Latest News from John Ryan

B2B Marketers Topic: Is Your Marketing Aligned to Today’s Buyers?

Tue, 08 Nov 2011 12:48:00 EST

Buyers will not engage with providers who don't have their marketing and sales in alignment with the buyer's process. This is the first of a series of articles written from my book Buyer Steps. I am exposing my book one topic at a time through these articles. I would welcome feedback since my goal is to improve the book and thus help the users of the book improve their revenue efforts. The reason understanding the new buyer is important is so that we can start to get our senior management team’s minds right about the marketing and sales approach. Our first challenge is that many providers have not adjusted to today’s B2B buyer and their process.

Startups: Making a Dent

Thu, 03 Nov 2011 10:57:08 EDT

It's not that I don't like business...I can't stand boring businesses that have no intention of making a dent in the world...or improving it. They are just "getting in the way of the money" with the hope of being chosen. Usually, it's a dearth of creativity/courage, either one - it's boring because there is no adventure to be found. Just holiday parties where they slap each other on the back like something really happened. Startups have a responsibility to be different. Not just because they're a startup, but there is a necessity to stand out for the buyer. Make a dent or come up with a new plan.

Buyers Rule – Target These Three Areas to Get in Sync

Thu, 20 Oct 2011 15:13:13 EDT

Many providers are still relying on their company's viewpoint for their marketing. Since buyers can instantly share information in the 21st century, it is best to adjust heavily toward helping the buyer reach their goals. Buyers want information in specific ways at ideal times to accelerate and improve their decision-making. Unless providers start building their marketing from the buyer's perspective, they make everyone's job harder than it has to be. Has your company defined the best groups that would want to research what you offer? Defining characteristics may be range of size, geographies, industries and motivation. This is your low-hanging fruit. You would be surprised at the number of companies who have not done this necessary work. One of the wasteful results out of not understanding audiences is that expensive salespeople spend time with companies that will never buy.

Herman Cain’s 999 Plan – A Marketing Perspective

Fri, 14 Oct 2011 15:00:00 EDT

It is difficult to ignore Herman Cain’s charisma. Everyone I have spoken to seems to find the Republican presidential candidate likeable. The former Godfather’s Pizza CEO certainly comes across as someone who knows a lot more than how to sell pizza. In last night’s debate in New Hampshire, he leaned on his 999 taxation message that received commentary from the other candidates. If you are unaware of what 999 means, it’s 9% income tax, 9% corporate tax and 9% sales tax. The 999 plan also translates into good marketing.

Marketing and Sales - Jobs People Hate?

Mon, 08 Aug 2011 09:24:19 EDT

I saw this morning that CNBC had a slideshow on Jobs People Hate. Marketing was mentioned as no. 10, indirectly mentioned as Product Management at no. 3 and coming

Marketing and Sales - Jobs People Hate?

Mon, 08 Aug 2011 09:24:00 EDT

I saw this morning that CNBC had a slideshow on Jobs People Hate. Marketing was mentioned as no. 10, indirectly mentioned as Product Management at no. 3 and coming in at no. 2 was Director of Sales and Marketing. The reasons they are listed? Lack of direction and an absence of opportunity for growth were blamed as the top two reasons for dissatisfaction. Of course, most people would hate a job where there was a lack of direction and no room to grow. On the other hand, in today's economy, a pragmatist might ask, "who has the luxury of loving their job?" I wrote my book, Buyer Steps to help business obtain direction in their marketing and sales efforts. My experience would tell me that a byproduct of getting an organization moving in the right direction is more opportunity for most people in the company.

Buyer Steps - the Book is Now Available

Thu, 21 Jul 2011 06:49:44 EDT

Buyer Steps - the Book Is Now Available

Thu, 21 Jul 2011 06:49:00 EDT

After working on it for over a year now, I'm happy to say that Buyer Steps is now available to be purchased at Amazon. I have already spoken to a few CEOs about what's in the book and the messages clearly resonate on what their biggest concerns are in regard to marketing and sales. Buyers are busy, very sophisticated and are beginning to use consumer buying habits to consider business solutions. They are also enabled by technology to weigh their options like never before. Knowing where they are in their process and what they need at every step is the smart approach to marketing. If you know of someone who wants to think differently about their buyers and how to accelerate sales cycles in the B2B world, this book is for them. Marketing and sales can get to be a huge cost center for any organization, Buyer Steps will deliver a framework that helps companies get purposeful in how they interact with buyers.

Ask These Seven Questions to See If Your Organization Is Ready for IPv6

Mon, 14 Feb 2011 07:15:00 EST

A discussion on helping organizations ask the right questions to see if they're ready for IPv6. On February 3, 2011, the Number Resource Organization (NRO), along with the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, the Internet Society (ISOC) and the Internet Architecture Board (IAB) announced that the last block of IPv4 address are assigned. The next milestone on the road to IPv6 is June 8th. The ISOC organized World IPv6 Day, a worldwide interop day to which leading service providers, content providers, networking equipment manufacturers and large enterprises have signed up. The goal of this event is to evaluate the IPv6 readiness of the Internet, and to ensure user experience over IPv4 is not negatively impacted.

Have All of Your People Talk to My People

Mon, 08 Nov 2010 10:51:34 EST

Congratulations. Everyone in your company is now in marketing, sales and service. They may not reside in any of those three departments and they may lack in specialized skills, but they can create a bridge of trust which is smart marketing. I recently wrote a white paper called The Digital Buyer. The document posits that buyers have changed in regard to their buying process over the last twenty years. This change is driven by technology and socioeconomic forces. Buyers are more sophisticated than ever and they desire the most relevant information at the exact moment it is needed. For many, time is their most precious currency. Providers have a responsibility to stop depending on the centralized control models of the past and to strategize toward a more distributed communication culture that leverages existing relationships. It’s true that some parts of an operation need to be separated from other areas and managed by specialists. However, managing relationships is a bit like managing applications that are stratified, it’s not the domain of the simple-minded. It requires a well thought out strategy reflecting the buying process and layers of trust that help the buyer progress with the appropriate provider representative.

The Burning Platform Buyer and the Big Bang

Thu, 23 Sep 2010 10:15:58 EDT

At the center of each 20^th century corporate sale was often the constant feeling that the buyer had to take immediate action. Their platform was burning and the buyer needed to make a decision. The provider

The Burning Platform Buyer and the Big Bang

Thu, 23 Sep 2010 10:15:58 EDT

The Burning Platform Buyer and the Big Bang

Thu, 23 Sep 2010 10:15:00 EDT

At the center of each 20th century corporate sale was often the constant feeling that the buyer had to take immediate action. Their platform was burning and the buyer needed to make a decision. The provider would work hard to shove as much biased information down their throats as possible in a short period of time to secure budgets and get the Big Bang deal. The Eureka moment had been hit and a sales hero had been born. A selling practice was to always being in the buyer’s face with more information supporting that provider’s offering. Most 21st century buyers are savvy to this flawed series of events. Today’s buyers use a more patient and informed process.

If a Provider doesn't have a CRM culture, this Customer is NfL (Not for Long)

Wed, 25 Aug 2010 12:41:18 EDT

About three weeks ago, we purchased a double-oven and dishwasher from the same nationally known retailer. Even as we sat in the store and the very affable salesperson was getting our information down, things didn't seem quite right. It

If a Provider doesn't have a CRM culture, this Customer is NfL (Not for Long)

Wed, 25 Aug 2010 12:41:18 EDT

If a Provider doesn't have a CRM culture, this Customer is NfL (Not for Long)

Wed, 25 Aug 2010 12:41:18 EDT

Intel Buys McAfee for Over $7 Billion

Thu, 19 Aug 2010 13:15:00 EDT

According to Intel, the reason this makes sense are: Acquisition enables a combination of security software and hardware from one company to ultimately better protect consumers, corporations and governments as billions of devices - and the server and cloud networks that manage them - go online.

The Digital Buyer Rules in the 21st Century

Wed, 14 Jul 2010 12:18:00 EDT

Today I have posted a white paper on the Digital Buyer approach and why business providers must change their approach in order to obtain and retain more of them. It's time companies and firms of all sizes organized their revenue efforts around The Digital Buyer's needs. You don't want your organization to be the last guy who saw the train go by. Worldwide, business decision makers and influencers of trillions of dollars of commerce are migrating to a digital buying experience improving the precision, speed and convenience of their choices. They are looking for providers who understand and service their digital buying approach. For the next decade, not only will more buyers go digital, their digital needs will escalate as buyers, customers and advocates. Laggard providers will certainly lose business as these buyers migrate to more digitization. When you visit the websites of most providers, it’s easy to see they have not given careful thought to this emerging and superior buying approach.

IBM Acquires Marketing Automation Software Company Unica

Fri, 13 Aug 2010 14:40:00 EDT

IBM and Unica Corporation today announced they have entered into a definitive agreement for IBM to acquire Unica in a cash transaction at a price of $21 per share, or at a net price of approximately $480 million, after adjusting for cash. A publicly held company in Waltham, Mass., Unica will expand IBM's ability to help organizations analyze and predict customer preferences and develop more targeted marketing campaigns.

IBM Purchases Unica

Fri, 13 Aug 2010 13:07:30 EDT

This acquisition should go a long way to legitimize the marketing automation category. With IBM's distribution capability on a global basis, marketing automation will receive a great deal more exposure.

The release:

IBM Purchases Unica

Fri, 13 Aug 2010 13:07:30 EDT

The release:

IBM Purchases Unica

Fri, 13 Aug 2010 13:07:30 EDT

The release:

Stories Make It Easy for All Employees to Be Marketers

Mon, 02 Aug 2010 11:53:15 EDT

It is the provider’s marketing leadership that is charged with helping buyers go through their steps. But the big cultural shift is when everyone in the provider’s company decides to be a marketer. Stories are as old as cave drawings it seems. It’s the opportunity to describe what has happened to someone who took the leap to know something others didn’t know and came back to share their information. That gap between what they know and what they don’t know is what keeps buyers from progressing. Stories can motivate buyers to take the leap because they pin their rationale on the benefits they want. Perhaps the greatest thing about stories is it allows the buyer’s brain to learn raw information with context. Stories are needed to make it feel relevant. Most employees will tell stories that show purpose in what they do for a living. People want others to know that they are part of something that matters, something that makes a difference. Let’s say Mary works in the accounting department of a provider. Mary doesn’t get a lot of direct buyer contact and she’s busy with her accounting job.

Stories make it easy for all Employees to be Marketers

Mon, 02 Aug 2010 10:54:18 EDT

Stories make it easy for all Employees to be Marketers

Mon, 02 Aug 2010 10:54:18 EDT

Stories make it easy for all Employees to be Marketers

Mon, 02 Aug 2010 10:54:18 EDT

The Popular Myth of Innovation and Big Companies

Thu, 29 Jul 2010 09:57:03 EDT

Innovation is the cause of leadership, not size. There are plenty of examples that would support many of these characteristics. Admittedly, size does make it more challenging to be innovative and agile. But I would also argue that conventional wisdom is fueled by the size of the target itself. Having worked at a company of one to a company the size of IBM, my observation is that being small is not the critical determinant for excellence . I have seen innovation and speed come out of large companies just like small companies. We shouldn't kid ourselves. Smart risk-taking people work in big companies too. Likewise, I have seen small companies paralyzed by a flat-footed CEO who couldn't make up his mind or was in over his head. I have also seen entrepreneurs spin out of large companies go on to create successful companies of innovation based on something they learned at the large company.

The Popular Myth of Big Companies and Innovation

Mon, 26 Jul 2010 12:48:39 EDT

I've read a lot of material lately about innovation. There are a number of people who characterize big companies as the following:

Bureaucratic
Corrupt
Slow
Boring
Vast wastelands of soul-crushing activity
read more

The Popular Myth of Big Companies and Innovation

Mon, 26 Jul 2010 12:48:39 EDT

The Popular Myth of Big Companies and Innovation

Mon, 26 Jul 2010 12:48:39 EDT

Epic Advice for the Millennial Job Seeker

Tue, 20 Jul 2010 09:42:54 EDT

A common sense approach to finding a job for the young person you know. Nothing is always true when it comes to people. Admittedly, the representation here of a Millennial candidate and Boomer takes a bit of a poetic license. It’s meant to help the Millennial keep their sense of humor, have some perspective and connect with what is usually a more experienced manager shaped by their generation. Recently I read an article in the New York Times called "American Dream is Elusive for a New Generation". It states that there is a 37% unemployment rate for the Millennial generation based on data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. This is for the recent graduate who is still living at home, surfing the Internet and trying to find a job. Keep your chin up and take action, we've all been there before.

Epic Advice for the Millennial Job Seeker

Tue, 20 Jul 2010 07:36:04 EDT

Nothing is always true when it comes to people. Admittedly, the representation here of a Millennial candidate and Boomer takes a bit of a poetic license. It’s meant to help the Millennial keep their sense of humor, have some perspective

Epic Advice for the Millennial Job Seeker

Tue, 20 Jul 2010 07:36:04 EDT

Epic Advice for the Millennial Job Seeker

Tue, 20 Jul 2010 07:36:04 EDT

FeedMagnet - Pragmatic Social Marketing on Display

Mon, 19 Jul 2010 13:41:36 EDT

FeedMagnet - Pragmatic Social Marketing on Display

Mon, 19 Jul 2010 13:41:36 EDT

FeedMagnet - Pragmatic Social Marketing on Display

Mon, 19 Jul 2010 13:41:36 EDT

FeedMagnet - Obvious Social Value Simplified

Mon, 19 Jul 2010 13:00:24 EDT

Social media can be a vexing component of the overall marketing effort. On one hand, hundreds of millions of people use it. On the other hand, how does a company make use of it? The power of the network is the number of people on the network itself. The beauty of a popular platform is that the more time that more people stay on the network, it looks like a good advertising opportunity. Unfortunately, the Digital Buyer can be very savvy about ignoring ads so it makes it particularly challenging to advertise with any great success. To address this, FeedMagnet takes the true value out of social network and puts back to work for the brand. In the new digital world, what others say about you is infinitely more important and viral than what you say about yourself. FeedMagnet takes what others say about your brand from the social networks and presents it at whatever distribution points you choose in the way that you choose. Imagine that you have thousands of customers and scores of them are commenting positively on your products and services every day. In addition, videos are often made by amateur critics who talk about products. With any search engine or looking at reviews, it is unlikely that you can find these brand assets which could be helping new buyers. Today, companies don't know these comments are out there, who wrote them and you cannot possibly put them to good use for your reputation. With FeedMagnet, you can take action. it's that simple.

White Paper - The Digital Buyer Rules in the 21st Century

Wed, 14 Jul 2010 10:17:40 EDT

How to focus your management team on the Digital Buyer

Download this white paper free of charge and no e-mail required. If you have any thoughts on this paper, please e-mail them to me directly at john@thedigitalbuyer.co

White Paper - The Digital Buyer Rules in the 21st Century

Wed, 14 Jul 2010 10:17:40 EDT

How to focus your management team on the Digital Buyer

Download this white paper free of charge and no e-mail required. If you have any thoughts on this paper, please e-mail them to me directly at john@thedigitalbuyer.co

Relationships Benefit from the Internet - Pew Research Study

Wed, 07 Jul 2010 09:15:30 EDT

While they acknowledge that use of the Internet as a tool for communications can yield both positive and negative effects, a significant majority of technology experts and stakeholders participating in the fourth Future of the Internet survey say it improves social relations and will continue to do so through 2020. The highly engaged, diverse set of respondents to an online, opt‐in survey included 895 technology stakeholders and critics. The study was fielded by the Pew Research Center’s Internet & American Life Project and Elon University’s Imagining the Internet Center. Some 85% agreed with the statement: “In 2020, when I look at the big picture and consider my personal friendships, marriage and other relationships, I see that the Internet has mostly been a positive force on my social world. And this will only grow more true in the future.”

Wireless Internet Study from Pew

Wed, 07 Jul 2010 15:35:00 EDT

An April 2009 survey conducted by the Pew Research Center’s Internet & American Life Project asked respondents whether they had used a variety of devices – laptops, cell phones, game consoles, and more – to go online using a wireless network. Altogether, 56% of Americans said they have at some point used wireless means for online access.

Future of Millennials and Their Online Sharing - Pew Research Survey

Fri, 09 Jul 2010 11:50:32 EDT

How Generation Y will continue in their online sharing ways. In a survey about the future impact of the Internet, a solid majority of technology experts and stakeholders said the Millennial generation will lead society into a new world of personal disclosure and information‐sharing using new media. These experts said the communications patterns “digital natives” have already embraced through their use of social networking technology and other social technology tools will carry forward even as Millennials age, form families, and move up the economic ladder. The highly engaged, diverse set of respondents to an online, opt‐in survey included 895 technology stakeholders and critics. The study was fielded by the Pew Research Center’s Internet & American Life Project and Elon University’s Imagining the Internet Center.

Millennials to make Online Sharing a Lifelong Habit - Pew Study

Fri, 09 Jul 2010 11:29:20 EDT

From the Pew survey on Millennials:

Millennials to make Online Sharing a Lifelong Habit - Pew Study

Fri, 09 Jul 2010 11:29:20 EDT

From the Pew survey on Millennials:

Mobile Access 2010 [STUDY]

Wed, 07 Jul 2010 14:40:41 EDT

A New Study Shows that Relationships Benefit from the Internet

Tue, 06 Jul 2010 15:49:01 EDT

From Pew -

How to Build a Customer Reference Program

Wed, 16 Jun 2010 12:51:20 EDT

Technology providers without a good reference program are always running against the wind. Gartner issued a press release last month giving some direction to establishing and maintaining a good program. From the release — Providers that apply customer references across a broad range of stakeholders close business faster, build stronger brands and sustain higher employee morale, according to Gartner, Inc. “While few marketers would debate the value of customer references, they tend to limit their use to just sales opportunities,” said Richard Fouts, research director at Gartner.

New Federal IT Investment Performance Dashboard

Mon, 28 Sep 2009 10:45:00 EDT

A new web site enabling agencies and the public to review the detailed financial performance of federal IT investments using dashboards. The home page offers a quick glance into the overall investment portfolio while also allowing you to go deeper into specific IT investments. The site has enabled easy sharing of information as well as provided recent news and updates. The menu system is set up so the user can go into specific areas on the site.

The Future of Cloud Computing – A Study

Mon, 14 Jun 2010 09:50:01 EDT

A solid majority of technology experts and stakeholders participating in the fourth Future of the Internet survey expect that by 2020 most people will access software applications online and share and access information through the use of remote server networks, rather than depending primarily on tools and information housed on their individual, personal computers.