Best in the Industry goes right to your famous line "No one cares about your products and services except you." It's Gobbledygook words, David. Conveys nothing. Jeff Ogden

Holy Crap, David. Way to pull it out of the fire however. Maybe Seth can comment at www.fearlesscompetitor.com too. Plan, document and double-check. Jeff Ogden

A good example of the death of email, Chris, is the story of how I booked the Chief Marketing Officer of General Electric on Marketing Made Simple TV. No emails were involved. It was done 100% using Twitter. It just shows how much can be accomplished with social media today. Jeff Ogden, Creator and Host Marketing Made Simple TV http://www.marketingmadesimple.tv

Great video interview, Lisa. Good stuff on creating tension. "No pain, No Gain" is right. Jeff Ogden, Cretor and Host Marketing Made Simple TV

Great post, Scott and a very comprehensive and well-documented post on key marketing insights. Terrifically laid out with well placed imagest too. Outstanding! Jeff Ogden, Host Marketing Made Simple TV http://www.marketingmadesimple.tv

Good story, David. I agree with you that getting fired is re-invention. Over ten year ago, I was handling GE for a big software company. I was hugely successful as revenue jumped over 242% in one year. But my comp plan was not a match. I talked to a new VP "Work for me and I'll give you a new comp plan" But the old VP took offense and got me fired - for being disloyal. That was a great learning experience. Keep your nose clean and keep doing the right things. Jeff Ogden, the Fearless Competitor Creator and Host of Marketing Made Simple TV http://www.marketingmadesimple.tv

David, Your advice is timeless. Buyers could not care less about you or your products. They care only about themselves and their problems. They don't need the seller. So sellers must EARN TRUST today. Jeff Ogden Find New Customers http://www.findnewcustomers.com

I've read Jill's open letter and I know Bob well too. Jill is right in that sales without marketing is a liferaft without paddles. Companies need to embrace the principles of B2B demand generation and grow into revenue marketers today. Jeff Ogden, the Fearless Competitor Find New Customers http://www.findnewcustomers.com

Great summary of the event and key issues for B2B marketers today. Thanks for sharing it. Jeff Ogden Find New Customers Lead Generation Made Simple http://www.findnewcustomers.com

I'm sure, based on the writers, that this cookbook is excellent, but really do not like Manticore's complex form. Too many fields. I never fill out a form like that. Maybe they need a cookbook on Progressive Profiling. Jeff Ogden Find New Customers www.findnewcustomers.com

I agree with Kendra - another great article. And it points out the need again for great content, superb websites, and networking with industry experts. As you so ably point out, miss any one of those three and you pay a high price.

Great post, Steve. As I like to say, the purpose of lead scoring is to answer the question What is a good lead? But so many factors go into answering that question. Not just BANT but behaviors. Sales must give input. So you make a good point about combining all factors, adapting and getting sales on board. Jeff Ogden, President Find New Customers "Lead Generation Made Simple" http://www.findnewcustomers.com Check out our new cheat sheet 7 Keys to Successful Lead Nurturing at http://www.findnewcustomers.com/leadnurturing

Great post and I think you clearly sum up the fast changing world of sales and marketing. Self-education means a minimized but still important role of sales. Online trust is needed. The world grows more and more noisy. And funds are tight. Well said. Jeff Ogden, the Fearless Competitor Find New Customers "Lead Generation Made Simple" http://www.findnewcustomers.com

Great post and important factors to consider. One of the things I'm proud of is that visitors to Find New Customers tend to stay for an extended time and access a lot of content. That said, we could do a better job of engaging them in a story. Jeff Ogden Find New Customers www.findnewcustomers.com @fearlesscomp

Great article and I could not agree more. Buyer personas are one of the most important things B2B sellers have to develop to be successful. The more they are able to understand their prospective buyers, the more successful they will become. Jeff Ogden, the Fearless Competitor Find New Customers "Lead Generation Made Simple" http://www.findnewcustomers.com

Great post and so very true, Ardath. The crux of the problem is the inability to see email through the eyes of the customer. From the customer point of view, they see multiple email from the company, behave differently and have a change in status. But most companies only see email from their own point of view. One thing companies should do is sign themselves up for nurturing, so they can experience what a prospective customer experiences. They will see multiple emails on the same day, react and watch behavior and change their status. Happy New Year, Ardath! Jeff Ogden, the Fearless Competitor Find New Customers "Lead Generation Made Simple" www.findnewcustomers.com

Great post Ardath. If I could I'd like to amend what you wrote. "Lead nurturing is about providing the right content at the right time that addresses a problem that a prospect is focused on (or at least considering) solving." You say, but indirectly. Right info at the right time to the right person. By right person, we mean the person experiencing the problem and able to address it. Thanks for this great article. Jeff Ogden, the Fearless Competitor Find New Customers "Lead Generation Made Simple" http://www.findnewcustomers.com

Good article on a real challenge for most salespeople. They are intimidated on calling senior level executives. It's not nearly as hard as people think. If you are creative and do your homework, you can get through 80% of the time or more. Congratulations on being named a top B2B marketing blog. That’s quite an honor. I’m pleased to share the news that Fearless Competitor was also named to that great list. It’s nice to meet you. Jeff Ogden, the Fearless Competitor Find New Customers http://www.findnewcustomers.com

Love this post and it's fun to see how people change over the years. You actually did not change that much. Maybe I can dig out some of mine -- when I was not so folically challenged. Jeff Ogden, the Fearless Competitor http://www.fearlesscompetitor.com

Another great post and spot on, Ardath. Just went through a demonstration of about 8 marketing automation platforms. Found them to be 85% the same. Same features, same capabilities, etc. As a buyer, I could not differentiate them. And when one of the seller talked to us, he discussed his usual competitors, which we had eliminated. This is a huge problem for B2B sellers. They think they are unique, but they are not. Buyers cannot tell the difference. This is why the tips you suggest are so valuable. Thanks for sharing them. Jeff Ogden, President Find New Customers http://www.findnewcustomers.net

This is a great post because marketing play such as huge role in sales today. Prospects are not looking to buy -- they are looking to solve business problems. You make an excellent point that you do not have to be a great writer like Jill, but you need to be relentless in looking for and aggregating great information from many sources. If one is creative and disciplined, one can create a blog, videos, podcasts, etc. and really engage prospective buyers. Jeff Ogden, the Fearless Competitor Find New Customers http://www.findnewcustomers.net

You make an excellent point, Ardath. A registration form ought to be very, very simple -- such as first name, last name and email. If the business has decent marketing automation software, they support progressive profiling -- we can build the prospect information gradually over time. I found a horrific form like you describe on a white paper for a very, very large software firm. Interestingly, I abandoned the painful form, did a google search, and directly linked to the white paper without registration. Jeff Ogden, the Fearless Competitor www.fearlesscompetitor.com www.findnewcustomers.net www.aplicor.com www.getbacktoworkfaster.com

I confess. I'm a big Seth fan. His ability to take something very complex and distill it down to its very essence is a gift. I've read almost all of his books and look forward to this one. Jeff Ogden, the Fearless Competitor http://www.fearlesscompetitor.com

As a huge fan of content marketing and Joe, I really appreciated this article. I also liked the five keys to content marketing. This is precisely what I'm hoping to do at Aplicor. http://www.aplicor.com but I have a long and hard road ahead. Jeff Ogden, Director of Marketing, Aplicor Formerly, President, Find New Customers http://www.findnewcustomers.net