More than nine out of ten B2B marketers (93%) say they conduct social media marketing to some extent and cite LinkedIn as their single most important social channel, according to a new report from BtoB Online.

Among surveyed B2B marketers who conduct social marketing, 26% cite LinkedIn as their single most important social tool, 20% cite Facebook, 19% cite blogging, and 14% cite a customer community as their top tool.

Some 13% of B2B marketers cite Twitter as their most important social tool, and 7% cite YouTube.

Below, other findings from BtoB Online’s report, Emerging Trends in B2B Social Marketing:  Insights from the Field.

Saving money is not a matter of math. You will not save money when you get that next raise. You will not save money when that car is paid off. You will not save money when the kids are grown. You will only save money when it becomes an emotional priority.

We all know we need to save, but most people don’t save like they know they need to save. Why? Because they have competing goals. The goal to save isn’t a high enough priority to delay that purchase of the pizza, DVD player, new computer, or china cabinet. So we purchase, buy, consume all our dollars away or, worse yet, go into debt to buy these things. That debt means monthly payments that control our paychecks and make us say things like, “We just don’t make enough to save any money!” Wrong, wrong, wrong! We do make enough to save money; we just aren’t willing to quit spoiling ourselves with our little projects or pleasures to have enough left to save. I don’t care what you make—you can save money. It just has to become a big enough priority to you.

If a doctor told you that your child was dying and could only be saved with a $15,000 operation that your insurance would not cover and could only be performed nine months from today, could you save $15,000? Yes! Of course you could! You would sell things, you would stop any spending that wasn’t required to survive, and you would take two extra jobs. For that short nine months, you would become a saving madman (or madwoman). You would give up virtually anything to accomplish that $15,000 goal. Saving would become a priority.

The secret to saving? Focused emotion. The secret to saving money is to make it a priority, and that is done only when you get some healthy anger or fear and then focus that emotion on your personal decisions. Harnessing that emotion will make you move yourself to the top of your creditor list. Then ask yourself, “Which bill is the most important? After tithing, who should I pay first this month?” The answer is you! Until you pay God first, then yourself, then everyone and everything else, you will never save money.

The advertisers and marketing community are affecting our emotions every day and taking every dollar we have by making us see our wants as needs. It is time for this to stop! Emotions make great slaves, but they are lousy masters. No matter how educated or sophisticated we are, if we are not saving all we should be, we are being ruled by emotions, not harnessing them as financial planning slaves.

So whether you are saving for college tuition, a trip to the family reunion, new school clothes for little Bobby or Sally, or anything else, start saving now! It’s never too late!

Times are changing, and changing with them is how businesses connect with their customers. Technology has made public relations and marketing more effective, and at the same time more complicated, and being up to date on these techniques can make or break a business in this modern world. Internet marketing has become a huge part of the business world, so huge in fact that so many websites run based solely off of the money they make from advertising space.

Take Facebook as an example, which takes it a internet marketing a step further and uses social media marketing to help companies and products grow. Facebook can look at what things people “like” or what people say their interests are on their profile and cater the advertisements people see directly based on these observations. For example I recently updated my profile to say I enjoy playing golf and I suddenly have golf advertisements on the side of my page. This method is far more effective than assuming everyone watching ESPN will want to buy beer or men’s hygiene products and therefore advertising for them on the station. Not only can companies use Facebook to market their products, but they can also use it to build public relations. Many companies have created their own Facebook pages where consumers can go to get updates on new product, ask questions, and even express their opinions about the company and what they do. Having these pages also acts as free advertising for companies, as people can see when their friends like a page and because of that may be inclined to go check it out for themselves.

Another way to do this is to start a blog that allows consumers to ask questions that can be answered by members in the company. By allowing individuals to ask specific questions people can get the answers they really want, while the company can work to build better rapport with their customers. This also allows for potential consumers to get in touch with current consumers who may be able to recommend your product.

As the tech savvy young people of today continue to grow into the clientele of tomorrow it is important that companies keep up with the times by using internet as well as social media marketing to reach these potential consumers. By using these public relations techniques companies can continue to survive and thrive in this hi tech world.

With the growing popularity of the internet as an essence to many ways of life, businesses are beginning to utilize the internet and all of its abundant resources to benefit their advertisement and crowd to whom they sell to. Over the last decade, there has been a rapid growth in the amount of use and ease of access to social media. Sites such as “Facebook”, “Twitter”, and “Linkedin” have paved the way for this rise in the significance of social media.

Such a strong rise in the usage of such sites have struck businesses; provoking new ideas and methods of effective marketing, truly ideal for this rise in technology and reliance on the virtual world. Businesses have noticed this new opportunity and many have taken advantage of such a playing field, testing and utilizing diverse methods in hopes of achieving the best solution. Social Media Marketing has become a new open territory for businesses to explore.

Internet marketing has always been a big part of the world wide web itself, allowing companies to achieve a wider geographically sound customer base. With such a significant rise recently in the utilization of social media, companies have begun to stretch their internet presence to such markets such as these as well. An effective social media marketing plan is the key step to having a successful usage of time and money through such markets. The first part of deriving this plan is to have an understanding of the company’s customer. Knowing the typical age, wealth, and hobbies of the customer is very significant towards the long run of solid advertisement.

With this new knowledge, one can target the typical lifestyle of the typical customer, finding ways to intertwine the product, with advertisement, into the customer’s everyday life. The social media site “Facebook” is great with taking the hobbies or interests of a person and then matching advertisements on the side that apply to that particular user’s interests. With an active account on “Twitter” a company can update its customers with new information or sales. “Linkedin” does an effective job to connect people to work for the greater good of solving a problem or opening new connections in the job market.

There are many popular social media sites that can work to provide great marketing opportunities, but sometimes a community moderator is necessary to see the impact the social media page has on the area and potential and existing customers. Ideas executed adequately in social media can have a positive effect on a business.

Business owners know that it is important to keep up with marketing trends. Social media marketing is the tool that business owners can use to promote their business. There are many benefits to using this new form of marketing that other forms of marketing do not have.

Outbound Marketing

Outbound marketing uses marketing methods that many people are familiar with. These forms of marketing include, but are not limited to: email blasts, advertisement, cold calling, trade shows, and telemarketing. Outbound marketing has proven to be successful for many business owners; however, many business owners understand that it takes a lot of time and hard work for these methods to pay off.

Outbound marketing methods are hit-or-miss because they do not target certain audiences. In other words, the company is promoted to people who may or may not be looking for its product. Even though outbound marketing is hit-or-miss, a lot of the methods are expensive to utilize, and thus, not worth a lot of a business owner’s time or money.

Inbound marketing

Inbound marketing uses marketing methods like social media and internet marketing to target specific audiences. In reality, social media gives a business owner instant warm leads. With inbound marketing, people control what kinds of advertisements they see. A business owner that effectively uses social media marketing will see an increased amount of traffic to their business. Sites like Facebook allow a business owner to create a business profile that, with proper promotion, can be seen by millions of people.

Social sites like Facebook and Twitter focus on relationships. Social media marketing allows the opportunity for people to share a business profile that they like with their friends. Because of this, it is possible for a company to go “viral” among potential customers.

Many business owners are realizing the potential of social media marketing, and they are taking advantage of it while it is still new. Soon, internet marketing and social media marketing will be another outdated method, and the companies that utilized social media early in its life will still profit from it.

It is important for you to understand how important it is to use internet marketing. If you do not use social media, your competition will take advantage of it and profit. To be successful with social media, you need to establish your brand before your competition. Your loyal customers will give you free word of mouth advertising, which is the best kind of marketing.

“For the one who continues, failure becomes impossible, and winning

becomes inevitable.” —Mike Dooley

COMMENT: That doesn’t mean there won’t be some detours along the way, but they are not failures, they are just part of the journey.  And, I want you to accept that.  When you own the attitude of winning, in spite of circumstances, you definitely will win.  Too many people use the road bumps as a reason for not going on.  Don’t ever let that happen to you.  Big goals require big effort, but that is part of the joy of the journey.  Another thing happens when you pursue your goals with the intention of winning, and that is that other very favorable circumstances will appear along the way.  It’s like the Universe is watching you and then rewarding you for keeping on keeping on.  So – since you are definitely a winner – go for it.

Helen Keller is a great American hero who overcame her disabilities to achieve great success.

“When we do the best that we can, we never know what miracle is wrought in our life, or in the life of another.” —Helen Keller

COMMENT:  Helen Keller keeps on giving us encouragement based on all that she went through.  She learned the hard way, but is letting us know that miracles really do happen when we keep growing.  And therein lies the secret to the wonderful life – growing!!!  And, it isn’t just about you.  Your successes will have an impact not only on your life, but also on the lives of people you will never meet.  Sometimes it will be your great attitude in a certain situation that sets the example that somebody carries with them the rest of their life.  The bottom line is that when you keep growing by working at being the very best you can be, you will be serving your purpose for being here – and life will be a blast.

Have a Great Day!!!

With Love,  Willie

Social media marketing is the latest advertising technique that is sweeping the Internet. Businesses are discovering that in order to compete in today’s growing marketplace, they have jump on this technological bandwagon. There are four must haves for a business to successfully implement a social media plan.

1. Develop a Blog. A blog is the best Internet marketing tool because it offers updates on areas of your business’s expertise. Additionally, blogs are great for search engine optimization (SEO) because they are updated frequently and constant daily hits due to the updating and search engines will review a blog frequently.
2. Set up a Facebook Page. Having a Facebook fan page allows a business to advertise current promotions or upcoming sales and events. Additionally, fans and followers of the business and products can keep abreast of company activities and add comments to the fan page.
3. Set up a Twitter Page. Creating a Twitter page is a great way for businesses to directly communicate with their prospects and clients. Additionally, clients can pose questions or easily find out information from the business. Twitter can be used as a low cost marketing tool for communicating business related information, to attain new clients and generate more revenue.
4. Create a Profile on LinkedIn. LinkedIn is a popular networking tool which provides business professional with a means to network or “connect” with other professionals in the same field or to form strategic partnerships with professionals in complimentary fields.

If a business wants to compete in today’s technology driven marketplace then they have to modify their means of communication and way of doing business to accommodate social media interaction. Social media is used as a tool to stay connected with consumers via the internet; knowing that the internet is a powerful tool for communication. Social media is seen as a means to maintain a sound relationship with existing customers while simultaneously reaching potential customers.

The use of social media to connect with prospects and clients is giving businesses a competitive edge. Those who shy away from such technology will leave the door open for their competition to step in and take over. Social media is here and it does not seem to be slowing down anytime soon. Now is the time to jump on board this new technology train and see how far it will take you.

In the 21st Century information age of Google, Facebook, Twitter and iPhones being connected and having a web presence is a must. If you have a business whether it be in its infancy or well established opportunities for growth exist online. Every business especially those that provide services to the public, Realtors, Mortgage Brokers, Lawyers just to name a few should have a web presence. You need a website to attract customers in the new millennium. But having a website alone might not be enough? To increase traffic one needs to be engaged in Internet marketing more so than just being listed on Google and placing ads. Social networking sites are a great way to form a fresh young client base. Facebook and Twitter are sites consumers are using to connect to their favorite brands. One of the best ways to provide constant updates on your business, your products or services on social networking sites is to maintain a blog.

A blog? Isn’t that for political and news junkies and teenage girls who follow celebrity crushes and entertainment news? Is it really for a business? Absolutely! Businesses are catching on to the world of blogging. Blogs are for everything and are for everyone! Many blogs look professional and offer updates on areas of your business’s expertise. A stock broker or agency may write about the pulse of the market. Real Estate agents will often give tips and feedback to buyers and sellers, show market trends in the price of houses. As a business you are offering something free, a sample of your services online to everyone to establish both a rapport and a sense that you are the expert. The idea is for the consumer to remember this and in return offer you their business. The goal is to establish a sense of credibility so the next time the consumer whom browses your site needs a service they come to you in trust.

A blog is the best Internet marketing tool because updates and posts can automatically be posted to Twitter and Facebook. Both Blogger and WordPress are free services that have great hosting abilities and plenty of templates. In addition with just a click of a button the latest post is added to your Facebook page with a description and picture. It will even update your Twitter status using the title of the post and link to article. This is an automatic way to increase traffic. Twitter is the ultimate free traffic maximizer! It is a system in which people follow you have your Tweets updated on their homepage. You could have thousands of people seeing your new post every day. If you do Twitter right it is easy to get a couple thousand of followers within a few weeks.

Additionally, blogs are great for search engine optimization (SEO) because they often have more posts and constant daily hits due to the updating search engines tend to pick them up faster. A blog is a must for extreme traffic and sales!

Most people have a personal Facebook page set up which allows them to communicate and interact with their friends and

Facebook pages are a great way for businesses to communicate their message and connect with their clients.

family.  However, many businesses are not taking advantage of this marketing tool and setting up a Facebook fan page for their business.  Having a Facebook fan page allows a business to advertise current promotions or upcoming sales and events.  Additionally, fans and followers of the business and products can keep abreast of company activities and add comments to the fan page.

This type of interaction creates a relationship between the customer and business.  Additionally, research reveals that customers are more likely to buy from a business or sales professional that they feel comfortable with and they can trust.

Facebook provides many opportunities to generate interest in a business. By attracting fans, a business can have access to up to 5,000 people. A business can update fans on new products or news and include links to the information they want to spread the word about.  Additionally, a business can send marketing messages, offers and other lead magnets to their target market to persuade them to “like” their fan page. A business will then have access to their target market.

Facebook has some additional benefits that many of the other social media networking sites do not.  Facebook allows users to post pictures, video, links and longer posts.  Additionally, fans will able to access a business’s post for up to five years.

With so many powerful ways to build traffic using Facebook, marketers cannot ignore this medium of generating sales. However, attracting clients and prospects via Facebook can be quite time consuming. Fortunately, there are numerous services and tools that can automate many of the tasks that would take an undue amount of time to complete if they were all being done manually.  Furthermore, Facebook is also a very inexpensive way to promote products or services. A business with a lot of fans will result in simple and easy promotions.

If a business wants to compete in today’s technology driven marketplace then they have to modify their means of communication and way of doing business to accommodate social media interaction.  Social media is used as a tool to stay connected with consumers via the internet; knowing that the internet is a powerful tool for communication. Social media is seen as a means to maintain a sound relationship with existing customers while simultaneously reaching potential customers.

Evan Klassen sings Just the Way You Are by Bruno Mars

This is my friend, Evan Klassen with a really well done video of his cover on Bruno Mars’ beautiful song, Just The Way You Are.

Great job Evan!

Click here to view the embedded video.