We are honored to lead the current required reading list on the respected technology industry site, Sandhill.com.  Site readers  can download a free book excerpt that gives them the basics of why high tech organizations must learn to ride the content marketing tsunami.

SandHill.com is published by the Sand Hill Group, which provides investment and management advice to emerging leaders in the $600 billion enterprise software, services and solutions market. SandHill.com provides two main content areas – “Required Reading” and “In-depth Analysis” – with a broad spectrum of editorial and decision support broken out for management, finance, engineering and marketing executives.

As company founder and software industry vet, M.R. Rangaswami, explains it, the site is a place "where enterprise software experts can go for their daily fix of strategic business information – be it news, insight, analysis or community." He adds that "SandHill.com will give you the pertinent news, opinions from leaders and visionaries, informative and actionable research and industry metrics. But most of all, we want to add a personality to the industry."

Sandhill.com is clearly doing the job because it merits of strong 5/10 Google page ranking.  According to the company, it currently reaches 10,000 CEOs, COOs, CFOs, CTOs, CMOs, VPs of Engineering, R&D, Services & Support, Venture Capitalists and members of the software industry eco-system.

Sand Hill Group produces the Software and the Enterprise series of conferences for industry executives, and authors research reports on cutting-edge technology topics. Click here to find out more about the company.

Click here for a link to Sandhill.com’s excerpt from Get Content Get Customers.

We are featured in a round up of 3 hot new business books. As they comment on Get Content Get Customers:

Search engines such as Google have democratised content, and so you have the opportunity to replace formerly vital media choices with your own high-quality content, advise Joe Pulizzi and Newt Barrett in Get Content Get Customers: Turn prospects into buyers with content marketing ( www.tatamcgrawhill.com). “You can be timely, considered, and reasoned. Your company can become the new thought leader among your many prospects who are completely open to great content from new sources,” the authors encourage.

To read the entire story click here.

Here’s a sneak peak:

When you boil it down, publishing is simple to explain:

• First, define a critical group of buyers (your customers/prospects).
• Second, determine what information they really need and how they want to receive it (not your sales and marketing content…valuable, compelling content…that solves their pain points).
• Third, deliver that critical info to that core group of buyers in the way they want it.
• Fourth, continually measure how well you’re doing and adjust as you go.

Read the full article here.

Design Product News underscored the importance of content marketing even in the most technical of business to business evironments.  Their May 2009 eLetter devoted its cover story to our book and to one of the best content marketers in the business.

Here’s some of what they had to say:

The book by content marketing strategists Joe Pulizzi and Newt Barrett shows readers how to leverage the power of online content to drive their businesses. The authors devote a full chapter to ThomasNet (www.thomasnet.com) and its use of “targeted, relevant, and valuable content” to help industrial suppliers succeed.
“The Internet has become the best channel for companies that want to recession-proof their businesses by expanding into new markets,” said Pulizzi. “ThomasNet is an example of a company that uses innovative content to help industrial companies capitalize on hidden market opportunities.”
The book highlights ThomasNet’s V.S.E.T. formula to guide the creation of websites so that prospects can find and navigate them, and eventually become buyers.

Click here to read the entire eLetter article form Design Product News.