A vital part of being successful is being informed. What’s the world talking about, and how does it affect your business? What new sales, marketing and management ideas are ripe for you to pluck? Successful business leaders tap into the online marketplace of ideas for answers and inspiration.
Not sure where to start? Check out these recommended blogs to browse every morning over coffee or in the evening when you’re winding down for the day.
Evergreen Small Business
Looking for practical advice on running a small business? That’s what you’ll get at Evergreen Small Business. You won’t see much here on ideal leadership traits. Instead you’ll find a lot of down-and-dirty advice on the tax code, pricing strategies and incorporation, to name a few popular blog topics.
“I really find it important that this blog is focused on technical and legal details of running a small business as many people start their business endeavors before getting familiar with those details, and experiencing setbacks caused by technicalities can really be morale shattering,” said Alex Bar, owner of Third Temple Digital web development and marketing firm.
Action Plan Marketing
The Action Plan Marketing blog, from Robert Middleton, is apparently a labor of love by one dedicated professional who enjoys coaching people online about marketing strategies. You’ll find a big dose of personality in these pages, and of course, a heaping helping of marketing advice.
Said Jim Smith, a life coach, speaker, author and change strategist, “Robert Middleton has been serving small businesses for years through his weekly blog on sales and marketing, and in the past few years he’s expanded the conversation to focus on the person of the business owner as well. His blog always offers value.”
Stratechery
Stratechery synthesizes technology news, analysis and business. It’s often best appreciated in combination with its sister podcast, Exponent.
Among its fans is Kelly Quann Bianucci, managing principal at Discover Capital, who recommended it. “It’s very original and insightful content from technology industry analyst Ben Thompson. It’s directly applicable even to business owners outside of the tech and media industries, as the implications of media and technology, as they are covered in this blog, affect all businesses and consumers.”
Take advantage of the growing online marketplace for small business owners by searching for a blog that answers the questions you have about running your business. (Photo: Rawpixel.com/Shutterstock)
Launch Ticker
Want more technology news? Blog aggregator Launch Ticker sends twice-a-day emails with curated news stories from across the tech industry.
“I find it very useful, especially when I’m traveling or have a particularly busy schedule …and I don’t have time to comb through various blogs or websites to get the latest news,” said Jamie Siminoff, founder and chief inventor of smart doorbell startup Ring.
CMO
Published by Adobe, CMO is a good read for anyone looking for insights into digital marketing trends and strategies.
Bill Aicher, a business consultant and speaker who focuses on marketing and customer experience, is an avid reader. “My favorite part of the blog is actually their Marketing News Feed at the bottom. They share a wide variety of marketing and business stories that have been pretty carefully curated but cover a large swath of relevant trends in marketing, business strategy and how the two are becoming much more intertwined than ever before.”
RocketSpace Tech Founders blog
The RocketSpace Tech Startup Founders Blog is written, as the name suggests, with founders and CEOs of small startups in mind. On any given day, the home page is filled with articles about how to be a better leader, make smart hires and finance your vision.
Brittany Hudak, Forbes magazine contributor and co-founder of the charity Per Diems Against Poverty, puts this site on her short list. “Since many of the articles are written by founders, it’s a wonderful best-practices-from-peers resource.”
NFIB
The National Federation of Independent Business, or NFIB, is a small business association with about 325,000 member companies. Their blog offers practical information (such as tax advice) as well analysis and commentary on big picture topics.
Said Tabitha Jean Naylor, founder of Successful Startup 101 magazine, “What’s really useful about the blog is that it doesn’t ignore the realities of small business struggles, so you’ll get analyses such as the old-school vs. new-age marketing methods, social media engagement methods and how new overtime regulations may affect your productivity.”
Harvard Business Review
(Photo: Wikipedia Commons)
Karen Thomas, president and CEO of Thomas Public Relations, is a big fan of the Harvard Business Review and said it’s required reading for her staff.
“It provides a hard-core look into real-life examples of how to succeed in business.” -Karen Thomas
There’s something on HBR for almost every small business owner and aspiring entrepreneur. The Leadership Blogs are about promoting insights from business thought leaders. The Leading the Way blog presents essays from HBR’s corporate learning program. And the Management Tip of the Day is a daily, one-paragraph summary of longer articles from HBR magazine.
Retail Minded
Retailers will want to spend some time browsing the posts at Retail Minded. Articles offer a very practical approach to helping small retail business owners. Recent posts include tax tips, mitigating customer stress during the holiday shopping season and how to market your business on a limited budget.
Retail Minded is more than just a blog; the site offers a custom retention marketing newsletter service as well as a subscription magazine available for digital download. But you don’t have to mess with any of that to enjoy the articles on the site.
Women on Business
According to The Atlantic, about 29 percent of business owners are women. So where are the blogs with a uniquely female perspective? Right here. Women on Business addresses traditional small business topics but also focuses on news and information women need to be successful.
Along with a wealth of articles on diversity (championing equality and earning respect in a male-dominated industry, for example) and work-life balance are spotlights on female business leaders. The site also covers subjects like improving your management style, understanding business finance, and business strategy.