Can we learn anything about account management from AMC’s Mad Men? Lets start by questioning what it is that we really love about the show. Sure, those whiskey-infused morning advertising meetings and the banter between Don Draper and his partners are amusing, but I think the reason we are eager to view the next episode is because we are intrigued by the various business relationships and the behavior of management that makes or breaks deals in the advertising world.

GUEST BLOGGER: Cheryl Bame, Principal at Bame Public Relations 

Many professionals want to see their names in print, either by being quoted in the press or by writing a bylined article. If you want to take the latter route, then there are some important questions you need to ask yourself before you set out to write your masterpiece. And these questions go beyond the traditional tasks of identifying your target publication and getting your topic approved by an editor.

Sitting at my local watering hole the other night, I struck up a conversation with a person in town on business. Our conversation took a turn when they asked me what I do. When I told them I work remote with a DC-based strategic branding and marketing agency, they went off on a tangent about how successful their employees are that work remote and the benefits of such an arrangement.

I enjoy writing blogs like this, and sending out tweets when I run across a great article that I think will be of value to colleagues. However, I must admit that I have stopped tuning on my TweetDeck on a daily basis. Why? Because I see more and more tweets that simply prattle on about subjects that I don’t have the time or interest in reading. Perhaps I need to go in a clean out my followers and create more robust lists. But this is not my point.

There are articles after articles that speak to the importance of forming partnerships, rather than treating vendors like, well, vendors. Sure, a vendor is a common name for a company that provides a service to you (agencies, printers, technology providers, etc.) but try to think beyond the term and more broadly about what the business should be: a partnership! Most accounting and law firms refer to the professional service firms they use as vendors (we know your services appear on many budgets as line items under the vendor category).

GUEST BLOGGER: Larry Bodine Esq., Business Development Advisor 

From Hubspot: We all know our website is a key part of our marketing and lead generation strategy. But when prospects visit your site, what are they looking for? What do they want to see, and what do they consider most important? To find out, RainToday.com surveyed more than 200 buyers of business-to-business services—in companies of all sizes—to rate the importance of various elements of a service provider's website.

GUEST BLOGGER: Matthew Gallizzi, CEO - Notix Technology Solutions

Facebook mobile has over 100 million users and is growing faster than desktops. Morgan Stanley believes that more users will be connected to the Internet via mobile devices than desktop PCs within five years. Motorola CEO Sanjay Jha told Reuters that Android-powered mobile devices are selling faster than they can be manufactured.

When working with multiple clients, it’s important to learn what is the most effective form of communication for that client. More often than not it will vary from person to person and not firm to firm. There will be some global technologies that a firm uses and are important to know and understand early in a client/partner relationship, particularly if you are working on building a website or designing an electronic annual report. But at the end of the day people just like to be asked – “What is the best way for me to communicate with you?”

I remember being eight and all I wanted for Christmas was "Game and Watch" games. Game and Watch by Nintendo, was a handheld gaming unit made in the early 80s, with an LCD screen and very simple motion. In my mind, this was the seed of the moblie generation and I'd like to believe that this revolution may have started with me. ;)

You just bought a parcel of land and are planning to build a brand new home, your dream home. Would you start building this home without an architecture or floor plan? I would hope not. And the same goes for building a website.

Blueprints are to a house, like sitemaps and wireframes are to a website. Information architecture requires a significant amount of hours of research and discovery long before the designer touches the canvas with their interactive tools.