You know, my title (technical evangelist) bugs me.

In Silicon Valley and elsewhere, the technology startup process works like this: have an idea, innovate, develop, test, test it some more, get some venture capital, and pray that Google acquires the company.

A former lead interface developer of Internet Explorer posts a fascinating confession about “Why I switched to Firefox,” in which he admits his allegiance to Firefox.

Let’s begin with some simple tenets we can agree on. Free is better than paying. Cheap is better than expensive. An invitation is better than a command. A smile attached to the eyeballs you want scanning your site is better than a disappointed scowl.

Scenario 1 – 16 year old Doug is having an argument with his father. Doug thinks that his allowance should be increased, now that he is 16. Dad has no problem with handing more money to his son. But there is a catch. He wants Doug to work part-time at his store and earn the sum.

Define Blog has a good post on Managing Your Time as a blogger of multiple blogs…

Trying to make a complex sale? You must help a customer calculate the cost of his problem . . . and always be willing to walk away.

Two recent articles are trying to keep business to business marketers planted on terra firma.

Over the past few years I’ve modified my approach to Pay Per Click (PPC) Marketing in response to the popularity of PPC and all of the great technological advances in Overture and Google AdWords.

In the Pop Art World Ebayers Compete for 5 Beautiful Ladies at a $10,000 Minimum Bid.

Tens of thousands of businesses, large and small, use Google Adwords and Overture Match (from Yahoo!) to advertise their products and services on the Internet.

Quality and service are important, if you want to make a sale. If you want to keep a customer for life, keep your promises.

Adsense, a new way for almost anyone online to make a profit. All you have to do is to get cleared by Google, put some code on your web pages. And wait for someone to come and click!

Once served by only a handful of CRM vendors, midmarket companies are now spoiled for choice. Today midmarket enterprises are integral to the growth plans of virtually every CRM provider–from enterprise leaders with their rosters of Fortune 500 clients, to hosted service providers who in the past focused primarily on small businesses.

Whenever singer John Mayer sings his romantic song, “Your Body is a Wonderland”, I can’t help but think of web sites and usability. As a usability consultant, I see the devotion to his lover, and the time he spent uncovering every detail of her being, as the way most web site designers think we approach their web sites. When the lyrics arrive at “Take all your big plans; And break ‘em; This is bound to be a while”, I start giggling. It makes me think of Amazon.com. I’ll explain why.

Is fear of failure an issue when you commit valuable money in advertising?

Selling. Cold calls, introductions, interviews, appointments, proposals, referrals, call cycles, building rapport, listening, asking for the order, overcoming objections, closing the sale, and rejection. There’s a lot to know about the business of selling. No wonder many people are a bit overwhelmed when they are asked to do it.

According to the dictionary, to “negotiate” means “to confer with another so as to arrive at the settlement of some matter.” Yet, it is a fact that nearly 75% of individuals faced with having to conduct crucial negotiations do not realise success at their negotiation efforts and rarely have a clue as to how to win more during a negotiation. Instead, most negotiators have learned only how to push against others, criticising and attacking rather than identifying one another’s strong points. Typically, criticism, rather than creativity, has become the norm during most negotiating efforts.

All selling starts with self-promotion. Before anyone will give you money, they have to know something about you. They need to feel comfortable with you and to trust you. This means that they have to get used to seeing your name and your story.

There is no quicker or easier way to grow your business than to joint venture with appropriate businesses. The reason this is so powerful is because of the leverage joint ventures allow you to harness. Doing joint ventures allows you to decisively capitalize on the resources that both you and others are under-utilizing.

Why finance must create CRM objectives and metrics that will translate back into its traditional framework.