of her tenure, Lululemon is now a $10.59 billion dollar company.

Thanks to Dr. Jennifer Chatman, the Paul J. Cortese Distinguished Professor of Management Chair at UC Berkeley's Haas Management of Organizations Group for her suggestion

How Ryanair beat two giants of the industry

Case: Dogfight Over Europe: Ryanair

Key takeaway: Lean organizations focused on a single business can lead on cost and challenge established competitors. 

What happened?: In 1986, the two Ryan brothers announced that their young airline will take on giants like British Airways and Aer Lingus for the first time on the route between Dublin and London. It significantly undercut those two airlines on price, bringing in people who had previously preferred rail or ferry tickets. 

How USA Today reinvented itself

Case: USA Today: Pursuing The Network Strategy

Key takeaway: Sometimes the old guard can't handle a new reality.

What happened? Facing falling circulation of the daily newspaper and the rise of digital news, USA Today CEO Tom Curley saw the need to better integrate his businesses, to leverage and share content across the company's internet, television and print platforms. His management team and staff were resistant, claiming insurmountable divides in culture and work style. Curley had to make the case that this was essential for the future of the business, and eventually replaced 5 of 7 senior managers as part of the change.    

Thanks to Dr. Jennifer Chatman, the Paul J. Cortese Distinguished Professor of Management Chair at UC Berkeley's Haas Management of Organizations Group for her suggestion

Everyone needs a little inspiration. Whether you’re a star account executive, new account manager, or experienced sales executive – you can always be better. Be bigger than yourself. Score that big deal, push your team to new heights, and set the bar high. You’re lightning in a bottle. Build more connections, grow your expertise, and be better than you ever imagined with the following business lessons:

Look Beyond Yourself - Deepak Chopra
Self-confidence is perfectly healthy. But what happens when “I” gets a little too big? You become isolated and detached from your community with a false sense of self.

“In a lifetime, ‘I’ stakes its claim on a person’s likes and dislikes, along with a fund of memories, all aimed at trying to maximize pleasure and minimizing pain,” wrote Chopra in a post for LinkedIn. “Despite this endeavor, which continues day after day, the ego is haunted by anxiety.” Listen to your true self by pursuing the bigger picture.

Your Persona Is Infectious - Mark Hunter
At all costs, leave your negative energy at home. It doesn’t matter if you’ve had a bad day or if you think you have a poker face. When you’re bummed, your team and clients will know. Especially if you’re a manager or team leader, you need to keep the vibe strong.

“Your team takes cues from you, and if they hear you talking negative about customers, headquarters, or anything else, then it’s only natural they will pick up your negative style,” wrote sales leader Mark Hunter for his blog. Find a reason to smile. Yes, you. Right now.

Never Start a Sentence with an Apology - Jennifer Dulski
You’re giving a presentation and your equipment malfunctions. You’re a little sleepy, so you stutter a bit. You doubt yourself. You know what? It happens – and you’re your harshest critic. When you lead with “I’m sorry,” you completely undervalue what you’re about to say.

“It immediately removes your credibility with others such that, even if your idea is good, people are predisposed to think it isn’t,” wrote Jennifer Dulski for LinkedIn Today.

Process Makes Perfect - Glen Stoffel
The key to becoming a CRM or sales leader to build a foolproof process that can support the natural growth of your team. The last thing you want  is to be up and running without the infrastructure to help keep you moving. Imagine running a marathon in an old pair of loafers – at some point, it’s inevitable that you’ll hurt yourself.

“Define and fine-tune your business processes,” wrote Glen Stoffel for the Salesforce blog.

Your CRM, lead management, and sales automation apps will be the power-tools to get you there.

Your Thoughts
What advice keeps you and your sales team motivated? Feel free to share your thoughts in the comments below.

You know the feeling when you have everything under control.  You’re on the top of the world.

You also know that OTHER feeling, don’t you – when things feel like they are spiraling out of control.

What IS control, anyway, and who ever told us we had any? What is real and what is imagined?

For a good list of what you CAN control right now, I like this one with 50 things by Lori Deschene.

In addition to control, there are other things you can manage about yourself.

As a sales professional, you cannot rely on others managing you – you need to self manage. This means that even when you have a poorly suited manager and are getting little direction from leadership – you can work to direct yourself.

Hopefully you have a great manager and leadership in your company with lots of direction, vision, and goals clearly stated.

If not:

Create a plan – guidelines – and metrics. Think of yourself as an entrepreneur of your territory, or niche, or product line. Don’t let poor management stop you from being a great seller. If you cannot succeed with the leadership (or lack of) that you have at your company, you may need to leave.

Lifehack posted 12 Rules for Self-Management that are a good guide and get you to think about who you want people to know you as.

Ultimately, self-management is about making decisions, commitments, and plans that you stick to, and about deciding who it is you want to be. Feeling out of control and not having enough time to get everything done are the biggest issues many sales reps have.

Get-it-Done (GTD) guru David Allen suggests that you shift your perspective to gain clarity.

How difficult will it be for you to manage what you set out to accomplish today and this week?

Can you count on yourself to come through?

Lori Richardson is recognized as one of the “Top 25 Sales Influencers for 2013″ and one of “20 Women to Watch in Sales Lead Management for 2013″. Lori speaks, writes, trains, and consults with inside and outbound sellers in technology and services companies. Subscribe to the award-winning blog and the “Sales Ideas In A Minute” newsletter for sales strategies, tactics, and tips in selling. Increase Opportunities. Expand Your Pipeline. Close More Deals.

Image credit: stylephotographs / 123RF Stock Photo

The post Inside Sales Power Tip 124 – Self Management appeared first on Score More Sales.

Recently, someone said something to me that stopped me in my tracks.

“A good salesperson doesn’t have to believe in their products,” this person said. “They just have to believe in themselves.”

Come again?

So, in other words, salespeople don’t need to be passionate about the products or services they represent in order to be successful? And all of this talk lately about developing an understanding of prospects’ needs and pain points is useless? You’re saying that all it takes to be successful – outside of actually having a decent product to sell, of course – is a healthy dose of confidence and self-assuredness? 

Wow. If only sales was that easy.

I’m sorry, but I just don’t believe that sales success is only about having confidence in your ability to sell.

Instead, I believe that truly great salespeople are the ones who spend time helping prospects genuinely understand how a specific product or solution addresses their biggest pains. They radiate trust and confidence, and only make a recommendation when they honestly feel that their offerings can help prospects achieve their goals.

And the only way salespeople can sell like that, in my opinion, is to possess a true belief in the product or service they’re selling. Otherwise, how can you say with certainty and confidence that a solution will truly make a prospect’s business more effective?

Here’s the simple answer: You can’t.

Sure, you can fake it. But what good will that do you in the long-term? And what’s the likelihood that you’ll be able to pull the wool over enough prospects’ eyes to meet quota?

The Importance of Building Relationships

As much as the sales landscape has changed in the last 10 years or so, there’s one sales activity that will always matter: Building genuine relationships.

How you create and cultivate those relationships might change over time, but the overarching importance of establishing relationships with prospects and customers will perpetually be a core tenant of sales success. 

Now, if you don’t believe in the products you’re selling, and you’re selling them to real people (if you’re not doing that, you probably shouldn’t be reading this), how exactly do you think that’s going to affect your ability to build relationships – and trust – over time?

That’s where this whole theory of “simply believing in yourself” begins to deteriorate.

Why? Because, closing sales just because you’re a good salesperson does not always translate to long-term success. In fact, if all you’re doing is selling a solution that doesn’t really solve customers’ problems or fails to deliver on the promises you made for it, imagine what that will do to your relationships in the long run.

Before you know it, you’ll be that salesperson – the one who tells customers whatever they want to hear if it helps you close a deal, cash a check, and get out of dodge.

The Real Key to Long-Term Sales Success

So, does this mean that I don’t think self-belief and confidence are important to sales success?

Of course not. I do believe, however, that the only way to become a great salesperson is to develop a genuine interest in your prospects, listen to their wants and needs, and then match your recommendations to that insight. If you do that, you’ll find it very easy to separate yourself from the pack. 

If, on the other hand, you’re only interested in your gain (i.e. closing the sale), it will be a turn off for your clients and you’ll end up looking like nothing more than a fraud.

Turn Your Smartphone into a Virtual Office

Salespeople are a unique breed. They’re dynamic people who understand, and demand, efficiency. Salespeople are also some of the most busy and well-traveled people - and have adopted smartphones and tablets as indispensable tools of the trade. Mobile apps turn devices into productivity workhorses, and here are some of the best.

read more

Sales Training Article: How to Get and Keep Motivated

By Geoffrey James, INC - Sales Source

A simple, easily-followed recipe from one of the world's top motivational speakers.

I've posted about motivation many times, but I recently ran across this short and sweet recipe from Omar Periu, one of the world's top motivational speakers. The toplines are adapted from my conversation with Omar, but the commentary is my own:

1. Always act with a purpose.

If you don't know why you're doing something, you're making that part of your life utterly meaningless. String together enough meaningless acts in your life and your entire life will be literally pointless--without a point.

Starting every action with a review of your purpose, however, puts everything you do into context. Having a purpose for every act keeps you aimed at your life goals rather than cooling your heels.

2. Take responsibility for your own results.

Most people misinterpret this concept. They think it means taking the credit when things go well and taking the blame when things go wrong. But taking responsibility is not about blame or credit; it's about what you do next.

If you're responsible for your own results, you take ownership of whatever future that emerges from those results. You continue to move forward towards your goals, even when you encounter setbacks.

3. Don't wait for perfection, just do it now!

Perfectionists are the hugest losers in life because they either expect things to be perfect before they take action or, if they do take action, they can't enjoy whatever happens because it's not the perfect outcome.

The real joy of achievement doesn't come from what you achieve but from your efforts in trying to achieve it. The only thing that's perfect in this world is that you're perfectly free to take action. Now, as in right now.

4. Eat wisely because success takes energy.

Our civilization currently suffers from a self-induced plague of obesity, caused by the mass consumption of addictive food products that give people life-shortening diseases after first making them listless and drained.

I'm not saying you don't eat the occasional donut. However, if you want the energy to act, the energy to achieve your goals, you need to give your body the kind of fuel that can create that energy. And it's not refined sugar.

5. Surround yourself with motivated people.

Numerous scientific studies have shown that the people around you influence your behavior. They define what you consider "normal" and thereby either bring you up (or down) to their level.

If you hang around people who are energized, purposeful and committed to making a difference in the world, that's what you'll consider "normal." Being motivated will stop being something that you do and instead become who you are.

Need some help with your sales performance? Take a look at the sales training workshops available to you and improve sales performance.

Read more sales training articles from CustomerCentric Selling® - The Sales Training Company.

We have been doing Madlibs now for months. It’s been really cool getting thought leaders to contribute their versions.  My buddy Dennis Shiao once nicely wrote to me: “Madlibs is awesome but we don’t get to hear from you.” Ok Dennis, it’s on! Today I am doing the sales version of Madlibs and will do the marketing version later this week. Enjoy!

                  Photo by flickr user NRK P3 used under Creative Commons license

1. The b2b buyer is cute, really cute. And cuddly. No really, most important thing about today’s buyer — they use the internet (tons of internet), they don’t answer the phone and they have lots of people in their decision process.

2. The biggest innovation in sales is technology. Right now, I am big on the sales productivity tools on the market and am about to start jumping up and down as predictive analytics makes life even easier. (Note: I am not one of those idiots who doesn’t understand that core selling fundamentals trumps technology but the question was about innovation)

3. The coolest thing happening in b2b sales is  everything. Sales is so cool right now. Technology, metrics, scalable processes, content selling, social selling, buyer persona mapping. Sure, there are a lot of old-school laggards out there, but every day I talk to a new sales leader who is looking at the world from the year 2013 and beyond and trying to bring their team up-to-date.

4. My favorite Sales 2.0 technology is e-signature. I have a lot of choices for that answer, but I have too many personal examples of how it is saved me or made my life easier. I am also giving that answer because my CEO Docusign-ed a document we had to get in by EOB Friday at 4.30pm from the river in Idaho. How can that not be my favorite?
   

5. My favorite sales book is Sales Mastery from Barry Trailer. The first sales book I ever read. In my first job interview ever, VP of Sales at Oracle told me to come back when I had a real suit and had read this book. I did both. (He never talked to me again but I still got something out of it)

6. My favorite social media channel is Linkedin. (for sales). The modern sales person lives in CRM, Email, and Linkedin.
   

7. Social selling is amazing and amazingly misrepresented. It’s not a selling philosophy (yet) but it could be. Social selling does not replace good selling, instead  it makes good sales people more effective.
   

8. I use Linkedin to prospect, to call, and to find out who is checking me out. I have also been getting great traction from InMail.
   

9. Cold calling is a term that I included in Madlibs to create controversy. (seriously) If you define cold-calling as reaching out to people you don’t know, then it is alive and well but with new strategies and tactics designed to reach and engage buyers. If you define cold-calling as war-dialing all day, then it is exists but is getting harder and harder to do.

10. In b2b, the idea of a funnel is awesome. As the Funnelholic and an ardent defender of the funnel, can I just say that the funnel still exists because you start with a lot (leads) and end with a lot less (deals)?  Sure buyer’s aren’t buying in a linear fashion, but the funnel as a way to look at the overall revenue machines is still relevant whether you like it or not.
    

11. The first thing every sales person should do is listen to Jay-Z, then hit it. I have one thing I have learned in sales, if you don’t set aggressive out-of-the-gate productivity goals (like call goals), the day gets away from you. I schedule my east coast calls well before 9AM PDT to get my day going. If I don’t have scheduled calls, then I prospect out immediately.

12. Voicemail is part of the overall sales campaign. Not great in isolation, but extremely effective when combined with email and multiple touches.

13. The biggest mistake sales people make is a failure to listen. I have been taking sales calls recently for clients and the listening skills from sales people are a big fall-down point. I had a buddy who always exceeded his number. He was not that engaging of a guy and actually, was very similar in personality to an engineer. BUT: He painstakingly understood his customers and what they were trying to do and then created well-crafted, spot-on responses. They had trouble saying no. His ability to understand them and convince them we could deliver was so good, he closed as well as anyone without being a “closer”. This was 15 years ago. I miss him.
    

14. The biggest myth in sales is that sales is dead or dying. It’s not.
    

15. My most forgettable sales experience was when I sold timeshares in my teens. I thought I hated sales, but then I learned that I just hated being a part of something shady.
    

16. The hardest part of selling is the dark period. That’s the period(s) in the sales cycle when you don’t hear anything from the buyer. What makes it harder these days is buyers just don’t respond. It’s excruciating: They don’t respond to tell you its’ going well, they don’t respond if they have chosen someone else, etc. and your boss is asking you what’s happening and isn’t excited to hear: “They aren’t responding”.
    

17. The next “hot-thing” in sales will be predictive analytics. It’s here today but only going to get better.
    

18. In 2015, sales will be the year of “more” More technology, more inside sales models, more social..
    

19. My favorite sales saying is “BOOM”

20. Over the next couple years in sales, I can’t wait to see more hyper-efficient, scalable, repeatable revenue machines. It’s happening right now so get on the bus.
    

21. Madlibs with the Funnelholic is harder than I thought. Before I sent them out, I should have tested my own answers…(:

Craig Rosenberg is the Funnelholic and a co-founder of Topo. He loves sales, marketing, and things that drive revenue. Follow him on Google+ or Twitter

In our last post from our series on Driving Sales Transformation, we discussed what sales organizations can do to allow reps to exercise judgment.  And while most would agree that in theory reps exercising judgment is a good thing, the results of our quantitative analysis revealed that in practice, most sales organizations have adopted a philosophy of process discipline, seeking to ensure that all reps follow as closely as possible all the steps in a process that sales leaders have pre-determined to be effective at driving sales. But, as we have previously argued, our research shows that activity-driven process adherence is standing in the way of reps adopting winning sales behaviors.

So is your sales process currently hurting or helping reps sell? Obviously, we are not suggesting that sales organizations discard sales process, or eliminate the important oversight and controls that exist (for good reason) today.

The answer for most sales organizations lies in creating a sales process that shifts focus away from activities and towards customer outcomes.  Specifically, sales organizations should create a customer-verified sales process, as ADP did, which allows for a high level of control while still granting reps the autonomy required for them to exercise judgment.

• CEB Sales Members, review how ADP’s ‘Buying Made Easy’ sales process incorporates customer verifiers, by listening to this webinar.

There are three main ways in which customer verifiers in the sales process support rep judgment while maximizing sales outcomes:

1. No Subjective Estimate: Since the customer rather than the rep indicates where a particular deal stands in a customer-verified process, managers can increasingly trust reps’ assessment of a commercial opportunity.
2. Clear Planning: Affirming deal progress allows reps to anticipate roadblocks and identify effective next steps.
3. Creativity: Because the means (sales activities) are de-emphasized in lieu of outcomes (verifiers), managers are encouraged to innovate rather than micro-manage reps.

CEB Sales Members, learn more about ADP’s Buying Made Easy tool, and register for one of our upcoming Executive Retreat or Regional Briefing sessions to learn more about this study.

I’ll admit it. I think I have been avoiding the usage of collaboration tools for a number of years now. No matter how hard my boss has pushed it, I just couldn’t get myself to fully adopt the tools he was presenting. I would test it out for a few weeks and then would stop because I wasn’t recognizing the true value.  You may have been in the same boat as me. I just kept using the excuse, “I have my email to manage that.” After recently realizing that comments like this make me feel old and stuck in my ways, I started giving it more thought, and decided to jump on the bandwagon to give it a shot.

And when I did, something great happened. I was ramping a new client implementation and started to see the collaboration happening between an inside rep and a field rep. They were able to share information on leads, appointments that were scheduled, and best of all, they were able to converse in one place about how the appointments were going and to close the feedback loop right in front of my eyes. It was like every inside sales manager’s dream. They were both adopting it, and they were talking far better than they ever had over email.

Like anything you roll out to your sales organization, the issue of adoption always presents itself. The key is Getting Employees To Actually Use Social Collaboration Tools, as Michael Corkery covers in his article.  Before addressing any adoption issues though, it’s important to evaluate why it’s important to investigate social collaboration for your sales organization. Here are my top three reasons as to why you should:

1. Increase productivity. I don’t know about you, but whenever I have to search my email for a specific document from a client, it can take forever. This goes for every member of the team, whatever their role may be. By using a social collaboration tool, everyone can share documents in one place and easily search the information. Instead of digging through their email box all day, reps can focus on what they are best at – making dials and having live conversations.
2. Build rapport between inside and outside sales reps. With all the traveling outside sales reps do, sometimes it can be tough to answer emails when on the road. Sometimes if their inside sales rep has a question for them, it can take days to receive a response via email. The benefit of a social collaboration tool is that it can be accessed easily from anywhere from smart phones. You may argue that they can check email on their smartphones, too. However, your inbox is bogged down by emails from all sources, making it tough to determine what is relevant and what isn’t, especially when trying to catch the next flight. By using one collaboration tool, there is a much more consistent back-and-forth between the two teams. Inside sales reps can post a question or objection that came up from a prospect to the feed, and other parties can respond quickly and easily.
3. Encourage team camaraderie and company culture. Another great aspect of social collaboration tools is that you can make it fun. Last month my boss kicked off the summer with a “koozy contest” and created a group for it. He purchased koozies with our company logo on it, and everyone had to take photos during the 4^th of July holiday week and post them to the feed. It was fun for everyone and further encouraged and promoted our company’s positive culture. From a team camaraderie standpoint, you can develop all types of contests within the tool. For instance, you could pair up inside and outside reps and create a contest around which team reaches the highest percentage of their goal. A little competition that can be viewed by all will be sure to drive increased productivity and results.

I look forward to seeing what social collaboration has in store for our organization as we continue to develop new tips and tricks to ensure we are getting the most value from it. What about you? Have you fallen victim to hesitating when adopting social collaboration tools at your company? Or, do you hold the opposite view and are having a hard time understanding why anyone would not want to adopt tools like these?

The EyesOnSales team works hard everyday to provide you with the most relevant and helpful sales tips and articles aimed at making you a better sales person.

We appreciate the growth of our readership, and the efforts from our contributors. 

Here is our 2013 Top 10 Sales Articles from the second quarter on EyesOnSales. Enjoy! And, please, share them with your friends and co-workers using the share buttons to the right.

Here are the Top 10 articles from last quarter. Enjoy!

#10. 6 Prospecting Strtegies to Win Q3 business
by Tim Wackel

#9. How to Get More Referrals from Clients
by Michael Pedone

#8. Partnering for Profitability
by Seamas Egan

#7. 7 Tips To Get More Appointments From Your Cold Calls
by  Andy Preston

#6. What Makes A Successful Negotiator? Five Steps to Negotiating Like an Expert
by Colleen Francis

#5. Secrets of an "Effective SOCIAL Networker"
by Jonathan Farrington

#4. Details are the substance.
by Dan Waldschmidt

#3. Make a sale or create an outcome? One has more power

by Jeffrey Gitomer

#2. Building Relationships - Not Resistance
by Colleen Francis

#1. 8 Reasons Your Customers Don’t Care
by The Sales Hunter

Don't see your favorite article here? Leave a comment below with the URL and share them with others. You can use the SEARCH box above to help you find them. To a profitable 2013. Thanks from everyone at EyesOnSales and CamapignerCRM.