Yesterday I had the privilege of talking to three brilliant B2B marketers by phone. I encourage you to get to know them (at least by Web) if you don’t already:
Rob Slee of Midas Nation: Once upon a time, Rob was an investment banker. He still is, but he’s also much more. After years of research into private businesses, he arrived at a growth model that is NOT based on finance strategies (despite his banking background) but on marketing — specifically, on aggregating markets that pull business your way. I’ve oversimplified his work to cram it in this post, but if you have any interest at all in turning a small- to mid-sized business into something much more lucrative, you should give him your ear. Check him out: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BCa6RdnCbZw
Scott Karambis: He goes by the handle, @copia, on Twitter and if you follow him, as I do, you’ll quickly realize that he’s one of the wittiest Tweeters on Twitter. No cheesy, spurious jokes — but smart, thought-provoking observations on the foibles of marketing and one of my bete noires, “personal branding.” A couple of days ago he sent up a signal flair asking creative types for interviews on how technology has (or hasn’t) affected their working processes. I volunteered and am glad I did: in a conversation that ranged from Beethoven to blog posting, we talked about the way social media may be dislodging the interior or Romantic model of creativity and replacing it with a more exterior, social construction of inspiration. Get to know this guy — your life will be richer for it.
Michael Stelzner of White Paper Source: Of the three, Michael is probably best known to you and justly so: before content marketing was even called “content marketing,” he led the way with breakthrough white papers and books that are all about the power of sharing intelligence to attract new business. On our call, he challenged my assumptions about gated content (registering for downloads) and has encouraged me to rethink my content strategy. I’m still weighing the options in my head, but this much is clear: Michael knows what he’s talking about. You can get a piece of his mind, too: On September 17, he’s hosting a free webinar showdown, with Peter Bowerman, about the “specialist versus generalist” debate. You can read all about it: Generalist vs. Specialist: Which is Better in a Tough Economy?