My favourite and best sources for marketing help on the web.
1. MARKETING – GENERAL
Robert Middleton - www.actionplan.com
Robert Middleton specialises in helping independent professionals get more clients. He has a very useful Marketing Workbook that you can buy on his site and a weekly ezine which contains plenty of useful and practical marketing advice.
Seth Godin - www.sethgodin.com/purple
Seth Godin thinks cows are unremarkable, unless they are purple. He also thinks companies can be pretty unremarkable and has written a book talking about how to transform your business into the equivalent of a purple cow. The website is quirky but worth looking through; especially the Fast Company article. And it’s a great example of bold and different marketing!
Clickz - www.clickz.com
This is a huge resource with a wide range of articles covering almost every aspect of marketing. The ezines are typically very good and so if you’re interested in a particular topic they are worth signing up for. Although the volume of content can be a bit overwhelming, it’s worth persevering with.
Scribbles - www.appletreeuk.com (choose Free Help)
If you are looking for information about promoting your (small) business, then Scribbles is probably one of the best sources of advice you can find. It's a monthly ezine that focuses on one aspect of marketing in each issue. The website also has a range of general fact sheets available.
Marketing Profs - www.marketingprofs.com
Another very good resource, although you have to register before you can access much of the content. Some of the material is more aimed at larger businesses, but many of the articles are still very useful.
Marketing Sherpa - www.marketingsherpa.com
This resource consists of a series of ezines, some free articles and a wide range of paid-for content. The ezines are very good (although a lot of the material is aimed at the larger business) and all of the articles are free to view for 10 days. I haven’t bought anything from this site and from what I can see a lot of the resources are pretty expensive.
2. COPYWRITING
Copywriter’s Roundtable, John Forde - www.jackforde.com
Sometimes quirky, sometimes controversial, almost always entertaining. John Forde provides interesting and useful ideas about writing better content and using your content to successfully market your business.
Maslen on Marketing - www.sunfish.co.uk
A British copywriter, Andy Maslen provides a highly practical monthly newsletter covering every angle of creating marketing content and his advice will definitely add impact to your writing.
3. SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMISATION
High Rankings Advisor - www.highrankings.com
When it comes to Search Engine Optimisation (SEO), this is the best resource out there – bar none. The ezine each week is informative, accessible and full of plain-talking good advice. SEO is not an easy process and there are no quick fixes, but if you’re prepared to be patient and put in the effort then this ezine is the only source you’ll need.
Of course if you’re determined to browse around, here are some other websites worth visiting. But you’ll inevitably find that all paths lead back to High Rankings Advisor and there isn’t much going on the SEO world that Jill Whalen misses.
searchenginewatch.com
www.seochat.com
www.searchengineguide.com
4. MISCELLANEOUS
Jakob Nielsen - www.useit.com
Usability is becoming more and more important on the web. If you want your website to communicate successfully with your intended audience then it pays to make sure the site is straightforward and easy to use. Jakob Nielsen has made a career out of testing websites (and is now diversifying into other areas of 21st century communication) and his biweekly column is informative and often provocative. While much of the material may be overly technical, his annual “top 10” design mistakes are worth looking out for.
If you are looking for a more practical introduction to usability, then buy Steve Krug’s book “Don’t Make Me Think”. This easy-to-read book should be compulsory reading for anyone about to start building their own website.
Better Business - www.better-business.co.uk
This magazine never fails to cheer me up and give me some (usually much needed) inspiration. Aimed specifically at the small or micro business, it is full of practical advice and suggestions for growing and improving your business. Highly recommended.
Real Business - www.realbusiness.co.uk
This magazine is aimed at “growing businesses” and so while a lot of the content is not 100% relevant for (very) small businesses, it is still an interesting read. Plus it’s nice to be reminded of all the thriving examples of entrepreneurship in the UK (there’s more than just Richard Branson).
Fast Company - www.fastcompany.com
This is a magazine published in the States, although you can normally find it over here from the larger branches of W H Smith (especially for some reason at train stations). It has lots of excellent articles about doing business better and although a lot of the material is aimed at Americans working in large corporations, there can be some useful stuff for small businesses and independent consultants.
Aurora - www.busygirl.com
This is great networking organisation, with lots of practical and interesting events, but is mostly aimed at women. I’ve been to a couple of the small business workshops and have always found them to be lively and useful. Plus they usually understand the constraints on cash flow and price their services accordingly!
Sitepoint - www.sitepoint.com
This site is mostly concerned with the technical side of digital marketing (in other words, it’s primarily for geeks!). But it’s worth a mention because they have an excellent resource called “The Web Design Business Handbook” which, despite it’s title, is a great book (well, gigantic folder would be more accurate) about running your own business (just with a web design business as the main case study).
