According to new figs released by analytics firm Postrank, the predicted demise of blogs as a result of the success of social media appears to be wide of the mark.

Since 2007 Postrank has been analysing blog metrics including comments, trackbacks, shared links and online bookmarks for the 1000 most-engaging feeds and 100,000 randomly selected blog posts. The resulting evidence paints a very interesting picture as to the evolution of blogging over the period.

The three major findings are:

1. Overall total engagement has increased 30% year on year.
2. Commenting: On-site engagement has decreased.
3. Link Sharing: Off site engagement has increased.

Another interesting outcome is that blog posts now have a much longer lifespan. In 2007, only 6% of total engagement happened after the day of posting , while in 2008 it was up to 17%. This year it has more than doubled with a full 36% of engagement happening after day one.

So what might this mean for business?

Other research indicates that time remains the number one factor cited as to why businesses choose not to blog, with approximately 2/3 yet to start. And for those that believed blogging was something that would run its course – the contrary in fact now appears to be the case.

The growth of social media means that a company blog is now an even more effective means of communicating with customers . Blogging combined with social media allows the smallest businesses a long reach.

So then!…perhaps there has never been a better time to start blogging… what do you think?

Related posts:

Blogging is dead again

How blogging has changed over the last three years

Why you should use blog networks

As you can probably tell, I have struggled to find the time to blog on here recently. My intention is to get back to it in the New Year but in the meantime, here are some updates on what’s been happening.

Sales Leadership Ireland: Zero to Here

Our Third SLI event was help last night in the Hampton, again the conversation was excellent led by two wonderful speakers in Vincent Reynolds and Sean Weafer.

Vincent kicked off with a truly insightful presentation - as he took us on a journey into the minds of senior managers. I have undertaken research before meeting with CEOs or CFOs before - but never with the type of perspective that Vincent talked about last night. He recommended that you effectively step inside the world of the senior manager, and that you adjust your thinking and selling - so as to be aware of the opportunities or indeed threats that exist from their points of view. I am not doing his presentation proper justice here, but let’s just say there was a huge amount of learning to be had for those that attended.

Next up was the fantastic Sean Weafer. Sean talked about why people really buy? -they buy feelings. Why USPs are no longer relevant. He demonstrated why proper and expert questioning technique is the most effective way to create points of compelling relevance and how to create win-win situations between buyer and seller. Sean is a wonderful motivator and a fantastic teacher of the craft of selling - but he is also a passionate defender of professional selling and salespeople. He is a true Irish sales leader and we were thrilled to have him.

Bloggertone

Bloggertone continues to go from strength to strength on the back of the wonderful contributions from the bloggers.

A few recent mentions include:

http://www.iia.ie/news/item/1395/bloggertone-brings-together-the-collective-voice-of-business-blogging/

http://www.dubchamber.ie/mn_pressrelease.asp?page=members_news&article=1188

http://www.dceb.ie/news/bloggertone-brings-together-the-collective-voice-of-business-blogging

http://www.dceb.ie/news/50-ways-to-get-more-from-linkedin

http://www.simplyzesty.com/uncategorized/bloggertone-launches/

http://www.connector.ie/2009/11/2009-awards-christmas-connector/

http://blog.iia.ie/2009/get-the-facts-fast/

http://www.scip.org/NewsRoom/PRDetail.cfm?ItemNumber=9007

http://sortmybooks.ie/wordpress/2009/11/19/bloggertone/

http://www.cvsandinterviews.ie/job-hunting-two-great-articles/170/

http://www.codegaconsulting.com/blog/82-bloggertone-launches.html

http://www.cubeonlinemarketing.ie/why-you-should-use-blog-networks/

http://wwwcareerscoacheu.blog.com/2009/10/25/a-new-site-for-irish-businesses-launched/

Here is a link to my articles

When: Wednesday December 02, 2009, 06:00PM - 08.00PM GMT

Where: Hampton hotel, 4 Morehampton Rd, Dublin 4. http://www.hamptonhotel.ie

Price: 15 Euro on the day.

Zero to Hero

This SLI session will share with you some of the key strategies to help you get back on top in challenging times. Vincent Reynolds of Rapport Consulting will share the keys to working with C level executives and encouraging them to engage and buy high level solutions while Seán Weafer of Seán Weafer Consulting will reveal some of the secrets for ‘making the numbers’ and the challenging questions that every sales leader should be asking themselves to keep themselves ahead of the competition.

Speakers:

Seán Weafer is a top-level sales leadership consultant, who helps build alpha sales organisations by helping management ‘build trust and get things done’.

His clients develop practical, profitable and effective sales management solutions to their business challenges and how to continue to grow the bottom line even in tough times. His next book is ‘Rebel in a Business Suit - The Business 1%ers’ (due 2009) - outlines the emergence of a new breed of business professional who makes change rather than watches it change around them.

Rapport Consulting is led by Vincent Reynolds FCCA, an experienced senior manager with a background in consulting, corporate training and development, change management, finance and human resources.

Vincent started his career in general accounting practice before moving to a series of management and senior management roles with multinational companies.

He is a Chartered Certified Accountant, a former chairman of the Irish Association of Corporate Treasurers and a member of the Irish Institute of Training and Development. Vincent is also an accredited facilitator under the Irish Government’s Skillnets programme.

If you are involved with sales, you won’t want to miss it - reserve your seat here.

Sales superstars close more deals and ramp up business for their companies.

Do you know one?

AllBusiness and Top Sales Experts want to honor the top-performing salespeople who deliver results in today’s competitive market. You can help make that happen.

We need your nomination. The panel of top sales coaches and experts will select one salesperson each month from among the nominees.

Monthly winners will:

Be recognized by their peers for their outstanding contributions

Be profiled in a feature article for AllBusiness and its sister site, Hoover’s

Receive free twelve month VIP membership at Top Sales Experts

Receive a signed copy of a panelist’s book

Be offered the opportunity to receive a free sales profile (Value $195)

One annual winner will receive a package of sales training and coaching programs (Value $3000), life VIP membership in Top Sales Experts, a selection of signed books from the panel, plus of course the AllBusiness Sales Star trophy.

Top salespeople inspire those around them and help drive company success.

Take this opportunity to recognize them for their leadership and contributions to the selling profession. Nominate a true sales star!

Every nominee will receive a FREE six month VIP Membership over at Top Sales Experts

Full details HERE

It’s been a while since I blogged on here, because for the last while I have devoted nearly all my energies into Bloggertone. It’s been a learning curve for me but one that I have enjoyed and so far so good.

Before I report on the progress made, let me again thank Fred and Facundo from Channelship. The guys are simply awesome professionals and are an absolute pleasure to work with. They come with my highest recommendation.

Bloggertone went live on Friday the 23^rd of October, The countdown to the site launch was held on Twitter with the site going live @ 2pm GMT.

A Right Old #Twineup!

With spirits already high with the success of the launch two inspired ladies @miriamahern and @whatswhat_sian came up with an entirely novel way to celebrate that evening.

Miriam’s explanation:

“It’s just like that - a spontaneous party -don’t need to go anywhere. From the comfort of where-ever you are simply grab your favourite beverage, sit in front of your favourite Twitter client (mine is TweetDeck) and run a search for “#twineup” . Everyone from everywhere is welcome. Join in the conversation and meet some great people”

Congrats and thanks to Miriam & Sian, because it was an absolutely roaring success with #twineup taking over (modestly) part of the Irish twittersphere on Friday night - mentions on radio stations ( think it was 98 FM, but let’s leave stations in plural anyway) soon ensued with many people describing it as the best fun they had on Twitter - well EVER!

So Far So Good

According to Alexa, Bloggertone’s traffic rank for the first 7 days was 154528. In many respects, what was even nicer to see was that people were spending on average over 8 mins on the site visiting over 7 pages. The Social Media buzz was also working with Linkedin, Twitter & Facebook sending lots of visitors.

Many Quality Posts

The quality of the posts has been excellent so far, a few of my personal favourites include:

“Rural Business, The Good, The Bad and The Ugly” by Elaine Rogers

“LinkedIn for Jobseekers, Do you Dance” by Paul Mullan

“Competitive intelligence gathering for international markets” by Una Coleman

What’s Up Next?

The PR for the site is just about the start, we wanted to wait until we had something to show people.  An international blogging and social media expert has just joined the Bloggertone gang. Details to follow but I have little doubt that this person will help immensely to make the site a valuable and popular business resource. If you are interested in contributing to Bloggertone and becoming one of our featured bloggers, please apply here.

So all in all a pretty good start then, lots more to do and I may need to get back to the day job soon

People have requested that I give them a quick peek at the new www.bloggertone.com website - the site will be launching very soon!

Bloggertone is a new space that allows people in business to access and share useful business information and opinions, constantly updated by the collaborative effort of selected business bloggers………. Here is a screenshot of the new platform.

Bloggertone has 10 sections that a blogger can post under, they are:

1. Talking Leadership
2. Transforming Your Business
3. Managing Money
4. People Matters
5. Technology & Web 2.0
6. Marketing Ideas
7. Growing Sales
8. Going International
9. Work/Life Balance
10. What’s Happening?

Functionalities will include author pages for the bloggers, voting, post ratings, and the usual social media sharing widgets (share this, tweet this, facebook connect, etc). Ultimately, the site encourages a conversation, so readers are encouraged to comment and most commented posts will make it to the homepage too.

The site is currently still been developed by my parthners in crime on this project - Fred and Facundo of Dublin web agency, Channelship. If you fancy becoming a featured blogger and contributing content to this unique new online space - why not contect with us on LinkedIn, Facebook or Twitter.

Btb Guest Author

Jonathan Farrington

INTRODUCING…………..

Last Wednesday, we shared some exciting news with the entire Top Sales Experts team, and now I can at last share that news with you.

When we formed Top Sales Associates in 2007, our original plan was to follow the successful launches of Top 10 Sales Articles and Top Sales Experts with a number of other “Top Sales” initiatives and create a global brand.

However, as we all know, time is a great “educator” and based on the experience we have gained during the last two years, and after lengthy discussions with the TSE Executive Board, we have decided to change our strategy.

The desire to ornate the definitive sales related location remains strong, but instead of diluting our offerings, we are going to merge them and build an all-encompassing, one-stop, “sales supermarket” – so welcome to …..

Top Sales World…The Global Sales Resource.

We intend to use the Top Sales Experts project as the foundation, and in fact, we will only be promoting the products/services/solutions of the TSE team, plus those of our  Sponsors and TSE Strategic Partners.

This is of course, our most ambitious project to date, and it is outside the scope of our existing resources. We will therefore be working with outsourced expertise where necessary, specifically; website design, copywriting and marketing.

The projected launch date is January 12th.

So let me share with you what precisely is involved.

Site Content – Existing Sections:

Top Sales Experts
Top Sales Masterclasses
Top Sales Roundtables
Top 10 Sales Articles
Top Sales Articles/Top Sales Podcasts/Top Sales Guides
Top Sales Newsletter/ Top Sales Ebook
Top Sales Assessments
Top Sales Blogs

Ok, so that’s the eleven existing successful sections. Now let me introduce you to the seven new ones …..

Top Sales Leadership Zone
Top Sales 2.0
Top Sales Tools
Top Sales Jobs
Top Sales Store
Top Sales Events
Top Sales Advice

Those then are the eighteen areas that we have identified, and there may be two more to be added before we launch.

For example, it would make sense to have a “Top Sales Resources” Section  where we promote our Strategic Partners.

Project Timetable:

Site design chosen – October
Build begins – November
Testing phase – Mid-December
Launch – January 12th

In Summary:

We are building the significant sales related location
It will contain every conceivable sales resource
We will only be promoting the products/services/solutions of the TSE team and those of our sponsor and strategic partners

Top Sales World – Where in the world do you want to go today?

More soon….

This post appeared in Joinathan’s blog on October 3rd.

———————-

Jonathan Farrington is a globally recognized business coach, mentor, author, and consultant, who has guided hundreds of companies and tens of thousands of individuals around the world towards optimum performance levels.  He has authored in excess of three hundred skills development programmes, designed a range of unique and innovative process tools and has been published extensively on a wide range of business topics including organizational and sales team development, leadership and the customer imperative.  Jonathan’s first book, “Tougher At The Top” will be published early in 2009.  Visit his website @ www.jonathanfarrington.com

There is a revolution taking place……We are witnessing the greatest shift since the industrial revolution but at a pace that we can only struggle to appreciate.

• Technology and specifically Social Media technologies are advancing at an exponential rate.
• The growth of users of social media has followed a similar path – for example, Facebook now has 1000000 Irish users.
• Further applications (technologies) are constantly been developed off the back of the original idea.

Read between the lines and you begin to realise that “the hierarchical nature of our society is beginning to crumple”

• The concept of ownership as we previously understood it now no longer applies e.g. music industry.
• The “normal Joe” now has the resource and facility to reach out and influence the collective.
• Organisations can no longer control the message (idea); engagement is the only way to now exert influence.

Power is very quickly been transferred to the individual and the collective……..The smartest individuals (Obama) and organizations are learning to embrace rather than fight this tide.

Where does Ireland presently sit in the new world?

• We are 18-24 months behind in terms of our learning.
• We are currently still debating “which tools” rather than “what opportunities exist” for us. We need to GET REAL.

So what realizations do we need to make?

• The tool (technology) does what it says on the tin.
• The real conversation should be about the effectiveness of the person, organization, country or tribe using these tools.
• We are a small country; we should be able to move fast.
• There exists very real potential for Ireland Inc around “Global Irish” and “Smart Economy”
• There will no prize for second place, to truly benefit we have to become the Global Leader - a “Silicon Valley” approach.
• The future is now, time is running out. SPEED is King

So here it is, the NEW GAME… #IrelandInc #SmartEconomy #GlobalIrish #SocialMedia - Let’s start to Join the dots?

For anyone just tuning in, this series of posts is my attempt to describe one of the busiest weeks; I’ve had in a long while.

In part one; I talked about our second SLI meet up “From the Buyers Perspective” and in part two and three about our International Partnership events “International Success for Tech Companies”

Thursday: IT@Cork Internationalisation Event

The it@cork is a member-driven not-for-profit business association representing the interests of ICT professionals which has over 280 corporate members based in the Cork region.

Again Dave Brock enthralled with another presentation and talk about the challenges of Internationalisation. This was Dave’s 4th talk of the week to an Irish audience, his ability to teach, to communicate and to engage as fresh as ever. Had Dave been an Irish man, he would in my opinion have come from the People’s Republic of Cork….a Roy Keane or Christy Ring of the sales world!

Since Dave has settled back home in sunny California, he has written two blog posts about his trip to Ireland. They are Intensity, Clarity, and Purposefulness & The Courage To Admit You Are Wrong make sure you check them out, I think he likes us :).

Just after Dave on the day was Pat Phelan of MaxRoam. Talk about a brilliant Irish technology business! MAXroam have negotiated voice deals with more than 700 mobile carriers in over 213 countries and data deals in 139 countries across the globe. Through these international partnerships, they now offer up to 80% lower roaming charges to people all over the world by simply replacing your regular SIM with your MAXroam SIM card.

Pat talked honestly about having to completely change their route to market strategies mid stream, and how ultimately this realisation has led to their great success. He talked about the long hours and challenges of dealing with so many different time zones and the pressure it puts of the support mechanisms within the business.

Interestingly to me he also talked about how he has so effectively used social networking to identify and capitalise on new business opportunities. In fact, he only uses social marketing!

As he talked, a thought struck me… could Pat Phelan be the most sophisticated user of social media in Ireland? I think he very well may be - particularly if you consider how quickly he has grown the biz to a multi million organisation. It was our 3rd inspirational talk from a leading Irish Tech entrepreneur that week.

Friday: Digest and Catch Up!

Our tech leaders are now intrinsically tied to our economic recovery, not only that, they are fundamentally important people, if we are ever hoping to realise our aspirations of becoming a smart economy.

Irish software companies are born International, there is no choice! We may be good at supporting them but we need to get better, there is no choice! The International Partnership, bringing ladies and gentlemen of the calibre of Dave Brock to these shores and getting International results is something I intend to see happen.

In the meantime…..Phew!!… That was some week.

In part one; I talked about our second SLI meet up “From the Buyers Perspective” and in part two about our morning International Partnership event “International Success for Tech Companies”

Tuesday: The International Partnership – International Success for Tech Companies (Afternoon Session)

As already stated, the interest in this took us by surprise so we ended up holding a second session on Tuesday afternoon. The running order followed a similar pattern to the morning event, with both Donagh and Dave speaking again (see part two)

However this time first up was Paddy Holahan. Paddy is CEO of Newbay Software, a leader in digital lifestyle solutions for operators, enabling subscribers to create, store, view and share user content. Paddy brings huge experience in the Irish tech sector, having previously been Executive Vice President of Marketing & Product Management at Baltimore Technologies.

He spoke at length about his humble beginnings and how he managed to grow the various Irish software businesses that he has been involved with. Paddy is a straight talker, someone who is not afraid to call it as he sees it - but I think what impressed everyone most was his incredible focus.

He demonstrated an ability to back his own judgement, sometimes against the advice of others - but more often than not proving his was the right course to take. As a fellow Tipp man, I have to say - I liked his style.

Again, the quality of the people that attended was reflected in the intelligent dialogue and engagement that ensued all afternoon. As the risk of repeating myself, the Irish tech sector is in good hands. It’s the rest of us that need to make sure we adequately support our tech leaders - I for one, intend to make that happen.

Wednesday: Day of Rest? Yeah Right!

I travelled from Dublin to Tipp on Wednesday, happy in knowledge that the previous two days events had exceeded my expectations. I had intended to do a little work in the afternoon; I also knew I had a conference call with Jonathan Farrington and the Top Sales Experts International team that evening.

Irish Biz Blog Network

On the way down, I put a call into Fred and Facundo at Channelship. The guys and I have teamed up to launch Ireland’s first Biz Blogging Network.

Now I have always believed that best way to get stuff done is to simply trust the right people and then let them do their thing. I don’t want to give too much away just yet, but let’s just say it was another expectation exceeded. I would seriously encourage you to watch this space and Channelship because they are rightly becoming leaders in their field.

Here’s a recent Slideshare from Channelship.

TSE, the Greatest Show on Earth!

All that was left was the conference with TSE, and boy, did Jonathan have lots of exciting news. I am not sure that there is someone doing more for the profession of selling than Jonathan.

Again, I need to remain tight lipped for now but let’s just say there are a serious of BIG announcements planned over the coming months. If you haven’t checked TSE out yet, click on the banner – It is already an incredible sales resource and is on the way to becoming the one-stop shop for sales info on the planet.

Next up, was Thursday, which was the IT of Cork meet up and another very successful Irish entrepreneur – who may also double to be the most successful social networker in the land??

In part one, I talked about the second Sales Leadership Ireland meet up on Monday and the wonderful dialogue that resulted…….So on to Tuesday.

Tuesday: The International Partnership – International Success for Tech Companies.

These were two events (morning and afternoon) organised by myself, Donagh Kiernan of Maidsfield Associates and Dave Brock of Partners of Excellence to kick off our three-way International Partnership.

First up on the day was Kevin O Leary, CEO of QUMAS, an Irish company that provides compliance management software to the world’s leading blue chip companies. Kevin is an inspiring and charismatic presenter, and his story is one of continued success.

As part of his unique and engaging presentation, Kevin waked us through the actual pipeline of the business. He talked about why hiring a capable and analytical sales manager was a critical component of their success.

QUMAS have grown their business substantially in a very short space of time through strategic global partnerships. It’s a wonderful success story and Kevin was very kind in sharing his insights and learning with us, an entirely captivated audience throughout.

Next up was Donagh Kiernan who has worked closely with Kevin over the years in identifying the right fit International partners. Taking us through his step by step process, he talked about how he researches and creates the ecosystem of the particular market. While Donagh’s methods may be scientific, he stressed why instinct is still an important factor in arriving at a decision. It was an insightful presentation from Donagh that complimented Kevin’s earlier delivery.

Our third and final presentation was from Dave Brock, this would be Dave’s second of three presentations in only two days. Dave brought a truly global perspective, his IBM background, his experience as an investor in software companies and his huge consulting experience with his firm Partners in Excellence.

Dave has worked with the virtually every player of the global tech landscape, his experience shining through as he talked about the different strategies he implemented over the years. He talked about how it is possible for a big company to love a smaller one to death, the pesky details that can wreck International relationships and which strategy you employ really depends on a great many factors.

All three presentations were interoperable in nature and the questions and dialogue from those that attended was intelligent and though provoking. The Irish tech sector appears to me to be in many good hands.

Because of the level of interest in this event, we had to run an additional session in the afternoon. This proved equally engaging but more on that in part three.

Apologies for not blogging in a while, it’s not an excuse but this is easily the busiest I have been since I started the business. I know it’s a great complaint in the present environment.

Wow! What a week this week was, I am both excited and exhausted as a result. I have so many people to thank, it’s not funny

My dear friend and mentor “Dave Brock” was in Ireland all week to help us kick off The International Partnership. Dave is a genuine thought leader on sales and biz development. He has more experience and wisdom in his little finger than most of us could hope to achieve in a lifetime.

Monday: Sales Leadership Ireland – The Buyers Perspective

John O Gorman of the ASG Group and I organised the second SLI event. John is currently writing a book that will no doubt prove an invaluable sales resource. More about that in the coming months.

Dave Brock kicked off the event and talked about “adopting an outward in perspective in conversations with clients will help us all understand our clients a bit better”. Dave has been called “the conversation starter” and the resulting dialogue was wonderful. “We tend to talk a lot about putting the customer first but then forget to put ourselves in their shoes, the question what keeps your customer up at night is as still as valid as ever”

Dave Coffee from Supplierforce was next up. Dave is an expert on procurement and after hearing him talk, I can’t recommend the guy highly enough. The insight he provided was a salesperson’s dream.  “Buying has changed and procurement people within orgs are under immense pressure to help drive the business forward”

Dave’s 10 tips for salespeople.

1.    Seek to understand the level of strategic procurement that is taking place in the organisation you are targeting
2.    Beware of coming in late in the sourcing process
3.    Focus on the total cost of the solution and understand the overall investment that needs to be made
4.    Segment yourself
5.    Don’t oversell
6.    Listen and engage in conversations
7.    Engage across multiple levels before you propose
8.    Don’t stop once you get the sales ensure implementation is successful
9.    Consider your clients efficiency ratio
10.    Make sure you know how to speak to the CFO

When someone of the calibre of Sean Weafer says that he found it “more stimulating that anything I’ve attended in selling here to date” you know something good went down. Thanks to everyone that attended live and on Twitter, the interaction and insight was brilliant.

This is what I had intended SLI to be, when I started the group.

Still to come…..

3 more great events
Talks from 3 of Ireland’s most successful entrepreneurs.
One of Ireland’s leading experts for Tech companies.
The spanking new bloggers network for business in Ireland.
The greatest sales resource on the planet
Why many Irish companies are born International
And a whole lot of networking

Join me next time to find out more