Despite the promise of off-grid solar, 99 percent of funding still goes to grid projects

In my last blog, I discussed 5 reasons why more data doesn’t guarantee better decisions. I had picked what I considered my top five from a long list of reasons.

I must have hit a nerve with our readers because the response has been tremendous. So today I’ve incorporated some of that feedback into this list of five more reasons why, with all this data, better decisions aren’t guaranteed.

1. When It Comes to Data, Quality Comes Before Quantity

We seem to take quality for granted. As we continue to evolve as a society with rapid and infinite points of social data consumption, we seem to focus more on quantity. We may argue that a similar trend or mindset may be diluent in the business world where we assume quantity can make up for quality.

It’s true that as quantity increases we can achieve greater depth and perspective. But by the same token, data for the sake of data doesn’t help us either. Data quality (a field on its own) is fundamental for driving consistency and relevancy when it comes to making better-informed decisions.

2. If It Can’t Be Trusted, People Won’t Use It

Untrustworthy data is a frustration that’s prevalent in small, mid-size, and Fortune 500 businesses. The issues that arise from a lack of trust in data are not just limited to leadership roles but affect everyone in the enterprise regardless of their roles or position. The lack of trust breeds a lack of the conformity and standards that are required for robust data-driven decision engines that people can trust and use.

The journey to promoting a culture of data-driven decision makers must start with making data quality a top priority for key data assets and decision engines. Above all, it demands a mindset to see data as a strategic asset. When the data quality is consistently excellent, then it becomes trustworthy.

3. If It’s Not Timely, It’s Too Late

It doesn’t do much good to have all the data we need if it’s not timely. Businesses can no longer afford to wait for traditional transformation cycles that churn data for hours or days. New technologies such as cloud, mobile, and in-memory databases are fueling this paradigm of demanding more data points faster.

Here is the reality:

• To compete effectively, you need to get there faster than your competition.
• To efficiently mitigate risk, you need to proactively eliminate it before it becomes a liability.
• To grow faster, you need to identify opportunities before they are ripe.
• To drive profitability, you need to constantly shift and reallocate resources to manage at optimal levels

4. More Data in the Wrong Places May Be Dark or Dusty Data

Dark data (or dusty data) continues to pose a challenge for organizations tapping vast amounts of invaluable deposits in enterprise data vaults. In its simplest form, dark data refers to data that remains unexploited for business value.

Left disintegrated and without the necessary transformations to be turned into cohesive and compatible building blocks to deliver insight, they are often neglected—sometimes not on purpose. Additionally, data extracted from transactional repositories doesn’t automatically generate value unless it’s made available at different points of consumption. Staged but undelivered data is like a meticulously cooked meal sitting in the kitchen and not being delivered to customers in the dining room of a restaurant.

5. More Insight Available But No One Knows It Exists

In real estate, they say, “Location, location, location.” When it comes to data, I often maintain, “Communication, communication, communication.” This means that we need to effectively inform and educate our user community about our data portfolio.

Because if they don’t know, how can they consume? The more we educate our users about what exists and how they can access it, the more likely they are to adopt the existing solutions. We also must successfully articulate the business value proposition. Otherwise, integration of business and technology is a zero-sum gain.

Bottom Line

Each of the ten reasons I’ve covered prove one key point—more data should be guarded with a healthy dose of skepticism.

Strong leadership and critical thinking are key because we need to carefully examine the evidence based on what’s relevant to the question at stake before reaching any conclusion or making any decisions. Only then can we realize the promise of more data—to deliver actionable insight for faster and better-informed decisions.

This article originally appeared on turnali.com.

Most salespeople think they’ve mastered the art of communication, but 99% of all cold emails suck.

That’s why we share so many templates and tips. We hate reading bad emails, too. So if you’re looking for another simple way to improve your cold emails, here’s a quick and effective technique:

Read your shit out loud

I never see this mentioned in blog posts and workshops, but it’s one of the easiest ways to write better emails. And there are tons of benefits:

You communicate more clearly

Reading out loud helps you find a rhythm. If you trip over a word, or run out of breath, there’s a good chance your prospects will do the same. Revise any confusing or awkward phrases, so that you're communicating clearly and confidently with prospects. It's pretty hard to close deals when they have no clue what you're trying to say.

You catch mistakes

Our brains rely on context, so we occasionally skip misspelled words and grammatical errors. When you read silently, your brain is more likely to say, "Okay, yeah, I get it. What's next?" Reading out loud actually helps you focus on every word, so that you catch ridiculous typos like this noe one.

You control the tone

How you read cold emails aloud is a strong indication of how they’ll be read by your prospects. If you sound bored, your email is probably boring. If you sound energetic, it’s probably energetic. Pay attention to your tone as you read emails out loud. If you don't sound enthusiastic, active, and convincing, you have some rewriting to do.

You think differently

Writing and speaking are supported by different parts of the brain. By reading out loud, you flex other mental muscles, which leads to new ideas, insights, and solutions. 

When you’re reading out loud, ask yourself these questions:

• Is this clear and concise?
• Does everything make sense?
• What needs further explanation?
• What should be cut, shortened, or replaced?
• What value am I communicating?
• What’s the next step for the prospect?

If you don't have a good answer for these questions, you're not ready to click send.

There are a few other things you can do, if you want more practice

• Read your email to somebody else. Let a coworker or friend be your target audience. Ask them to listen while you read your email aloud—either in-person or over the phone. When you're done, run through the questions above to see if they have any feedback. Nine times out of ten, they'll catch something you missed.
• Have somebody else read the email to you. Focus on what they’re saying and how they say it. Do they run out of breath? Do they trip over a specific word? Are they confused by a certain phrase? Is their tone right? You can learn a lot about your email simply by listening to a coworker or friend read it back to you.
• Record yourself. Listen for all the clues outlined above, and ask yourself whether you’re ultimately sold on the email. If you record a video, pay attention to your body language and facial expressions. Are you confused, bored, excited, curious, interested? These non-verbal reactions will signal how you truly feel about what you've written.

Here’s some homework

Find the last cold email you wrote and read it aloud right now—even if you’re in the office or a coffee shop. You don’t have to shout it from the rooftops—just read quietly and see what stands out.

Was every sentence as clear and actionable as it should have been? Was anything misspelled? How did you feel after reading it?

I know this isn't a mindblowing topic, but it's one of the most underrated ways to write better cold emails. I can't believe more salespeople don't do this. If you create the habit of reading out loud, I promise you'll avoid careless mistakes, write more effective sales emails, and close more deals.

Want to create cold emails that generate hot leads? Download our free cold email templates right now:

Get your free cold email templates

Writing is a big part of increasing your company’s visibility. From website copy and e-newsletters to blog posts and social media updates, your business depends on your ability to write well.

Writing Tips from the Father of Advertising

David Ogilvy (known as “The Father of Advertising”) wrote a memo, “How to Write,” in 1982; it’s still a goldmine of advice. Here are 8 of his writing tips alongside my comments.

1. “Write the way you talk. Naturally.”

Every business has a voice; yours should be a natural reflection of your brand. Every word you write – whether on your website or in a Facebook update – should reflect it.

2. “Use short words, short sentences and short paragraphs.”

Make everything you write easy to digest quickly. No one likes reading a wall of lengthy text; a lot of writing fails due to overly wordy text. If you have a big chunk of information you want to share, consider ways to make it easier to for your readers:

• Use shorter words
• Simplify the sentences
• Turn the details into a bulleted list

3. “Never use jargon words like reconceptualize, demassification, attitudinally, judgmentally. They are hallmarks of pretense.”

Make your blog posts, e-newsletters and social media updates inclusive; you want anyone to be able to read and understand it easily.

4. “Never write more than two pages on any subject.”

I had a class in college that required the final paper to be 1-2 pages total, which forced us to really focus the main message. The same is true for anything you write. If you can’t write it within two pages, your message isn’t conveyed clearly and concisely.

5. “Check your quotations.”

As Abraham Lincoln said, “The problem with internet quotes is that you can’t always depend on their accuracy.” Obviously, that quote is incorrect, but a major side effect of having a vast quantity of information at our fingertips is that details are easily incorrectly attributed. Do your homework and cite your sources appropriately.

6. “Never send a letter or a memo on the day you write it. Read it aloud the next morning — and then edit it.”

Coming back with fresh eyes can help you catch embarrassing typos and spelling errors.

7. “If it is something important, get a colleague to improve it.”

It’s always good to have someone offer their feedback if possible. They can help you clarify your point and check for mistakes you overlooked.

8. “Before you send your letter or your memo, make sure it is crystal clear what you want the recipient to do.”

This is the “Call to Action.” How do you want your readers to respond to your blog post or social media updates? Make sure your writing conveys this clearly.

Do you need help making your content writing stronger? Practice, practice, practice!

Machine-learning and artificial intelligence are still growing technologies--and they aren't just passing trends. Check out the infographic to see how ML and AI are helping B2B and B2C marketers alike. Read the full article at MarketingProfs

If your sales team is like most, you have a star group (20 percent) of top performers, a core group (60 percent) of solid performers, and a laggard group (20 percent) whose performance is consistently underpar. The question for sales leaders is: What’s the proper way to motivate each group? Let’s examine the who, why, what, and how of each group to determine the best sales motivation strategy for each.

Is there gold in the hills above Hope?

Barrick Gold Corp. is floating the idea of turning an old nickel mine in the area into a year-round recreational playground called the Giant Nickel All Season Resort. It would include a ski hill and gondola and restaurants that grow their own vegetables.

The 10-run ski hill in terms of vertical drop would fall between Whistler Blackcomb and Sun Peaks, said Dennis Adamson, electoral director of Electoral Area B of the Fraser Valley Regional District, and the project’s No. 1 booster.

“I’ve been pushing this for years,” said Adamson, who’s the elected official of the area, which includes communities like Yale, Spuzzum, Dogwood Valley, Othello and Ruby Creek, total population 721.

“It’s the No. 1 question I get (from constituents),” he said. “Not a day goes by when I don’t get someone asking me when the ski hill will be open.”

He said the area, which has relied on mining and logging in the past, is desperate for an economic kickstart, especially after the loss of 450 union jobs at the mill in Boston Bar a decade ago.

“You need jobs or you’re going to become a ghost town,” he said. “I see it as something that could replace the lost jobs and bring a lot of youths to the area, families with kids.”

Adamson said he’s been working with Barrick for six years and a deal on the company’s old Mascot Giant nickel mine, which closed in 1973, is imminent.

“They’re doing lots of work now right on the mountain,” he said. “They’ll be putting in the notice of intent (for the resort) very shortly.”

Toronto-based Barrick, the world’s largest gold mining company, has passed the first hurdle: Approval from the Agricultural Land Commission for juggling boundaries on the parcel of land that covers 182 hectares (450 acres) and that straddles the Trans-Canada Highway north of Hope.

The ALC granted Barrick permission to alter the boundaries of the parcel of land that excludes 19 hectares of Agricultural Land Reserve land in one place and includes 19 hectares in others, according to the report obtained by Postmedia News.

Adamson said the resort would cost $600 million and would include resort villages and a gondola that loads from a parking lot next to the TransCanada. That means skiers could drive the two hours from Vancouver to the hill without facing winter road conditions.

Barrick has been monitoring snow and has documented conditions suitable for a ski hill, he said. An artist’s rendering shows one peak as high as 1,563 metres without indicating vertical drop or top elevation. Blackcomb’s highest vertical is 1,609 m and its top elevation is 2,284 m.

In its application to the ALC, Barrick said the area includes Khalater Lake, now used for canoeing and other recreational activities, and the lake would be part of the resort.

FVRD staff last year recommended the ALC approve the change in ALR boundaries. It noted there was no loss of ALR land, the property had never been used for agriculture and that it has “very limited, if any, potential for commercial agricultural uses” as 87 per cent of the ALR is of marginal or non-arable quality.

It notes the resort would grow vegetables, fruit, nuts, berries and grapes on 46 hectares of the land for “farm-to-table” restaurants, the resort and local markets.

“There’s a need for economic development in that area,” said Graham Daneluz, the district’s deputy director of planning, because the Fraser Canyon communities are “undergoing a transformation” from resource-based economies and incomes are lower than in other parts of the district and are shrinking.

ALC’s approval is conditional on Barrick using the ALR for agricultural purposes and not for residential or other purposes and on it submitting a pre-development plan for the area not later than spring of 2020.

Barrick’s ALC application includes details about the planned resort but the gold giant said it’s not a sure thing.

“I would say it is at a kind of conceptual stage,” said Barrick spokesman Andy Lloyd.

“It’s at a very, very early stage.”

He said there have been “some discussions already with some local stakeholders, (but) we wouldn’t want to create a false impression that Barrick is building a resort.”

The report says Barrick has the support of the local Indigenous people, the regional district and surrounding towns, like Hope. Yale First Nation Chief Ken Hansen didn’t return a request for comment.

“They have invested significant money to get to this stage, but they haven’t yet pulled the trigger,” said Hope Mayor Wilfried Vicktor. “But there’s no reason for this not to go ahead,” he said. “It would be a huge revenue generator for the whole region.”

Barrick told the ALC there are black bears, cougars and some herons but no spotted owls on the land. There is one house, which Barrick recently bought.

CPR train tracks run through the property and Barrick would need to build a $2 million to $3 million bridge crossing, it said.

The property, which is largely forested, is bounded in the north by the Hope Rod and Gun Club and Yale First Nation reserve land with single family rural density homes; in the south by the Union Bar First Nation reserve land that is mostly forested and by private property; in the east by the Fraser River and in the west by Crown land and Barrick’s property that is mostly forested and vacant.

The ALC report also noted that “issues of trespass, harassment of livestock, crop damage, invasive plants, liability, litter and vandalism can arise in agricultural areas which are adjacent to recreational areas” and noted fences and vegetative buffers may be necessary.

The project would have to first go through a provincial environmental assessment review, which would take two years, said Adamson.

The Canada West Ski Areas Association, which represents ski hill owners, is opposed to a proposed new ski resort called Garibaldi at Squamish because it could negatively impact B.C.’s ski industry.

It said last year skiers visits have remained stagnant in B.C. at 6.1 million annual visitors, and between 26 and 43 per cent of ski areas last year were reporting financial losses.

slazaruk@postmedia.com

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Related

• Read the latest Metro Vancouver news
• Read the latest national and international news

 

It’s not easy to create a successful business. It’s even less easy to make that good business truly exceptional—especially when you’re in aggressive growth mode.

At the 2017 PROFIT 500 CEO Summit, which took place in October in Toronto, we asked speakers and panelists to draw on their experiences to reveal one thing—a management tactic, a strategic shift, an operational change, a leadership philosophy—that helped make their good businesses great. We’re pleased to share some of their stories in this exclusive video series.

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The post How to make your good business great appeared first on Canadian Business - Your Source For Business News.

The flexibility of FPGAs will protect the world’s network of smart devices

Last week, I participated in two discussions about the changes in the SaaS world. I believe they are fundamental. The most important force shaping the industry today is competition. The level of competition in many core SaaS segments is intense.

Why? The SaaS era is about 20 years old. Salesforce was founded in 1999. Since then, many major categories of software have been saasified. Venture capitalists have financed many of those businesses. Over that 20 year period, annual SaaS investment has increased 20x, peaking in 2014 at $7B.

Those venture dollars have financed a panoply of competition. In 2012 ChiefMartec landscape counted 350 vendors selling to sales and marketing. Today, that figure is 5000. The landscape is so vast - and the logos so minuscule - that it’s useful only as an illustration of competition.

This sea of SaaS startups have reshaped the market. Incumbent client/server technologies have lost their market dominance to new incumbents. The chart above shows them by buyer. Salesforce for Sales, Workday for HR & Finance, ServiceNow for Operations, Atlassian for Engineering and so on.

In addition, the playbook is known. Thousands if not tens of thousands of pages have been written about the marketer, sales developer, inside account executive and customer success play. Most businesses are competing with the same strategies as their competition.

This rivalry causes four major responses:

1. Verticalization - compete with a horizontal player by picking one customer segment and building a product better suited to them. Trades market size for better product market fit.
2. Segmentation - focus on SMB, Mid-Market, or Enterprise, to play where competition isn’t present.
3. Feature optimization - develop a product with 20% of the features but 80% of the value, and use a simplified product to challenge the competition.
4. Opting out of starting a company - deciding the timing isn’t right because of the competition.

I’ve observed all these trends in the last few years. The fourth has the starkest data.

SaaS company formation has fallen by 44% in the last 3 years. I’m using SaaS seed rounds as a proxy metric. I believe competition is a major driving force, especially since venture capital is conspicuously copious.

The table stakes in SaaS are rising. But it’s not the MRR milestones or the payback period benchmarks that have changed. They may have increased slightly. Instead, the competitive differentiation ante is much greater. Hawking a SaaS version of a client/server software has been played out, and many buyers will be approached by a collection of competitors with seemingly indistinguishable offerings.

Machine learning, broad consolidation, category creation, and new distribution models each will change the SaaS ecosystem in fundamental ways. As the number of new startups ebbs, and major forces in the industry reshape it, I suspect we’re going to see a massive amount of innovation in SaaS, a reinvention after the perfection of a 20 year old playbook.

The humble blog is now centuries old (or it perhaps seems that way anyway). It has not changed much apart from the time Google killed off thousands of blogs because they were basically spamming the internet.

You can still build up a following and collect leads from the intelligent use of a blog. If your client has a blog running on their site and they are becoming concerned about it (either for reasons of low lead counts or just because it doesn’t seem to be doing anything), then take a look at the following points before you respond.

Content marketing is still a thing

And the blog is the beating heart of any content marketing strategy. A blog allows your client to have a voice. It presents the expertise your client has to the world, and it is still a legitimate voice.

People still go to a company blog first, after hitting the landing page, because a blog shows the reader what the brand is all about. While it may seem, sometimes, that content marketing is a bit odd and irrelevant, it certainly isn’t the case.

The top bloggers out there are generally people you can’t compete with. They have spent years building up a following. But for your client regular blogging that shows intelligence and a will to serve will bring results.

Comment and build

Commenting on blogs as a marketing tactic died a death a little while ago as website owners suddenly realised that comments could be automated and were generally being used to drive traffic. But this doesn’t mean that commenting is not relevant anymore. In fact, if commenting is done with the right approach, it will become a key part of relationship building and of course traffic generation.

The way to approach blog commenting is to be intelligent and polite. If other sites in the area you sell have blogs, spend some time getting to know what they are all about. This is the research part, and it generally involves you learning about the brand behind the blog.

Once you have focused on a few blogs and you know about the brands and how they function, you can then start adding some real, constructive comments. Make sure that you do this consistently and fairly. Even if you can write intelligent comments, you don’t want to write too many too quickly, for example. That feels like spam.

Perhaps the best piece of advice we can give here is to be polite. It goes a long way in the blogosphere. This counts both in blogging and in video blogging. Courtesy makes a big difference to people.

The end result of commenting intelligently and sensibly is an extension of your voice. Your brand will become known as one that thinks carefully about the industry, and makes a genuine contribution. And you are also able to include your site’s URL in comments on many blogs and websites. If your strategy has been polite and intelligent, you will see traffic.

Promote

No one knows you’re there if you’re not telling them you are. You need to promote your blog content consistently, and as fully as possible. Your blog content should be on your social media channels, and constantly being promoted to a schedule. You can automate a lot of this, and also find out which of the posts you send to social media (such as Facebook) get the best response. Knowing your metrics here is obviously important.

There is no point having a blog if no one is reading it. Every time you post, fit the promotion of that post into your marketing plan. The easiest way to get started here is to use social media to showcase your posts and then link back to your website.

You can also take a post and position it at the top of a social media channel (such as Twitter) or have it on a carousel on channels that are more image-based. Just get it out there as much as you can.

Your audience won’t mind seeing the posts flag up a lot on social, they expect to see it happen. And as your blog grows and gains engagement, you will have a steady stream of posts for social media.

You can also use social media advertising to promote sharing of your blog posts. This is a great way to show that you value your blog, and the readers. Making your blog seem important and relevant is useful in the long run, because the more people engage, the bigger the ROI. Advertising needs to be part of this.

Be prouder than the rest

The days of being a little half-hearted on your blog are well and truly over. People read blogs, and you need to make the blog of your client more attractive, and more accessible. This simply involves looking at the visual setup of the site, and making sure that there is a way to access blog content from the landing page or home page. Many sites now have a ‘showcase’ on their site’s home page, where the best blogs (and takeaways from the content) are shown in their full glory. It is absolutely the best thing to do.

The fact is, you may even be in an industry that has largely forgotten to blog regularly. If you spruce up the content and the promotion of the blog, you’re going to be in a better position than the competition. So work on making sure that everyone who visits the site can get to the blog quickly, see posts as soon as they arrive, and also see more of your posts being shared online.

Your client is an expert in their field, and the blog is still one of the best ways to get that expertise out there. The biggest thing here to get your head around is the constant promotion. The more you share the best posts, the more they will be seen. Obvious, but still highly important.

Standing out in the sea of online resources can be tough even for established publishers. And for those who are new to the industry, it’s even more terrifying. Being on top of the search engine results is a never-ending competition that will go on for years. That’s why more and more types of content are being made to cater different needs of different types of readers. For content marketers, there’s a type of content that will help their blogs rank higher in search engines and drive traffic for years. This content offers a long-term value and is a very smart

The post Everything You Need to Know about Evergreen Content appeared first on Blogging Tips.

By Tibor Shanto – tibor.shanto@sellbetter.ca

Michael Jordan was quoted that the only thing that changes is our focus on the fundamentals, a great lesson for those who tend to be distracted by shinny objects promising “easier” way of achieving or exceeding quota, or, to avoid doing things we don’t like. One of the core fundamentals for successful selling is how we view and utilize time, right down to the minute. It is always important to remember that time is the only non-renewable resource we have. Leads are recyclable, lost deals can be revisited and won. But once the next 60 seconds go by, we don’t get to replenish or redo.

This leads us to the importance of allocating time, not managing it; once time is allocated to specific activity, then focus on executing and managing the activity you actually designated the time to. But many sales people cherry pick time, and use it to avoid things that have to be done, like prospecting for example.

Regularly when I ask buyers why they didn’t prospect, or when they plan to prospect, I hear “I’ll get around to it when I have time”.  As though some rich uncle is going to pull up with some extra time in the trunk, and give it to us.  Time is something you have to commit to in advance.  If you don’t commit time in advance in your calendar for important activities, like prospecting, you will not do it.

“I’ll get around to it when I have the time.” Is the very opposite of what it should be.

I understand that there a lot of demands on a sales person’s time, the importance of focusing on current customers; I understand the importance of finishing that proposal, doing a demo, and all the things we signed up for as sales professionals.  As professionals, one of the key skills we are paid the big bucks for is prioritizing, be that targets, opportunities, accounts, but most importantly, our activities.  While maintaining current customers is important, it’s as important to remember where the current customer base came from, and having that influence how and what we prioritize.

No Distraction

It is interesting to work with new sales people, when they have no distractions, no base, no proposals, nothing to do but identify and pursue pipeline opportunities.  These newbies have nothing else to focus on but that.  Then their success begins to chip away at not only the available time for prospecting, but their willingness to prospect.

It’s the latter that surprises me. There is no taking away from the fact that prospects have to be sold, and clients have to be serviced, but at what point does a quota carrying rep decide that they “have earned the right not to prospect”. An actual quote from a 12-year veteran has made quota in about half those years, but only twice in sequential years.  When something is important, you make time for it. This is as true for business as it is personal wants.  Which may lead one to conclude that they do not want to prospect.

But for those who do want, and are genuinely struggling to pack everything they need to do into a work week, the only option is to get ahead of it, and commit to it in advance by blocking it out in your calendar.  Studies have shown that we are less likely to blow-off an activity that is in our calendar, than those that not, despite best intentions.  Most reps only have client meetings and team meetings in their calendar, important, but no more important than prospecting.  Real pros I work with, set appointments in their calendars to do research, to segment their opportunities, and time to prospect.  They also build time into their calendar for legitimate distractions, this way when they do need to be sidetracked while prospecting, they have time “banked” away to make sure they can complete their task, prospecting.  If the distraction or “client emergency” does not happen, then you have time in the bank for other high-value activities, like maybe prospecting.

Those who plan their prospecting times in advance, avoid the peaks and valleys that drain so many sellers.  The emotional rollercoaster, the misspent energy, all avoided by setting an appointment with themselves to secure appointments with their next big client.

Become one of the thousands of sales professionals receiving my latest updates on sales execution, tools, tips and more.

The post Time To Get Around To It appeared first on Renbor Sales Solutions Inc..

What are the six essential parts of a campaign planning template? Today's marketing campaigns are complex since they need to reach and engage audiences across a range of digital and traditional channels as shown by our RACE customer customer lifecycle …..

The post How to structure an effective campaign plan to win more customers? appeared first on Smart Insights.

You can rely solely on first-hand experiences to gain sales knowledge, but it might be painful. My pro tip? Dramatically cut down your learning curve by picking up some sales books. A read penned by a selling expert offers all the benefits of personal experience without negatively affecting your quota or efficacy.

To help you pick, I’ve dug through the top-ranked books from Amazon’s sales best-sellers and curated a list of the best sales books of all time, covering a number of topics specifically for sales professionals:

• Sales Methodology and Tactics
• Behavioral Psychology and Persuasion
• Business and Sales Management
• Entrepreneurial and Sales Mindset

 

1. "Inbound Selling"

Author: Brian Signorelli

Inbound marketing has changed the way companies interact with customers. In this day and age, the buyer is more empowered and doesn't need to rely on a sales rep to learn more about a company's offerings. In fact, more than 60% of purchasing decisions are made without a sales rep. With that being said, how can sales professionals transform the way they think about their strategies? In this book, you'll learn more about inbound sales, including a step-by-step approach for inbound sales professionals and what it means to lead a team of inbound sellers.

• A Quote I Like: "Gone are the days where buyers rely on sales reps for information."
• Review excerpt: "This is a must-read for anyone in sales or interested in sales! It's an easy and fun read, while most importantly providing new tools and actionable next steps to add into any sales approach. I highly recommend this to anyone working in or adjacent to sales that wants a fresh perspective and guidance on selling the Inbound way!"

2. "New Sales. Simplified."

Author: Mike Weinberg

Looking for a one-stop guide to bringing on new business? Look no further. In this book, Weinberg lays out a proven formula for finding prospects, developing the relationship, and reaching a mutually beneficial agreement.

• A Quote I Like: “If you’re not excited about what you are selling, how in the world will you get a prospect interested?”
• Review excerpt: "I loved the stories, the irreverent tone, and the honesty of this book. But what I appreciated most was that it delivered on its title -- this book really does simplify what you have to do successfully acquire new customers."

3. "The Sales Acceleration Formula"

Author: Mark Roberge

Sales leaders aiming to scale their sales team and build a multi-million dollar business should definitely pick up this book, written by former HubSpot CRO Mark Roberge.

• A Quote I Like:“Defining the sales methodology enables the sales training formula to be scalable and predictable. The three elements of the sales methodology are the buyer journey, the sales process, and the qualifying matrix.”
• Review excerpt: "Every company -- regardless of its business and sales strategy -- will absolutely benefit from reading this book. The stories (Roberge) tells, the way his selling initiatives fit together, the combination of selling and technology he describes … even the use cases he lists make the approach he describes applicable to any sales organization -- however well-entrenched."

4. "To Sell Is Human"

Author: Daniel H. Pink

If you're currently working in sales, you're probably well-aware the old playbook doesn't work. Pink offers fresh yet practical insights into modern selling, including how to move others, make your message clearer and more persuasive, and gain referrals.

• A Quote I Like: s>“To sell well is to convince someone else to part with resources—not to deprive that person, but to leave him better off in the end.”
• Review excerpt: "No, this is not 'another' book about selling. I've read a lot of them, written a few of them, and I can tell you: This book stands alone in a special category."

5. "Secrets of Closing the Sale"

Author: Zig Ziglar

This book includes more than 100 different ways to close depending on the situation and 700 thought-provoking questions to use with prospects. You'll also find suggestions from a hundred of America's most successful salespeople.

• A Quote I Like: “If you do not believe in your product or service enough to offer it to your own family and friends, then you should question the value of what you are selling.”
• Review excerpt: "Ziglar teaches you, from the beginning, that there's no room for success in a salesman's career if he's taking the fast route, making the quick sale, and then locking the door behind him."

6. "The Only Sales Guide You'll Ever Need"

Author: Anthony Iannarino

Iannarino shares his biggest lessons from 25 years of selling, including how to increase your self-discipline, get over your fear of the competition, be more resourceful, discover the buyer's true needs, and more.

• A Quote I Like: “Only after you demonstrate that you truly understand the client’s situation, feelings, and preferences can you effectively present your ideas and solutions as part of the continuing dialogue.”
• Review excerpt: "Anthony Iannarino is my new sales guru. His book shows you exactly how to understand your offer and relate to your customer."

7. "The New Strategic Selling"

Authors: Robert B. Miller, Stephen E. Heiman, and Tad Tuleja

Every salesperson will benefit from learning how to reach "win-win" agreements, prevent sabotage by internal blockers, identify the four types of decision-makers, engage senior executives, and more.

• A Quote I Like: “What you always have to do, therefore, is to focus first on Results and then ask, “Given the Results I can offer, how can this Buyer Win?”
• Review excerpt: "This book, in my opinion, found a perfect balance between theoretical framework and hands-on, immediately applicable knowledge."

8. "Book Yourself Solid"

Author: Michael Port

Port's book covers a range of strategies for earning more business, from building a powerful social media presence to developing a personal brand to perfecting your pricing strategy.

• A Quote I Like:“When you try to sell to anybody and everybody, you end up selling to nobody.”
• Review excerpt: "An excellent and enjoyable read. Michael Port lays out a fresh and honest approach to marketing yourself and your business. 'Be true to yourself' and the people you serve. This takes the pressure off of trying to contrive an image of someone (or something) that is really not you, and makes self-promotion almost natural!"

9. "Fanatical Prospecting"

Author: Jeb Blount

Successful prospecting incorporates multiple touches across multiple channels. Pick up this book to learn how to text, email, call, and socially engage buyers.

• A Quote I Like:So the question is not, to cold call or not to cold call. Instead, the question is how to strategically balance prospecting across the various prospecting channels to give you a competitive advantage when interrupting prospects in the crowded, competitive marketplace.
• Review excerpt: "Jeb teaches you how to prioritize your prospects and leverage social selling in your overall prospecting efforts. If you are thinking about a career in sales or you want to jump-start what you are doing in your present job, then this is the book for you."

10. "SNAP Selling"

Author: Jill Konrath

In this book, Kill Konrath acknowledges that today's decision-makers are frazzled, so it can be difficult to get through to them. To address that problem, Konrath offers four simple rules that make up SNAP selling, geared toward overcoming customer hesitation.

• A Quote I Like: Frazzled customers don’t want to hear about your products or services. They will grant you access only if you pique their curiosity or provoke their thinking.”
• Review excerpt: "I have recently set up my own consulting business which has required me to seek new clients in various ways. After years of coaching and managing a team of sales people, I have now encountered the challenges on the front line. Needless to say I spent 3-4 months struggling to get e-mails returned, voice mails returned, etc. I have purchased 11 new prospecting books in the past 7 months, and this one has been the best for me. After going through this book I followed the steps for building an agenda and preparing info for calls, e-mails, linked-in, etc. and voila...I have closed 4 new clients in the past 6 days. I feel much more confident in my approach, which has made a world of difference. Excellently written, great information."

11. "The Sales Magnet"

Author: Kendra Lee

Being in sales doesn't always mean cold calling. This book is an ultimate resource of tips and strategies for attracting prospects rather than chasing them down yourself.

• Review excerpt: "Kendra Lee ROCKS! Learn to generate sales leads for any business using her methods. It's fast and easy and even fun. I have gotten great results with her lead-gen techniques. So BUY THE BOOK and invest in yourself."

12. "Little Red Book of Selling"

Author: Jeffrey Gitomer

This book is short, sweet, and to the point. Readers will learn to focus on why people buy and why it matters to the sales process. With entertaining illustrations and soundbites in every chapter, this book is easy to return to for specific helpful tips when you need them most.

• Review excerpt:"Excellent book that focuses on selling the right way. Highly recommend this for anyone who is involved in sales and wants to expand their techniques so they close more."

13. "Spin Selling"

Author: Neil Rackham

"Spin Selling" shares the results of Rackham's 12-year, million-dollar research project examining effective sales performances. In his book, Rackham outlines his findings and shares the principles of SPIN (Situation, Problem, Implication, Need-payoff).

• A Quote I Like: “Success in the larger sale depends, more than anything else, on how the Investigating stage of the call is handled.”
• Review excerpt: "If you love sales, read this book and discover how to improve your technique. The research behind this book is exhaustive, and the technique is so organic you may discover you're already using it. In that case, you'll be able to improve your skills."

14. "Agile Selling"

Author: Jill Konrath

As a salesperson, you need to learn a lot of new information and skills quickly. Especially if you're getting promoting, switching jobs, or there are updates to your company. In this book, you'll learn about agile selling, which Konrath describes as the ability to quickly learn new information and leverage it for maximum impact.

• A Quote I Like: "Today our products and services have pretty much been commoditized and prospects realize they can easily get something similar from somebody else. So as a salesperson you’ve become the primary differentiator in the sales process. Products and services can be replicated, but you can’t."
• Review excerpt: "Having spent 34 years in sales and taken a LONG list of sales training courses and read many training editions you would think, ehhh, I don't need another training book to read. That would have been a serious mistake on my part. Jill Konrath has authored a fabulous strategic plan for any professional salesperson who treats his role as a lifelong learner and acknowledges the sales environment has truly changed in many ways."

15. "Insight Selling"

Authors: Mike Schultz and John E. Doerr

In this book, authors Mike Schultz and John Doerr studied more than 700 business-to-business purchases to see what winners of major sales do differently than sellers who almost won but ultimately came in second place. The results were surprising. In this book, you'll learn how sales winners sell radically differently and see an outline for what you need to do to transform yourself and your team into insight sellers.

• A Quote I Like: “Sales winners educate with new ideas and perspectives almost three times more often than second-place finishers. Of 42 factors studied, the greatest difference between winners and second-place finishers was their propensity to educate.”
• Review excerpt: "This book does a great job of establishing the benchmarks, based on their in-depth analysis and research that drive strong value selling. You can achieve greater success by aligning with customers at a whole new level. They guide you through a process that helps you understand how you can create insight across three dimensions or levels."

16. "Smart Calling"

Author: Art Sobczak

Cold calling is probably one of the worst tasks of a salesperson. However, everyone has to do it. In this book, you'll learn proven techniques to master the art of the cold call and eliminate fear, failure, and rejection from cold calling.

• A Quote I Like: “Value is not what you say it is; it is always what the buyer perceives it to be.”
• Review excerpt: "I am certain this is the sales book I have read the most times by far. It has everything you need to really help you get better results in prospecting if you are willing to put in the effort."

17. "The TOP Sales Leader Playbook"

Author: Lisa D. Magnuson

This playbook includes 16 'plays' to win bigger deals based on interviews with 41 leading sales executives. These plays include top strategies for identifying big deals, developing relationships with those prospects, and closing when the time comes.

• Review excerpt: "Although this is a practical, workable, systematic playbook, full of detailed step-by-step instructions for proven strategies and tactics to approach and win your "5X" average deals, it is based on deep research with 41 sales VPs about what they wanted in a playbook. This research revealed four key areas of interest to the sales leaders which became the four main topics of the book: Leadership, Methodology, Execution, and Culture. And because it comes directly from primary research coupled with Lisa Magnuson's leadership career and expertise with clients, it's also focused on the few key priorities that sales leaders can afford to make time for and focus on to guarantee a difference in outcomes. This is a really first-rate book, much needed."

18. "Own Your Niche"

Author: Stephanie Chandler

Covering internet marketing and sales tactics for establishing authority and connecting with your target audience, you'll learn how to generate exposure and build demand for your pipeline.

• A Quote I Like: "Though marketing does involve testing to figure out what works for your business, there is an important first step that is often missed. You need to know who you are marketing to — and that audience should be narrowly defined. Once you do this, it can change everything about the results you get from your efforts."
• Review excerpt: "If you have read a lot of books on marketing already some of what you may read here duplicates that, but most people forget so reading it again serves as a reminder. In addition, no two authors will ever have the same take on piece of advice and that is the case here. For example, Stephanie included some suggestions for how to use post cards that I had not seen anywhere else and it was very helpful. Let's face it, the amount of material written on direct mail marketing can reach the stratosphere so finding a different twist on it can be challenging, but she did it."
  
  

19. "The Psychology of Selling"

Author: Brian Tracy

Learn how to harness psychological principles in the sales process while simultaneously getting a dose of personal motivation.

• A Quote I Like: “When you approach every sales situation as a friend, an advisor, and a teacher, you will dramatically lower the stress involved in competitive selling.”
• Review excerpt: "‘The Psychology of Selling' is a superb, practical, easy-to-read return to the fundamentals of professional salesmanship for novices, journeymen, and seasoned, top-performing salespeople. More than common sense placed into form, it serves as an instructional blueprint -- or as a road map -- to establish, build, grow, and maintain a successful sales career."

20. "The Science of Selling"

Author: David Hoffeld

Hoffeld's advice is based on the latest research in behavioral economics, social psychology, and neuroscience. You'll learn a science-based approach to asking questions, securing incremental commitments, resolving objections, reducing your competition's influence, and more.

• A Quote I Like: “To identify buyers’ problems, challenge the status quo with insights that compel your buyers to think about how they can improve themselves or their business.”
• Review excerpt: "‘The Science of Selling' is the ultimate collection of evidence-based practices for sales ever collected in one volume. Until now, most of the studies in ‘The Science of Selling' have been scattered and tucked away in academic journals, (making them) virtually inaccessible to sales leaders. Most readers will find the material new, and I expect, quite surprising."

21. "Influence: Science and Practice"

Author: Robert B. Cialdini

Cialdini reveals the six psychological principles that cause people to comply. Once you've incorporated these powerful concepts into your messaging, leading your prospects to say "yes" will be less challenging.

• A Quote I Like: “Embarrassment is a villain to be crushed.”
• Review excerpt: "Whether you are on the selling or buying end of any transaction, knowing what Mr Cialdini discovered through years of research and testing will be to your financial advantage. (But) 'Influence' is not just about money. It is a guide to getting what you want or need in a fair and ethical manner."

22. "Words That Sell"

Author: Richard Bayan

Keep this informative manual at your desk so you can quickly find the perfect terms and phrases to grab your prospect's attention, create desire for your product, and ultimately, win their business.

• Review excerpt: "This is a very simple, but HIGHLY useful book!! This book is filled with descriptive words of products & services that will assist you in selling. But more than that, this book is a huge time-saver!! I sell antiques on eBay, and having proven-to-sell words to describe products is wonderful!"

23. "Heart and Sell"

Author: Shari Levitin

How do find the right middle ground between being too accommodating vs. being too high-pressure? This book offers science-based advice for overcoming objections and aligning yourself with prospects' key motivators.

• A Quote I Like: "Top salespeople know how to balance heart and sales. They also understand that unless they really know themselves, they’ll never truly connect with their customers—or anyone else, for that matter. They know that what you do matters, but who you are matters more."
• Review excerpt: "Great book as it goes way beyond just giving strategies and ideas but it really cuts to the "why" of why we sell. The personal stories in the book really help to emphasize why we do what we do and when we do it. I heard the author speak at a conference and immediately bought the book to read on my flight home."

24. "7L: The Seven Levels of Communication"

Author: Michael J. Maher

If you're not generating warm introductions to potential customers, you're losing out on a valuable source of business. Discover the concrete steps that will win you referrals. Although "7L" is geared toward real estate professionals, its takeaways are applicable to any sales role.

• A Quote I Like: “In the old days, the only way to get business was cold-calling, door-knocking, and other ways to ‘market to strangers.’ Everybody spent time and money trying to attract and close people they’d never met. In the Generosity Generation, we can spend our time, energy, effort, and money on people we actually like and trust. In the end, those are the ones who are most valuable to our business.”
• Review excerpt: "Michael provides an easy-to-follow step-by-step system to create long-lasting relationships with clients and vendors that will result in an endless supply of referrals. This book has completely changed how I do business … I went out and bought 30 [copies to give] to my associates."

25. "Predictably Irrational, Revised and Expanded Edition: The Hidden Forces That Shape Our Decisions"

Author: Dan Ariely

Have you ever been flummoxed by a prospect's irrational decision? Once you read this book, you'll have a new understanding for the assumptions and emotions behind the actions we take. Guiding buyers to the right choices will become far easier.

• A Quote I Like: “I suspect that most people and companies miss or ignore the fact that trust is an important public resource and that losing it can have long-term negative consequences for everyone involved. It doesn’t take much to violate trust. Just a few bad players in the market can spoil it for everyone else.”
• Review excerpt: "This is a fascinating look into how our brains process information. The author sets up experiments to test his hypotheses about how people respond to a variety of situations."

26. "DISCOVER Questions Get You Connected"

Authors: Deb Calvert and Renee Calvert

Learn how to structure your calls, ask thoughtful, intelligent questions, and help prospects come to their own conclusions about your product's value.

• A Quote I Like: “In order to truly connect with buyers, sellers need to know how to ask strategic questions that are respectful, time-efficient, relevant, stimulating, value-adding and collaborative.”
• Review excerpt:"'Discover Questions' was excellent -- giving experienced and novice salespeople guidance on how to ask questions, drive the sales conversation and show you care!"

27. "Emotional Intelligence for Sales Success"

Author: Colleen Stanley

Sales conversations are innately emotional. Prospects might challenge you and you might get defensive or your fear of rejection could come into play. For a salesperson to overcome those emotional responses, they need to build their emotional intelligence. In this book, you'll learn how to become a better question asker and listener, how emotional intelligence can improve prospecting efforts, and how empathy can lead to more effective sales conversations and solutions.

• A Quote I Like: "Assertive salespeople are comfortable stating what they need to create true win-win partnerships. And they state what they need in a way that doesn’t emotionally trigger prospects or customers."
• Review excerpt: "Colleen Stanley's Emotional Intelligence for Sales Success is my go-to resource for sales conversations. I've always told people I hate selling, but I love building mutually beneficial relationships. That's the fundamental premise in this book: that sales is a relationship between two human beings. All of the same emotional intelligence rules that apply to friendships, dating, and other human relationships apply to the sales process."

28. "DISCOVER Questions"

Authors: Deb Calvert and Renee Calvert

One of the hardest parts of the discovery call is setting yourself and your company apart from other sales reps. In this book, you'll learn the right questions to ask, how to create value for your buyers, and differentiate yourself from the pack.

• A Quote I Like: “In order to truly connect with buyers, sellers need to know how to ask strategic questions that are respectful, time-efficient, relevant, stimulating, value-adding and collaborative.”
• Review excerpt: "Written for sales professionals it takes little effort to apply this to anywhere you need to ask questions. For sales, it is exemplary, enough that this will become my 2016 Sales book of the year. The author makes a great case for asking the right question early enough so the seller can communicate value."

29. "The Sales Development Playbook"

Author: Trish Bertuzzi

The Sales Development Playbook helps readers understand and use inside selling techniques to build a repeatable pipeline, covering a lot of ground from building sales strategy and measuring what matters to leading your sales development team. All of this is in the effort of providing a solid framework for growing your business.

• A Quote I Like: "Sales development is more than getting prospects on the phone, asking a series of rapid-fire questions, and documenting their responses. The job is about arousing curiosity and generating interest."
• Review excerpt: "This is a must read for folks that carry budgetary or first line responsibility for sales development reps (SDRs); which includes both marketing and sales leaders. For those of you that aspire to be successful leaders in this role – this will be your 'reference' text."

30. "Dare to Lead"

Author: Brené Brown

What does it mean to be a leader? It's not always about power but also about having tough conversations and developing empathy. This book dives into new research on change makers and culture shifters and teaches across 4 main skillsets so that readers can rise strong at work.

• A Quote I Like: “I define a leader as anyone who takes responsibility for finding the potential in people and processes, and who has the courage to develop that potential.”
• Review excerpt: "What's fascinating is that the author calls herself a "research professor" with a social work doctorate, and her research has been extensive and varied, from military leaders to teachers. In this regard she has adopted the data-based techniques of Jim Collins, whose "Good to Great" has been the gold standard for many years. But her message is different in that it does not recommend "engineering" innovation, but rather relying on "rumbling with vulnerability," "living into one's values," and having the courage to make decisions even where the outcome may be uncomfortable and possibly a failure."

31. "Acting Up"

Author: Janice Bryant Howroyd

Janice Bryant Howroyd discusses how to win in business and in life by chronicling her journey to becoming the first black woman to own a billion dollar business. You'll learn valuable skills on how to rely on your values and demonstrate leadership as an entrepreneur and/or in the business world.

• A Quote I Like: "An entrepreneur without passion is just a person with an idea waiting around to see if it will happen."
• Review excerpt: "Similar to cold beer on a summer days, for an entrepreneur like myself “Acting Up” was just as refreshing. Every single person in businesses can learn from Janice Bryant Howroyd’s core values. Today in 2019 we are seeing more and more women in businesses. Janice Bryant Howroyd with the largest privately owned staffing agency in the US is responsible for many of these women being where they are today. A+ Book"

32. "Business as Unusual"

Author: Anita Roddick

Anita Roddick details her entrepreneurial journey while balancing "profits with principles." While detailing her personal and political issues, she defines the role and responsibility of the entrepreneur in the context of business ethics.

• A Quote I Like: "I know it would be all too easy for me to sink into the seductive comfort of just being a wealthy businesswoman. It would be an easy life, but without fighting for anything there's also a hint of death about it, so I do what I can to keep striving, traveling and fighting."
• Review excerpt: "I just loved this book. With all my respect to Anita Roddick, I had never expected this book to be so insightful and challenging the conventional wisdom, before I received it into my postbox! I have enjoyed reading it very much. I still like to open a random page and read it again."

33. "Cracking the Sales Management Code"

Authors: Jason Jordan and Michelle Vazzana

Jordan dives into the critical activities and metrics sales managers and executives should implement and track to lead their teams to success.

• A Quote I Like: “Hiring the right salespeople, deploying them in the right way, targeting the right customers, and selling the right products is the only formula for long-term organizational health.”
• Review excerpt: "I liked the focus on real-world quantitative management via metrics (and) would recommend this book to any sales manager who wants to achieve and measure results."

34. "Shark Tales"

Author: Barbara Corcoran

If you've ever watched ABC's Shark Tank, you know Barbara Corcoran. In her book, she tells her story going from failing in her career efforts to building a $6 billion dollar business, along with the business lessons she learned along the way.

• A Quote I Like: “Being afraid to fail stops you from trying things in the first place. I learned after many failures that nobody’s watching and nobody gives a damn. If you want to build a successful business, you don’t have to get it right; you just have to get it going.”
• Review excerpt: "Barbara's book was an autobiographic infusion between her childhood and her journey to success in business. She describes both almost simultaneously, as if each chapter is split (but not intermingled) between her business journey and childhood memory. Many of those childhood memories reinforce her attitudes she had later in business and life."

35. "Leapfrog"

Author: Nathalie Molina Niño

Geared toward women entrepreneurs who want to "outsmart the status quo," Leapfrog contains 50 ways to launch, fund, grow, and succeed in business. You'll learn how to remove obstacles and open closed doors.

• A Quote I Like: “I’m not about to let anyone tell me that a shortcut is a bad thing. Our [women’s] time is well overdue, and if anyone has a problem with the fact that we want to find faster, cheaper, better ways to get there, they can just take a seat and watch us.”
• Review excerpt: "She thoughtfully demonstrates how to work within today's system to get where you need to go, as opposed to staying in a dreamland hoping societal barriers fall. Her advice is based on what's real and what works and reading LeapFrog feels like taking in a much needed pep talk from your best friend. Highly recommend it."

36. "The Glitter Plan"

Authors: Pamela Skaist-Levy, Gela Nash-Taylor, and Booth Moore

Juicy Couture was started with $200 and grew into a global brand that was eventually purchased for $50 million. The authors of this book chronicle that story in this book that markets itself as part memoir and part business manual. You'll learn the innovative tactics they used to achieve radical startup success.

• A Quote I Like: “The trick to our success—and any success—is passion; you can’t manufacture that. You have to find that one thing you love more than anything.”
• Review excerpt: "Its obvious this book is a must read for today's women, who are seeking ways to thrive, but I HIGHLY recommend this book for the men - husbands, dads and male leaders. As I read this book, I've gained empathy and a new perspective I only sensed before but didn't quite understand completely until Tiffany made it clear for me. I now have a new lens for what my wife has done and is doing, to be an amazing wife, mother and career professional. Despite already being a proud and 'active' dad, I now understand her challenges and am attempting to step up to the plate and do more, to allow more balance in our marriage and parental roles, and to allow her an opportunity to be all she can be."

37. "Mindset: The New Psychology of Success"

Author: Carol S. Dweck

As a world-renowned psychologist, Carol Dweck has researched the power of mindset for decades. She reveals how mindset can dramatically impact and influence how we think about our talents and abilities. Although not directly about sales, this book will teach you how a growth mindset can help you succeed in the world of sales and beyond.

• A Quote I Like: “No matter what your ability is, effort is what ignites that ability and turns it into accomplishment.”
• Review excerpt: "I recognized a lot of myself in this book (and not necessarily the good bits). I learned some reasons why I procrastinate for one thing. It is potentially a game changer for anybody willing to be honest about who they really are with a sincere desire to be better through application and hard work. The book is a call to action and change on a very fundamental level."

38. "Think and Grow Rich"

Author: Napoleon Hill

This book is beloved by many career salespeople. The result of nearly 20 years of research, Hill's book outlines 13 steps to success, including developing a definite purpose, building a positive mental attitude, and channeling the power of the subconscious mind.

• A Quote I Like: “Every adversity, every failure, every heartbreak, carries with it the seed of an equal or greater benefit.”
• Review excerpt: "This book is one that everyone must-read. From the very beginning, it began changing my mindset and how I view life. Some books are filled with information on how you should be thinking, but this one shows how to create lasting change."

39. "How I Raised Myself from Failure to Success in Selling"

Author: Frank Bettger

This is the perfect book for anyone whose job it is to sell. Through personal experiences, Bettger tells his tale from a failed salesman to one of the highest-paid salesmen in America. He gives insights on the power of enthusiasm, conquering fear, the quickest way to win confidence, and the seven golden rules for closing a sale.

• A Quote I Like: “The short-cut to popularity is to lend everyone your ears, instead of giving them your tongue.”
• Review excerpt: "I have read this cover to cover, twice. It's not only for those in the sales industry, it's useful for everyone. I was reminded of the value of emotion, as well as the value of time - both mine and my clients. It was great to learn from both Frank Bettger's mistakes and successes, and I am grateful to have read this book."

40. "The Introvert's Edge: How the Quiet and Shy Can Outsell Anyone"

Authors: Matthew Owen Pollard and Derek Lewis

Just like any other skill, anyone can learn and master the art of sales. Even introverts. In this book, an introverted salesperson can learn how to use their own natural strengths to sell. For example, introverts will learn how to find natural confidence, prepare for any situation, sidestep objections, and ask for the sale without being pushy.

• A Quote I Like: “To sell successfully, you don't have to be aggressive. You don't need to be anything other than you. You just need to experiment until you find a way that feels natural.”
• Review excerpt: "Being mostly an introvert, I have long felt that I had to learn to be someone else in order to succeed in business and especially anything to do with selling. Unbelievably refreshing to read approaches born from authentic experience. With the right tools and techniques, anything is possible! And if you're an introvert and you hope to make a living, this is an excellent book for you — it'll serve you well no matter what field you're in."

41. "More Sales, Less Time"

Author: Jill Konrath

Have you ever felt behind at work, but there just isn't enough time in the day to get everything done? If so, you're probably an overwhelmed salesperson. With quotas going up and faster turnarounds expected, it's not surprising. In this book, you'll learn how to reclaim your time by eliminating major time sucks, optimize your sales process to eliminate redundancies and wasted time, and stay at the top of your sales game.

• A Quote I Like: "Right now, virtually everyone on your team is unintentionally frittering away at least one to two hours per day. Set up team challenges to motivate everyone to recapture lost time. When you do, your reps will make more calls, have more meetings, and close more deals. The best part is you won't need to hire more salespeople to make your numbers."
• Review excerpt: "Time has become a top 3 obstacle to success for sales professionals and anyone trying to grow their business results. This book helped me identify and accept that I am being held back because of my attitude and choices about my time. By the time I got to Chapter 31 titled "Unclog Your Pipeline" I had so many notes that I had to put the book down and go back to start from the beginning and highlight the areas that were giving me the clarity that I was so clearly lacking."

42. "Go-Giver, Expanded Edition: A Little Story About a Powerful Business Idea"

Authors: Bob Burg and John David Mann

This quick read reveals the importance of giving to business success. Not only will you walk away convinced that giving leads to receiving, you'll also know how to give to achieve your desired results.

• A Quote I Like: “Changing my focus from seeing what I could get to what I could give was when my career started to take off.”
• Review excerpt: "Clear, entertaining, and immediately practical, this book has evolved my approach to business -- and life. When you go through your day focusing on how you can give and being open to receiving, you build stronger relationships and prosper on multiple levels."

43. "Drop the Ball"

Author: Tiffany Dufu

If you've ever felt the burden of perfectionism or an insurmountable to-do list, Tiffany Dufu's story about "letting go" to achieve more is for you. By re-evaluating expectations and embracing imperfection, you'll be able to increase your energy on the things that matter. This book is perfect for women leaders.

• A Quote I Like: “Diversity, when leveraged to solve problems in new ways, is a magnificent thing.”
• Review excerpt: "Its obvious this book is a must read for today's women, who are seeking ways to thrive, but I HIGHLY recommend this book for the men - husbands, dads and male leaders. As I read this book, I've gained empathy and a new perspective I only sensed before but didn't quite understand completely until Tiffany made it clear for me. I now have a new lens for what my wife has done and is doing, to be an amazing wife, mother and career professional. Despite already being a proud and 'active' dad, I now understand her challenges and am attempting to step up to the plate and do more, to allow more balance in our marriage and parental roles, and to allow her an opportunity to be all she can be."

44. "The Warrior Code"

Authors: Tee Marie Hanible and Denene Millner

If you want to actualize your true potential, this book offers 11 principles to "awaken your inner badass." It starts with Hanible's story of uncovering her inner warrior after a life full of adversity and advice on how you can tap into your own power.

• A Quote I Like: “When faced with something that feels absolutely insurmountable and scares the mess out of you, don’t turn your head away from it. Instead, acknowledge you’re scared, figure out the reasons why this is so, then come up with a rational plan for how to overcome that fear.”
• Review excerpt: "This was an awesome book! I'm an avid reader and this was by far one of the best. Great for both men, women, boys and girls. This is one of the first authors that tells it like it is and revealed the good, the bad, and the ugly experiences they faced growing up. Great read!!"

Ready to read?

Whether you want to study sales tactics or you want to level up your individual performance, this list is pact with insightful books by brilliant authors. Maybe even your next mentor.

 

As business continues to rely more and more heavily on artificial intelligence and technology, some things have come to be perceived as having no commercial value. A few are:

Caring: There are people, companies, and business models that believe every commercial relationship can be reduced to a transaction. Caring, as far as some are concerned, adds no additional value.

Relationships: Some believe that relationships have no commercial value, believing that there is nothing to be gained by a human relationship as it pertains to results. Some believe the process is what matters, and that humans can be swapped out without losing anything.

Redundancy: Most companies are under pressure to perform financially, and eliminating waste is one way to lower costs. In doing so, redundancy is removed to create savings. The performance and outcomes are also recused and diminished, and mediocrity dominates due to a lack of resources.

Gratitude: Your clients paid for your solution. You delivered the solution. They paid, and you delivered. For some, the client should be grateful for their help, and they feel no gratitude is necessary.

Loyalty: The card and the points are a tactic. Real loyalty would require that your clients buy from you because you have some intimacy, some knowledge of who they are, what they want, and a desire to help them.

Presence: Having people spend time with other people is expensive. Showing up, being there, and paying attention to people is a cost that some believe to be unnecessary.

As commercial enterprises split into two poles, one group running towards a super-transactional business model and the other towards a super-relational model, the very things that the first group believes have little to no commercial value are the very things that create a competitive advantage for the second group.

If you believe that the soft stuff, the human stuff, has no commercial value and is not worth investing in, then you are moving towards super-transactional, and with it, the greater risk of being disintermediated. Unless this is your overall business model and strategy, you need to think carefully about underestimating things that you believe aren’t worth investing in.

The post Things That Are Perceived as Having Little Commercial Value appeared first on The Sales Blog.

Increasingly, physicians’ every action and outcome is measured and reported. The data-gathering process can be frustrating, and many clinicians are growing skeptical of its clinical value. For them, outcomes measurement may seem like just another reimbursement requirement or process compliance task. However, measuring patient-reported outcomes (PROs) — patients’ own accounting of their symptoms, functional status, and quality of life — can and should be a clinical tool. In the past year, there has been a flurry of announcements by international organizations and governments declaring their commitment to making PROs a centerpiece of quality assessment. As outcomes-measurement programs move from individual hospital-led initiatives to large-scale, top-down efforts, it’s critical that clinicians are engaged in the change and understand the potential for PRO measurement to improve the care they provide.

Here we describe three examples of clinicians who are using outcomes measurement to improve clinical care. Communicating successes like these is a powerful way to bring other physicians on board.

Streamlining Conversations and Improving Assessments 

Mayo Clinic’s Dr. Shehzad Niazi had a problem. He wanted to build an electronic program for measuring depression and anxiety outcomes to systematically capture ICHOM’s Depression and Anxiety Standard Set — a set of PROs and clinical outcomes that matter most to patients. However, he knew that if he emphasized only the quality assessment uses of outcomes reporting, his clinicians were unlikely to embrace the program. Therefore, Dr. Niazi designed his program to focus on using outcomes to improve the quality and productivity of clinical care conversations and reduce the time needed for documentation — all of which matter greatly to clinicians. Ultimately, he plans to use the outcomes data from the measurement program to compare his department’s performance with others’ in order to find ways to improve, but this was not touted as the central benefit.

Insight Center

Introduced in Dr. Niazi’s psychiatry clinic in January 2016, PRO questionnaires are completed by patients and used to populate automated survey reports. The reports identify patients’ high-priority concerns and symptoms in areas such as depression, anxiety, pain, social support, and extent of functional impairment. Computer adaptive testing methodology and branching logic reduced the burden on patients completing PRO questionnaires. Individual symptoms in each domain, such as sleep, appetite, energy, and concentration, are categorized using color-coding — red (severe), orange, light orange, or green (absent or mild) — to flag patients’ top-priority concerns. Dr. Niazi’s PRO data is immediately available at the point of care, guiding the entire clinical interaction and grounding treatment planning in priorities indicated by the patient. Dr. Niazi’s team has found that inviting patients to report on a standard set of outcomes facilitates the discussion of topics that may be overlooked or are difficult to talk about. Further, longitudinal data collection during return visits allows for the review of treatment outcomes during follow-up visits so that patients can see their progress.

Patients give the program high ratings, and Mayo doctors are happy too; natural language processing and strategically-designed automated-report generators are saving them time — 15 minutes per initial evaluation per patient, on average. The program converts PRO responses into narrative paragraphs that are individualized to each provider using their own vocabulary to effectively complete almost 75% of the clinical note. Dr. Niazi’s team has used Time-Driven Activity-Based Costing to prove that this program is cost effective, and is currently collecting data to assess its impact on patient outcomes. Several features of the program have already been expanded to other providers at Mayo.

Prompting Difficult Discussions and Calling for Consults

Dr. James Willig of the University of Alabama at Birmingham saw the potential of PRO tools to improve the quality of clinical conversations and care delivery at his HIV clinic. He knew there were also downstream benefits of capturing outcomes, but was more concerned with how they could improve the care he provided patients today. Following three years of program development, Dr. Willig and colleagues are using electronic PRO surveys to raise topics often missed or avoided in clinical consultation, flag signs of suicidal ideation, and trigger psychiatric or case-management interventions to improve safety and effective care delivery for patients.

In HIV clinics, topics of medical relevance can be taboo and stigmatized and so may be avoided by patients and physicians alike. PRO tools can help stimulate those conversations. Dr. Willig found that two-thirds of patients who committed suicide were seen in a health care setting in the month before their deaths. PRO responses, he reasoned, might save lives by flagging unaddressed symptoms of depression and anxiety as well as signs of suicidal ideation. In collaboration with Dr. Heidi Crane at the University of Washington, he built a model that can reveal suicidal ideation based on outpatient survey answers and coordinate a response to it.

The team used PRO data to identify factors associated with suicidal ideation, such as severity of depression or current substance abuse. The clinic now uses surveys to detect warning signs or worrisome symptoms to screen for suicidal ideation as well as signs of partner violence. When prompted, the system will notify a member of the psychiatry team to join Dr. Willig in the consultation room for support, counsel, and follow-up. This system significantly enhances detection of suicidal ideation, referral for appropriate care, and, potentially, the overall cost-effectiveness of HIV care through timely mental-health interventions.

A number of unanticipated benefits of PROs measurement have been uncovered through this program. Real-time monitoring of completion times alerts administrative staff when a patient is struggling with the survey (perhaps because of illiteracy), and the system provides staff with prompts to assist them. In addition, academic clinicians at the university are using PRO responses to tag patients eligible for clinical studies targeting pain, substance abuse, and compliance with medication regimes.

Aligning Expectations and Enhancing Care

Seeing a groundswell of interest in the use of outcomes data to support personalized care and involving patients in making medical decisions, Dr. John Spertus of Saint Luke’s Mid America Heart Institute in Kansas City, Missouri, is developing algorithms to predict outcomes of treatment for heart failure. Using his own PRO tools and data from thousands of clinical-trial patients, Dr. Spertus is leveraging outcomes data to improve decision quality, reduce anxiety related to treatment decisions, and counsel patients and their families on expected results of care.

Since 2002, Dr. Spertus and colleagues have been correlating quality-of-life PRO data with treatment outcomes for heart failure and stroke. The Kansas City Cardiomyopathy Questionnaire (KCCQ) assesses the patient-reported effects of heart failure, including shortness of breath and fatigue. One of Dr. Spertus’s models uses KCCQ data and other preprocedure patient characteristics to predict the likelihood of survival and quality of life six or 12 months after transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR). By integrating harm to quality of life into the definition of a poor outcome, the program prioritizes what matters most to patients and helps them better understand the procedure’s risks and their prospects for recovery. By producing a comprehensive predictive outcomes and risk report, the program helps physicians, patients, and family caregivers decide whether to proceed with TAVR or to pursue alternative treatment.

This work is an extension of Spertus’ efforts to integrate patient-specific estimates of risk (calculated based on patient characteristics) into individualized consent documents that improve patients’ understanding of their risks and their participation in making decisions with their physicians. Patients’ increased awareness of appropriateness and suitability of interventions leading to modified decision behavior have resulted in marked reductions (45% and greater) in adverse outcomes during the treatment of heart failure (for example, bleeding and acute kidney injury).

While the focus of measurement programs is frequently on their long-term benefits, the potential for clinicians and patients to use outcomes data today is equally profound. At present, programs such as the ones described here are concentrated within a small group of pioneers, but they have tremendous potential to be emulated and scaled. The task today is to ensure that governments and hospitals refocus the aims of their outcomes collection efforts to ensure that they prioritize its use to improve clinical care. That those data can also support long-term quality assurance programs is a substantial benefit — but should not be the principal goal of outcomes collection efforts.

If you want to maximize your email list growth, you need a lead magnet. A lead magnet is something you give people when they subscribe to your email list. And really, it can be anything – as long as it’s something your subscribers want. The only problem? Sometimes, it can be really difficult to come up with an idea for your lead magnet. You may struggle to figure out what your audience would want. You may worry that it’ll be too time consuming to create a lead magnet. You might doubt that your ideas are any good. Or, you may just be out of ideas. So what can you do about it? Check out these 22 brilliant lead magnets. Not only will you get proven ideas from 22 different businesses across multiple industries, you’ll also be inspired by how fun and simple lead magnets can be. Let’s dive in.

Food bloggers

Do you have a blog with recipes, cooking or baking tips or anything culinary? These lead magnet examples are for you:

Minimalist Baker: Detox Guide

Minimalist Baker gives their subscribers a free Detox Guide for joining their email list. Since many of the recipes on their blog are healthy, gluten-free or vegan, their health-focused audience would value a free detox guide. And since lead magnets should be aligned with an audience’s needs and interests, this makes it a great lead magnet.

Skinnytaste: exclusive content and recipes You don’t always need to create something big to give your audience a valuable lead magnet. Skinnytaste, a site filled with beautiful food images and healthy recipes, offers exclusive content as their lead magnet. This works because of FOMO (fear of missing out). If blog followers don’t subscribe, they’ll miss out on exclusive content and recipes.

SmokingMeat.com: A 37-page eBook

Who wouldn’t give up their email address for a 37-page ebook that teaches them something they’ve been dying to learn? That’s exactly what Jeff Phillips of SmokingMeat.com deliver to subscribers for free once they subscribe to his email list. And it’s an awesome lead magnet because it’s something his meat lovin’ followers are passionate about.

The Full Helping: Plant-Based Starter Kit

If you’ve decided to start eating vegan, you probably want some expert advice on where to begin. That’s why The Full Helping’s free Plant-Based Starter Kit is something site visitors would gladly exchange their email address for. The image on the form helps people visualize what they’ll receive when they join, which makes this lead magnet even more effective. Plus, this form content explains additional reasons to subscribe, like getting access to The Full Helping archives and nutrition counseling services.

Fitness experts

Are you a personal trainer or fitness expert? Try a lead magnet similar to one of these four examples:

Athlean-X: “24 Second Fix” video

Have you ever done serious weight lifting? If so, you know that good form is crucial, especially when you’re just getting started. Fitness Expert Jeff Cavaliere of ATHLEAN-X created a lead magnet video to help his audience correct and avoid a common weight lifting mistake. By not directly stating what the mistake is, Jeff builds curiosity, making people wonder what it might be. He also emphasizes that subscribers can easily fix the mistake with his “24-Second Fix.” By building curiosity and assuring people they can easily fix this mistake, Jeff makes his lead magnet video even more appealing to his audience.

Nerd Fitness: NF Rebellion Starter Kit and free tools!

Geared towards nerds who want to get fit, Nerd Fitness is one of the coolest and most unique fitness sites I’ve ever seen. In their email sign up form, they promise a free NF Rebellion Starter Kit as well as free tools, downloadable guides and tactical articles for anyone who signs up. Wow! That’s a lot of stuff. By offering so much to their new subscribers, they make joining their email list a simple decision.

Tony Gentilcore: deadlift quick-tip guide

Beyond promising weekly fresh content, Personal Trainer Tony Gentilcore gives subscribers a deadlift quick-tip guide. Properly executing a deadlift is difficult, so this guide is a great resource for resolving a common lifting problem. And lead magnets that help resolve your audience’s common problems are the most successful! Tony’s site has a unique writing tone, which he incorporates in his sign up form and lead magnet. This helps display his personality, and may increase email sign ups, because people love personality.

Betty Rocker: 30-Day Body Weight Challenge video workout series

High value lead magnets get the most subscribers. And Betty Rocker’s 30-day workout video series is definitely very valuable. Anyone who fills out this form, receives 30 emails containing 30 video workouts over 30 days. For those fighting to get fit, this is valuable. And she’s giving it away for free!

Plus, she’s able to demonstrate her expertise and teaching abilities throughout the 30 videos, which will make people more likely to purchase one of her paid video courses in the future.

Business and marketing consultants

Do you offer advice on growing or marketing a business? Check out these examples from other people just like you:

Enchanting Marketing: writing course

If you don’t want to create a guide or ebook, there’s another simple way to deliver written content to your subscribers: an email course. Copywriter and Marketing Consultant Henneke of Enchanting Marketing offers a 16-part copywriting email course as her lead magnet. She delivers each lesson in a short, snackable email, and subscribers get all of the lessons in under a month.

An email course is a great way to deliver a valuable lead magnet to your subscribers while establishing a relationship with them in the inbox.

Smart Business Revolution: 72-word email template

Everybody loves something that saves them time and gets big results. And that’s what John Corcoran of Smart Business Revolution promises people who subscribe to his list. His lead magnet is a “magic email template” that helps people connect with influencers and VIPs. Templates are great lead magnets, because they’re easy for your audience to quickly use and get value from.

Your lead magnet could be an email, blog post or video script template – or even something as simple as a Facebook ad template!

Melyssa Griffin: library of free resources

If you have a collection of exclusive, educational resources, they could be the perfect incentive to convince people to subscribe to your email list. Melyssa Griffin, a business consultant and online course creator, offers access to her library of free resources in exchange for joining her list.

This works well because her audience of entrepreneurs are often business newbies looking for advice on a wide range of business topics. And that’s exactly what she offers – for free!

Jeff Bullas: “101+ Tips to Grow Your Web Traffic” eBook

Great lead magnets deliver great results. Jeff Bullas promises to double your traffic with his lead magnet “101 Tips to Grow Your Web Traffic.” Not only is this an amazing result, but the lead magnet contains a whopping 101 tips! This increases the perceived value of the lead magnet and the chances that website visitors will subscribe.

On the sign up form for your own lead magnet, mention the good results that people can get from your lead magnet. This will increase your sign up form conversion rates.

Excellence Expected: free weekly coaching session

Your lead magnet doesn’t need to be written or recorded video content. You can also give away a live training session, workshop or webinar when someone subscribes to your list. Beyond boosting your list growth, this immediately puts a face to your brand and helps you build a relationship with your audience. On Business Coach Mark Asquith’s website, Excellence Expected, he provides weekly free training sessions to anyone who subscribes to his list. By doing this, he increases list growth through offering a valuable incentive and shows off his expertise during live training sessions.

Amy Porterfield: choose between 3 different cheat sheets

So this is cool. Business Consultant and Marketing Expert Amy Porterfield has options on her website. Visitors can choose between three different lead magnets with three different topics (or download them all!). With three options, people will be more likely to find a lead magnet that aligns with their interests, which means they’ll be more likely to subscribe to her email list. And because cheat sheets are short and easy to create, you could easily write three of your own cheatsheets and give people options on your site as well.

Authors

Have you written a book and you’re wondering how to promote it? Try email marketing. You just need to grow your email audience first. Here are a few lead magnets that help other authors grow their lists:

Candace Payne: wookie coloring sheet

This one’s unique. Ever seen the viral Chewbacca mom video? After the crazy success of this video, Candace Payne continues to delight her audience with great content. Her latest project is a book – Laugh It Up. To grow her email audience and promote her book, she uses a creative lead magnet: a wookie coloring sheet. Her subscribers can join her list and color in her wookie lead magnet. This fun lead magnet aligns well with the tone and purpose of her website, to bring joy to people’s lives.

Your lead magnet doesn’t need to be an ebook, guide or video. It can be something as creative and simple as a coloring sheet!

Self-Publishing school: free workshop

Chandler Bolt, a best-selling author and online course creator, presents a free, online workshop to anyone who subscribes to his list. During the workshop, he shows people how to become successful authors themselves. This helps him build an email audience for Self-Publishing School, where he sells access to his online courses and his books.

If you’re a good public speaker, workshops might be the perfect lead magnet.

The Art of Non-Conformity: top blog posts

Here’s a simple, yet effective, lead magnet: Send your subscribers a curated list of your best blog posts in your welcome email. You won’t need to create any new content for this lead magnet, and you’ll introduce your subscribers to your blog. Chris Guillebeau, author and founder of The Art of Non-Conformity, does this on his website sign up form. Notice the bottom of his form where he writes, “Subscribe now and you’ll get the best posts of all time.”

eCommerce businesses

Honestly, eCommerce lead magnets are probably the easiest to set up and create, because they’re often product discounts. Check out these real-life examples to get ideas for your own eCommerce lead magnet:

Magnolia Market: 15 percent off

Chip and Joanna Gaines’ online store Magnolia Market sells home goods. They offer 15 percent off one purchase to anyone who visits their site and subscribes to their email list. On top of that, their email subscribers will also receive exclusive updates, flash sale emails and inspiration.

Levis: 20 percent off and free shipping on first order

Beyond a product discount, you can also offer free shipping to people who subscribe to your email list. Levis offers both to their site visitors. Check out their simple form and lead magnet below:

Sierra Trading Post: free shipping and a chance to win a $1000 giftcard

You don’t need to limit your eCommerce lead magnets to free shipping and discounts. You can also offer things like gift cards or free products. Sierra Trading Post gives their subscribers free shipping on their first order, plus a chance to win $1000.

Travel bloggers

Love to travel and blog about your trips? Here are some lead magnet ideas you could use to grow your list, too!

Nomadic Matt: step-by-step insider tips

Believe it or not, emails can be your lead magnet. For example, you could send a weekly educational newsletter or educational automated email series. Nomadic Matt sends his subscribers his best blog content through email automation and one-time emails. This serves as his lead magnet.

When creating your lead magnet, be creative! As long as it’s something free and valuable to your audience, it’s a lead magnet.

The Blonde Abroad: Exclusive tips and giveaways

Similar to Nomadic Matt, The Blonde Abroad gives subscribers exclusive travel content, plus access to top blog posts, when they subscribe. Pro tip: Notice how this sign up form mentions that 200,000 other people read The Blonde Abroad’s content? This is called social proof, and it’s a great way to increase sign up form conversions.

Go and create a lead magnet (And download this free video course!)

I hope these 22 examples from other businesses inspired you to create your own lead magnet! Want more guidance? Join our free video course “Email List Growth Blueprint” and get step-by-step instruction on creating your own lead magnet and sign up form.

For content marketing to be effective, you need to master the art of storytelling. Its long been known that facts tell, but stories sell.

Great storytelling and content marketing planning requires a structure of a compelling story.

Powerful stories need an inciting incident that impels you into the narrative with strong characters including a hero ( the protagonist) and an enemy (antagonist), and a sense of conflict & resolution.

Storytelling is the world’s second oldest profession – Danny Harris via ‘Storytelling Quotes’

Your brand and the persona of customers should be the main characters. This allows you to play the role of your customers and display empathy as you engage in a dialogue with your brand in all content marketing efforts.

The conversations you are having with your content marketing an social media marketing should be focused on your customers.

Understanding personas, allows you to begin to discover why your customers respond the way they do

Questions that brands need to consider as they build personas:

• What’s the unspoken question about the product or service?
• What does the persona expect from this product?
• What is their experience with the company? Does it fall short of their expectations? What is their experience with your competitors?
• What information will this persona need to take action?
• Do they prefer to collect information slowly and methodically? Do they take a personal approach? Or do they want a bottom-line summary?
• Why are they motivated to take this action?
• What actions do you want this persona to take, and how will you persuade them to take this step?

With this understanding, you can begin to plan compelling content marketing scenarios that will engage current and future customers to participate in the conversions that are critical to your business success.

Brands, be it B2C or B2B need to be planning and delivering compelling and engaging content. Are you the next marketing blockbuster or winging it hoping not to be the next flop?

Getting the attention of the consumer is harder today than ever before and getting harder by the day, we all suffer from information overload.

Storytelling is a way of engaging people that prove to be useful, as a result, brands are increasingly focusing on digital storytelling.

The Drivers of Digital Storytelling

The rise of digital marketing channels and tactics which lend themselves to it. The increasing attention for digital storytelling is driven by necessity but also goes hand in hand with digital marketing and social sharing.

Stop for a moment and think about the link between storytelling and social sharing.

Or about digital content marketing with its natural link with text and visual – digital, which is the basis of storytelling.

Storytelling has garnered more attention in marketing amid an ongoing media fragmentation and our shorter attention spans.

This is enhanced by the increasing distrust from brand monologues that consists of pure fact-based benefits messaging or “look at us” brand and product messages that we as the consumer has experienced for quite some time.

As a result, this has driven the ways consumers use digital media and technology to interact or avoid brands.

Stories are part science and art.

A fundamental aspect of our human, social and even psychological makeup consists of storytelling.

In a marketing and advertising context, storytelling is not about telling stories about your features or benefits, or having a more conversational and narrative approach in each piece of the marketing puzzle, with content playing a pivotal role.

Good stories are remembered and passed on. That requires creativity and data.

Storytelling is an art that requires the ability to connect with an audience on an emotional level.

The ability to use creativity to find the hook that captures the consumer by the throat and hooks them, so that they cannot let go for emotional reasons because the story is so compelling.

As a storyteller, you are talking to, with and through people who have their own stories to share. Where the magic happens is when there are a meeting and merging of the brand and consumer stories.

Science is when our understanding of what triggers an audience motivations and data meets the brand messages, values in the story we want to share and the ways to make them memorable.

Storytelling is the one area where art, creativity, psychology, target audience, data, and technique get joined together to create great marketing.

Stories are personal

There are times when consumers prefer stories, and there are times when customers just want plain facts and answers.

This is when addressing (customer) questions becomes a content marketing strategy.

Storytelling can be material when used to make a lasting impression or to inspire, engage or educate with a focus on the consumers’ story.

Personalization and the ability to show personality are one of the most significant aspects of digital storytelling.

The ability to tailor stories to customers and bring in personalization is dependent on the quality and quantity of consumer-related data and information.

Data enables us to personalize stories and to engage consumers in the stories.

Great marketing involves stories that appear just to happen. This requires the ability to combine personality, a focus on the consumer as a character in the story. The consumer involvement (not only the brand) leads to stories that are remembered and shared. Adding a twist of simplicity enhances the story.

The ability to relate to the story as part of the story makes the story stronger. This enables the consumer to become the storyteller as they share the story.

As a brand, you need to ask, what is the consumer story? Is this reflected in the data? Or user-generated content?

Incorporating this data into a story, the consumer owns the story and becomes the storyteller.

Everyone is storyteller and listener of stories

Content marketing has adopted the term “audiences” for consumers, which gets misused and abused.

As marketers, we should be asking what are the consumer stories; this puts us in the position to listen and watch our customers to discover their pain points and problems.

Then ask, do we know enough about our customers?

This forces you to take the position of the audience, observing the consumer and customers.

Today, with social media everyone is a storyteller and listens to stories. What is important is to understand is the journey and how emotions drive the consumer as they identify with the characters of the story.

Digital marketing has shortened our attention spans.

The rapid adoption of video, along with understanding why consumers are online, gives rise to differentiation.

The days of linear storytelling are over; you can bend the rules. Consumers expectations, mindset and time constraints coupled with short attention spans opens the door to personalization with engaging formats and approaches even more critical today.

Personalization demands that we listen to the consumer, brands need to act as the audience.

Companies are not becoming more customer-centric because they want to.

They have to. The customer demands it. The bottom-line requires it. And it’s long overdue.

Today, we live in a time where the connected workforce, the connected customer and the connected customer experience are blending into each other. Then add in the connected buyer’s journey, collaboration and social business and the connected society. This puts the consumer in the middle of an audience-centric content marketing approach.

Using data to tell the story

Today, data gives us the ability to measure the impact of our efforts. We can determine from data how well the story resonates with the consumer,

How personal was it?

Did the story meet their expectations?

Was the context right?

Was there value delivered?

Can we make it better or more engaging or educational?

Did the story get shared?

Why was it shared?

Good stories get shared, with social media it’s easier than ever for consumers to share stories.

By including customers and capturing their stories, it’s now possible to leverage their stories in ways not possible before.

Today, storytelling is a social event in every sense of the word. Great brands create stories that are passed on.

Social sharing, viral marketing is all about storytelling at scale.

Storytelling allows brands to connect with consumers in powerful ways that were nearly impossible in the past.

Using data and insights is how stories are born, told, shared and acted upon.

Today in a digital world with social media allows us to tell more stories which leads to more data and insights.

This enables brands to become more informed participants in the digital storytelling reality in which we live.

As I sit across the table from a prospective client, we can absolutely agree upon one thing: Her business would be far better off if we built a fresh website from which we could promote her business and grow. I also know something else… she is not ready to do so. It isn’t that her business can’t afford a new site. It can. It isn’t that a new site wouldn’t provide substantial and (fairly immediate) ROI. I have shown her that it will. No, the objections she is raising all relate to her current website, which she had built fairly recently, at some cost and substantial time investment. We are dealing with a classic case of the Sunk Cost Fallacy.

What is the Sunk Cost Fallacy?

The Sunk Cost Fallacy is an economic theory that recognizes the difficulty people have with letting go of sunk costs – those investments and efforts they have already made in pursuit of some goal and make economically rational decisions for their future. The harder (or more expensive) something was, the more we value that item (whether it is logical or not.) An example of this (cited in Thinking Fast and Slow) is this anecdote:

Two avid sports fans have tickets for a game that they are excited to attend. One has traveled many miles and paid a lot of money for the ticket. The second is local and received discounted tickets. On the day of the game, there is a blizzard making travel to the stadium treacherous. Which of our two ticket holders is more likely to attend?

Here’s what they should do: Look at the conditions, figure out the costs of getting there from this point, and make a decision as to whether the value of the game outweighs those costs accordingly. But that’s now quite how they’ll proceed. If both attendees love the teams equally (and let’s just stipulate that they do, even though they paid different amounts for the tickets), shouldn’t their decisions about getting to the game from this point be the same? Yes. But intuitively, we all know the one who traveled further won’t be able to discount the time and effort he’s expended so far to get here. He’ll think things to himself like, “I flew across the country to get here! I can’t stop now!”And he’ll decide to go to the game based partly on the value he’s attached to it by virtue of the costs he’s already spent.

How does the Sunk Cost Fallacy Impact Small Businesses?

By now, you are likely thinking, “Yikes Erika! I thought this was about websites? Why are we discussing Econ 301?” Glad you asked. Sunk costs is important to economic theory because it impacts behavior and can be a business killer. (Stay tuned next month for the ugly details of a marketing campaign gone terribly awry, a case of sunk costs biting Spring Insight in the tush.)

Suppose you invested in some software and knew that you could reach positive ROI within a quarter and a half. That time passes and you are still in the red, but you hold onto the software. Another month passes and it is still not pulling its weight. Instead of seeking a replacement, you find yourself even more motivated to make the poor-fit software work. Worse, when you think about the cost of buying new software, you feel yourself factoring in the money you spent on the software that’s not working, and all the trainings you gave employees and the extra hours you spent trying to integrate it — even though those costs are done, spent, and don’t actually mean anything in terms of whether it’s cost-effective to buy new software.

So what do you do?

How do you avoid the Sunk Cost Fallacy when making decisions? The bad news: as long as you remain human, you really can’t. Good news, you can correct for it. The key is to recognize the sunk costs, and then move beyond them.

• Imagine a world in which your first decision doesn’t exist at all, and you are starting fresh. In that world, what decision would you make?
• Unless you’re giving yourself a pep talk about staying in school or finishing the race, “I have put so much effort into this” is irrelevant.
• Bring some fresh (unbiased) ears to the decision. They’ll be able to make a decision about the costs and benefits going forward, without getting hung up on what you’ve spent so far.
• Remind yourself of your original goal. Are you achieving it? What is the outlook for doing so?
• If you changed your decision, how easily could you achieve your goal?

So about that new website…

When I left my potential client that day in July, the questions I left her with were:

• What are your expectations of your website? Does this current website meet those expectations?
• Will the website you have now ever be able to provide you the functionality you need to improve your marketing and your pipeline?
• How much additional revenue would be possible if you had that functionality and were better able to convert more leads?
• If now isn’t the right time to make the change, when will that be? Why?

Note that all of these decisions are based on the value of her website going forward. Even if the last website was a pricey time-sucking beast, the important thing is whether the website is now and will in the future provide enough value to warrant keeping it around. If it won’t, it’s time to let it go.

It’s never good news to get stuck in the past. What about you? What decision are you holding on to that you need to just let go of?

There are some people who search for the perfect way to do something. They believe that there is some way to do something that exceeds all others and produces a certain outcome with absolute certainty. When they want some result, they want to discover the one right way that works 100 percent of the time, without fail.

As it pertains to prospecting, they want the one right talk track that guarantees their dream client schedules an appointment with them on the first attempt. They want the perfect voicemail, the one that causes their prospective client to pick up the phone, call them back, and ask them for a meeting. They want words that allow them to overcome objections (which really mask their very real concerns) so they can put a date on the calendar. The perfect way would make acquiring appointments easy and certain.

When it comes to discovery, they want the magic language that is so compelling to their dream client that they easily create a new opportunity. The perfect question should also pull out all the compelling reasons their prospect should change now. The perfect way would make selling much easier.

Your dream client is going to ask you to sharpen your pencil. They have to be responsible to their company and obtain the best deal they can. The perfect way to handle a pricing conversation would be one single approach that works in every single case. No muss, no fuss, just a straight up agreement to a deal at the price you proposed.

Selling is a complex, dynamic human interaction, which is to say, it doesn’t lend itself to a single right choice that covers all of the possible variables. Because there is not one right choice for every situation, there is no perfect way; there are only choices.

Instead of searching for the perfect way, you should work on perfecting the one who is doing the searching by exploring all of your choices so that you can be more effective. You should also perfect your ability to understand how to help people make the decisions you are asking them to make. This is more difficult work, and it takes time. But the time you spend here will still be less than the time you spend looking for the perfect way.

The post Stop Searching for the Perfect Way to Sell appeared first on The Sales Blog.

What do you think of when you hear the term “cloud data”? When I first started using computers in my daily work, back in the stone age when we had to know DOS, we never thought of “the cloud” or using it as a place to store important business data. If I had suggested it to my boss he probably would have looked at me like I’d lost my mind and exclaimed, “Let my confidential information float around on the internet?!! Have you lost your mind?!!”

That was in the late 80’s and while the concept of cloud storage was introduced as early as the 60’s it didn’t really gain popularity for businesses until the late 90’s. We’ve come a long way even since then.

Flash forward to 2020 and global cloud computing is expected to be a 270 billion dollar industry, and 90 percent of companies in the U.S. say they either plan to maintain or increase their cloud computing budgets.

Where IS the Cloud?

I STILL get this question frequently. But I can’t really say I blame the people who ask. As a very literal person, I could never quite wrap my mind around it so I did some research.

Your data is not floating around in one of those fluffy balls of cotton we see every day. It is actually stored in physical storage facilities that span multiple servers and, very frequently, locations. The physical storage facilities are typically owned and managed by a hosting company. These providers are responsible for keeping your data available and accessible as well as protected.

Curious where your data lives? Use this interactive map to find out:

Why an entrepreneur or small business should use cloud storage

Like many small business owners, you may be wondering what are the advantages of using the cloud. How will it help your business run better, smoother and more efficiently? Let’s look at a few of the benefits.

1. Mobility No doubt about it, we are living in a highly mobile world. We are able to work and play whenever and wherever we find ourselves. You may work while waiting for a flight at the airport or at your child’s sports practice. With the availability of cloud storage, you can do this efficiently without having to upload and download files between devices. The newest version of your document will be easily accessible whether you are working from your phone, tablet or office computer.
2. Virtual Teams If you work with a virtual assistant, bookkeeper, sales team or simply have employees who work from home, cloud storage is a must for convenience and efficiency. Your employees and subcontractors can work from anywhere there is an internet connection and have easy access to the files and documents they need. No more emailing a document back and forth!
3. Reduce IT Costs Storing your data in the cloud will reduce or eliminate your need for an in-house IT person or expensive consultants. Buying and maintaining your own server is expensive. If you use a service like Google Drive or Dropbox, you won’t need to spend money on server support personnel. You could easily save your business $5,000 to $10,000 or more a year.
4. Data Backup If your computer crashed today, or there was a natural disaster that destroyed your equipment, would your data be lost? It’s a frightening thought for most of us. If you backup all your data to the cloud, you don’t have to worry about it. This can even be done automatically without a thought on your part.

The Cost of Cloud Storage

If you are on a tight budget, the good news is not every cloud storage product on the market comes with a price tag. A study by Summit Hosting found that 57% of respondents said they were using free services. Personally, I have found most of the entrepreneurs I work with use Google Drive or Dropbox.

However, a large number preferred a paid backup solution. These businesses cited everything from financial records to medical data and amenities like increased functionality and customer support that made paying for cloud service solutions worth the money for their business.

This graph shows what type of data small businesses store in the cloud and whether or not they are willing to pay for it.

Are You Ready for Cloud Storage?

The cloud has already changed the way we work. Whether you use it for simple tasks like backup and data synchronization or a more complex CRM solution or servers and application hosting, 60 to 70% of all computer functions are hosted by cloud-based solutions. Over the next few years, that number will rise. Are you ready?

The death rattle for marketing agencies has been heard for the past few years.

Word has it that the once cool, hip and innovative hubs of creativity for brands are being pushed aside, because the large auditing and accounting firms have entered into the marketing services space. Apparently, these consultancies have a very compelling and future-focused offer. Don't believe me? Google it! You can't throw a creative director down a flight of stairs these days, without a business card from one of the major consulting firms' HR departments falling out of their skinny jeans.

Accounting firms are now making billions of dollars by providing marketing agency services. 

From the accounting firms' perspective, this all makes perfect sense. They went from helping large businesses manage their P&Ls to consulting within the CEOs office on everything from strategy to innovation. From there, it makes sense to not just tell these brands what to do, but to actually do it for them. Meaning, you can show them where they could be making more significant strides in profit, but then you can also staff that part of their accounting business (or bring the services over) to make the strategy happen. As technology, marketing and the customer experience blend into a fifth level of hell for the Chief Marketing Officer (who up until this point was primarily managing the advertising budget and agency relationship), it all seems like the perfect storm for these consultants to walk right in and take over.

Consultants? We don't need no stinking consultants!

The news cycle is serious about the pending marketing agency apocalypse. The recent headlines say it all...

• Accenture Continues Its Agency Acquisition Spree, Buying French Retail Network Altima.
• Analyst: Accenture a 'credible buyer' for beleaguered WPP and Publicis.
• Accenture Tops Global M&A Report, Beating WPP.

Something's happening here. What it is ain't exactly clear.

Here's the thing: it doesn't appear that these consultants are offering anything more to a brand, other than further consolidation with the promise of efficiencies. Or, in other words, the consultancies are saying to brands, "hey... work with us for all of your marketing services," and all they're really doing is buying agencies or hiring talent from the agencies when they convince the brands to pass that work over to them. If agencies are failing, why are they being bought at such a high velocity? If agencies don't work anymore, why is their talent being poached on a daily basis?

The marketing agency model is not broken. How agencies are marketing themselves is broken.

That is the lesson that Google and Facebook learned, as they quietly went direct to brands and built their media empires by keeping the agencies at arm's length (these platforms hired their own media buyers and even offered up free creative services in exchange for media spent). It's the same lesson that companies like Adobe and Marketo are deploying these days, when it comes to marketing automation... and these bigger accounting consultancies are spinning the same narrative. When, in reality, these companies are simply building out their marketing services - that they claim are dying in the agency model - by simply buying those agencies (or the people who work at them) and bringing them inside the tent.

So, here's the real question: what makes a consultancy any better at delivering marketing services than an agency?

What makes a consultant charge any differently than the agencies do? What makes the quality of their work (in specific, their creativity) any different? What makes a consultancy any different than the agency that they just bought?

It seems to me like they're the exact same thing... or am I missing something?

Tags: accenture accounting adobe advertising advertising agency advertising budget altima auditing brand business blog ceo chief marketing officer cmo consultancy consultant consulting firm creative director creative services creativity customer experience digital marketing digital marketing agency digital marketing blog disruption facebook future marketing goole innovation j walter thompson jwt marketing marketing agency marketing agency services marketing automation marketing blog marketing services marketo media media buyer mirum mirum agency mirum agency blog mirum blog mirum canada mirum in canada mitch joel mitchjoel narrative publicis retail six pixels of separation strategy technology wpp

Episode 79 of Landscape Digital Show reveals how to build a relationship selling narrative that attracts and retains customers.

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Have you ever noticed that some people always answer a question with a story?

For some of us, storytelling is part of our DNA because we learned at a young age that a compelling story is arguably the best way to sell an idea.

For me personally, growing up with three brothers was the perfect storytelling training. You quickly learn that telling the truth works better when it’s backed with a compelling story.

While a handful of people may be natural storytellers, most of us struggle with exactly how to convey information in meaningful ways, especially when the circumstances are unexpected.

What’s needed is a structure that will stand up to the demands of any situation, including what buyers want to know that they believe will help them solve their problem.

This is why relationship selling requires a sales process that is supported by a narrative structure, a series of stories that collectively become a purposeful, global story, like a novel, film, or non-fiction documentary.

Your global story is your value proposition. The sequence of stories that support it give prospective buyers what they need, where they need it, and at the right time. In my landscaping business, we knew that early in the relationship we had to tackle tough issues like design fees, budgets, and timelines.

If we failed in that conversation it was all over. Thus, the first true challenge was to get the buyer to know, like and trust us and our business. How exactly does that work?

Most of us have learned to start by asking good questions and listening, but at some point in that conversation, you need a story that hooks them so that they are dying to know what happens next.

That’s where the relationship selling narrative begins.

The Classic Storytelling Structure

Buyers are hungry for information because they want to make the best decision for their particular situation. Yet even in our data-driven world facts and figures will fall short if there is not a persuasive story that validates why that data matters.

Before I started writing this article I pulled out a legal pad and divided the page into three equal sections that represent the beginning, middle, and end of the article. Probably the greatest value of this planning and organization method is that it gets you thinking in terms of where your ideas will work best.

Last night I was watching the film Adaptation that profiles Robert McKee’s legendary storytelling methods. One of the points he emphatically made to the aspiring screenwriter played by Nicolas Cage is there has to be change!

For characters to be changed there has to be a progression and that is a function of time. This is why every story has a distinct beginning, middle, and ending, and yours should too. It’s a classic structure that has been used for centuries.

Here’s a modernized version.

Beginning Hook – For a story to work it has to hook the audience in a way that has them wanting to discover how it turns out.

Middle Build – Taking action involves risk and that’s what builds in the middle of your story. There is drama and suspense that raises the stakes and the risk of taking action.

Ending Payoff – Did the risk pay off? That’s the resolution of the conflicted emotions that build in the middle of the story, and it often happens in unexpected ways.

It’s helpful for you to know that every story is comprised of beats, scenes, sequences, and acts. It’s not important to know what these are, other than pieces of a story that move it forward.

Your story may have three acts, one for the beginning, middle, and ending, or like most novels, it may have over a dozen acts. But what’s an act?

Acts are major changes in the story that are comprised of beats, scenes, and sequences, which are smaller elements of change. They all build on each other to create greater change.

The important changes or acts in your sales process may be signing a contract, mobilizing for the work, and getting paid. You’ll intuitively figure out how to spark those changes that get buyers taking action on mutually beneficial objectives.

Everything Supports the Global Story

One of the reasons it is so difficult to answer the networking question, “What do you do?” is that the best response is telling your global business story, which would be a massive undertaking.

In fact, most of us often reply with something like, “Wow, where should I start?” Now, you know – at the beginning.

A smart approach is to define that beginning within a much narrower context, like what you are working on right now. That’s what will easily get the conversation started.

This is exactly what you want to do in selling situations to engage prospective buyers or customers. Your larger narrative is the global or brand story that is at the heart of all of your marketing, but that can be too much for most people to digest.

Try this. Start with the most relevant story and wait for the response. Then follow it with another that is equally meaningful and that gives it further context, and so on, with all of it relating back to your brand story.

It isn’t necessary to understand everything about storytelling to build a customer-focused relationship selling narrative. More important is to understand the big picture, your brand story, and how a collection of supporting stories build it, including those that may be 140 characters or less.

Call to Action

The call to action for this episode is to get clear about your brand. Then get busy using your website, social media, and email marketing to tell that story with a narrative of stories from your years of helping customers every day.

In an earlier episode of Landscape Digital Show, we discussed the editorial calendar. You may wish to review that to learn how to use it to keep topic ideas ready to test new stories when they come along. them.

Editor’s note: Because proving the value of content marketing continues to be necessary, Julia McCoy updated her 2016 post with some fresh stats and perspective. 

Content marketing has been moving at the speed of light in recent years.

Why?

Consumers are fed up with in-your-face advertising and sales tactics that feel cheap, slimy, or underhanded. Instead, they’re attracted to authenticity, transparency, and friendliness in a brand.

The advent of the internet and social media has a lot to do with this. These channels help consumers pick and choose exactly which brands they interact with. If people don’t want to see your ads, they’ll click away – it’s as simple as that.

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Consumers are fed up w/ in-your-face advertising & sales tactics that feel slimy. @JuliaEMcCoy
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As such, marketers have discovered that they need to approach the consumer differently. We can’t serve up the same old ads anymore and expect results similar to 30 or 40 years ago. Instead, we must add value to consumers’ lives to make them want to give us the time of day.

Hence, the fundamentals behind content marketing – relationship-building, focusing on the customer versus the brand – were born in response.

This approach – oh boy, does it work.

For some excellent proof, let these nine statistics do the rest of the talking. They really do speak for themselves. Prepare to persuade.

1. Pit content marketing against paid search, and content marketing gets three times the leads per dollar spent.

Paid search has been touted as the be-all, end-all for cost-effectiveness. However, a recent study by Kapost (in collaboration with Eloqua) proves the opposite.

When the two are pitted against each other, content marketing has both lower up-front costs and deeper long-term benefits.

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#Contentmarketing has lower up-front costs & deeper long-term benefits than paid search, says @JuliaEMcCoy.
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As time goes on, content marketing builds its own momentum – no extra dollars required. Meanwhile, paid search needs a continual cash flow to keep getting results.

2. Content marketing generates over three times as many leads as outbound marketing and costs 62% less.

That’s right. Content marketing is not only cheaper than outbound marketing; it also generates more leads.

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#Contentmarketing costs 62% less than outbound marketing & generates 3x as many leads, says @demandmetric.
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Outbound marketing is the old way of doing business. Outbound marketing consists mainly of promotional messages that try to tell consumers how great a brand, product, or service is. These ads are served to consumers whether they want to see them or not. These ads are pushy, interruptive, and intrusive.

Turns out, people today generally don’t respond to this type of product-pushing. That’s because there are other ways to engage with brands – better ways (*cough* content marketing *cough*).

3. In 1984, a person saw an average 2,000 ads/day. By 2014, they saw around 5,000.

Two words: Ad. Overload.

How are people dealing with this overload, where they’re bombarded with ads daily?

Two more words: Ad blockers. More than 615 million devices now have ad-blocking software, according to PageFair 2017 Global Adblock Report.

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615 million devices now use #adblock via new @PageFair report. Read more >>
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In the face of consumers pelted with ads day in and day out, content marketing swoops in like a breath of fresh air. It provides value for their lives, isn’t intrusive, and aims to be helpful above promotional (*insert praise-hands emoji here*).

4. Almost half of 18- to 49-year-old people get their news and information online – and those numbers are growing.

A 2016 Pew Research Center study shows that people are regularly turning away from TV as the main source of their news and information. Instead, they’re logging onto the internet.

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Almost half of 18-49 year-old people get their news & information online. @pewresearch Read more >>
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If you’re like The Little Mermaid and want to be where the people are, your brand marketing needs to be online. The best way to go about it, the way that people overwhelmingly prefer? Content marketing.

Social media, blogs, and search engines – these places are where you’ll find users who want to get informed. These channels also happen to be where content marketing does most of its work (and works its magic).

5. Small businesses with blogs get 126% more lead growth than small businesses without.

A whopping 77% of internet users read blogs. Combine that stat with the fact that small businesses with blogs see more lead growth. Now you’re onto something.

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Small businesses that blog get 126% more lead growth than small businesses that do not blog. @impactbnd
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Regular blogging is a go-to content marketing strategy for a reason – it works.

6.  After reading recommendations on a blog, 61% of U.S. online consumers made a purchase.

Content marketing builds trust in a way that no other method can match. Building trust over time means consumers pay attention and listen to your brand’s voice.

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61% of U.S. online consumers have made a purchase based on recommendations from a blog. @impactbnd @JuliaEMcCoy
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That is incredibly, ridiculously powerful. It’s subtly persuasive without being in your face. It’s built on transparency and a down-to-earth approach. It’s content marketing.

7. Content marketing rakes in conversion rates six times higher than other methods.

Traditional marketing is starting to look a little sad at this point, but let’s keep going. Content marketing, among all the other benefits, also drives higher conversions. In fact, it has six times the power of traditional marketing for converting people into leads and leads into customers.

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#Contentmarketing rakes in conversion rates six times higher than other methods via @ABGEssentials.
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Content marketing may require more time, patience, and effort over the long haul, but the rewards are far greater.

8. The most effective SEO technique? Content creation.

Populating websites with blog content is how you end up with 434% more search engine-indexed pages than other business sites that don’t publish content.

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Websites w/blog content have 434% more search engine-indexed pages than those that don’t publish. @TechClient
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The result of content creation: You have lots of little pathways sprinkled over the internet that lead back to your site. And, the more content you create around topics relevant to your audience, the better your chances of boosting traffic from search and nabbing conversions.

9. Businesses publishing 16-plus posts a month get almost 3.5 times more traffic than businesses publishing zero to four articles

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Publishing 16+ blog posts a month brings 3.5x more traffic than publishing 0 to 4 articles via @HubSpot.
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You want leads? Guess what.

Does it need saying? Even if it doesn’t bear repeating, here you go. One more time for the people in the back: Content marketing, content creation, and blogging lead to leads. Lots of leads.

It takes an investment, but the returns are real.

Bottom line: Skilled, consistent content marketing works

Content marketing is the present and future of marketing. It’s efficient, compelling, and subtly persuasive. It also can be less expensive. Best of all, it works, as these nine statistics prove beyond a doubt.

Of course, like any strategy, content marketing requires skill, persistence, and consistency to work.

This is perhaps the No. 1 secret to getting results like those outlined. You have to work for it. But, oh, is it worth it.

Want more stats to support your content marketing strategy (or to inform potential improvements), check out CMI’s latest research. Subscribe today and be alerted when the 2018 B2C content marketing research is released later this year.

Cover image by Joseph Kalinowski/Content Marketing Institute

 

The post 9 Stats That Will Make You Want to Invest in Content Marketing appeared first on Content Marketing Institute.

Every industry and trade has their own terminology—words and phrases that may be unfamiliar to those on the outside. Marketing is no exception, with an ever-expanding vocabulary of terms and jargon that may at times sound like a foreign language to business executives in non-marketing roles.

Understanding the meaning of marketing terms is not only helpful for working alongside your firm’s internal marketing team, but also vital in conversing with your marketing agency. We’ve set out to help demystify some of the most common B2B marketing jargon:

A/B testing – Testing two versions of an element with two separate audiences. E.g. testing two versions of a landing page or email and choosing the version that leads to more conversions.

Account-Based Marketing (ABM) – A B2B marketing strategy focused on fewer, specific targets, as opposed to marketing to the masses. It coordinates personalized marketing and sales efforts targeted at specific, named accounts.

Account executive – The client’s primary contact and liaison with an agency. They manage budgets and schedules and often also help to drive the client’s strategy.

Algorithm – Search engine formulas that determine what content is displayed when a user makes a search query and presents search results in terms of relevance, as opposed to chronologically.

Agency of record (AOR) – A brand’s primary agency that coordinates all marketing, branding, digital and advertising, and manages the bulk of its creative output.

Application programming interface (API) – A set of rules, routines, protocols, and tools for building application software. It specifies how a piece of software should interact with another software platform.

Banner ad – An online ad on a webpage, typically at the top or to the side of the page, that links to the advertiser’s website. Also referred to as digital display advertising.

Baseline metrics – “Before” measurements, which establish a brand’s health and performance, before new marketing efforts are put into place.

Bottom of the funnel – The final “selection” stage of the marketing/sales funnel, where prospects are vetting potential firms, requesting a proposal, interviewing and selecting best option.

Bounce rate – The percentage of visitors that navigate to a website and view only one page before “bouncing” away.

Brand – An identifying name, symbol, and other intellectual property that distinguishes one company’s offerings from that of another, within a given category. But also more than just the visual identity, a brand is the sum of the thoughts, feelings and experiences the audience has with regard to your company.

Branding – Development of various elements, such as a name, logo, personality, messaging and functionality that distinguishes a firm from others in the same category.

Brand discovery – A research-oriented process where the brand’s positioning, messaging and value to customers are defined, or, in the case of a brand refresh, refined.

Brand awareness – The degree that people are aware of a brand’s existence and offerings.

Brand equity – The value of a brand in the eyes of consumers, based on their prior encounters with brand, and what they’ve heard from others.

Brand positioning – Where a brand fits within a given category or market, and what differentiates it among other brands in the same space.

Buyer persona – Research-based profiles or representations that help marketers see prospects and clients as real people and gain insight into the way they think, their goals, challenges, interests and how they make buying decisions. They allow marketing messaging, content and sales and marketing efforts to be approached with a better understanding of the buyer’s context and perspective.

Call to action – An “ask,” such as inviting viewers to share a Facebook page, subscribe to a blog, learn more or download a whitepaper.

Channel – Various portals such as a particular website, social media platform, or TV channel, through which marketing efforts are put forth.

Clickthrough rate (CTR) – The percentages of visitors that click on a hyperlink on an advertisement, email or website.

Content calendar – A document that maps out future content pieces or social media posts on a given channel, such as a blog, Facebook or Twitter.

Content marketing – A strategic marketing approach focused on creating and distributing valuable, relevant, and consistent content that does not explicitly promote a brand or product, but instead establishes a brand as a trusted expert.

Conversion – Achievement of any desired action by a customer, such as subscribing to a blog, downloading a whitepaper, clicking on an advertisement, or purchasing a product.

Copy – Any written content that makes up parts of advertisements, websites, etc.

Cost-per-click (CPC) – A type of online advertising used to direct traffic to websites, in which companies pay a set amount each time their advertisement is clicked on.

Customer experience (CX) – The practice of designing for and reacting to client interactions and touchpoints throughout the client lifecycle, in order to exceed expectations with the aim of increasing client satisfaction, loyalty, and advocacy.

Demand generation – The focus of targeted marketing programs to drive awareness and interest in a company’s services and/or products.

Dynamic content – “Smart” content that adapts its copy and messaging based on a user’s prior behavior to create a more seamless, relevant experience.

Employer branding – An organization’s efforts to differentiate themselves as an employer and articulate their employer value proposition that conveys to job candidates why the organization is appealing and an “employer of choice.”

Engagement – The number of interactions that people have with your content, i.e. likes, shares, retweets, etc.

Evergreen content – Content that speaks to topics that have a long “shelf life” and will remain relevant for an extended period of time.

Exposure – Presentation of media to target audience. Each time an ad is presented to target, it is a separate exposure.

Geotargeting – Delivering particular content to a user in a particular geography or zip code. This is commonly used on websites and in some advertising strategies to vary content by geographical audience.

Guerilla marketing – Powerful marketing that saturates a market for a brief period with the goal of getting maximum impact for minimum cost.

Impression – The number of times your content is displayed on a social channel, such as Facebook.

Inbound marketing – Pull marketing, as opposed to push marketing. It’s focused on attracting customers through relevant and helpful content customers find through channels like blogs, search engines, and social media.

Influencer marketing – Using important thought leaders with high clout to publicize your brand, product, or service.

Integrated marketing communications – An integrated marketing strategy that stays consistent and “on brand” across channels and promotional tools.

Key messages – The main points that you want to get across to your target audience, with the goal of differentiating your firm from the competition.

Key performance indicators (KPIs) – Desired quantifiable metrics, indicative of success of marketing campaigns, such as page views, cost per lead, cost per click, traffic to lead ratio, and engagement rate.

Landing page – A single web page designed to promote a specific content offer (e.g. whitepaper download, webinar registration, etc.) with the goal of converting visitors into identified contacts and/or leads.

Lead generation – The process of attracting and converting unknown prospects into someone who has indicated interest is you company’s services or products.

Lead nurturing – Developing relationships with leads and maintaining them through each stage of the marketing funnel. Typically this involves automated email drip campaigns where a lead is sent relevant content on a consistent basis and over an extended period of time.

Marketing automation – A software technology that helps companies automate online marketing, lead management and customer engagement in order to be more efficient, streamline resources and, ultimately, increase revenue.

Marketing mix – A set of marketing tools made up of the 4 Ps: product, price, promotion, and place.

Marketing tactics – A set of integrated methods intended to reach the target customer and make them aware of products or services offered to meet their needs. For maximum impact, tactics should be aligned with a strategic marketing plan.

Middle of the funnel – The middle “consideration” stage of the marketing/sales funnel, where prospects are doing heavy research, exploring specific solutions and starting to consider their options.

Native advertising – Paid media that is content-based and inherently non-disruptive, as it follows the natural form and function of where it is placed.

Net promoter score (NPS) – A score that represents the likelihood of customers recommending a product or service to others.

Organic search – Returns of a search that result from relevance to search query, as opposed to those delivered due to paid advertising.

Pay per click (PPC) – A type of online advertising used to direct traffic to websites, in which companies pay a set amount each time their advertisement is clicked on.

Preroll – A video advertisement that plays before the start of chosen content.

Qualitative research – Anecdotal, non-numerical research used to capture consumer sentiment and generate insight. Typically conducted in one-on-one interviews with clients, prospects and business partners.

Quantitative research – Research using numerical data and statistics to test hypotheses and answer research questions. Often conducted using online-based surveys.

Segmentation – Dividing a market into various customer segments based on certain criteria, such as demographics and psychographics.

Social listening – The process of monitoring social media channels for mentions of your brand, competitors, product, and potential or existing customers.

Stickiness – Memorable messages, ads or web pages that have longer than average engagement and/or higher than average page views, likely due to good content.

Strategic marketing plan – An integrated, detailed plan of steps to be taken in order reach desired target customers and attain specified goals and KPIs.

Tag line – A short, sticky phrase used to increase brand or product recognition.

Thought leadership – A position a firm holds where their opinions and expertise on a specific subject matter are taken to be authoritative and influential. Often promoted through original content such as articles, webinars, white papers and public speaking.

Top of the funnel – The early “awareness” stage of the marketing/sales funnel, where prospects are looking for answers to questions, understanding of potential problems and needs, resources, research data and other insights.

Traffic – Visitors to a website. Can be measured in number of visitors or number of pages visited.

User experience (UX) – The user’s journey as they navigate a website including usability, intuitiveness, engagement, and delight.

Vlog – Video-based blog content.

Word of mouth – Words exchanged from person to person around a product, service, or brand. Can be positive or negative in nature, and can be directed to current or prospective users.

Learning the marketing term lingo

While this list is far from exhaustive, it represents many of the terms that are used on a daily basis in the world of business-to-business marketing. By learning this marketing vocabulary, you will be able to better navigate working with agencies and internal marketing colleagues.

In the last few years and with the explosion of social media, the process of social selling has become a popular topic.

While many people might view it at as a “trend” or “fad,” it’s been clear that not only is the process of social selling not going anywhere but is a must for companies to implement.

Social selling also may appeal more towards the sales teams at your company, but almost any employee can be active in the process.

However, in order to have any success in social selling, your team needs to be armed with the right (and best) tools for success.

Since the popularity of social selling in the last few years, there are TONS of products and platforms out there to help you.

So which ones are the best?

While this is more of a personal opinion, these type of tools will definitely get you on a positive and successful path.

Social Selling Tools for Prospecting & Qualifying

After you have identified what your respective targets should be, it’s time to start prospecting and finding who is worth engaging with on LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, etc.

The best place to start is on the popular social media platforms and where your potential targets are most likely engaging on the most.

However, one great prospecting tool along with that is Salesloft. This platform can integrate with everything from Slack, email providers, analytics tools, and social platforms like LinkedIn and Twitter.

The integration to Linkedin is important for gaining real-time insights on the companies you’re engaged with, see current and shared connections at those companies to build authentic relationships and uncover common areas that will help you to better engage.

Another tool for social prospecting is Nimble.

Simply put, Nimble has the best features of high-end CRM systems combined with the power of social media.

With the social media aspect, Nimble can social profile matching and enrichment, business insights on people and companies, segment prospects to reach out and connect, social prospecting.

Social Selling Tools for Company Research

Besides building, understanding, and qualifying your prospects, it’s important to fully use tools that allow you to do additional research.

While you might have a particular job title and company industry to target, to fully engage in social selling it is important to understand as much about their companies as possible.

Similar to prospecting section, you can get some decent information from the social media platforms like LinkedIn and Twitter. However, to take it a step further you’ll need help.

One of these tools and completely free to use is Owler.

Owler is the largest community-based business platform to gain insights on the competition and uncover the latest industry news and alerts.

Every six seconds, members of the Owler community contributes unique competitive insights, such as private company revenue estimates and CEO approval ratings to make sure the information on businesses is always relevant.

The other tool that compliments Owler nicely, is InsideView.

InsideView embeds all the essential elements of actionable Targeting Intelligence into your sales, marketing, and customer service workflow.

Perfect for current company and contact data, real-time insights from news and social media, and leverage personal, professional, and social connections.

Social Selling Tools for Engaging & Nurturing

Lastly, when it comes to social selling you need tools to share content and interact with your audiences.

This section might have the most tools out there, but social media and scheduling have been a consistent need.

One of the best schedulers for social media is Buffer, which also offers a free version (with some product limitations).

Yet, for smaller companies, the free version is the perfect addition to help with your social selling efforts. Individuals can sign up and manage their content, or you can go with the business version.

Buffer for business is great because you can schedule up to 2,000 posts in advance per social account, connect up to 25 to 150 social accounts pending plan, and add other team members to collaborate.

Additionally, for social selling, getting an employee advocacy platform like EveryoneSocial to get more employees involved.

As mentioned in the beginning, social selling can involve more than just sales or marketing teams, everyone has the capability to get involved and generate leads.

This is where an employee advocacy platform can amplify social selling and arm different departments with the right content to engage and share on social accounts.

The user can create feeds of specific websites, monitor competitors content, and numerous integrations (HubSpot, Slack, Salesforce, Google Analytics, Bitly, and more), while providing detailed analytics and engagement information.

Bonus: While there are six essential tools mentioned here, here is a bonus tool you might want to consider for social selling success.

MeetEdgar, unlike other social media schedulers, can automatically reshare your Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter updates again and again over time. Companies can also organize content into categories, builds an automatic query of social posts, and more.

Final Thoughts

The process of social selling is here to stay and although it may evolve in the next few years, it is an important process for companies to implement their strategies.

With all the various social media networks and tools out there, the above-mentioned tools will without a doubt, get you on the path of social selling success.

Of course, there are plenty more out there to choose, so it’s recommended to do your research and plan any budgeting for platforms you may need to purchase.

However, these tools are great starting points for your social selling needs.

Has your company started implementing social selling set? Get your complete social selling guide to learn tips, best practices, and more.

Data science is becoming a reality for change management, and although it may not have arrived yet, it is time for organizations to get ready. The companies best positioned to change in the next decade will be the ones that set themselves up well now, by collecting the right kind of data and investing in their analytics capacity.

The key to building predictive models is knowing what you want to predict and collecting large and diverse data sets that may enable you to do so. Although predictive models for change management are still a ways off, organizations can get themselves on the right path by adopting the right tools and capturing the right data. We see five no-regrets steps that organizations can take:

Start Using Digital Engagement Tools

There is a new generation of real-time employee opinion tools that are starting to replace old-fashioned employee opinion surveys — tools that tell you far more than just what employees think every year. These tools have obvious relevance to change management and can help answer questions like: Is a change being equally well received across locations? Are some managers better than others at delivering messages to employees?

We are working with a large travel and tourism firm to introduce a system for real-time employee feedback. This is giving us the opportunity to experiment with different change strategies within chosen populations in the company. The real-time feedback means we will learn very rapidly how communications or engagement tactics have been received, thus optimizing our actions in days rather than weeks, as might be the case with traditional approaches. This data can then feed into a predictive model, helping us know with precision the actions that are going to accelerate adoption of a new practice, process, or behavior by a given employee group. Commercially available tools, such as culture IQ polls, sample groups of employees through a smartphone app on a daily or weekly basis to generate real-time insights. Waggl.com goes further, creating an ongoing conversation with employees about a change effort, allowing change managers to tie this dialogue to the progress of initiatives they are undertaking. These tools can already have a big impact on change programs, but the data stream they create could be even more important as we learn to build predictive models of change. Deploying them now is critical to ensure success with data-driven change initiatives in the future.

Apply Social Media Analytics to Identify Stakeholder Sentiment

Change managers can also look beyond the confines of the enterprise for insight about the impact of change programs. Customers, channel partners, suppliers, and investors, to name just a few, are all key stakeholders for change programs. They are also more likely than employees to comment on social media about changes a company is making, thus giving potentially vital insight into how they are responding. At EY, where some of us work, we have developed a tool for social media analytics called SMAART that is able to understand sentiment within consumer and influencer groups. In a project for a pharmaceutical company, we were able to isolate the specific information sources that drove positive and negative sentiment toward the client’s brand. We are now starting to apply these techniques to understand the external impact of change efforts, and it’s a simple leap to extend these techniques within the enterprise. Advances in linguistic analysis of text mean we can now capture clues about behavior from people’s word choice; even the use of articles and pronouns can help reveal how someone feels. Applying these tools to anonymized company email or the dialogue on tools like waggl.com will give fresh insight into change readiness and the reactions of employees to different initiatives. And the insights from analyzing internal communication will be stronger when combined with external social media data.

Capture Reference Data About Current Change Projects

Organizations often seem obsessed by measuring fractional shifts in operational performance, capturing data on sales, inventory turns, and manufacturing efficiency. However, when it comes to change, few track performance from project to project beyond knowing which ones met their goals. Although projects have unique features, there are many similarities between process improvement, system change, M&A, and reorganization projects. There are opportunities to capture information about the team involved, the population engaged in the change, how long it took to implement, what tactics were used, and so on. Building a reference data set like this may not yield immediate benefit, but as the overall data set grows, it will make it easier to build accurate predictive models of organizational change.

Use Data to Select People for Change Roles

For decades companies have been using data-driven methods to select candidates for senior roles. And today some businesses such as retailers are using predictive analytics for hiring frontline staff. Applying these tools when building a team could both improve project performance and help to build another new data set. If every change leader and team member underwent psychometric testing and evaluation before the project, this data would become variables to include as you search for a causal model on what leads to successful change projects. This can even be extended to more informal roles like “change agents,” allowing organizations to optimize selection based on what they know about successful personalities for these roles. Along these lines, California startup LEDR Technologies is pioneering techniques to predict team performance. It integrates data sources and uses them to help teams anticipate the challenges they may have with team dynamics, so they can head them off before they occur.

Build a Dashboard

We imagine each organization having a bespoke dashboard, developed in partnership with the firm’s leadership team, reflecting their priorities, competitive position, and future plans. In this way, dashboards can bring insight to specific transformation investments the organization is making. Much of the data that makes up these indicators is already available today but is not being collected. One client of Change Logic’s has built a dashboard for identifying recruitment and attrition in must-win talent populations. It’s not as sophisticated as some of the models we expect to see, but nevertheless it is teaching the executive team to use data to inform people-related decisions.

It will take time to build these sorts of tools. We believe organizations should start building dashboards now and, where possible, automate them. Today, change dashboards are vulnerable to version control issues, human error, and internal politics. Automating the dashboard can make it more transparent and objective.

As organizations collect more data and build more-accurate models, change managers will be able to confidently use them to prescribe strategies to enable organizations to meet their goals. Which stakeholders are involved? What approaches work with groups that share these characteristics? What risks are associated with programs that share these features? What are the techniques that accelerate delivery of business benefit, and what are their relative costs? What is the cause and effect of specific types of investment — for example, leadership development, large group events, and communications cascades? These are all questions that will be answered with data and that will inform customized transformation plans.

Developing these sorts of metrics will not be quick or easy. These are not one-and-done installations, but rather multiyear commitments to capture data, build models, and refine dashboards. Establishing reliable data sets with which to work takes time. Data quality is an issue everywhere; so too is the need for a common data language that allows organizations to know they are measuring what they intend to measure. This has been a problem for data analytics in other fields; there is no reason why change management will be any different.

Although it will take time, we will finally be able to close the causal loop and make reliable predictions for how an action or initiative in a change program will shift a given metric. This will move investment in change from an act of faith to one of data-informed judgment. Change management will move from a project-based discipline struggling to justify adequate investment to one that is advising on business outcomes and how to deliver them. This should lead, at last, to a decline in the one metric about change programs that we all know — failure rate. And along the way we may finally solve the great puzzle of why so many transformation efforts fail.