Connect with me on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/edwindear... What is a Virtual CMO? - http://virtualcmo.expert/ You’ve decided it’s time to hire a marketing person for your business - there’s just one problem: you’re not quite sure where to begin. The marketing field is a wide umbrella for many specific areas from SEO and social media to brand management and user experience. In fact, there are over 100 different types of marketing. What type of brand you need managed also matters. Running a social media campaign for a non-profit is different than a social campaign for a business. On top of that you have the choice of hiring a freelancer, virtual CMO, an agency, or an in-house person. Whether you're in startup mode or a more mature organization, the challenges of hiring the right people to take your marketing to the next level can be a challenge. There's a lot of contradicting advice out there. Some recommend only hiring people with lots of experience, while others swear you should hire only those who are green and willing to learn. Some suggest you hire a team of generalists who can do a little of everything, while others suggest a team of specialists is ideal. Look for marketers who are strategic and tactical. You need to find the balance between strategic marketers who plan for longer-range campaigns and tactile marketers who work on current ones, realizing that over time that balance will shift. When building a marketing team, you might want to find a tactical marketer who wants to be more strategic as well. You can hedge your bets with marketers who dance in both camps. I don't put much weight in people who are just tactical with no urge to think about the future, or those who are just strategic with no ability to jump in the trenches. Marketers should be invested in both current campaigns and longer-range plans. When staffing your marketing team, ask yourself, is there a competitive advantage you're seeking with a new product? How can you staff the team to help bring the product to market? Will you be acquiring companies? If so, what marketing skills will you need to hit the ground running? Too often, marketing teams stay lean, waiting for the challenge to hit them before looking for the next team member. Then, it's often too late. You lose a month to interviews and another month to ramping up. By then, your momentum is stunted. So, look ahead. I'm not suggesting you hire a team of 100, but you should have one eye out for amazing new talent. This advice might seem simple enough, but it can be difficult to follow consistently. You may become enamored by another company's approach or you may need to move fast and feel tempted to hire for skill over culture fit. These tips are reminders that building an all-star marketi ... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QZrTXbx0uyk

Buy my book today! http://bit.ly/bestbrandingbook Connect with me on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/edwindearborn/ B2B Prospecting Methods | Prospecting in Sales Sales prospecting—a common source of misery for most sales reps—is a critical aspect of selling for nearly all businesses. Prospecting uncovers potential buyers, fuels an organization’s sales pipeline, and provides important context to future sales conversations. B2B sales prospecting is the act of looking for potential buyers, customers, or clients to convert into new business. The ultimate goal is to nurture your prospects through the sales funnel until they eventually make a purchase. While the concept is simple, effective B2B sales prospecting is difficult to execute. In fact, research shows 50% of sale’s time is wasted on unproductive prospecting. It’s easy to put sales prospecting on the back burner when sales are slow—but, in order to consistently maintain a full pipeline, you must make B2B prospecting a daily activity. It’s no longer enough to rely on your marketing team for leads, you have to go out and find them yourself. There’s no way around it, a full pipeline is essential to every business and the only way to achieve this is through regular sales prospecting. Use the tips and best practices above to stay on top of your B2B sales prospecting efforts and drastically improve your numbers. ... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=feuzJzTs5Yw