Influence&Co. (2015). Influence & Co. Blog | The Knowledge Bank [Web log post]. Retrieved from https://blog.influenceandco.com/
Jantsch, J. (2016). John Jantsch - founder of Duct Tape Marketing [Web log post]. Retrieved from https://www.ducttapemarketing.com/john-jantsch-4/
MarketingProfs. (2016). MarketingProfs - About MarketingProfs: Marketing Concepts and Strategies. Retrieved from http://www.marketingprofs.com/about/
Wright, T. (2016, February 16). 16 Top Marketing Blogs and Publications You Need to Be Following | Inc.com. Retrieved from http://www.inc.com/travis-wright/16-top-marketing-blogs-and-publications-you-need-to-be-following.html
Hubspot is "Where Marketers Go to Grow". (Hubspot, 2016)
I like this blog. It covers just about everything you need to know as a marketer. The topics range from "11 Useful Photoshop Tutorials That Help You Work Faster" (which I read and was pretty useful for my freelance graphic design interests) to How to Build Trust Online: 7 Little Ways to Create a Trustworthy Website". Posts come heavy as there are several posts each date.
Hubspot has a Klout score of 84 which is pretty impressive and is "The world's leading inbound marketing & sales platform with 18K customers in 90+ countries."(Klout, 2016)
Comments are accepted though they vary from spammy to rhetorical. I have yet to see engagement from any admin with regards to any comments.
All-in-all this site is a wonderful resource for training and educating new and old marketers. The topics are rooted in real-life experiences that marketers can relate to.
Influence&CO is a blog that really speaks to me as a lover of both marketing and education. "Influence & Co. helps companies create and distribute content that engages and educates a specific audience." (Influence&Co., 2015)
This blog's topics a centered towards content marketing which is essential for all marketers to know. Content is king. Without content your marketing endeavors are doomed.
Articles are written by the employees of the company and each article does have a comments section though they require a Discus profile and login. I am not a fan of this but it does cut down on spam comments.
The company has seen pretty impressive growth. "The last four years have shown exciting growth as the team has grown from two to over 70 people. Influence & Co. has been named to Forbes’ “Most Promising Companies in America” list, worked with Fortune 500 companies, and opened offices in Columbia, Mo., St. Louis, and Kansas City while consistently innovating our services to create the most value possible through content."(Influence&Co., 2015)
MarketingProfs is a blog that you would easily mistake as a website. I say that as the site is very professional as it is a professional marketing website...ahem.
The site offers actual professional development so I think this pretty much speaks for itself as a resource.
This site is pretty spectacular in that the content is provided by marketing professionals from across the spectrum. This gives crucial insight into the actualities of marketing which is vital to both inspiring and educating marketers. The content is fresh and baked daily and like Seth Godin's blog it does not have a comments section for each article but pushes the conversation to social media.
MarketingProfs is "Trusted by 600,000 professionals globally" and "is the only resource you need to stay ahead of the curve."(MarketingProfs, 2016) I beg to differ on the latter claim but 600,000 is pretty impressive. Topics are timely and delivered with a degree of jocular professionalism. Topics covered include:
"John Jantsch is a veteran speaker and workshop leader with over 200 successful events under his belt. Event organizers and attendees frequently comment on the nature of the practical, actionable “takeaway” value of his presentations. He is equally effective facilitating a small group in roundtable workshop format and on the stage presenting to thousands. His practical take on marketing strategy, growth, referrals, social media and all things online make his a great option for those wishing to tap a resource they can count on to deliver." (Jantsch, 2016) It is hard to say how often this blog is updated as there are no dates on each post but with over 870 pages of blog posts, it must be updated pretty regularly. The blog does allow for comments though it requires you to create an account with Discus which may deter some from commenting. Though popular post do receive some comments from interested parties giving either praise or asking or more clarification which Jantsch does provide.
This blog is a mix of personal and professional yet it does provide both inspiration and education for aspiring marketers. Topics vary in specificity from "5 questions you should ask every customer" to "Why Dark posts Are The Best Facebook Advertising Approach Right Now". This blog is a nice mix of professional information given in a personal manner. It would be a nice addition to a marketing trainer's curriculum.
To get a better understanding of what a blog actually is check out this video:
Ok. Got it? Good.
Never read a blog before? Well, good news: you have now! Pretty simple right?
Blogs are great for sharing information in a casual or professional manner. I chose casual but this is my blog and I do what I chooses. Blogs can be a personal journal or a dedicated resource for specific information. The goal of this blog is to direct you the marketing trainer to the good stuff.
Having trained marketers I can say without pause that the thing you want to do most is inspire. After inspiring you want to educate. These blogs do both in varying degrees of tone from stream of consciousness to down right professional.
Check out these blog as a great starting point for marketing professional development:
"If brevity is the soul of wit, then Seth Godin is the wittiest man in marketing. Featuring short, highly digestible posts, Godin frequently dives into marketing life lessons that would benefit marketers of any age or skill level." (Wright, 2016)
"HubSpot is best-known for its software and primetime marketing conference, Inbound. Beyond these product offerings, this blog is the first step toward inbound marketing certificates offered by the company."(Wright, 2016)
"Whether you're seeking industry trends, topical overviews, or professional development, MarketingProfs is a blog for marketers of any ilk. Typically, umbrella sites don't deliver unique insights. But, as a network of marketers--supported and read by marketers--MarketingProfs is constantly stocked with legitimate content." (Wright, 2016)
"Influence & Co. specializes in creating and distributing content to influence an audience and raise the profile of a company's key employees. But the company's blog touches on all aspects of content marketing and branding--from thought leadership and content creation to lead generation and content distribution."(Wright, 2016)
"As a newfound small business owner, you may be an expert on your brand, but not necessarily on how to market it. John Jantsch and Duct Tape provide content on how to garner your first consumer base and grow from there." (Wright, 2016)
The best way to enjoy blogs are to find blogs on subjects you like. I can assure you that there is a blog for something you like on the internet. Try Tumblr if you don't believe me. Blogs are a great way to express yourself or connect with other like minded individuals. Try these bloging sites to get started:
Some of these sites have better interfaces than others, you will need to experiment to find out what works best for you. The goal with blogging is to share. So...go on...share!
Seth Godin's blog is a treasure trove of professional development maxims. If you are a trainer looking to add content to a presentation that has gravitas then Seth Godin's blog is where you want to go.
His blog is updated every day. Yes: Every. Day. It reads like a stream of directed consciousness for marketing professionals. He has a Klout score of 74 and is listed as an expert in B2B, Branding and Analytics.
His blog does not allow for direct comments but each post has meta links for Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter and Google+. These links help to increase his Klout as well as allows for his content to be shared and discussed on multiple social networks.
"Seth Godin" when searched on Google results are pretty flattering:
If you are teaching or training marketers or people who want to market better, Seth Godin's blog is great resource.
