Expect your marketing department to soon have sales people knocking on its door inquiring how to best engage in social media. Customers are accessing information differently than before and changing their habits by conducting a lot more research online and taking advice from others who have established reputations on the internet.

Salespeople need to get on the ball immediately. It is the job of those responsible for marketing to lead the way and help out their salespeople. This may include taking a leading role participating in these social media accounts. Let's explore some key features in Linkedin and Twitter that salespeople need to utilize.

Providing Quality Answers on LinkedIn and Consider Creating a Group

 One great way to build thought leadership is by providing valuable tips and mindfully answering questions on Linkedin. The best answers for a question posed are highlighted, and when a prospective customer is impressed with the level of insight provided, it's a good possibility they'll take note of the individual for future reference when they are further along in the buying cycle. Ideally, they would reach out and request a connection as well. Creating a Linkedin group is another fantastic way to build a community. Invite the following people:

    * People in your company
    * Key customers and contacts
    * Other industry leaders.

Choose a title for your group that makes sense so people will understand the exact nature of your group. Lastly, make sure you promote your group and integrate it with the rest of your marketing events and programs.

Twitter

Now that real time content such as tweets are showing up in search results, the importance of engaging in this medium has just increased dramatically. The perceived quality of content in the tweet, and the link they point to, will assist your company in search engine optimization (SEO) when the search engines likely decide to include these in their ranking algorithms.

Twitter lists are definitely something that deserve your attention in 2010. You can find extremely resourceful lists to follow, and if you're quick to the draw in a particular niche, you can create a list of thought leaders which will establish your credibility because other people will follow the list that you created as well. This is all transparent for everyone on Web to see (unless you mark it private which doesn't make sense within the context of this discussion of Twitter lists). Now do you get a feel for where this is heading?

Click Here to Learn More About Social Media

Focus To Grow is a SMarketing company, providing inbound marketing and sales execution services for b2b companies.

I would encourage you to take a ten minute break and tune into the Fox Business Network- 5:00pm ET / 4:00PM CT on Saturday October 10th, 2009.

Schwing Bioset, Inc. in Somerset, WI is doing some impressive work converting waste into fertilizer.

I find this company and their technology to be quite impressive because it is a "green technology" that actually has many benefits for business, job creation and the environment.

Information about Schwing Bioset:

In 2006, SBI opened a new 20,000 square foot engineering and manufacturing facility in Somerset, WI in order to rapidly expand its service offerings. The “Bioset Process” and Fluid Bed Drying technology are two examples of Schwing Bioset’s commitment to delivering innovative and environmentally friendly solutions to the wastewater treatment industry.

SBI's Project Management and Fluid Bed Drying teams remain in their respective locations of Danbury, CT and Houston, TX. Schwing Bioset’s mission is simple, to become the market leader in the biosolids  and beneficial reuse industry.
For more information, visit www.schwingbioset.com

If you are able to watch the show, I would be interested in hearing your feedback.

Focus To Grow is a SMarketing company, providing inbound marketing and sales execution services for b2b companies.

 

The scene is coach Herb Brooks talking about what it will take the Russians at the olympics. As a marketing strategy and sales execution guy for small business, I think we have much to learn from Herb.  

 It is my hope all entrepreneurs and small business owners walk away with these lessons from the video clip:

• The best sales professionals in the world work best when they have a sound marketing approach and sales structure they operate within. Organizations put too much on the individual and overlook the critical management structure that needs to be in place for individual sales professionals to win.

• It may be necessary to change the way you market your services to generate leads. You may also need to make drastic changes to your sales approach. These changes may require you to train harder, move faster, be more creative and leverage the team.
• You need to have a plan and work the plan.
• Be willing to change.
  
• Don't depend too much on one individual person's talent.
• Have a lofty goal to work towards.

Entrepreneurs and business owners that keep these principles will find executing their sales approach to be more effective.

Focus To Grow is a SMarketing company, providing inbound marketing and sales execution services for b2b companies.

Nearly every business owner, start up, and entrepreneur I speak with about his or her marketing strategy and sales execution approach seems to be shackled by the same monster: trying to text and run a business at the same time. Pre-occupied with the day to day, they narrowly miss veering off the road while trying to drive and text (no, I’m not speaking from experience), or narrowly avoid missing the person bustling down a busy side walk because they too are hyper- focused on their smart phone (I really mean iPhone).

a.  Trade journals in your industry. If they don’t exist, give a colleague in a non-competitive market a call and talk to him about his top concerns over the next 18 Months.

b.  Review some trade journals for suppliers who provide services or products to your industry. Focus on articles and comments that speak to what they believe to be future trends.

 

c.  Review at least one publication (online or print) that will give you a perspective of business on a global level - i.e. FastCompany, Entrepreneur Magazine, SBA, SCORE 

Once you have reviewed this data, identify the top one or two anchors that are holding you back. Then, set out to remove the anchors to better prepare yourself for the future.  If you can carve out the time, you could play an Innovation Game(R) with your team called SpeedBoat.

Stop texting, and look up at the world around you. You may be shocked at how much faster you reach your destination when you focus.

 

Focus To Grow is a SMarketing company, providing inbound marketing and sales execution services for b2b companies.