At this writing, wedding season is in full swing. Even Brangelina have finally announced their intentions to wed. Throngs of people will certainly herd to their wedding locale to catch a glimpse of the first kiss of the newlyweds. What’s that got to do with marketing and sales?   While I don’t think that Brad (or Angelina, for that matter) have had to kiss too many frogs during their lifetimes, it’s something that we in B2B sales do every day. We’re constantly reaching out to people who do not have a need for our services and who don’t want to talk to us. If we only knew who they were! MORE >>

?. We’ve heard from many of you that an ‘end of the month’ deadline for our special Social Mix 2012 early bird discount tickets would be a better fit for you. Heck, we’ve got bills to pay too, so we listened! With that, we’ve very happy to announce that we’re extending our special Early Bird rates until June 30, 2012. And, with over 300 tickets already sold, it’s shaping up to be a great event. Why You Should Be There! BONUS: Use the code EarlyBird20 to get an additional 20% off Early Bird Rates! Buy your ticket now ! Cheers, The Jugnoo Team. MORE >>

Today’s guest post is written by   John-Henry Doucette. . Yesterday  Gini Dietrich blogged about the latest Wal-Mart PR debacle , but the subject isn’t quite finished. The quick recap: Wal-Mart, PR firm Mercury Public Affairs, and its former employee Stephanie Harnett are facing a maelstrom of ethical issues after Harnett pretended to be a reporter. Both Wal-Mart and Mercury denied any knowledge of Harnett’s undercover adventures, called it bad business, and she’s no longer on Mercury’s payroll. Good night, everybody! Not so fast. Harnett took notes on his background and concerns. MORE >>

It often surprises me when I ask email marketers, “How is your campaign going?” and they answer with something similar to “Very well! Our open rate is 30%, which is above the industry average by 10 percentage points.” I cringe. Not because the open rate isn’t important, but because using it as your key primary indicator (KPI) often misleads your email marketing campaigns. What’s wrong with the open rate metric? It’s not 100% reliable, to say the least. The open rate is counted when a small 1×1 pixel image is loaded by the subscriber’s email client. Simply, the image not loading. Good luck! MORE >>

As a marketer, I have an appreciation for videos as a key content marketing tool. When I watch a video that makes me laugh or cry or think, a video that stays with me long after I’ve seen it, I am in awe of the pure genius that went into making it. So, I was eager to hear what TMG’s video and digital experts had to say at their presentation, “ The Unbreakable Rules of Video (And a Few You Can Bend) ,” at the annual Association Media & Publishing conference on June 12. Their tips will get you on the right track planning your next video. Check it out: Genre: Inspirational montage. MORE >>