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B2B Sales and Marketing professionals in fast-growing companies lack the time to wait around for someone to train them. And chances are, the person responsible for training them is too overwhelmed with other responsibilities to do so.
For that reason, we're presenting four amazing online communities where you can learn tricks of the trade from the world's best swiftly and on your own time.
Corporate budget-tightening and the mercenary mentality of Gen-Y entrants into the fields of sales and marketing have dealt dual blows to critical factors for professional growth.
Increasingly being left to their own devices in terms of training and mentorship, young B2B Sales and Marketing professionals and their time-strapped managers must look to new outlets to provide the knowledge and mentorship services their more inexperienced personnel need in order to excel.
I encourage both young B2B sales and marketing professionals, as well as their managers, to check out the following four websites for that serve as lifelines for the untrained and inexperienced sales rep and marketer.
Knowledge Bases for B2B Sales & Marketing Advice
Online communities remain an underrated resource for professionals seeking impactful, high-value insights on best practices, tactics and strategies. As a Marketing Director and writer of sales-oriented content for my own company, It was a chore finding articles I could use to improve my ROI as a Marketing Director or cite to in my sales-focused articles.
Fortunately, these searches have led me to several places I now consider veritable founts of knowledge. While huge inside the SaaS industry, Quora, GrowthHackers, Sales Hacker and Inbound.org are four relatively unknown sites to much of the general B2B sales and marketing public. If you're marketing and selling and need answers, chances are you'll find what you seek on at least one of these sites.
Quora | Your Best Source For Knowledge
Wikipedia may have all the facts in the world, but it doesn't have the world's best sales and marketing professionals providing actionable response to industry-specific queries from Joe Q. Public. Quora lives up to its tagline -- a seemingly endless arena of mind-sharing, commentary, and Q&A.
Easy-to-search, you can quickly find answers to practically any questions you're having regarding a B2B sales and marketing best practice. A site with thousands of users from just about every industry, Quora is a place you can visit every day for 9 months (as I have) and still feel like you're just scratching the surface of useful insight.
GrowthHackers | Unlocking Growth. Together.
Ignore any preconceptions you may have about people who use the term "growth hacking." GrowthHackers is a great community that revolves around the sharing and upvoting of the most useful sales and marketing content its members are finding (and often writing themselves) online.
I'm fairly recent to the site, and I've already experienced several profound insights, some bordering on revelations, and earned a couple great introductions to innovative practitioners in my field. Plus, you can share your own company content and network in close quarters with some of the true leaders in your field. Not as comprehensive as Quora, in terms of industry coverage, but the best stuff on here is actionable as you'll find anywhere online.
Sales Hacker | The Leading B2B SaaS Sales Community
Founded in September 2013, Sales Hacker is a full-fledged media conglomerate that hosts its own quarterly conference, regional event series, and the highly-popular Sales Hacker blog. Already a major presence in the SaaS industry, Sales Hacker has blown up seemingly overnight, thanks in no small part to its outstanding blog.
In short order, Sales Hacker has amassed a powerful library of content authored by the Who's-Who of B2B SaaS Sales and Marketing. B2B Sales and Marketing professionals who work outside of the SaaS industry -- don't let the SaaS specification deter you from paying a visit. You'll be happy to find that much of the content here carries over to the general B2B Sales and Marketing practitioner.
Inbound.org | The #1 Inbound Marketing Community
B2B Marketing professionals, especially those who operate primarily in the digital realm, will feel like they've entered the pearly gates upon first visit to this site. Inbound.org is a community of the best and the brightest and similar in construction to GrowthHackers, as much of the site is dedicated to transacting, upvoting and commenting on top-tier marketing content from some of the industries most clever and successful practitioners.
Boss won't stop yelling you about website copy, conversion rates, content distribution or one of the myriad other digital marketing bugaboos? [Arnold Schwarzenneger voice] Get to the choppa! This site is your potential savior.
A New Era of B2B Sales and Marketing Advice & Professional Development
When first launched, the internet arrived with the grand promise of connecting everyone the world over and providing limitless access to information. In present-day 2015, the knock on many young professionals is that they spend their time online posting status updates across social media and laughing at 7 second Vine clips, rather than bettering themselves.
B2B Sales and Marketing professionals -- especially those who are mentorship orphans or recipients of Greg Schiano-quality coaching -- you have wandered alone long enough. Managers who like the time and resources to coach and train as they would like, direct your reports to these four sites.
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