Top 2011 Blog Posts that will Help You Excel in 2012

We all go into battle every day. Some of the lone wolves think they can do this by themselves. Yet, marketing professional services is a team sport. Think of your efforts as creating a collective and relying on the team for the skills they bring to the table. This post is intended to help you help the team. In doing this, you will excel next year.  2011 is almost at a close, and it’s that time of year when most of us reflect on the year gone by. What’s worked? What hasn’t? What should we start thinking about for 2012? Here at the Insight for Marketing blog that means taking stock of blog posts and topics from the year to find out what topics and issues are speaking to all of you.

Proposals 2012: How to Win More Clients

In the event that the coming year is the time for you to throw a business proposal or two out there on a regular basis, keep several factors in mind.

Six Reasons Why You Should Hire a Consultant

Whether you should be looking at a consultant for marketing, business development or in the case of this article, public relations, the reasons for retaining outside services are the same.

Senior Managers are Biggest Roadblock to Effective Internal Communication, Survey Says (originally published on May 25)
Challenges with senior management is the reason many internal communicators pull back from what they believe to be the appropriate course of action, according to a recent survey by the Institute of Internal Communication (IoIC). Among those surveyed, 45 percent said senior managers are a major block to progress in key areas of their development. (Read more.)

What is Branding and what does the mind have to do with it?

Not sure if you saw this already, but Fast Company magazine and Mechanica released a joint survey titled the Branding Forward Project in which 623 marketers participated. Lots of interesting findings, many of which showed a divide between proponents of traditional marketing approaches and those favoring new marketing techniques.

5 ways B2B companies can benefit by listening to social media conversations

When we read about the importance of listening, monitoring and being active in social media, it is typically in reference to B2C companies. Social media is almost seen as “sexy” and a “must-have strategy” for B2C success, yet we tend to hear less about how important real-time listening and social media monitoring is for B2B companies.

Leadership Communication: 6 Steps to Handle Tough Conversations (originally published on March 2)

Having tough conversations and communicating difficult topics is part of a leader’s job. But just like you plan for contingencies in your business, planning how you will communicate difficult messages can improve the ultimate outcome. It is seldom easy to share difficult news, but thinking through your approach in advance definitely can improve the process.

In addition to the variety of topics posted above, you migh want to take another look at the Insight for Marketing posts over the last 12 months.  The information varies from building sales, to creating marketing plans and investing in social media.  Finally, we always appreciate your feedback and questions.  If we can be of any further service, please contact us.  We believe in free speech and our preliminary conversations are always offered without charge.