Media Sales Today

There’s plenty of buzz about mobile at the ILM East conference this week. But as the media ecosystem evolves, analysts aren’t quite sure how to separate the categories of mobile, social and local. For one particular company, there’s no need for separation. Evan Cohen, at foursquare, believes his business model is perfectly situated to take advantage of the confluence of mobile, social and local advertising.

Paul Castain (blogger at Sales Playbook) warns readers that his recent blog post is a bit long. But in my opinion, it’s worth the word count. He devotes the post to “21 ways to master Linkedin,” and it’s a must-read for anyone involved — or curious — about the social network.

Listen up “sales & marketing leader”—Matt Bertuzzi, with The Bridge Group, has some advice for you in regards to social media

If you’re looking to find new business via Twitter, there’s some great advice out there. In particular, Jospeh Riden has a to-the-point message when it comes to attracting new clients using this social networking tool: “Market with a message.”

Here is a great topic to debate: Because of social media, is cold calling dead? This is a question that has divided many salespeople, and there are valid arguments to both sides.

I’m constantly amazed by who companies choose/allow to handle and monitor their Facebook, Twitter and other social accounts. I think there’s a very common misconception that only tweens, teens and Gen-Yers are engaging with brands through these channels. It’s like corporations and agencies say to their interns and young staff members, “Hey, you’re young. You get all this ‘Tweetering’ and ‘MyFacing.’ You take care of this.” Don’t get me wrong, a lot of brands and the agencies that represent them make social media work well for them, but pretty much every day I also hear someone expressing confusion about it all. Mostly small businesses — mostly your kind of clients.

While many in sales may use social media for personal purposes, what is holding them back from utilizing this new media to build sales?