Should I use Slideshare or Brainshark for online presentations?

John Moore is experimenting with Slideshare and Brainshark and looking for feedback on which service delivers more value from an end user and presenter perspective.

This post is my initial review of the two services. It features this post and a Google Document that is shared below. Feel free to add your comments below and modify the google document with new insights, edits and other stuff that can help us all evaluate these two services.

Embedding
Below are the options available to anyone wishing to embed a presentation on a blog, wiki etc.

Slideshare (embed options)

Option 1: "Embed"

Twitter Personal Branding

View more presentations from John Moore.

Option 2: "Embed Without related presentations"

Twitter Personal Branding

View more presentations from John Moore.

Brainshark (embed options)

Option 1: Size: 528x439

Option 2: Size: 440x366

Option 3: Size: 422x351

Comparison Chart
Below is a screenshot of a publicly available and editable google document that you can access here.


The verdict? I'd give Slideshare the nod but I'm sure there are lots of really great people at Brainshark who are busy building a great service.

Feel free to leave your comments below regarding your experiences with either of these services, share links to example presentations (they can be yours too, just make sure it has something to do with this post). You can also contribute to the google document here.

How long should a blog post be?

This post is dedicated to those that blog and those thinking about blogging.

How long should a blog post be?
This is a question that may be on your mind. It's been on mine recently. I've conducted some research and there are varying opinions. Some folks say posts should average 500 words . But, there are some other folks who think otherwise too.

Jon Morrow from Copyblogger talks about tight writing and how some of their most popular posts are longer then 1000 words. Douglas Karr has an interesting article with some analysis on this topic as well.

I think varying opinions is a good thing. Why? Well, there should be no magic bullet when it comes to "average" blog post length. In fact, blogs in general should be unique and reflect the personal preferences of the blogger as well as their current and prospective audience.

But wait a minute, is there more to this question?

This one question leads to a whack load of others! Including:

• If I was just starting out blogging where would I start? Where could I learn about how to blog?
  
• If I want to get better at blogging where should I go?


• What innovative things are people doing with their blogs?


• Is brevity important when it comes to blog posts like it is with Twitter?


• How long should it take to write a blog post?


• Should you balance blog posts based on length to accommodate those that like to read short bursts of content and longer essay types of posts?


• What happens if you're not that great a writer, but want to blog? Should your posts be shorter to start? You may have interesting things to say while getting your blogging chops figured out, so why not start writing?


• Is it arrogant for a blogger to think that his/her posts length don't matter?


• There are "A" lister bloggers who have a devoted group of followers already but what about those just starting out?

Time to explore this in more depth through conversation and a blog post series.

The blog post length question for me leads to a broader conversation about a blogging publishing framework, examples, best practices etc . Things like (to name a few):

• Blog posts - how often, length and types of posts.


• Writing styles - first person, third person, serious, fun, corporate, personal.


• Categories and tags - how to define, use, manage and classify posts.


• Blog types - single author, multi-author.

Long live and love the blog.

The blog, in my own personal opinion, is one of the most promising channels to express yourself, educate, inform, engage and create conversation. Whether you're a company, an artist, a hobbyist or just someone who has something to say…you now have an outlet!

I think we are just scratching the surface when it comes to blogging. There are so many things we can and are doing with blogs, it makes sense to share how we are using blogs to benefit our readers and ourselves.

So, with that in mind, I'm creating a feature series of posts that explores blogging both personally and professionally. I'm going to share things like:

• What I'm learning about blogging through my own experiences and whatever else turns up in my travels.


• Interviews with bloggers asking why and how they blog.

I'm not sure what to name the series but I'd like to think that it becomes an ongoing and updating "how to" of blogging with real world examples. As the number of posts accumulate it may end up being a nice resource for you to refer to over time. (That's the beauty of tagging!).

Got questions, got answers, got ideas?
Leave a comment below with your question, your thoughts and ideas and links to sites and posts that you think will help us all learn more about blogging.

By the way, this post is 654 words in length and took an hour and forty seven minutes to draft, edit, cross link and publish.

New book on Professional Services Marketing

I was asked to review Mike Schultz's book "Professional Services Marketing".

There have been numerous reviews already about this book so I'm not going to summarize what the book is about. Instead I'm going to make one recommendation: buy it!

This book is a manual on how to market your professional services organization. It's not a book you read on vacation and then add to your library collection. It's a book you use to market and sell your services.

Some reasons why I believe this book is worth your investment in time and money:

• Mike's firm, the Wellesley Hills Group, through years of practice and results has applied the concepts and tactics outlined in the book. This is not a book based on theory it is based on experience and results.
  
• There are few books out there that focus on the unique realities of B2B marketing and business development. This is the most current and it uses real world research from the field.
  
• The book focuses on the things that matter to the business owner. Increasing revenue and profit.
  
• It provides you with tools you can use in your business in the area of revenue projection and results measurement.
  
• And finally, at MI6 (my agency) we are implementing tactics from this book for our clients. The result? A listening tour that helped a client properly define their value proposition, generate additional sales & a whack load of testimonials.
  

Here are some reviews that may be of interest:

Ian Brodie, who helps professional service firms grow, has a good balanced review. I agree with his assessment of the sales portion of the book.

Chris Brown, a Strategic marketing consultant, reviews it from a business owner's perspective.

Ardath Albee, from Marketing Interactions, provides a detailed overview of what's in the book and what bonus' you get if you buy it.

Have you read the book? What did you think?

Social Media success and B2B

I'm a perpetual learner, information "pack rack" and in constant pursuit of knowledge and becoming knowledgeable.

The challenge many companies face is not about creating knowledgeable people but institutionalizing knowledge such that more people can become knowledgeable. Also, what I find is missing, is a platform to collaborate that creates "collective knowledge". There are examples such as wikis and Google Wave looks promising. Google wave integrates conversations (email, tweets, IM) and other forms of expression in order to create a collective conversation which can develop into a concept, a research brief, a software spec etc.

In the video below Lee Bryant, from Headshift, talks about the challenges we experience in trying to create knowledge. The answer? Well we're figuring that out..but it's not email!





I believe that B2B companies in particular can use social media to do two things. First, find knowledgeable people and second, collaborate to create, index and institutionalize knowledge.

Integration B2B marketing into your business

UPDATE: My B2B Marketing Integration Framework evolves. For an updated version please check out this post. Thx.

What I find is that many companies rush to market with new solutions, services, partners and divisions without spending the necessary time and resources to put their best foot forwards. Here is a phased approach model that may help you keep on course.

The end goal is to institutionalize b2b marketing into your organization. This can be a big challenge depending on company size, patience, culture etc.

If your company has been adding partners on a whim, or adding solutions to a bloated offering watch out! In markets where you are selling complex solutions going to market “half cocked” is a big mistake. You’ll probably go nowhere. Why? Ask your sales rep! Ask your systems engineer! Both of them will tell you that they will not put their relationship and reputation on the line by introducing a new solution offering to an account if they don’t have the confidence in selling it and supporting it.

If you don’t believe your rep or engineer ask your customer! B2B buyers weigh their purchase decisions on three core things: 1) Risk, 2) Knowledge/Good information and 3) Value add. A company flying by the seat of its pants is high risk, ignorant and can’t articulate a defendable value proposition.

The solutions and services being offered must be backed by all stakeholders and a collective effort and commitment must be made by everyone to bring these solutions to market over a sustained period of time. You must have the fortitude to develop domain expertise, competency and capacity to market, sell, implement and support the solutions being brought to market. You need to ensure you have in place programs that communicate, educate and promote these solutions and customer success stories.

A thoughtful approach is to take some time and work your way through a phased process like the one above. You can apply this approach to new services, solutions and practice areas you plan to bring to market.

Assessment – this is where you assess the business, the market, the competition and your customers to determine whether there is a market opportunity (by the way, this is ongoing!). It also establishes a baseline and gap analysis (where you are and where you need to be). This stage is the hardest and most time consuming. It involves extensive listening and collaboration with key people in your company, partners, with customers and prospects. It will create friction, uncover old wounds but it is absolutely necessary in order to bring teams together to bring something meaningful to market. It is the beginning part of forming a collaborative within your business.

Plan – The plan is your playbook of what you are going to do and how much it will cost.

Execute/Manage – Here’s where strategy and tactics meet and you are executing the key tactics identified in the plan. You are monitoring your results, using feedback loops to gather information and tweaking your efforts along the way.

Optimize/Automate – This phase is all about improvement and automating as much as possible (without de-personalizing relationships with customers though). Knowledge needs to be institutionalized and a marketing system starts to take hold in the organization.

It can take 12 to 18 months for your company to become a Phase 4 organization. Using a methodology combined with the two previous planks can help you get there.

The silver lining for business?

Below is a presentation by Umair Haque, Director of the Havas Media Lab, entitled Constructive Capitalism. He blogs for Harvard Business Publishing. Umair was a guest speaker at the Daytona sessions. Daytona is a marketing agency in Sweden. The fact that Daytona has a “Ted” like conference is simply amazing.

The video below is about 70 minutes long. It is well worth the time to listen and learn about Umair’s beliefs about where companies need to go in order to grow. He uses examples to set context. This helps you see how his theories are “in play” today.

Below the video is a timeshift timeline and links to the reference examples he uses in his presentation. I’ve invited Umair to add any comments or thoughts to this post. But, more importantly, is getting you to provide your thoughts and comments to create a conversation around this really interesting take Umair has on “Constructive Capitalism” and the next revolution which he calls “Institutional Revolution”.

Umair Haque @ Daytona Sessions vol. 2 - Constructive Capitalism from Daytona Sessions on Vimeo.

UPDATE: For some reason an embedded Vimeo video doesn't show the slider. Just open a second browser if you want to use the timeshift timeline below.

1:47 What’s wrong with the economy? “Qualitative Difference”. “A shock”
3:15 We are at a crises crossroads with respect to strategy, how institutions interact and exist (the places we work that organize people, processes and deliver value)
10:00 New rules for Institutions and Capitalism are driven by Ideals
11:15 Ideal #1: Exploitation to Renewal

• Crisis of Depletion
• Case Studies on Sustainability: Wal-Mart, Nike, Interface and Pepsico
• Take-away: “Tomorrow is Today”

15:15 Ideal #2: Command to Democracy

• Crisis of Rigidity
• Case Studies: Threadless T-Shirts, Walkers Crisps, Lego Factory, Super Future, Whitehouse.gov and Etsy
• Take-away: “People, not Product

21:25 Ideal #3 War to Peace

• Crisis of Conflict
• Case studies on Guiding Principles: Google and Barack Obama’s 3 guiding principles for the Election
• Take-away: “Connections, not Transactions”

29:20 Ideal #4: Domination to Equity

• Crisis of Stagnation
• Case Studies: Wii, Tata’s Nano Car, Better Place, Compartamos, Unilever’s Shakti programme and Grameen Health
• Take-away: Creativity, not Productivity

38:40 Ideal #5: Value to Meaning

• Crisis of Nihilism (perceived value has no meaning)
• Case Studies: Nike, Wii Fit and Guiding Stars Nutritional program, Vanish (products) and Vanish (ruining shoes)
• Take-away: Outcomes, not Incomes

44:30 Where to start and where to head?

• Case Study: Fairtrade

50:42 Question and Answer

• What cultures/countries equipped to handle this change?
• Won’t Tata become like GM, Ford and Chrysler eventually?
• Does GDP matter when new models and markets like this emerge?
• Is sustainable growth a realistic outcome? How is it different then today’s growth aspirations? What does growth mean?
• Is it possible for large corporations to revolutionize themselves?
• Will these new institutions produce products and services that are are tools and utilities to deliver on these ideals?
• Can this “institutional revolution” take hold realistically? Will old ways and thinking be too big a barrier for this to take root?
• How will protectionism and de-globalization affect your theories and beliefs on Constructive Capitalism

B2B Marketing Integration Framework – The B2B “Marketing Mix” or 4 R’s of Marketing

UPDATE: My B2B Marketing Integration Framework evolves. For an updated version please check out this post. Thx.

A key ingredient of the Marketing Integration (MI) Framework is principles or what I call the 4 Rs of B2B markeitng.

I’ve used this marketing mix to help me filter and set priorities when it comes to key marketing strategies and tactics. Each “R” aligns with the B2B marketing gears referred to above.

Relevance – What you say and what you offer must be relevant to the markets you serve. The information you share about the problems you solve needs to be understandable and relative to the current and unrealized business needs of your customers

Relationships – Developing and maintaining strong and meaningful relationships with key stakeholders is more important then ever before. Be relevant, build your reputation and leverage relationships to separate yourself from the competition. Communicate with the idea of building these relationships and creating a community

Reputation - Your reputation and your B2B brand is built on the back of your successes and what others say about you through formal reference programs, word of mouth and word of mouse (search results and social networks/media)

Return – focus on producing a return for your stakeholders and your company. Seek ways where every stakeholder will generate measureable returns. A customer may need publicity while you and your partner may need a case study. Figure out how to create win, win, win scenarios

Let’s apply this to a real world example.

You’re trying to figure out how to make the most of your marketing budget. The recession is making you think hard about where, when and how to spend funds.

You’re looking at the tradeshow budget and deciding which event to cut. Try asking these questions (just follow the circle above starting with relevance and then go clockwise):

1) How relevant is this event to customers, partners, prospects and the markets you serve? Is it the most important show of the year to your customers? If so, who attends and why? Do you have anything to say at this event that is compelling? Something that that will position you as in tune with what’s going on in this market?

2) What relationships will this event help create and develop? Will it help a customer? Will it help a partner? Can you strengthen relationships with the media, analysts and thought leaders? Will it damage any relationships if you don’t attend? If so, why?

3) How will you use this event to improve or build upon your reputation? Can you showcase a solution you implemented for/with a customer? Ideally a solution that is relevant and is a catalyst to strengthen relationships important to you and your customer?

4) What returns do you expect from participating in the event? Hard returns such as sales opportunities, feature articles, key account meetings and net new account discoveries. What returns can you provide to your customer? To your partners?

There is an art and science to B2B marketing. I hope that this mix is something that is helpful to you and your company. As always feedback is welcome and encouraged.

How does a blog work?

I recently met with a technology sales rep who is interested in social media. She has visited my blog before and enjoyed some of my Funny video posts. In fact the Humour and Hope post had an impact on her son. He is a big Obama fan! I may write about the experiences people have with blogs later because it amazes me how a blog post can have a positive impact on someone.

As we talked about my blog I started throwing out words like tags and labels and she asked me “what are those?”. These three words are an important lesson for us folks who are drunk on the social media kool-aid. Many people, potentially your target audience/readership, are just starting to read blogs let alone understand how they work.

I’m very grateful that this sales rep helped me look through her eyes. So, I created a simple Blog Briefing for her and those folks just getting their feet wet. I hope it is useful.

Blog Briefing,Chris Herbert, B2bspecialist, Mar2009(Ppt2003)

View more presentations from b2bspecialist. (tags: b2b blogging)

Free Online Education for Business Professionals

Jack Sandler Bloom is on a mission to provide free online education to the world. Jack has set up a collaborative learning space called "Life" using Ning's social networking service. This is interesting in two ways.

First, in the past if you wanted to learn you relied on an institution to provide you with three things. 1) Curriculum and content, 2) Knowledge and Interaction and 3) A degree. Life and MIT's OpenCourseWare while not considered "formal education" provide life learning students access to quality educational content and the opportunity to interact with thought leaders and learners. To quote Meatloaf: "Two out of three ain't bad".

Second, here's a situation where an educator is trying to build an interactive learning community using social networking services such as Ning. It's an interesting learning experience also!

Below is Lesson Two which is an extensive case study on Google.


Find more videos like this on Life