"A-B-C. A-Always, B-Be, C-Closing. Always be closing, always be closing." If you're in sales, that classic line from the film Glengarry Glen Ross has always resonated. It comes from the school of thought that when you're talking with a prospect, you need to take control of the situation and always be working them torwards the sale and asking them, in various ways, to make the purchase. And while the velvet hammer approach is no longer a viable sales technique, it is true that in sales, we must always be working to provide and demonstrate value to our prospects so that they can make a purchase decision.

In a great infograph from SalesForce, we can see quite a number of apps that small business owners could be using to help run their business from their smartphone. According to their research, roughly a third of U.S. small business owners are using these kinds of apps, for tasks like banking or customer relationship management. But that means that over two thirds of small business owners are missing out on this technological opportunity to be flexible in their management.

For most businesses, implementation of a blog is a core component of a content marketing strategy that is designed to attract more and more visitors who can be educated through blog posts and converted into customers. While the creation of great, compelling content is a key aspect of that strategy, it's also extremely important that your blog is optimized for search engines. The best blog post in the world is worth nothing if no one knows about it and can't find it!

Ten years ago, I might have spent a significant portion of a client meeting educating my client on how more and more consumers are using the Internet to shop and compare businesses and providers. Today, I generally do not have to make that argument since we all understand that no one uses their Yellow Pages anymore. Instead, I am now talking more and more about mobile. This is another critical evolution in how our society uses technology to connect and interact, and businesses that leap to take advantage are going to reap the rewards.

What we're talking about is "Mobile Websites." A mobile website, or mobile-optimized website, means that your business website can be displayed on a smart phone or tablet and appear somewhat different, so as to take advantage of the smaller screen size and usability differences of a mobile platform.

WHAT IT IS AND HOW TO USE IT TO WIN BUSINESS

The following infograph does a great job of providing an overview of what Content Marketing is, how it will benefit business, and where to get started. Some of the highlights include:

What is Content Marketing?

Content Marketing is content that fulfills consumers wants and needs and brings them to you. Content Marketing can include Webinars, Blogs, Roundtables, White Papers, Social Media, Podcasts, Microsites, EMail, Video, Contests, Newsletters, Events and more. 9 out of 10 businesses are doing Content Marketing, and the average company uses 6 to 9 kinds of content. Social Media is the most popular.

I am often aproached by business and website owners and asked whether or not they should even consider a social media marketing campaign. They often think that social media doesn't apply to their business or industry. One of most compelling motivators should be the sheer number of users on social networks that can potentially hear your message. If you're not sure exactly how to use a social network, that's something that we can work on and improve, but the bottom line is that every business and entrepreneur can benefit from social media marketing.

Businesses who want to use their website and social media to reach out to and engage their customers need to understand the demographics behind today's social media networks. If you are targeting a younger audience, sites like Bebo.com should be a larger part of your social media marketing campaign than more professional platforms like LinkedIn.com. The following infographs may help clarify for you who is using which social media platforms and where your marketing efforts need to be. Click any infograph to open a larger version in a lightbox which can be enlarged.