Some new features to my blog for 2009

This blog focuses on b2b marketing (my formal definition of what b2b marketing is or should be is coming shortly) and where social media fits into the scheme of things. The primary purpose of this blog is to share, learn and collaborate on this often misunderstood and evolving discipline.

The secondary purpose is for me to experiment with this collaboration tool and push it to the limit!

With that in mind I'm adding a few new "features" to my blog:

1) Fun and Funny Posts - I'll share things that are funny, nostalgic but still up to my blog tagline: "A blog about marketing and social media that matters from a b2b perspective". An example is a retro ad from Intel featuring our friend Homer Simpson. I hope you enjoy these posts and they make you smile and think. If you have any funny b2b oriented ads let me know and I may post them.

2) Group Tweet Feeds or Listening Posts - Twitter is great but as you follow more people you'll lose track of who they are, what they do and where they work. You may want to group followers based on where they live/work, what they do..etc. I've done that for CxOs.

I've taken Paul Dunay's list of C Level Tweeters and grouped them using Friend Feed and Google Reader. The result is a consolidated feed from all CEOs, CMOs and CIOs/CTOs who are using Twitter. Sometimes you'll find out that they are stuck in traffic or going pheasant hunting (Chief Development Officer from Kodak by the way) but that's ok and kinda cool.

Please note that these are not prospecting lists. They are "listening lists". These folks, just like you and me, have little time and don't want to be sold. They are choosing to share their thoughts, ideas and what they are doing with their followers. Don't abuse this privilege by using it as a channel to blatently sell. UPDATE: Here's an example of what not to do.

3) Blook Reports - this stands for Blog Book Report (ya, a bit hokey but best I could come up with and I like sqwords). I'm going to bring a book to life using this blog. I'm a huge reader of business books and love to learn and share.

I've come up with the idea of doing a blook report that will provide you (and me, because it will become my reference guide) with an overview of a book I'm reading. I'm working out the details on how I'll do this; but it will include providing key findings/notes that I think are important, use videos, images and case studies that will give more meaning to the words in the book. It could be used as a study aid.

Blook reports are not meant to stop you from buying the book. It's meant to encourage you to buy the book and use the blook report to follow along with what you're reading. My first blook report will be on Groundswell. I recommend you buy this book. For those of you who have read it feel free to share your thoughts and contribute to the blook report once I start posting.

Update: Groundswell Blook Report now underway.

Stay tuned. Seasons Greetings to everyone.

What B2B Topics interest you?

My pet project, this blog, will evolve into the center piece of my B2B Specialist "persona" or brand if you will. With that in mind I need to earn an audience of readers with an aim to establish an inter-professional community of B2B marketing enthusiasts, students and collaborators.

So, your voice counts! If there is something that you want to learn, share and get perspective on let me know. This B2B marketing blog isn't about me as much as it is about the B2B marketing profession and the loosely knit community of professionals that are challenged to produce results for their companies.

What topic areas would you like to see posts about?

(FYI - this post made using Windows Live Writer)

Let me introduce you to the B2B Specialist!

Today, I've decided to establish a clear delineation between my professional online "persona" from that of my personal one. The problem I want to avoid is mixing professional friendships and relationships with personal ones. My professional persona will evolve around my being a B2B (Business to Business) specialist and student. This blog has been focusing primarily on B2B Marketing & Sales which will still be the case. I will be exploring other B2B areas of interest to me that relate to these core areas of focus. This includes customer relations, social media, product management, knowledge and talent workers. These functional lines are merging.

Professionally speaking I had a blast helping grow Unis Lumin into something very special, having been a finalist in Cisco's I-Prize Contest, a global social media driven innovation contest and I'm now, with the help of many others bringing ProductCamp to Toronto.

Why this "delineation"? Well, quite honestly do you really want to see pictures of me going down a rollercoaster, or sitting at the beach or mountain biking?! =)

So, that's enough about me! What I hope this can mean to you is that we can establish a professional connection of mutual value. In the coming months I'll be setting up my Professional Persona and social media network. I consider myself a B2B specialist AND student especially in the areas of marketing, sales, product innovation and leadership.

If you're interested in connecting feel free to subscribe to my FriendFeed channel located on the right side of my blog. Over time, I hope to create some cool social media experiences with you.

Welcome to the B2B Marketing Blog

This blog's goals are to share knowledge, experiences and create professional relationships with marketing professionals.

Introduce yourself and/or your company and join in the conversation and share your experiences so we can learn and become better Marketing professionals.

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