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B2B Marketing Blogs and Resources

I wanted to mention a couple of resources to find other B2B blogs. There is Marketo's Big List of B2B Marketing Blogs which I've mentioned before. Also there is BtoB Blog Roundup, where you'll find a collection of top stories from the blogosphere, as well blog directory (at the bottom). Blogs are categorized by topic (B2B, Marketing, Selling etc.). I am listed under IT Marketing. I am happy to be listed there (though I feel that I need to write more specifically about IT). I am also happy because I am an avid reader of BtoB Magazine - The Magazine for Marketing Strategists. It is the only magazine that I know of that is dedicated to B2B Marketing. If you know of any others, let me know.

Aside from their directories, Marketo's blog, and BtoB Magazine's website are great resources for B2B marketers. BtoB often runs webinars, I have attended a few, and they were good. You can view the current schedule at their events calendar

Here's a summary of the resources I listed:

Marketo's Big List of B2B Marketing Blogs - a list of B2B blogs

Marketo's blog: Modern B2B Marketing -  great advice and articles

BtoB Blog Roundup - top stories from the blogosphere and a directory of blogs

BtoB Magazine - The Magazine for Marketing - print magazine dedicated to B2B Marketing

BtoB Magazine's Website - includes articles from their print magazine, B2B Resource Guide,  B2B webcasts, and more.

I am working on a B2B resource list of my own, I'll let you know when that is available.   

Internet Marketing Resources and How I Find Time to Listen to Podcasts

Firstly, I apologize for my month and half hiatus. I've been busy and also on vacation (to Montreal and Traverse City, Michigan, in case you were curious). Fortunately I found some time to catch up on reading, and listening to podcasts.

I wanted to share with you a few Internet Marketing resources:

5000+ Resources to Do Just About Anything Online - A friend of mine sent me this link, and it looks like it has a lot of resources especially for web 2.0.  (rss, podcasts, blogging).  The next time I need to do some research, I will be looking at this more carefully. I found some of the comments at the bottom humourous though. Users complained that there was too much information, or that they started browsing and had no time left to get things done. It reminded me of Getting Things Done (GTD).  I'd like to give GTD a better introduction, but I've recently been reading this book, and have started implementing the system using Thinking Rock.  So far I think  GTD and Thinking Rock is a terrific, and will work well for me. I will write more about my personal findings about GTD  (and resources) in another post.

Internet Marketing: Insider tips and advice for Online Marketing Podcasts
I recently listened to one of these podcasts (#26 Online PR), and really enjoyed it. The style is conversational but educational and they include a lot of tips and tools.  This particular podcast covered how companies can use online PR as part of their marketing mix, and track their PR efforts. I've added this to my podcast list.

There are a great many great podcasts out there, where people share their wealth of knowledge and experience.  I have a shortlist of relevant B2B podcasts on my Podroll, which you can find on the right column of my blog. The only podcast that may not  seem as relevant is Manager Tools. However I find Manager Tools to be very relevant for anyone in Business, whether you are manager or not.  I am a manager, and have found this to be an invaluable source of information, and highly recommend it.

I use iTunes to manage my podcasts, and listen to them on the computer. But mostly I listen to my podcasts on my iPod, during my walk/subway commute to and from work (as well as during longer travels by train or plane).  It seems like the perfect timeslot during a busy day to get ideas, and catch up on the industry. While I may listen to a one-off podcast on a specific topic, I generally look for ones to listen to frequently, as this is the true meaning of a podcast. There is only so much time to afford listening to podcasts, so I subscribe to certain podcasts on iTunes.  I sometimes hear about new podcasts, that I add to the list...but if I don't find them consistently interesting and relevant, they get knocked off. It sounds a bit like survival of the fittest, but that's life right, and the only way to optimize a finite resource - your time. On that note,  I'll end here, and let you get back to the things that matter to you the most. Have a "better than good" day as sales genius Zig Ziglar would say.

Good stock business images

In the mid-nineties, I worked for a company that represented commercial illustrators. Most of the work was commissioned by advertising and design firms who needed illustrations for their client's advertising, packaging, and corporate communication projects.

Back then the word “stock” had a very negative connotation because it devalued creative work. It wasn’t very common for companies to buy stock photography or illustration. As well, since stock images were not in great demand, the selection was limited.

Today is a different story. Companies are still commissioning new work for certain projects, but stock images are in great demand. Especially for online projects where there is no time or money to create new images.

Working for a small B2B company, my creative resources are scarce. A few years back I purchased a photo service subscription for my marketing collateral needs. I liked the photos at Getty Images but found it too expensive as a pay-per-photo model. I wanted the freedom to download as many pictures that I wanted for a set yearly subscription.

Lately however, I’ve been disappointed at the selection of images at my service (especially with Information Technology themed photos). I started to see a lot of other sites popping up. Garr Reynolds at Presentation Zen has an excellent list of sites in his post “Where you can find good images”. I had a quick look at iStockphoto.com, one of the sites that Garr mentioned, and was very impressed with the quality and prices.

Interestingly iStockphoto.com is owned by Getty Images. In Business 2.0 I found an article about the giants of the stock photo business, Getty Images and Corbis. They are being challenged by a flock of tiny "microstock" agencies. In the article it explains that:

“Klein's [CEO of Getty] initial plan for dealing with the microstock revolution was to buy into it. In early 2006 Getty purchased iStockphoto for $50 million. As he tells it, the revolution is a blessing in disguise. Most of iStockphoto's customers could never have bought an image before, and many probably simply copied what they needed. If Klein can bring them in the door with iStockphoto, he might get some of them to consider Getty's better images, and to this end he'll introduce a new line of photos that is more expensive than microstock but cheaper than the company's other offerings.”

"Our aim is to provide imagery for every budget," Klein says. "I want as much share of each customer's wallet as possible." 

iStockphoto is interesting as anybody can submit their photographs and earn some revenue. They also have user reviews and ratings. As well you can see how popular images are from downloads and view statistics.

If you have the budget, you might go with the bigger guns like Getty Images, but for smaller companies, or smaller budget projects, the microstock agencies provide a great option. I’m looking forward to researching my options for good images!

Incidentally, the company that I used to work for have since changed their business to remain competitive. They expanded into the US that still commissions a lot of new creative work, and they have made a business from selling their own stock images.

Top 100 Most Influential People in IT

Baseline Magazine has posted a list of the Top 100 Most Influential People in IT. I started at #1 and went backwards. If you can resist the temptation to do what I did - start here.

Here's how they were ranked. One famous person is missing (hint: his first name rhymes with Phil).

Baseline Magazine is one of my favourite industry magazines because it gives me a high level understanding of IT business issues and solutions.  Aside from news, each issue includes a case study, project planner, primer, and vendor dossier. They have great charts, interesting facts, and statistics! View articles online or apply for the hard copy.

I get excited about when I see Baseline arrive on my desk (unlike a lot of other things).

Top 6 List of B2B Sales & Marketing Resources

Jon Miller references a great resource site Rain Today in his recent post about How to Use Thought Leadership to Build Brands and Nurture Leads.

Speaking of thought leadership - here's my top 6 list of B2B Sales & Marketing resources:

1. Rain Today- resources for selling and marketing professional services, they have a free newsletter and lots of articles, and summaries of the reports that they publish
2. Miller Heiman - a sales performance consulting company, they publish a well known sales best practices report,  and also have a free newsletter, visit their knowledge center for more info
3. SiriusDecisions  - well known and widely referenced sales and marketing research and consulting company,  you can subscribe to their free montly newsletter called SiriusPerspectives
4. Babcock & Jenkins - direct and relationship marketing agency, a lot of good content here, in fact the whole site is presented as a resource site with articles and a rss feed
5. MarketingSherpa - Resource that publishes useful news, case studies, and best practices data about internet and integrated marketing. Content is available freely for a certain amount of time, as well you can find summaries of their research reports
6. B2B related Blogs, that often go beyond the research and provide individual experiences and insight (often missing from some of the high level research)

A List of B2B Marketing Blogs

Jon Miller of Marketo has created a fantastic resource of over 50 B2B Marketing Blogs.  I am humbled to be mentioned along with so many great sites. It has given me a burst of energy to keep at this thing :)

Have a peak to see what others are saying about B2b Marketing and Sales.

Top Ten Marketing Podcasts by Guy Kawasaki

This is a fine list of podcasts compiled by Guy Kawasaki. Hear experts discuss the impact of social media on marketing. Thinking about adding blogging, podcasting, social media, to your marketing mix? These podcasts are a good place to start. Don't think that these new mediums are for consumer marketing only, there is a great opportunity for B2B Marketers too...think about engaging and educating your customers and prospects, building your brand and loyalty, even lead generation if done right. Listen Now!

Make sure to listen to Seth Godin's podcast where he talks about his new book  Small Is the New Big: and 183 Other Riffs, Rants, and Remarkable Business Ideas. It is actually an old book as he describes - it is a compilation of his blog posts. The book is filled with examples of how you can be "remarkable", and break through the barriers in your organization or business. A great book for ideas, hey, it inspired me to start writing this blog. More information on Seth Godin can be found here, including excepts from his books and free ebooks.