Today’s Specials – Sales 2.0 – Wednesday, January 19, 2011

We’re singing “Happy Birthday” in The Sales Cafe today! (But certainly not the version written by the famous Hill Sisters.) It’s the birthday of many famous (and infamous) people today and we’re always looking for a reason for a party and a piece of cake around here.

Amidst all the mayhem, we are looking to get some work accomplished. It’s a tough job, but somebody’s got to do it. In addition to the birthdays, we’re worried about Steve Jobs–Apple will live on, but who’s thinking about Steve and his health?

And what about you? Who’s thinking about you? You might be surprised…

Image via CrunchBase

1. Google Yourself. That’s right, do it now. Type your name in the Google (or Yahoo! or Bing) search box and see what happens. Let’s hope you see only happy surprises.

2. What the heck is Sales 2.0 & Why should I care? Leave it to the Hubspot folks to get the guy who coined the term “Sales 2.0” to guest write a blog post about it that has some background and depth–instead of just the typical “it’s good for you, do it or hire me to do it for you” posts we so often find on the Web. (So, yes, you can hire Hubspot, but the piece also validates our brainchild “A Marketer in a Sales World.” We’re saving that for another day.)

3. 3 Qualities a Sales Rep MUST HAVE. Do you have what it takes, well, according to Geoffrey James, the sales guru over at BNET? To us, those are the three qualities just about anyone should aspire to have, no matter what their job title is.

Today’s Specials – Tuesday, November 2, 2010

We have been celebrating here at The Sales Cafe! The San Francisco Giants finally won a World Series (only works 11/2/2010) and Bruce Springsteen released a new video. We are happy, proud, and a little tired, honestly, from all the shenanigans that have been going on. First Halloween and now all this. How will we make it through the week? Here are a few things on the list of specials to keep us engaged.

1. Blekko. Terrible name notwithstanding, we think this new search engine is fun. Cool charts about things most of our patrons have no clue (including us), but we are eager to learn. Remember, Google wasn’t really a word when it started. Now it’s a proper noun and a verb. Will we be saying “I blekkoed him” someday soon?

2. 5 Things for SMB owners to do every day. When we get muddled (like from the excitement of today), it’s nice to have a set list of to do’s to fall back on. This list reminds us entrepreneur types that every step forward is a step in the right way.

3. The New B2B Marketing Manifesto. We straddle the line between sales and marketing here at The Sales Cafe, and it’s often a fine line. According to those wiseguys over at Marketo, marketing folks rule the world! (Nearly. No pressure, though. We liked it when sales took all the heat for not keeping the pipeline filled.) While you visit this link, click through to download the ebook they are discussing. It’s an excellent read.

4. Who belongs on a selling team? We found this link extremely helpful in setting up our sales team for the next big sale. The folks at Developing Your B2B Sales Skills defined a sales coordinator, but it’s our job to clarify the roles for the rest of the team.

Finally, just in case you’re like us and think it’s never too early to prepare for anything, sign up for the Holiday Cookie of the Day emails. These look good enough to eat!

Now, please go get your vote on.