Your Marketing and Design Reading for The Weekend

Most articles that caught my interest for this week’s weekend reading blog are in the B2B marketing space as we keep our eyes peeled for interesting news/articles and case studies to make your journey easy and more fun.

5 Habits Practiced by Market Leaders

This post discusses the habits that an entrepreneur needs to embrace to become a market leader. Isn’t it funny how we get so involved in solving the smaller puzzles in our roles that we forget to work on improving the bigger picture that would benefit the whole ecosystem?

In this post John talks about the importance of sharing knowledge and best practices because our goal is not just to grow our business but to expand the universe in which we operate to reap bigger benefits in the long run.  An entrepreneur becomes a leader when he or she becomes a guide for others struggling with similar roadblocks in their path to success. The author emphasis that networking is not just a practice that brings in leads but is a way of life. Associating in groups at any level, locally, nationally and internationally, helps in innovation, improvement, growth and protection of interests of the community.

We, at Affinity Express also believe that leaders aren’t better or stronger or faster, but are people who act for the benefit of the industry or community as a whole.

B2B Branding–Why Branding Matters in B2B Marketing

Here is another interesting post by Marketo that talks about the importance of branding in B2B marketing because buyers are still people, and people are emotional.

In his book, Blink, Malcolm Gladwell writes that buyers make most decisions by relying on their two-second first impressions based on stored memories, images and feelings. Therefore, it makes a lot of sense for B2B marketers to build a positive brand impact as, whether or not the buyer realizes it; the decision is often made long before the process is completed. Therefore, B2B marketers can and should tap into this by appealing to the emotional side of their prospects, as well as their rational side.

Though it is hard to correlate the ROI benefits earned by creating a positive brand impact, Affinity Express is always trying new ways to connect with its clients and engage in a two-way communication. We certainly believe that relationship with our customers goes way beyond “the business transaction” and are continuously striving to nurture them.

Social Media Training for Employees

A very good blog for all businesses that discusses how employees can become assets on social media platforms to help multiply marketing efforts by generating a buzz around company news, events, etc.

The infographic highlights the importance of training employees on how to use this media and maintain policies while commenting on social media content. Any company could use these tips on how to use human resources to create a social media community and spread the brand presence to their respective networks.

What to Do When You Have to Work with Someone You Don’t Like

All of us have faced this situation at some point and Peter has shared a very effective and positive way to understand the reason behind the dislike and a way to change that or at least make it less stressful! You could choose to agree or disagree but it definitely gets you thinking on how you would tackle this kind of situation. I quite liked this one and I am sure it is hard to ignore.

Collaborative Consumption for the Enterprise

Last but not the least, this blog post that talks about a concept that has caught the attention of business people where a resource is shared by multiple businesses to avoid waste, earn additional revenue and utilize capabilities on an optimum level.

It’s driven by network technologies, social, and collaborative software and it’s changing the way people transact business and consume goods and services. This could be used by small and medium enterprises in unique ways like reduction in cost by using a shared resource or earning by renting out their spare equipment or services provided by their skilled staff.

These are some blog posts that I liked and wanted to share with you. Don’t forget to share any interesting articles or ideas that you come across. Have a great weekend!