Thanks for this review. You and Joe Pulizzi are the gold standard of content marketers, so your favorable opinion means a lot to me. It’s validation of an effort I’ve been pursuing for over two years.

As you stated, my direction has been driven by salespeople who work for my clients and prospects. I focus exclusively on B2B businesses, and these sales people were the first to sense a sea change in how their clients buy and how they want to be sold to.

Content marketing isn’t just the latest trend. It’s much bigger than that. The causes are many, but the major force is the Net. B2B buyers are sophisticated. They perform extensive research prior to engaging with a salesperson. Salespeople are just as important as they always were, but their time and skills are wasted if they’re used (as often is the case) to beat the bushes and qualify suspects. B2B salespeople should be deployed strategically during the finals stages of the buy cycle.

Qualified prospects self-select if you deliver relevant, useful and entertaining content to them when and where they’re looking for it. Content that informs instead of sells builds trust. It keeps prospects warm and engaged until they’re ready to buy.

Thanks again. I hope to see you at the Custom Publishing Conference in March.

Bob