<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<rss version="2.0"
	xmlns:content="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/content/"
	xmlns:wfw="http://wellformedweb.org/CommentAPI/"
	xmlns:dc="http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/"
	xmlns:atom="http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom"
	xmlns:sy="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/syndication/"
	xmlns:slash="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/slash/"
	>

<channel>
	<title>Avitage</title>
	<atom:link href="http://www.avitage.com/index.php/feed/" rel="self" type="application/rss+xml" />
	<link>http://www.avitage.com</link>
	<description></description>
	<lastBuildDate>Wed, 16 May 2012 17:11:50 +0000</lastBuildDate>
	<language>en</language>
	<sy:updatePeriod>hourly</sy:updatePeriod>
	<sy:updateFrequency>1</sy:updateFrequency>
	<generator>http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1</generator>
		<item>
		<title>Best Practice B2B Resource Center as a Hub for Relevant Content Delivery &amp; Lead Nurturing</title>
		<link>http://www.avitage.com/index.php/best-practice-b2b-resource-center-as-a-hub-for-relevant-content-delivery-lead-nurturing/</link>
		<comments>http://www.avitage.com/index.php/best-practice-b2b-resource-center-as-a-hub-for-relevant-content-delivery-lead-nurturing/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 02 May 2012 17:52:52 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Zak Pines</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Content Publishing]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Lead Management]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[B2B Resource Center]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Best Practices]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Content publishing]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Lead nurturing]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.avitage.com/?p=5143</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[A B2B web site resource center is a key hub for any B2B marketer looking to transform their web site from a billboard which prospects view but bounce off – never to return again – to a trusted resource where prospects engage over time as they move through their buying process. This can be an important vehicle for delivering relevant content, and through this capturing useful information about prospects that is used to manage the ongoing nurturing of these prospects in order to accelerate their buying process. We saw an opportunity to develop a best practice framework for B2B web site resource centers by examining existing resource centers from best in class companies such as Marketo, HubSpot and Eloqua; online publishers such as newspaper web sites; and other sites that manage large volumes of content (e.g. recipe sites). With our company’s location in Waltham, MA – we are privileged to have access to a wealth of local resources in content marketing and marketing technology – so we took this as a project to the Bentley University graduate school course:  Human Factors &#8211; Managing a user-centered design team. Our challenge for the team was to develop a set of specifications and wireframes that represented best practices and were technology platform agnostic. After a two-month project, the team delivered a user interface design incorporating these best practices: Enable users to sort by topic or role with greater importance than content type Group information by topic, by tag, or relevance and allow users ...]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://www.avitage.com/index.php/best-practice-b2b-resource-center-as-a-hub-for-relevant-content-delivery-lead-nurturing/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Selling to On-Demand Buyers</title>
		<link>http://www.avitage.com/index.php/selling-to-on-demand-buyers/</link>
		<comments>http://www.avitage.com/index.php/selling-to-on-demand-buyers/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 09 Apr 2012 13:36:09 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Jim Burns</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Marketing and Sales Strategy]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Sales Enablement]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[b2b transformation]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[executive]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[marketing and sales disconnect]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.avitage.com/?p=5076</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Most of us are well aware the world of B2B buying has gone through fundamental shifts in the last five to ten years. Why hasn&#8217;t the way we sell fundamentally changed as well? We all feel the perception from buyers that, to them, all vendors and their products look pretty much the same (undifferentiated value). We know too well the difficulty of identifying and engaging new prospects in sales conversations (generating leads). Our CRM monitored sales process reveals protracted buying timeframes (longer sales cycles and higher costs). I am amazed that for many senior executives I meet, a deeper appreciation of the implications of this transformation hasn&#8217;t occurred and isn&#8217;t translating into different strategies . If you are a CEO, CFO or VP of Sales with over twenty years of experience, you come from an era of thinking about B2B marketing as famously described by John Wanamaker: &#8220;Half the money I spend on advertising (marketing) is wasted; the trouble is, I don&#8217;t know which half.&#8221; You have lived the marketing and sales disconnect. Most likely, you never spent any time being accountable for marketing. To you, marketing focused on brand, PR, providing &#8220;air cover&#8221;, and collateral development. Most of which you found only marginally useful. The most useful support you received was probably event support. You have difficulty even thinking of marketing as an investment on par with the investments you make to develop and enhance your core products or services. And your budgets reflect this bias. But if you ...]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://www.avitage.com/index.php/selling-to-on-demand-buyers/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>35 Days to Great First Sales Meetings</title>
		<link>http://www.avitage.com/index.php/35-days-to-great-first-sales-meetings/</link>
		<comments>http://www.avitage.com/index.php/35-days-to-great-first-sales-meetings/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 28 Mar 2012 13:05:49 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Jim Burns</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Marketing and Sales Strategy]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[buying process]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[content marketing program]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Deliver content]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[demand generation]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[lead generation]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Lead nurturing]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[marketing automation]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[sales execution]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.avitage.com/?p=4992</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[35 Days to First Conversation &#8212; do the math For prospects who actively engage your content, assuming a two day lag in viewing, here is a possible sequence to your first call appointment (elapse time not work days) (&#8220;your mileage may vary&#8221;): Day 1 &#8211; send initial invitation touch with vmail call Day 3 &#8211; prospect views email content Day 5 &#8211; send Touch #2 automatically, no call Day 7 &#8211; prospect views content Day 14 &#8211; send Touch #3 mail, vmail call Day 16 &#8211; prospect views content Day 23 &#8211; send Touch #4 mail, vmail call Day 25 &#8211; prospect views content Days 25, 26, 27 &#8211; email &#38; call to request introduction conversation Day 35 &#8211; have first introduction call For a detailed, comprehensive explanation of each step, go to the sales prospecting program microsite.]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://www.avitage.com/index.php/35-days-to-great-first-sales-meetings/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Move Beyond Concept to Create Content Like a Publisher</title>
		<link>http://www.avitage.com/index.php/move-beyond-concept-to-create-content-like-a-publisher/</link>
		<comments>http://www.avitage.com/index.php/move-beyond-concept-to-create-content-like-a-publisher/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 26 Mar 2012 14:49:21 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Jim Burns</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Content Publishing]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Content marketing]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Create content]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Create like a publisher]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[publishing process]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[think like a publisher]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.avitage.com/?p=4961</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[For marketers who have embraced the publishing mindset in support of inbound and content marketing strategies, execution has emerged as the new barrier to success. You understand the need to think like a publisher. You have shifted content focus from vendor and product collateral, to customer educational content. You blog, create whitepapers or e-books, conduct webinars and even dabble in videos. Linked-in and Facebook pages (and now Google Plus) have led to YouTube and Slideshare channels. You have a Twitter account and are learning about new social media platforms every week. Keeping up with demands for content is daunting. Think like a publisher tells us what to do. But can it help us understand how to do it better? You bet. Understanding the deeper implications of what it means to think &#8212; and create content &#8212; like a publisher can lead to a new operational model. With a fundamentally different process, the challenges and constraints of the traditional, &#8220;point production&#8221; model can be resolved, while at the same time improving content effectiveness. Operational Objectives Consider the operational objectives you must optimize. Traditional production methods can optimize any combination of two of the first three, but certainly not five or even seven: Quality &#8212; &#8220;content,&#8221; buyer relevance &#38; design Speed &#8212; message and content-time-to-market, ultimately to real time Cost &#8212; effort, time and dollars Buyer Relevance and Convenience &#8212; purpose: attention and interest; educate and explain; share customer stories and applications; evidence or proof points of value claims; answers to all ...]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://www.avitage.com/index.php/move-beyond-concept-to-create-content-like-a-publisher/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>1</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Why Create Content Like a Publisher?</title>
		<link>http://www.avitage.com/index.php/why-create-content-like-a-publisher-2/</link>
		<comments>http://www.avitage.com/index.php/why-create-content-like-a-publisher-2/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 20 Mar 2012 21:24:12 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Jim Burns</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Content Publishing]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Create like a publisher]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[publishing process]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[think like a publisher]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.avitage.com/?p=4943</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[When you hear the phrase &#8220;think like a publisher,&#8221; what does this mean to you? Why do you think you should think like a publisher? How would you explain this concept to your colleagues or managers? Perhaps most importantly, what would you do differently if you and your organization were to create content like publishers? For most people I speak with, they have a good, level one understanding: They can &#8220;become the media&#8221; and leverage the internet to &#8220;publish&#8221; content Acting like a journalist, they embrace blogging to varying degrees of discipline and success They know content must be more about buyers and their &#8220;problem to solution journey&#8221;, than traditional vendor focus collateral By sharing ideas to help buyers understand their problems, options and recommended approaches to solving those problems, content can capture attention and identify prospective buyers, educate them and begin to build the critical trust factor Ideally, storytelling is embraced as a key shift in the way content is created. If you have embraced these practices you are indeed off to a good start. As you pursue the promise of content marketing you immediately encounter the challenges presented by new requirements: To create buyer relevant content that engages prospects To create content for the entire buying process &#8212; including later stage decision making, or your sales process, stages To publish for many purposes and formats To create the critical mass of content required for success To fund these new initiatives with traditional budgets and even some legacy marketing ...]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://www.avitage.com/index.php/why-create-content-like-a-publisher-2/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Content Marketing Support Resource</title>
		<link>http://www.avitage.com/index.php/content-marketing-support-resource/</link>
		<comments>http://www.avitage.com/index.php/content-marketing-support-resource/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 07 Mar 2012 17:09:00 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Jim Burns</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Content Publishing]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Content marketing]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Create like a publisher]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[think like a publisher]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.avitage.com/?p=4863</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[I&#8217;ve just completed reading Rebecca Lieb&#8217;s new book, Content Marketing: Think Like a Publisher &#8211; How to Use Content to Market Online and in Social Media. I&#8217;m immediately buying copies for my people and to use with customers. It&#8217;s a terrific introduction and summary of the principles and top level practices. This is book for people who want or need an initial understanding of Content Marketing. I read it in a couple of hours on a plane ride. This makes it a good book to share with senior executives and others to help explain &#8220;why we&#8217;re taking this approach to marketing&#8221;. We all need that. We&#8217;re all working with a few who &#8220;get it,&#8221; surrounded by far too many who don&#8217;t. Given the significant mind, strategy and budget shifts required for organizations to pursue this course, making the case for content marketing is the first challenge proponents usually face. Given the &#8220;dabbling&#8221; approaches and under performance organizations experience, having the plan and discipline to execute effectively is the next challenge. To quote Lieb, &#8220;IBM recently published research finding that about 80% of those who begin a corporate blog never post more than five entries. They stop. Give up. Leave it abandoned by the side of what was once called the information super-highway. And that&#8217;s just blogging.  The internet is littered with never-updated websites … and no-one-home YouTube channels. In the rush to adopt content marketing as a tactic, too many marketers forget that if you&#8217;re continually publishing, you have to think like ...]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://www.avitage.com/index.php/content-marketing-support-resource/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Content Publishing vs. Traditional &#8220;Point Production&#8221; Process</title>
		<link>http://www.avitage.com/index.php/content-publishing-vs-traditional-point-production-process/</link>
		<comments>http://www.avitage.com/index.php/content-publishing-vs-traditional-point-production-process/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 07 Mar 2012 17:06:38 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Jim Burns</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Content Publishing]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[content strategy]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Create like a publisher]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[modular content]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[publishing process]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[think like a publisher]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.avitage.com/?p=4861</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[People regularly ask me to clarify the differences and reasons for adopting a content publishing  process rather than the traditional “point production&#8221; process. Here is a simple list of reasons. We believe organizations face new content requirements that a publishing oriented  creation process best addresses because: Content must be relevant to each buyer and their situation, vs. “one size fits all” Content must educate, create a vision and inspire vs. pitch features and benefits This means a dramatic increase in the volume of content to create which breaks down with traditional approaches We must reduce the burden on subject experts (SMEs) and change their role in creating content Content creation must become a planned asset development and maintenance process vs. an event driven, “one-and-done” approach Content creation is moving from centralized, “professional” creators to “new producers” all over the organization and beyond who must be supported to realize quality, consistent and efficient results Organizations must flatten the cost curve, especially if they apply traditional approaches to new requirements Content must be created for sharing and re-use at the “modular” level, not just as finished programs Content must be flexible enough to be used in multiple delivery channels. There are undoubtedly many other reasons and benefits. These are my top candidates, what are yours?]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://www.avitage.com/index.php/content-publishing-vs-traditional-point-production-process/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Ready or Not, Here&#8217;s Your Content Challenge</title>
		<link>http://www.avitage.com/index.php/ready-or-not-heres-your-content-challenge/</link>
		<comments>http://www.avitage.com/index.php/ready-or-not-heres-your-content-challenge/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 07 Mar 2012 17:04:24 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Jim Burns</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Content Publishing]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Create like a publisher]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[relevant content]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Reuse content]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[think like a publisher]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.avitage.com/?p=4859</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[To capture attention and deliver value, your content must be relevant to your buyers and readers. It might be cliché to say buyers are inundated with information, but I don&#8217;t see organizations really committing to strategies that deal with this reality. While many have changed the way they market over the last three to five years, I don&#8217;t see corresponding changes in the way they create content. I call the traditional approach a &#8220;point production&#8221; method. Sometimes this is referred to as &#8220;one and done.&#8221; I put the emphasis on &#8220;one&#8221; &#8212; one blog, article, webinar, whitepaper, video, etc. If we are committed to creating relevant content that works for our organization and our readers, it must be created to speak to a specific individual, specific interest or issue, buying stage, industry, competitive context and other relevance factors. Not all of them together. If we believe it&#8217;s important to make our content convenient for buyers to really consume, we must deliver content in different formats: long form documents, articles, blogs, video, visual diagrams and infographics (among others) that meet their consumption preferences. If we want buyers to share our content we must deliver compelling, engaging formats that motivate or prompt sharing with colleagues. Video. Inevitably this drives up the volume of work required to create different relevant versions and formats. The traditional, &#8220;point production&#8221; method that creates content one at a time, won&#8217;t scale affordably to accomplish this in a timely enough &#8212; or affordable &#8212; manner. You know you have this kind of thinking in your organization if you hear: ...]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://www.avitage.com/index.php/ready-or-not-heres-your-content-challenge/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Content Governance in the Content Marketing Era</title>
		<link>http://www.avitage.com/index.php/content-governance-in-the-content-marketing-era/</link>
		<comments>http://www.avitage.com/index.php/content-governance-in-the-content-marketing-era/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 07 Mar 2012 17:00:24 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Jim Burns</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Content Publishing]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Content marketing]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[content strategy]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.avitage.com/?p=4855</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Today’s content marketing requirements and opportunities are straining traditional corporate thinking, policies and processes. How has your company adapted policies and procedures to accommodate the “democratization of content creation” with the shift from centralized, “professional” production processes, to a distributed or (hopefully) agile creation process? A common occurrence we experience when creating video vignettes for companies provides a good example. This involves the internal review process that is based on traditional thinking, policies and procedures. First, some context. We typically create content for our customers, to address their buyer’s journey: their issues, challenges, opportunities, options, etc. This content is educational in nature. Hopefully it delivers insights bordering on  “thought leadership&#8220;, with some degree of a “point-of-view.” Relatively little of this content presents an official corporate offer. Our process begins by interviewing our customer’s subject experts to acquire the language they typically use when talking with customers about customer business issues. We expect these experts know the language that resonates with their buyers. Therefore, this is less an original creation effort on our part, than a structured interview and editing process. The copy we produce – for text as well as video content – are reviewed and approved by subject experts and the primary sponsor group. No problem. Now, often because this is a “vid-e-o,” the script must go through a corporate (marcom) review process, perhaps “brand” review, and legal. This process alone can take weeks, often with multiple iterations. Multiple people within our customer organization are tied up pouring over copy. Rarely, except when we ...]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://www.avitage.com/index.php/content-governance-in-the-content-marketing-era/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Customer Interviews for Marketing and Selling Content</title>
		<link>http://www.avitage.com/index.php/customer-interviews-for-marketing-and-selling-content/</link>
		<comments>http://www.avitage.com/index.php/customer-interviews-for-marketing-and-selling-content/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 07 Mar 2012 16:54:12 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Jim Burns</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Content Publishing]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[communications strategy]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[content framework]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[customer stories]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[customer video]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[modular content]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.avitage.com/?p=4849</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[At our recent SMEI breakfast we had an excellent conversation on customer &#8212; and video &#8212; interviews. As a result, I suspected that most B2B marketing professionals don&#8217;t have a successful framework for thinking about, much less acquiring, effective customer interviews for marketing and selling content. Follow on conversations with organizations large and small confirmed my suspicions. What do you call them? Success stories? Testimonials? Case studies?  What is the &#8220;come from&#8221; behind your approach? What is your primary intent? To have your customer tell your prospects things about you that you can&#8217;t (or shouldn&#8217;t) tell yourself? Or are you &#8220;coming from&#8221; a perspective of &#8220;helping buyers make effective buying decisions&#8221; by getting your customers to share insights that address specific buying questions &#8212; by role, issue, buying stage, solution alternative? What is the &#8220;job&#8221; recorded customer interviews are expected to do? How do these expectations differ when you ask marketing vs. sales? There is a place for customers telling their (your) story. But it&#8217;s limited in the grand plan of content requirements. Captured properly, customer insights can perform many &#8220;jobs&#8221; throughout the buying process. Do you have a formal process for conducting customer interviews? Does it look like this one? There is nothing wrong with this approach. It appears to be a universal approach. But it&#8217;s also un-differentiated and not consistent with today&#8217;s content marketing principles for creating relevant, educational content to help buyers make better buying decisions.  Customer Acquisition Framework  Here is a start at such a framework and interview process: First, make a ...]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://www.avitage.com/index.php/customer-interviews-for-marketing-and-selling-content/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Content Marketing Best Practices from Joe Pulizzi</title>
		<link>http://www.avitage.com/index.php/content-marketing-best-practices-from-joe-pulizzi/</link>
		<comments>http://www.avitage.com/index.php/content-marketing-best-practices-from-joe-pulizzi/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 07 Mar 2012 16:42:35 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Jim Burns</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Content Publishing]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[content marketing program]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[content strategy]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Create like a publisher]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[modular content]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[think like a publisher]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Video vignettes]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.avitage.com/?p=4842</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Hubspot Inbound Now Video Interview also a Case Study In Creating Like a Publisher Whether you are new to content marketing or an advanced practitioner you can learn something from the recent Hubspot Inbound Now interview with Joe Pulizzi of Junta42 and founder of the Content Marketing Institute. Anytime I can hear or read Joe&#8217;s insights it&#8217;s a worthwhile time investment. The Hubspot process is an excellent example of thinking and creating content like a publisher: Be a resource for new ideas and insights Acquire content by interviewing subject experts Use audio and video as acquisition methods (more than just interview) Transcribe the audio Offer the content in multiple formats for consumption convenience: text, audio and video Amplify &#8212; in this case they blogged about the interview for another distribution method Promote &#8212; others will help you do this &#160; Inbound Now #16 – Content Marketing Best Practices &#38; Tips with Joe Pulizzi (@JuntaJoe) from HubSpot. &#160; Interview Outline To wet your appetite I&#8217;ll provide a brief outline of the highlights, including specific quotes: Definition of Content Marketing Why Content Marketing  Key mistakes  &#8220;I think that overall it’s we’re very used to thinking like marketing people, which is we want to sell. With content marketing, we first have to think about the needs and the pain points of our customers and create content that answers those questions. If we do that right, they then pay attention to us. They then buy from us. They then talk about us. It’s easy to ...]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://www.avitage.com/index.php/content-marketing-best-practices-from-joe-pulizzi/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Are You Communicating Synchronously in an Asynchronous World?</title>
		<link>http://www.avitage.com/index.php/are-you-communicating-synchronously-in-an-asynchronous-world/</link>
		<comments>http://www.avitage.com/index.php/are-you-communicating-synchronously-in-an-asynchronous-world/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 07 Mar 2012 16:35:50 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Jim Burns</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Content Publishing]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[communications strategy]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[content strategy]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.avitage.com/?p=4839</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[We live in a world that prefers to receive information asynchronously. But we tend to focus on using live, synchronous delivery methods. This is a key source of high costs and low results in every area of a business. I cannot overstate the importance of this idea and distinction, as well as the implication for individuals and organizations. First, some simple definitions. Synchronous communications happen at the same time with all participants. Synchronous communications tend to be traditional voice-based conversations to deliver intended messages. They can be conducted in person or over the phone or web. Asynchronous communications do not occur in the same time. Communications experienced asynchronously are consumed &#8220;on demand&#8221; at a time of choosing by the recipient. Asynchronous communication rely on content to package and deliver core messages &#8212; audio content such as voice mail, text content, or video. Implications for Your Communications As I consider the world of communications I am struck by the challenges and importance of aligning communication methods and timings with intended communication objectives and audience preferences. I believe we live in an asynchronous communication world. People tend to overstate the use and importance of synchronous over asynchronous communications, in part because in-person conversations are so impactful. But content-based, asynchronous communications, are more important for today&#8217;s marketing and selling activities &#8212; especially due to the impact of the internet. This implication puts the value of pre-produced content in a new and important perspective, far more important than typically considered. According to Gerhard Gschwandtner from Selling ...]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://www.avitage.com/index.php/are-you-communicating-synchronously-in-an-asynchronous-world/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>What &#8220;Job&#8221; Do You Want Content to Do?</title>
		<link>http://www.avitage.com/index.php/what-job-do-you-want-content-to-do/</link>
		<comments>http://www.avitage.com/index.php/what-job-do-you-want-content-to-do/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 07 Mar 2012 16:30:24 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Jim Burns</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Content Publishing]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[buying process]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[communications strategy]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[content strategy]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[customer buying]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[relevant content]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.avitage.com/?p=4835</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Marketing professionals who are trying to understand the principle behind content marketing can take a lesson from Clayton Christensen of the Harvard Business School and his &#8220;jobs-to-be-done&#8221; marketing ideas. This core Christensen idea is presented in a recent HBS Working Knowledge article, Milkshake Marketing. The article describes a fascinating study his team conducted on behalf of a fast food chain that wanted to improve milkshake sales. The company initially applied a typical market research approach before it engaged &#8220;one of Christensen&#8217;s fellow researchers, who approached the situation by trying to deduce the &#8216;job&#8217; that customers were &#8216;hiring&#8217; a milkshake to do.&#8221; Parallels Between Product Design and Content Strategy Consider this comparison between product design and content strategy. Both product design and content share similar problems. Product design challenges are revealed in the low success rate of new product introductions. Marketing content issues are revealed in the low usefulness to sales and customers. &#8220;When planning new products, companies often start by segmenting their markets and positioning their merchandise accordingly. This segmentation involves either dividing the market into product categories, such as function or price, or dividing the customer base into target demographics, such as age, gender, education, or income level. Unfortunately, neither way works very well, according to Harvard Business School professor Clayton Christensen, who notes that each year 30,000 new consumer products are launched—and 95 percent of them fail.&#8221; With business content, the American Marketing Association has found that 80% of content created by marketing is never used by sales. IDG reports IT buyers find relevant ...]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://www.avitage.com/index.php/what-job-do-you-want-content-to-do/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Lead Nurturing and the Inside Sales / Telesales Role</title>
		<link>http://www.avitage.com/index.php/lead-nurturing-and-the-inside-sales-telesales-role/</link>
		<comments>http://www.avitage.com/index.php/lead-nurturing-and-the-inside-sales-telesales-role/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 07 Mar 2012 16:12:26 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Jim Burns</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Sales Enablement]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[collaborative selling]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[inside sales]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[lead generation]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Lead nurturing]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[sales effectiveness]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[sales preparation]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.avitage.com/?p=4831</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[We are working with several clients to help them improve their lead nurturing program to deliver a higher volume and quality of sales ready leads to the outside sales team. We have found a tendency on the part of Inside Sales to conduct their work from what I would term a traditional mindset. In many cases they are actively prospecting for new leads from an unqualified list. They may be qualifying, using a BANT process, opportunities that have been created through marketing programs &#8212; something one of my partners refers to as &#8220;waterboarding to BANT.&#8221; Or, they are actively trying to set appointments for sales reps. Telemarketing Study Results This assessment was verified in a recent article about a study of the top objectives and budget areas for telemarketing organizations. &#8220;The most popular objective for telemarketing, according to the research, is &#8216;generating new leads&#8217;, selected by 76 per cent of respondents, followed closely by &#8216;booking sales appointments&#8217;, selected by 72 per cent. &#8216;Lead qualification&#8217; was third most popular, cited by 67 per cent. These findings confirm that the primary role of telemarketing is in the so-called demand generation arena.&#8221; Maybe it&#8217;s assumed that nurturing is part of &#8220;lead qualification.&#8221; But I&#8217;ve found that clear language distinctions are critical in setting the right mindset and expectations for any operations role. We call this the &#8220;come from.&#8221; The &#8220;come from&#8221; for lead qualification (and certainly appointment setting) is primarily a vendor perspective &#8212; when will you be ready to talk with a ...]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://www.avitage.com/index.php/lead-nurturing-and-the-inside-sales-telesales-role/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Why Create Content Like a Publisher?</title>
		<link>http://www.avitage.com/index.php/why-create-content-like-a-publisher/</link>
		<comments>http://www.avitage.com/index.php/why-create-content-like-a-publisher/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 07 Mar 2012 16:05:52 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Jim Burns</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Content Publishing]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[content strategy]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Create like a publisher]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[modular content]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[think like a publisher]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.avitage.com/?p=4827</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[We are told, &#8220;think and create like a publisher.&#8221; (Pulizi, Meerman Scott, Albee) What does this really mean? Why is this necessary? Traditionally, business content creation occurred in a centralized, marketing directed, professional creation organization and process. Today, creation has disbursed to front line creators in the executive ranks, marketing, sales, and even channel and partner organizations. This creates new challenges and requirements. To make this a positive, efficient, contributing effort with positive results, these &#8220;new producers&#8221; require support. Failure to provide support could result in haphazard creation efforts of poor quality content, frustrated constituents, reduced productivity, hidden costs &#8212; in fact the risks can be significant. Framing Questions Here are questions that will help your team, and your management, understand what&#8217;s at stake by continuing to pursue a process of &#8220;random acts of content.&#8221; (IDG) How do people throughout your organization know what content to build next? Why it should be created? How it will be use? Does the reason meet a set of defined criteria? How do you enable anyone to create content without becoming a domain expert, having to figure out what to say, or how to say it (right down to desired phrases or glossary terms)? How do you avoid turning your subject experts into content creators? How do you preserve message, brand and quality standards while enabling messages to be quickly converted into effective content? How to you insure efficient and optimum acquisition of subject expert insights as source input to content creation efforts? How ...]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://www.avitage.com/index.php/why-create-content-like-a-publisher/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Content and Social Media Marketing Predictions for 2011</title>
		<link>http://www.avitage.com/index.php/content-and-social-media-marketing-predictions-for-2011/</link>
		<comments>http://www.avitage.com/index.php/content-and-social-media-marketing-predictions-for-2011/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 07 Mar 2012 15:59:29 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Jim Burns</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Content Publishing]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Marketing and Sales Strategy]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Content Delivery]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Content marketing]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Create like a publisher]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[take content to the next level]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.avitage.com/?p=4820</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[I’ve just read this compilation of insights and predictions published by the Content Marketing Institute (CMI). Two strategic insights I found especially helpful: Must have a real-time mindset (David Meerman Scott) The “consumerization” of B2B marketing (Tom Pisello) This summary of especially salient points looks like a pretty good content checklist: Content will get shorter (Doug Kessler) Relevance will become the new standard (Sandra Zoratti) Must become better storytellers &#8211; Some brands will understand that they are nothing more than a story and brands that tell their story will win (Simon Kelly) Create original high value content (think unique) (Valeria Maltoni) Education oriented better than humor (Russ Henneberry) Frequency, quality and relevancy not only matter, but will be essential to maintaining a competitive edge (Barbara Rozgonyi) &#160; Ability to generate content that engages audiences and motivates them to take action (Paul Roetzer) Quality over quantity Content strategy and planning&#8211;By the end of 2011, a marketer not having a content-related marketing strategy will be more the exception than the rule (Russell Sparkman) Alignment with internet fueled buying cycles (Tom Pisello) Allow customers to engage and consume content on their own terms Customized (personalized) content delivery Attention spans are diminishing…alleviate information overload (Ambal S. Balakrishnan) Content rules when it shares or solves, and doesn’t shill (Ann Handley) &#160; Facebook will rule (Leslie Lindeman) Track audience preferred devices Challenge of standing out within the cacophony of content Focus on syndication Content curation Get webinars &#8220;right&#8221; &#8212; viewers won’t accept mediocrity anymore &#8211; (Shelley Ryan) Microsites Leverage ...]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://www.avitage.com/index.php/content-and-social-media-marketing-predictions-for-2011/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Additional Thoughts on 10 Rainmaker Principles</title>
		<link>http://www.avitage.com/index.php/additional-thoughts-on-10-rainmaker-principles/</link>
		<comments>http://www.avitage.com/index.php/additional-thoughts-on-10-rainmaker-principles/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 07 Mar 2012 15:50:35 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Jim Burns</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Sales Enablement]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[buying process]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[sales preparation]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.avitage.com/?p=4816</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[As we all plan for a new year and for changes that will make a difference, a good place to start is with core principles and practices. Mike Schultz gives us a useful checklist in his recent blog 10 Rainmaker Principles and Keys to Sales Motivation, which I highly recommend. Given my commitment to focusing on &#8220;being the best&#8220; I found this list especially helpful. Like all good points this post stimulated additional thoughts that I&#8217;d like to share. Principle #1 &#8212; Play to win-win. One of the challenges many of us have given our years of experience is to view principles like this through a mindset of &#8220;yes, this is a good one, I understand.&#8221; I will be challenging my organization to re-think and re-apply this principle in ways that break through our &#8220;thinking as usual.&#8221; We will re-define what it means to deliver in the best interests of clients and prospects &#8212; specifically and in detail. What does it mean to be &#8220;top performers&#8221;? How committed are we &#8212; really? We will use this to set new levels of expectation. Principle #4 &#8212; Think buying first, selling second. I think this is a key principle to achieving our objective of being the best and taking our business to the next level. Again, we&#8217;re re-thinking what it means to &#8220;think buying first.&#8221; Aligning with the customer&#8217;s buying process is an important starting point, and one we baked into our process well in 2010. For this year, it means to start with a buying vs. selling mindset. This will ...]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://www.avitage.com/index.php/additional-thoughts-on-10-rainmaker-principles/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Reflections on Sales Call Preparation Checklist</title>
		<link>http://www.avitage.com/index.php/reflections-on-sales-call-preparation-checklist/</link>
		<comments>http://www.avitage.com/index.php/reflections-on-sales-call-preparation-checklist/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 07 Mar 2012 15:43:04 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Jim Burns</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Sales Enablement]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[sales effectiveness]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[sales preparation]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.avitage.com/?p=4812</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[I&#8217;m a big believer in checklists. With the work I do with PrivateSalesCoach, and after reading Checklist Manifesto, we are applying checklists more rigorously throughout our business. I make sure to read most of what Nigel Edelshain publishes and his recent blog is no exception. 14 tips are quite a handful, so I thought as I share my reflections on these tips I&#8217;d also recommend you group them into three categories: Background, Tactical and Strategic. This relates mostly to the &#8220;when&#8221; these tips should be applied. I find that a pre-call process must be as efficient, brief and focused as possible. Background tips are those that don&#8217;t need to be worked out for every call. They should be worked on well before customer engagements begin, and simply selected and applied to each call. They tend to be related to account strategies and plans. Many are important to help determine who (company and individual) you should be calling on. Some of these tips apply across multiple accounts. In this category I would place tips #3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 9, 10, and 11. In addition to &#8220;prepare to fight the status quo&#8221; I would recommend reading Sharon Drew Morgen&#8217;s writing on Buying Facilitation(TM).  Her trademarked process focuses on the internal issues the customer must resolve to make a buying decision with ANY vendor. She eloquently points out that this is a key reason sales opportunities &#8220;go dark&#8221; or result in &#8220;no decision.&#8221; We must factor in ways to help the customer understand their internal systems, and how to align those systems ...]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://www.avitage.com/index.php/reflections-on-sales-call-preparation-checklist/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Another Case for Marketing and Sales Collaboration</title>
		<link>http://www.avitage.com/index.php/another-case-for-marketing-and-sales-collaboration/</link>
		<comments>http://www.avitage.com/index.php/another-case-for-marketing-and-sales-collaboration/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 07 Mar 2012 15:35:10 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Jim Burns</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Marketing and Sales Strategy]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[buying process]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[collaborative selling]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[complex sale]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[customer buying]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[sales effectiveness]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.avitage.com/?p=4807</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[We have to be careful not to take words too literally. Consider the idea that marketing delivers sales ready leads to sales. By doing this, marketing has moved the buyer X% (30% -70%?) of the way through the sales process, right? Well, maybe, but maybe not. Let&#8217;s look at what has to happen with that &#8220;lead&#8221; on the sales side. (Reminder, we&#8217;re talking complex not transaction oriented sales here.) In most B2B sales processes 4-15 stakeholders are engaged. (A top technology company selling a multimillion dollar solution has 30-50 people on their People Map). When we say marketing has delivered a sales ready lead, do we mean the 4-15 stakeholders to a specific opportunity, or a single individual? &#160; &#160; Obviously, waiting for marketing to get an entire buying team to sales ready status introduces serious risk factors of being late to apply the critical sales professional resource. After all, people progress individually at different rates, and in a non-linear manner, through their buying process. It&#8217;s often difficult to determine the specific stage for each individual. So, at best, what we can say is sales gets a good start. Hopefully they receive confirmed: Business needs A decision by the customer to resolve some need A participant to the buying process who is willing to engage immediately with a sales person (considerable time and effort saved) Some degree of information about the customer&#8217;s preference for the approach of the solution provider (SP) &#8212; at least on the part of the contacted lead. ...]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://www.avitage.com/index.php/another-case-for-marketing-and-sales-collaboration/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Content Marketing Principles and Practices</title>
		<link>http://www.avitage.com/index.php/content-marketing-principles-and-practices/</link>
		<comments>http://www.avitage.com/index.php/content-marketing-principles-and-practices/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 07 Mar 2012 15:11:39 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Jim Burns</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Content Publishing]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[content strategy]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[customer buying]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Manage content]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[marketing automation]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[tailor content]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.avitage.com/?p=4803</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Subtitle: Lip Service or Disciplined, Consistent Execution? A research briefing on Focus Marketing website called Best Practices in Content Marketing presents summary recommendations, a set of principles really, for conducting content marketing. Executive Summary &#8220;A content marketing strategy involves the creation of content for the purpose of engaging and establishing relationships with current and prospective customers, and subscribes to the belief that delivering high-quality information to prospects at the right stage of the buying cycle drives profitable action. There are several stages of a content marketing strategy each with many elements to consider before moving to the next. In this guide, Focus Experts Ardath Albee, Joe Chernov, Barbra Gago, Doug Kessler, and Stephanie Tilton have suggested their top tips and best practices for each stage of the content marketing cycle.&#8221; I highly recommend the briefing, the full roundtable discussion transcript, or the on demand recording of the full program. (I especially like that Focus offers MP3 and transcript versions, and wish more webinar providers would follow suit). While the principles are quite clear and have been promoted extensively now for years, execution of the associated practices is indeed difficult. How many of the recommended best practices does your organization execute on with consistency and discipline? &#160;]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://www.avitage.com/index.php/content-marketing-principles-and-practices/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>New B2B Marketing and Selling Truisms</title>
		<link>http://www.avitage.com/index.php/new-b2b-marketing-and-selling-truisms/</link>
		<comments>http://www.avitage.com/index.php/new-b2b-marketing-and-selling-truisms/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 07 Mar 2012 15:06:21 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Jim Burns</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Marketing and Sales Strategy]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[buying process]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Content marketing]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[customer buying]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[sales performance]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.avitage.com/?p=4800</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[This is my list of new truisms for B2B marketing and sales. They provide context for most of our services and writing. I post them prominently here so as to not have to repeat them in any conversation or material I create. If you agree with these truisms, please join the conversation. If you have additional, please help me grow a comprehensive list. Thanks to those who have provided suggestions, some of which I&#8217;ve added. Buyers are more in control of the B2B buying process than ever before. For buyers, all sellers look and sound alike. Products and services appear undifferentiated. Therefore, the way we sell is a critical area of differentiation and value add. The Internet changes everything, by providing instant access to virtually unlimited information. This requires new ways of thinking about marketing and sales, as well as new processes, skills, resources and investments. &#8220;It&#8217;s not about the bike!&#8221; It takes more than technology to achieve outcomes, especially strategy, skills, process and content. Content is the new currency for marketing and sales. The goal of content marketing is to provide the right person with the right content in the right media at the right moment in time. That requires a new approach to content. Content must help customers with their buying process by addressing their questions and issues, which are not addressed by vendor product features and functions. Content must be relevant, remarkable, timely and convenient to be appreciated by buyers who are inundated with information and have ...]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://www.avitage.com/index.php/new-b2b-marketing-and-selling-truisms/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Sharing a customer&#8217;s story</title>
		<link>http://www.avitage.com/index.php/sharing-a-customers-story/</link>
		<comments>http://www.avitage.com/index.php/sharing-a-customers-story/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 07 Mar 2012 15:01:18 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Jim Burns</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Content Publishing]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Lead Management]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[colla]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[content engine]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[lead generation]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Lead nurturing]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[marketing automation]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.avitage.com/?p=4797</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[I&#8217;m just back from a client review meeting. We assist our customer with lead management and content. This week they started a campaign, here is their story. As a result of our customer&#8217;s ability to track and score buyer consumption of content, initially delivered through an outbound campaign, and supported by a content microsite, our customer identified several people whose content consumption behavior indicated heightened interest. This triggered a move of this &#8220;lead&#8221; in their (Marketo) lead management system from the initial &#8220;inquiry&#8221; status to &#8220;marketing qualified lead&#8221; (MQL). The lead scoring algorithm also triggered their inside sales person to conduct an immediate phone follow up. All of this was communicated automatically within their Salesforce.com system, virtually in real time. The &#8220;buyer&#8221; turned out not to be the actual buyer at all, but the administrative assistant for the President of the company. She indicated they found the content so valuable they were very interested in conducting a conversation and evaluation of the proposed services. The content addressed the customer&#8217;s situation and avoided vendor oriented &#8220;chest pounding.&#8221; The lead was handed off to sales along with the notes of all consumed content and the phone conversation. This simple story is being repeated regularly within companies that have deployed an automated lead management program. Of course, &#8220;it&#8217;s not about the bike!&#8221; Software is an enabler. Content is the fuel that makes this work. Quality lists are critical. The right strategies and discipline to consistently conduct customer education oriented campaigns is essential. But the ability ...]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://www.avitage.com/index.php/sharing-a-customers-story/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Twitter &#8212; What do you read at breakfast?</title>
		<link>http://www.avitage.com/index.php/twitter-what-do-you-read-at-breakfast/</link>
		<comments>http://www.avitage.com/index.php/twitter-what-do-you-read-at-breakfast/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 07 Mar 2012 14:43:09 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Jim Burns</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Sales Enablement]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[knowledge sharing]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[sales preparation]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[social media]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.avitage.com/?p=4794</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[I&#8217;ve had several colleages ask me lately, &#8220;how do you use Twitter for your selling activities?&#8221; Twitter is becomming a primary resource for me for listening, learning and research. Listening “It’s not information overload. It’s filter failure.”&#8211; Clay Shirky Using Twitter to listen to topic specific conversations is a skill we really need to develop. I don&#8217;t have time to listen to everything. By selecting and cultivating people who share my interests, I leverage their research, insights, ideas and conversations. I pick up themes, topics and keywords that help me further my listening, but in an efficient way. Learning The people I follow regularly tweet and post links to articles, reference sources and tools that provide an efficient way to learn new ideas. I&#8217;ve developed the habit of replacing my morning newspaper with Twitter. Using Hootsuite, or even on my Blackberry with Ubertwitter,I&#8217;m able to categorize the primary topics I&#8217;m interested in learning about. Using #hastags and Twittersearch I&#8217;m able to quickly retrieve conversations and their related links. Research Before working on a specific account, I search Twitter to find conversations about the company,their news and events, topics of issues and competitive landscape. Often this has uncovered new people I need to contact but who were not readily available to me. Contacting these people through Twiter has proven to be a much more effective technique than phone or email. If I find people at the company who work in functions that are relevant to me, and they are on Twitter, ...]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://www.avitage.com/index.php/twitter-what-do-you-read-at-breakfast/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Content Strategy for the Web</title>
		<link>http://www.avitage.com/index.php/content-strategy-for-the-web/</link>
		<comments>http://www.avitage.com/index.php/content-strategy-for-the-web/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 07 Mar 2012 09:19:11 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Jim Burns</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Content Publishing]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Marketing and Sales Strategy]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Content marketing]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Create like a publisher]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[think like a publisher]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.avitage.com/?p=4661</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[If you&#8217;re accountable for creating content for marketing and sales I encourage you to immediately get copies of Kristina Halvorson&#8217;s Content Strategy for the Web for everyone on your team. There are many parallels and insights that apply to building non-website content. The core premise, that organizations must take a strategic approach to building content and think of content as important business assets, applies to content created for lead generation and nurturing programs, sales enablement and customer communications. The following are a few key excerpts from the book: &#8220;Only when we embrace our identities as publishers will we be able to commit to the necessary infrastructure to care for our content as a strategic business asset. For years, we&#8217;ve been spending millions of dollars on strategy and research, user experience design, visual design, and technical platforms. In other words, we&#8217;ve invested in everything we need to build the online vehicles for our content. And yet, strangely, it&#8217;s the content that gets left until the last minute. It&#8217;s the main reason projects are delayed or even abandoned. It&#8217;s an afterthought, a nuisance. Why? Because most of us haven&#8217;t yet realized that we&#8217;re actually in the publishing business. Publishers plan far in advance which content they will create. They have established, measurable processes in place. They invest in teams of professionals to create and care for content. Creating useful, usable content requires user research, strategic planning, meaningful metadata, web writing skills, and editorial oversight. It requires people. With experience. And insights. And ...]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://www.avitage.com/index.php/content-strategy-for-the-web/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Focus on the Conversation</title>
		<link>http://www.avitage.com/index.php/focus-on-the-conversation/</link>
		<comments>http://www.avitage.com/index.php/focus-on-the-conversation/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 06 Mar 2012 19:06:36 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Jim Burns</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Sales Enablement]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[collaborative selling]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[complex sale]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[content strategy]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[sales performance]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.avitage.com/?p=4787</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Scott Santucci of Forrester&#8217;s Technology Sales Enablement Group has an important blog post regarding sales conversations. (The Key To Sales Enablement Success Is To Focus On The Conversation) &#8220;A B2B sale is really the synthesis of many discrete conversations, and value is best communicated when they are focused on a common goal: solving the client&#8217;s problem. What most organizations fail to address is how complex a task it is to corral many discrete conversations into a consistent value communications strategy. To make matters even more complex, most companies have solutions that can address multiple different problems, so this set of questions must be answered for each opportunity. We all know that good conversations are dynamic, reciprocal and most effective where there is trust between the people involved in the dialog. To accomplish this, the salesperson must communicate information that is: Relevant: to the specific circumstances and realities of a given company In context: to the roles and responsibilities of the individual with whom you are having the conversation Timely: in concert with where the customer is in its problem-solving process and to the relative importance of that issue to others that could gain investment.&#8221; Key Role for Marketing If you&#8217;re in marketing, where is &#8220;helping to drive better sales conversations&#8221; on your priority list? As important as lead generation and lead nurturing are &#8212; they&#8217;re a key component of sales enablement &#8212; sales needs marketing to help them design the selling conversation. For any organization that is involved in, or desiring to move ...]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://www.avitage.com/index.php/focus-on-the-conversation/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
	</channel>
</rss>

