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We'll be honest - we're big fans of Marketing Sherpa around here. We've always found them to be a valuable source of forward-looking, research-based information for the challenging marketing environment we're all facing.

So we were excited to see their new Reader's Choice awards: much like our own Best of BuyerZone series, they're going to be recognizing outstanding blogs in a wide variety of categories. Unlike ours, they're putting nominations (and later, the final selections) up to popular vote - and that's where you come in.

If you like what we're doing here, head over to the Marketing Sherpa blog and leave a comment nominating About Leads for Best B2B Marketing Blog. If you don't like what we're doing here, send me an email.

Regardless of our own results, we're looking forward to their final lists - although it's a challenge to keep up with all the great blogs we already follow, it's always interesting to see where other people are going for information.

As we mentioned previously, we recently conducted a study in conjunction with LeadsCouncil to uncover the true state of B2B Lead Generation. We asked marketers in this space (full disclosure: many of the respondents are clients of BuyerZone) about their use of technology, social media, budget, lead quality and quantity, and more. While our full report is coming soon, here's a sneak peak at some of the data:

This data, from 179 B2B marketers, shows that most companies understand the importance of speedy lead follow-up (thankfully!). But, even the 17% who follow-up within 24 hours might be losing their edge in terms of closing leads. 24 hour turnaround used to be acceptable, but with modern technology and increasing customer expectations, it's probably not getting the job done anymore.

How quickly are you following up on leads? Do you have a firm process in place to handle inbound inquiries?

Curious how quickly other businesses are following up on leads? Do you wonder how many companies are truly using drip marketing/marketing automation?

We're happy to announce the first annual State of B2B Lead Generation survey. This short survey, which we're sponsoring in conjunction with LeadsCouncil, digs into the thoughts and practices of companies in the B2B space. We'll shed light on how companies are managing leads, including use of technology, social media, follow-up practices and more.

Are you in B2B? Take the survey now and check back here in a month or two for our full report on the state of B2B lead generation!

Related: read the press release announcing the launch of the survey.

Spring has sprung, and BuyerZone has some big news: We're proud to announce the winners of BuyerZone's 20 Under 20 Awards!

Months ago, we asked you to tell us about the small businesses that you love - the ones that you've seen do impressive things since being founded less than twenty years ago. After an initial round of reviews, we made our selections. Then we interviewed each of our winners to get the details on how they became what they are today.

Their stories are inspiring. While our winners are diverse in their lines of business, all twenty companies share a common thread that is passion for what they do. This passion comes from the talented, smart, innovative, hard-working, and driven people that work at each company. (Head over to our Pinterest winner board to get to know some of the faces behind each company).

So without further ado, we bring to you The winners of this year's 20 Under 20 Awards!

As part of our ongoing Best of BuyerZone series, we've recently published another collection of great blogs for small businesses. (Go straight to the list to see the winners.)

This time around we reviewed marketing blogs: from branding to social media, these writers dish out detailed strategy guides, quick tips, and everything in between. Some of the names are familiar, while others are smaller blogs that we discovered in the course of our research.

We know, finding time for reading yet more blogs is a challenge. But if you could use some innovation in your marketing activities, it'd be time well spent.

Check out the our list of the Best Marketing Blogs and judge for yourself. And congrats to al lthe winners.

In honor of our twentieth birthday in 2012, BuyerZone is producing the first annual 20 Under 20 awards. These awards will recognize 20 of the youngest small businesses in America which have gone above and beyond in terms of customer service, innovation, social engagement, teamwork, leadership, and more.

Yes, you can nominate yourself. (There's no promotion like self-promotion, after all.) The only rule is your business needs to be fewer than 20 years old.

Fill out the form below to see how you compare! We'll be announcing winners in March.

UPDATE: The nomination period has ended. Winners will be announced later this month.

Image: Flickr

As Jeremy pointed out in his post from last week, Leadscon is coming up at the end of the month and we're looking forward to getting together with lead generators from across the industry in Las Vegas.

I've taken a look at the conference agenda and wanted to highlight some sessions which I think will be particularly interesting. As with any conference, there are a ton of topics being covered and only so much time, so it's important to focus on the key information and learnings you want to bring back to the office.

Here's mine:

• Avoiding the Race to the Bottom (2/28, 4:00pm): In the quest for a fair balance of lead volume and quality, volume often wins. While this might work for the lead generator, it almost never does for the lead buyer - leading to inevitable conflict. In a competitive space where lead sources are at a premium, how does one avoid this race to the bottom?
  
• Your Landing Pages Suck and Here is Why (2/29, 9:00am): At the heart of any lead generation campaign is a landing page. You might argue its the most critical component, but in many cases, the design, copy and functionality are way off. We've covered this topic before, and I'm always interested in learning new ways to optimize landing pages for leads.
• Lead Gen for Lead Generators (2/29, 11:15am): As a lead generator, we exert almost all of our collective energy on driving leads for our clients. Of course, we also need to generate leads for our own sales team! The strategies, while similar, aren't always the same - so I'm always curious how we could improve our internal lead generation efforts.

Are you attending Leadscon? If so, let us know what sessions you're excited for in the comments below.

Want more information about the show, check out the site.

No, not the Superbowl. (Although with our Patriots back in it again, there is a lot of excitement around BuyerZone's Boston-area office... go Pats!) No, the real big game for us is LeadsCon - and it's coming up in a little more than three weeks.

LeadsCon is the premiere event for our industry -- we look forward to it every year. Despite the sense of competition between lead generators who are competing for the same eyeballs, there's always something to learn from others' experiences.

I mentioned previously that we'll be sending two of our all-stars to Leads Con: Jeff Gordon, our Director of Marketing (and About Leads blogger), and Anne Kelly, our VP of sales. Both have been important parts of BuyerZone for years, and both will be out and about at LeadsCon to make connections. And just like media day before the Superbowl, I had a chance to interview both of them about their plans for the big game.

Jeff's more focused on relationships with other lead sellers. "We're always looking to find new ways to work with other lead generators," says Gordon, "and besides, these other lead guys always know where the best buffets are."  (Gameday tip: never stand between Jeff and a buffet.)

As our VP of sales, Anne's more interested in connecting with lead buyers. "With our range of lead gen services," she says, "we can help businesses in almost any industry. You want flying car leads? I'll get you flying car leads."

Ticket discount
If you're interested and haven't gotten your ticket yet, the LinkedIn Online Lead Generation Group has an exclusive $400 discount off the on-site price. But it's only good until February 10, so don't wait.

Note: Jeff and Anne probably didn't say these things. But you can ask them in person... at LeadsCon.

LeadsCon Las Vegas is February 28th and 29th this year, and we're already getting excited. It's probably the single most important tradeshow for those of us in the lead generation industry -- and it can be a gold mine of information for lead buyers, as well.

In fact, this year LeadsCon has added a set of workshops specifically focused on lead buyers. With titles like "You're Buying Crap - More Than You Would Ever Know," I'm not sure what to expect -- but if I was a lead buyer, I'd be interested in those, as well as the Buyers-only events on Monday the 27th.

If you're going to LeadsCon, make sure to keep an eye out for BuyerZoners. Director of Marketing (and fellow About Leads blogger) Jeff Gordon will be there, along with our VP of Sales, Anne Kelly. Track them down and say hello -- and let them know what we can do to help you get and close more leads.

Ah, New Year's resolutions: those fleeting good ideas that are usually forgotten by Valentine's Day. Whether it's the big crowd at the gym or the parking lot at work that fills a little earlier than it used to, the short-term effects often disappear after a couple of weeks.

It doesn't have to be that way! If you're making resolutions for work, we can help. Just share your resolution in the comments below. Putting your resolution out there in public can give you added incentive to follow through. More than that, though, we'll follow up in a few months and see how it's going. (No, we won't do anything else with your info, I promise.)

I'm also calling out my BuyerZone coworkers to chime in here with their own resolutions. What are you guys going to do to help buyers and sellers connect in 2012? Speak up.

Mine, as content editor for the site, is to do a better job keeping our content up to date. It's always more interesting to work on new content -- but we also need to make sure our older stuff gets refreshed. More updates in 2012!