We faced with the following dilemma: Individuals' expectations for online interactions are changing dramatically. So what was I going to do about it for our B2B business? Being the VP of Marketing at a Next Generation Internet consulting firm put a lot of pressure on me to 'get it right'. Here are our 8 principles:

1. Prospects are people. In the consumer space it is easy to identify winning new approaches (i.e. MySpace, Facebook, Digg, YouTube, Craigslist, Second Life, etc.) to learn from, but in the B2B sector, these dramatic changes in the consumer market are not yet reflected. But there is no escape from the expectations set in the consumer market. We should always keep this front of mind.
   
   
2. Kill the corporate voice. Everyone is deadened to the language of traditional corporate marketing. The acronyms, the buzzwords, the sentences that no one can figure out what they mean and everyone uses them. Some companies have tried the hip corporate voice. This is even worse than the traditional voice in that it is painfully obvious that a company is trying too hard. The only solution is to let individuals speak for themselves.
   
   
3. Deputize the bloggers. If you kill the corporate voice, you need other voices (real individuals) to take its place. The good news is that you already have folks that have volunteered for this job - the best bloggers within your company. In many ways the rise of the blog can be seen as a craving for honest communication and piercing the veil of traditional corporate marketing speak.
   
   
4. Tear down the fortress. Nearly 100% of B2B companies follow the same approach to lead generation on their websites. Create some content (whitepapers, podcasts, etc.) and force anyone who wants it to register by supplying their contact information.
   
   The problem with this approach is that any content placed behind registration will not be accessed by search engines. If your prospects are starting with a search, your content better be accessible or they will never find you.
   
   
5. Set the data free. Nearly every B2B company has data that prospects are very interested in. The traditional marketing approach is to guard the data and only share it with prospects in a one-on-one meeting. Instead, use the data to form a basis for a community of interest that can become a source of leads for your company.
   
   
6. Stop issuing press releases 'over the wire'. The first press release was 'put on the wire' on March 8, 1954 by PRNewswire to 12 news outlets in New York City. The pricing model is still based on the number of words with the average press release costing between $500 and $1,000 to put 'over the wire'. Instead, email them to reporters/ bloggers to build a personal connection and increase the probability of coverage.
   
   
7. Syndicate. Syndicate, Syndicate. According to the recent Business to Business 2007 Survey, 72.6% of B2B buyers start their process with a web search. Actively share content with other sites where your prospects frequent. This approach dramatically increase s your visibility in search engines and the likelihood potential prospects will learn about you.
   
   
8. Website as a Gathering. The metaphor for a website during the first generation of the inte rnet was a corporate brochure - static content that became known as 'brochure-ware'. In the Next Generation Internet the appropriate metaphor is a gathering that includes the conversations and interactions of multiple stakeholders for your business. Think of the best conference you have gone to and the quality of the conversations and how your thinking was stimulated. This is what a website should be.
   

Implementing these principles should significantly impact the visibility of your company for prospects searching for the products and services you provide, increase the interactions time with them on your website and generate a greater volume of qualified leads.