Inspiration comes from everywhere, but today, I’m just looking at inspiration sources online.
Like you, I subscribe to an array of newsletters, RSS feeds (but I’m terrible at checking back at them), and social media contacts who continually post links to great publications, writers and articles. Here are some favorites:
Seth Godin – The Godfather of great daily business blogging. For those of us in the marketing biz, catching up with Seth is practically a requirement. Why? His ideas are utterly fascinating. He doesn’t write strictly about marketing but in more of a broader ‘successful businesses in the 21st century will be doing this’ context.
Recently Seth wrote a short post on The Privilege of Being Wrong, an unusual topic at first glance to dwell upon, but his perspective is fresh. This past week he ruminated (and it’s definitely always ‘rumination’ in his writing) on the cost of brands becoming Overextended or Underextended.
Chris Brogan – The Trust Agent. Chris has amazing insights to the world of social media as well as general marketing. Like Seth Godin, Chris posts daily about marketing, promotion and how it all changes all the time. Here is a fabulous piece of his (But Enough About Me) on the lessons of focusing on the customer in your writing for websites, blogs and sales literature. It IS all about the customer – not you!
Copyblogger – A consortium of small business superstars. From Brian Clark to Sonia Simone (with several others in between), the writers of Copyblogger offer a wealth of information on developing business models online. It is not all about writing for blogs or websites. There are many (daily) posts to aid in improving your writing skills. But there’s also many posts (and free online training programs) about how to build your one-woman, small business for a secure future. Here’s a classic post entitled: How the Buddha Solved His Marketing Problem.
The Marketing Spot by Jay Ehret – Like all of the above, Jay also posts every weekday. He writes insightful observations on current marketing trends, including Charismatic Brands.
Believe it or not, these are but a tip of the iceberg of newsletters I receive. Do I get to read them all daily? Heavens, no! Many become substitute reading material for a Sunday newspaper I no longer receive. But they are some of the best in the ether, often stimulating my own creative juices. You never know when or where the next, great, bit of inspiration will strike from!
