Four Great Blogs for Small Business Marketing

Looking for fresh marketing ideas and commentary on the latest trends and news affecting marketing professionals? Blogs (such as PsPrint's blog) can be more helpful than regular news sites and publications because they offer fresh ideas, personal perspectives and a community of peers in the comments section. For inspirational ideas about marketing, design, small business development and copywriting add these four blogs to your list. Blogroll please! 1. MarketingProfs Daily Fix Blog MarketingProf's Daily Fix Blog comes from the network of professionals who contribute to the main MarketingProf website. The Daily Fix Blog is updated by more than 75 editors and contributors from varied professional backgrounds, and they blog about everything from marketing news and regulations to creative ideas, graphic design, metrics and testing. Commenting and simple navigation by category or writer make this a great resource. Try perusing the archives. 2. Bly.com Direct Marketing Blog Bob Bly has three decades of direct marketing copywriting experience, and he updates his direct marketing blog almost daily. Bly specializes in business-to-business promotions and has fresh opinions on topical marketing issues and a sea of loyal readers who enrich his posts with lively comments. Bly is fun to read because he's not afraid to post a controversial argument. For example, one of his recent posts is titled, "Why New Media Evangelists Annoy Me," and has 15 comments expounding on the points he's raised. 3. Vertical Response Blog This blog is maintained by Janine Popick, the president and CEO of Vertical Response, a direct marketing provider to thousands of small business clients. Popick is especially atttuned to the seasonal and cyclical aspects of small business marketing. Reading her blog will give you a heads-up to start planning for back-to-school promotions, or say Valentine's day, well in advance. There are tons of relevant categories to choose from and the biggest strength of the Vertical Response blog are the dozens of real-life examples and techniques Popick shares. 4. Business Opportunities and Ideas A gentleman named John Crickett updates this blog from across the pond, sharing inspirational ideas for starting new businesses, running home-based businesses and improving marketing strategy and communications. Cricket shares tips, book and software recommendations and tons of great ideas for evaluating and assessing your current tactics. This site will be helpful to freelance designers, marketers and copywriters looking for ideas to use in their client's promotions and looking to improve their own businesses.