A panel of social media experts will discuss how business-to-business organizations can effectively use social media strategy to help achieve business goals MINNEAPOLIS--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The Minnesota chapter of the Business Marketing Association (BMA-Minnesota) will host a panel discussion on how business-to-business (B2B) marketers can use social media to boost their performance metrics and support a customer-centric business model. The session will be held on March 11, 2009 at the Metropolitan Ballroom & Clubroom in St. Louis Park, Minn. from 8 a.m. to 9 a.m. Featuring local social media experts, the session will provide an overview of social networking sites, search engine optimization and emerging new media to watch for as well as discuss what’s working, what’s not and what’s here to stay within the social media universe. Moderated by Beth Fischer, market research advisor from The TCI Group , panelists include: Mark Palony, marketing manager of SAP Soluti...

Note: this is a guest post from Cece Salomon-Lee , social media relations expert and author of the PR Meets Marketing blog. Cece has previously guest-posted here on best practices in PR and blogging outreach . Virtual events have received a lot of attention recently as an effective way to communicate with your audiences without the costs associated with an in-person event. One argument against virtual events is that you would lose the intimacy that face-to-face interactions provide. Proponents state that social networking technology can help promote similar interactions in a virtual environment. I recently wrote that virtual events aren't necessarily the answer to replacing physical events. The same goes for social media technology. In this case, social media isn't only for virtual events. For example, the TED and South by Southwest (SXSW) events are known for their innovative use of technology to engage audiences—both in person and online—with the events themselves. ...

This content has been moved to Best of 2008: Sales & Marketing Copywriting on the Webbiquity blog. ***** technorati tags: how to write more effective marketing and sales copy, copywriting, Self SEO, Lisa Packer, GrokDotCom, Jeff Sexton, Copyblogger, Brian Clark, Ford, Scott Monty, Inigo Montoya, StraightUpSearch, Marketing Tips Blog, Jenn Blanchard, Chris Garrett, Angela Booth del.icio.us tags: how to write more effective marketing and sales copy, copywriting, Self SEO, Lisa Packer, GrokDotCom, Jeff Sexton, Copyblogger, Brian Clark, Ford, Scott Monty, Inigo Montoya, StraightUpSearch, Marketing Tips Blog, Jenn Blanchard, Chris Garrett, Angela Booth icerocket tags: how to write more effective marketing and sales copy, copywriting, Self SEO, Lisa Packer, GrokDotCom, Jeff Sexton, Copyblogger, Brian Clark, Ford, Scott Monty, Inigo Montoya, StraightUpSearch, Marketing Tips Blog, J...

This content has been moved to Best of 2008: SEO Keyword Tips & Tools on the Webbiquity blog. ***** technorati tags: keyword research for SEO, PPC, Hamlet Batista, SEOmoz, Practical eCommerce, Jeff Muendel, Bruce Clay, Virginia Nussey, Christine Churchill, Ariel Bardin, Marty Weintraub, Frank Levert, Search Engine Watch, Mark Jackson, Search Engine Journal, Ann Smarty, synonym search, social media, keyword suggestion tools del.icio.us tags: keyword research for SEO, PPC, Hamlet Batista, SEOmoz, Practical eCommerce, Jeff Muendel, Bruce Clay, Virginia Nussey, Christine Churchill, Ariel Bardin, Marty Weintraub, Frank Levert, Search Engine Watch, Mark Jackson, Search Engine Journal, Ann Smarty, synonym search, social media, keyword suggestion tools icerocket tags: keyword research for SEO, PPC, Hamlet Batista, SEOmoz, Practical eCommerce, Jeff Muendel, Bruce Clay, Virginia Nussey,...

This content has been moved to Three Tips for Optimizing SEM Programs on the Webbiquity blog. ***** technorati tags: search engine marketing, SEM, Google AdWords, organic search, landing pages, keyword lists, SEO traffic, long-tail terms del.icio.us tags: search engine marketing, SEM, Google AdWords, organic search, landing pages, keyword lists, SEO traffic, long-tail terms icerocket tags: search engine marketing, SEM, Google AdWords, organic search, landing pages, keyword lists, SEO traffic, long-tail terms Contact Tom Pick: tomATwebmarketcentralDOTcom

First off, this post will not be a political rant, just an appeal to common sense. The U.S. House has passed the economic stimulus package, officially known as the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (that's a link to the full 647-page PDF document, which isn't as easy to find as you might think). The non-partisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO) has estimated the total cost of the bill at $3.27 trillion over the next ten years, making this by orders of magnitude the largest spending bill in history. The Senate is poised to vote on the bill as well. Given the magnitude and complexity of the bill, the only responsible course of action at this point is to give both congress and the American public some time (the bill was not publicly posted until 11:00 p.m. last evening) to examine the legislation, comment, and then act in a thoughtful and informed manner. Regardless of your political persuasion, you can't possibly state categorically that you are in fa...

This content has been moved to Best of 2008: Email Marketing Tips on the Webbiquity blog. ***** technorati tags: how to increase open rates for email newsletters, common email marketing mistakes, secrets to writing killer email subject lines, email marketing strategy, Web Worker Daily, Dian Schaffhauser, MineThatData, Kevin Hillstrom, Marketing Tips Blog, Mike Alvero, SEOmoz, Rebecca Kelley, iMedia Connection, Chris Marriott, Leah Messinger, Email Marketing Reports, Mark Brownlow, VerticalResponse, Janine Popick del.icio.us tags: how to increase open rates for email newsletters, common email marketing mistakes, secrets to writing killer email subject lines, email marketing strategy, Web Worker Daily, Dian Schaffhauser, MineThatData, Kevin Hillstrom, Marketing Tips Blog, Mike Alvero, SEOmoz, Rebecca Kelley, iMedia Connection, Chris Marriott, Leah Messinger, Email Marketing Reports, ...

This content has been moved to Best of 2008: Web Analytics on the Webbiquity blog. ***** technorati tags: web analytics, marketing program design, FutureNow, Melissa Burdon, NxtERA Marketing Blog, Elana Anderson, Web Worker Daily, Samuel Dean, Piwik, Visitorville, Google Analytics Advanced Segments, limeshot design, MotionPoint, SEOptimise, Richard Fergie, Google Insights, Practical eCommerce, Armando Roggio, KISSmetrics, Derek Collins del.icio.us tags: web analytics, marketing program design, FutureNow, Melissa Burdon, NxtERA Marketing Blog, Elana Anderson, Web Worker Daily, Samuel Dean, Piwik, Visitorville, Google Analytics Advanced Segments, limeshot design, MotionPoint, SEOptimise, Richard Fergie, Google Insights, Practical eCommerce, Armando Roggio, KISSmetrics, Derek Collins icerocket tags: web analytics, marketing program design, FutureNow, Melissa Burdon, NxtERA Marketing Blog, El...

SEO consultant or sales pro? Most people probably have two very different mental images of those professions. And in all honesty, if you met one individual of each stripe at a party, you could likely figure out who worked in which role fairly quickly. Yet the two professions do share several common attributes and requirements. 1. Address the needs of multiple "buyers." B2B sales people know all about this one—they rarely have the luxury of selling to only one individual. Usually the sales person must sell at least to the actual user of a product or service plus his or her boss; and often must sell to some combination of the CFO, CIO and CEO as well. SEO consultants have a similar challenge. They must first "sell" a website to the search engines—using onsite techniques like title tags, headings and proper keyword density in the copy plus external link building—in order to get the site ranked within the first few search results. They must then "sell" ...