Savvy B2B Marketing

Hope everyone in the US enjoyed their short work week. If you're looking for ways to jump-start your weekend, check out these inspiring and thought-provoking posts from around the blogosphere. Have a great weekend!

The Savvy Sisters

New eBook on Case Studies - by @jonkranz

Jonathan Kranz re-releases his eBook on case studies with a fresh new look.

Search by Sentiment: RankSpeed Gives Users a New Tool to Filter Results - by @rww

Jolie O'Dell gives a review of the beta RankSpeed service that provides sentiment feedback based on up to six sentiments: good, useful, easy, fast, powerful, and secure. Interesting research tool. Currently only available for Web properties, but plans are in the works to expand it to products and even people.

Execs and Social Media - Why They Love It, Why They Fear It - by @mashable

Mashable provides some quick highlights from eMarketer's new report. The good - 81% "saw social media as being useful for both brand-building and enhancing customer or client relationships." The good/bad - 51% are afraid because they don't know enough about it - now there's an opportunity for marketers!

Fanatic-focused Marketing - by @markwschaefer

A new take on the 80/20 rule and some great tips for how to maximize your impact on the most important segment of your customers - the fanatics.

The Changing Face of Communication According to IBM - by @juntajoe

IBM has a new ebook out and the experts at Junta42 are liking it...must be worth a look-see!

Enthusiast vs Influencer Marketing - by @missrogue

The inimitable Tara Hunt muses on the pros and cons of focusing your efforts on Enthusiasts and Influencers. Using the marketing of her own book The Whuffie Factor as an example, she demonstrates how you can help an enthusiast become an influencer. Good stuff.

5 Straw Man Arguments to Take a Pass on Social Media - by @ConversationAge

Trying to convince someone to give social media a go? Valeri Maltoni lines up and then shoots down five of the most common reasons companies us to justify staying out of the social game.

The Top 10 Apps For Scheduling a Meeting Online - by @rww

Ok, it's not technically a marketing post, but marketing requires LOTS of meetings, so you may find these nifty tools for coordinating far-flung (or next door) team members handy.

4 Must-Have Pieces to Ease the Customer Case Study 'Ask' - by @casey_hibbard

If you have a tough time getting customers to participate in a case study, read about the four things Casey Hibbard suggests including in the pitch package are helpful.

10 Practical Tips for Creating Blockbuster E-Books - by @jonkranz via @marketingprofs

If you are thinking about writing an eBook, check out this article by Jonathan Kranz that outlines 10 key steps.