Nancy Jacobs on B2B Marketing and Communications

Any ideas of what to do while working through the holidays?

2009-12-14T16:50:00.001-05:00

I've used up my vacation time and like many, will be working through the holiday season. I usually spend my time calling on prospective clients or updating current clients. So I find myself making a list of things I can do in the office, by myself, that will help our company move forward and not bore me to sleep. Perhaps there are online courses? Books to read? I need to be careful that what I am doing isn't just about making me smarter, it's about my learning for the sake of making the company stronger. With that... I ask you for your suggestions of something meaningful I can do over 3 - 4 weeks? Maybe there is a course you know of? Books to read? Make a plan for new calls every day in 2010?

Maybe attend Harvard (yes... the real one) extension school online? Work towards a masters degree? Doubtful there is a course during holiday break but you never know.

http://www.extension.harvard.edu/management/default.jsp

Any ideas as to what I could do??

Could Eating at McDonald's Help Save the Environment?

2009-12-02T14:12:00.000-05:00

My colleague sent me a document today entitled "Global Best of Green 2009. Building Better Business through Effective Environment Practices Across the World" with the McDonald's golden arches logo beneath.

This had to be a joke circling the net. No, it was real. Then the NY'er in me oozed freely as I glanced through it. Of course I viewed it with significant skepticism.

I soon started writing a blog on how stupid they must be if they expected us to believe them. Come on, McDonald's claiming to be green? I read their ebook looking for specific examples where they were trying to fool me. I began dissecting suspiciously written sentences. I looked at the shiny happy people photographed throughout the document and said to myself, "You can't fool me!"

I finished reading. I'm now considering buying stock in McDonalds. Did I simply drink their McMarketing or could McDonald's actually be a model for fast food truly going green?

You be the judge and post your opinions.

I like Wordle & Prezi

2009-12-01T10:08:00.003-05:00

There were two free tools I found interesting while attending last night’s American Society for Training & Development (ASTD) Atlanta’s SIG about “Cheap Tricks and Cool Tips.”

1) Wordle is a toy for generating “word clouds” from text that you provide. The clouds give greater prominence to words that appear more frequently in the source text. You can tweak your clouds with different fonts, layouts, and color schemes. The images you create with Wordle are yours to use however you like. You can print them out, or save them to the Wordle gallery to share with your friends.

2) Prezi is a new presentation tool designed as an alternative to PowerPoint. I'm always amazed when folks develop a truly innovative and useful product yet they can't talk about it effectively in a few words. Their tag line is “Prezi is zooming sketches on a digital napkin.” Just with that, I don't get it. Maybe I'm wrong and the rest of the world understands based on that. My daughter will tell you that I could very well be completely wrong and everyone understands but me. However, my personal opinion is that their marketing materials discuss everything but a truly informative ‘elevator pitch’. I needed to watch their video to understand the benefits of Prezi. I agree it’s cool and could be very effective. Although I’m still left not being able to explain it to others - yet I want to because I think it's worth a good look. Also, a video would be an effective tutorial showing how it’s easy to get started. I don’t know about you but a ‘blank canvas’ to get started scares me. Is it truly blank? If it’s easy, I would hope there are point and click options. Will I test it to find out? Probably because the ultimate results are promising and I do want to know. However, I shouldn’t have to work that hard to find out.

ABOUT ASTD & ASTD ATLANTA
The American Society for Training and Development (ASTD) is the world's largest non-profit association for training and development professionals, with over 55,000 members worldwide.

The Greater Atlanta Chapter of ASTD, established in 1955, is one of the five largest ASTD Chapters with nearly 600 members. We are a regional, non-profit association of workplace performance professionals, providing our members with a forum for the exchange of professional development opportunities and resources as they strive to improve workplace learning and performance.

SunTrust IABC Flame Winner 2009

2009-11-30T14:45:00.002-05:00

Suntrust tasked us, Realm Advertising, with creating an anthem video that could be used to close a management meeting and subsequently be shared throughout the company for use at local meetings.

The challenge was to create a video that inspired through thoughtful reflection and not merely through adrenaline - they wanted something different. We are a grateful agency for such an ambitious client!

B2B Twitterer of the Year Awards Program

2009-11-24T09:18:00.002-05:00

I’m proud to announce that I'm overseeing the judging panel and protocols for the B2B Twitterer of the Year Awards Program. Now in its second year, the B2B Twitterer of the Year (B2BTOTY) Award recognizes B2B organizations for outstanding contributions in practicing, promoting, and/or enhancing business via the micro-blogging sensation Twitter.

Unlike social media "popularity contests," the B2B Twitterer of the Year award is awarded to qualified, nominated entities. The judging is performed by a panel of experienced B2B veterans, and the focus on B2B only. It's not about how many followers you have, or how many tweets your tweet. It's about creating a community and the value a B2B entity brings to it.

In addition to B2B “companies”, there is a category for "Boss Tweet" B2B Personality – This award is based on an individual, not a company and is meant to recognize a B2B professional who goes “above and beyond” their employer’s brand and truly serves the B2B community. It's called "Boss Tweet" after our little blue mascot, but you don't have to be the "boss" to be nominated. Any B2B professional who tweets may be a candidate. Like the other categories, this will be judged by some of the panel and is not award based on popularity or votes.

The deadline for submissions is Friday, December 18, 2009. There is no fee for submissions.

http://www.b2btoty.com/

2008 Winner - United Linen

United Linen & Uniform Services (http://twitter.com/UnitedLinen) of Bartlesville, Oklahoma is a 73-year old family run business with 120 employees and 20 more across Oklahoma, Kansas, and Arkansas. The company cleans 15 million pounds of laundry every year, from uniforms to napkins and welcome mats. They also have a blog and a Facebook fan page.

Scott Townsend, United Linen's Marketing Director and a 10-year employee, is the brain and brawn behind @UnitedLinen and is sitting on the judging panel for this year's awards.

United Linen, a regional company, was chosen as "B2B Twitterer of the Year" in 2008 in recognition that it seized a promising tool and applied it to their world. Most business communicators have certainly never heard of them, but it's not about being the "bon vivant" of the digital crowd, it's about someone trying new things to grow a business and foster dialog their customers.

"Having been named the B2B Twitterer of the Year last year was both unexpected and validating. It was an honor to be recognized for our B2B efforts via Twitter. I encourage everyone applying Twitter in their B2B marketing mix to compete for this meritorious award."

Writing my bio morphed into a blog post introducing my quest to uncover any gold nuggets for B2B buried within Twitter

2009-11-23T12:16:00.001-05:00

Nancy is currently defying the recession as Director of Business Development at Realm Advertising in Atlanta, GA. She believes that this down economy is the best time for Realm to grow its business and joined the agency in January 2009 to do just that. With the year almost over, they are enjoying a few new B2B clients to their already impressive roster including UPS, LexisNexis, SunTrust Bank, Georgia-Pacific and many more of Georgia’s largest companies.

Nancy hails from the Jersey Shore (Exit 109) and spent most of her professional career at the center of Silicon Alley during the height of the dotcoms. Launching the conference division at Jupiter Communications put Nancy at the heart of such then start-ups as AOL, DoubleClick, CNET, eBay, Google, Amazon, and so many others. During that time, if you put a .com next to your name and went public, you were a seemingly instant millionaire. Nancy left the Alley right at the halt of wild valuations – before it was called the crash of the dot com bubble. Companies who were 10 years ahead of their time, such as Pseudo Programs streaming original 'radio' and then 'TV' content in 1999, popped with all the others. Being a dot com was suddenly the kiss of death.

The age of social technology has many similarities in that it has the power to significantly change the way businesses communicate with one another. In 1999, Madison Avenue wouldn’t give online advertising even a blink of recognition. Most people thought DoubleClick’s founder, Kevin O’Connor, was absolutely crazy going against Madison Avenue. We all know what happened with that story. What’s the impact social technology going to have on B2B. LinkedIn in has already defined itself as a place for groups and data mining. Facebook could easily be the replacement for traditional websites. What will be Twitters place in the world of B2B? She’s not sure. However, Nancy’s insatiable curiosity will hopefully uncover any gold nuggets for B2B buried within Twitter.

"Defy the Recession" Manifesto & Movement

2009-11-19T09:37:00.001-05:00

1. Promise to see possibilities where others blindly accept problems.

2. Refuse to comply with naysayers, prophets of doom, Chicken Littles, doubting Thomases and other glass-half-empty types.

3. Make even smaller molehills out of molehills.

4. Refuse to give in to the hype.

5. Choose to be agile rather than afraid.

6. Shake a fist, make an angry face and spit loudly when the words recession, economic downturn, slump and crisis are heard.

7. Promise to work smarter and opt in to success.

8. Draw a handlebar mustache and glasses on the face of the recession, if it had one.

9. Don’t just survive, flourish.

10. Make really great lemonade.

Have we missed anything? Please post!

Response to Harvard Business Publishing post "What's Your Strategy for the Next Decade?"

2009-11-17T17:22:00.003-05:00

This post from Harvard Business Publishing is one of the few posts that had my attention to the end, only to be disappointed when it ended with an empty metaphor. Skyhooks, cranes & bootstrapping? Okay... give some examples of each and then defend your bootstrapping position, please.

We believe if companies do nothing, essentially have their head in the sand, they'll suffocate. We believe if they are well capitalized they can right size and move slowly & steadily to win.

We know that companies are still spending. We also know that companies are no longer spending based simply on relationships. Nothing is sacred. Everything is being reevaluated.

THIS is the best time for new business development to aim even higher than before. Pass over the deer and shoot for the whales. Call on relationships that previously would never have given you the time of day.

Why? NOW, they want to see who else is out there. If you are smarter, faster, less expensive and can deliver the goods you will gain new clients... the whales. Our defiance started movement here in Atlanta. This is our manifesto.

"Defy the Recession" Manifesto & Movement

1. Promise to see possibilities where others blindly accept problems.

2. Refuse to comply with naysayers, prophets of doom, Chicken Littles, doubting Thomases and other glass-half-empty types.

3. Make even smaller molehills out of molehills.

4. Refuse to give in to the hype.

5. Choose to be agile rather than afraid.

6. Shake a fist, make an angry face and spit loudly when the words recession, economic downturn, slump and crisis are heard.

7. Promise to work smarter and opt in to success.

8. Draw a handlebar mustache and glasses on the face of the recession, if it had one.

9. Don’t just survive, flourish.

10. Make really great lemonade.

B2B New Business Development - I Am Not a Stalker

2009-11-17T10:17:00.002-05:00

While on Twitter this morning, I came across a prospective B2B client located near our office. I felt so cool. When calling him, I proudly told him I found him on Twitter.

However, that completely contradicts how I approach people who I find via LinkedIn. At all costs, I avoid telling people I found them on LinkedIn as I fear that s/he will think I'm stalking them. I am many things however, I promise you that am not a stalker.

In addition to sharing information within groups, I believe LinkedIn is a great data mining tool and it’s simply not remarkable to find them there. However, being on Twitter and being found on Twitter to actually conduct business is pretty amazing in the B2B space today.

When making those cold calls, any possibility of being perceived as amazing drives me to announce I found them on Twitter. Actually, it's a win-win as that person should feel really good about being found on Twitter.

So that's it. I thought I would share my newly developed egocentric perspective – as warped as it may be.

Twitter List: **102* B2B Corporations on Twitter & Growing Rapidly

2009-11-11T13:42:00.010-05:00

Help add to this growing list.

Please comment below with any names of B2B companies are on Twitter.

Don't forget to follow this list!

http://twitter.com/B2BCorpComm/b2b-brand-central-station

Entering the Twittershpere for B2B Business Development

2009-11-11T10:30:00.000-05:00

More than once I’ve been rightfully accused of being easily distracted by dangling strings of yarn and shiny new objects. When Twitter first came out, the opportunity was ripe to suck me into the ether. However, at first glance Twitter seemed like a shorter and less relevant form of instant messaging to and from the world. The noise was deafening. And for my business development efforts, it didn’t have an ounce of value. I took two aspirin and went back to work.

A few months later, I heard a talk from the 60 Second Marketer at a BMA Atlanta conference and was pleasantly surprised.
This guy with a gimmicky name actually had applicable new information and case studies about using social media for business marketing. Even more surprising to me, I still think about his talk and guess what? I will never forget his name – The 60 Second Marketer. Although I can’t remember his ‘real’ name, I know I can find his website with just a few keystrokes. Two points for him.

For the past week, I’ve been playing around with Twitter to figure out if I could use it for new business development. I’m not paid to get smarter; I’m paid to bring in new clients. I searched for prospective clients by company name and came up empty. I searched for key people at these companies and again, came up empty. Then I realized searching by name was going to be useless as they were probably using some CB handle-like name. (You’ve just dated yourself if you even know what I’m talking about good buddy!)

Okay, time to go down a different road. What were other people like me doing?
I searched for B2B and got enough hits to get me going. Next thing I know I’ve populated my following with industry associations, publishers, consultants, and other agencies. I thought eventually I would find some prospective clients here but until then, I would read and make mental notes on how others were utilizing Twitter for business.

A few things happened this week while immersing myself in the wondrous world of Twitter. I found links to articles that I believed were relevant for my prospective clients. Without thinking about business development, I sent these links along for the simple fact that I thought each person would be genuinely interested. Next thing I knew, I realized I had evolved from being a dog-and-pony show to someone with value. (PETA – no dogs or ponies were hurt during my presentations)

Twitter is now my headline news feed. I look ahead by following wisely. I prune as often as required to maintain the quality of my reading. I don’t look behind me. I really don’t care who follows me although I feel compelled to protect my tweets and just keep it to industry folks. I listen. I think. When appropriate I share through retweets (RT) or email my prospective client community not yet in the Twittersphere.