7 Sources of B2B Marketing Inspiration

In its purest form it’s difficult to find, and even harder to keep.

When used properly, it creates more conversations than a thousand mediocre TV ads, a million tweets, and a 100 million social media experts blathering across the blogosphere.

It doesn’t build companies, it creates movements. It doesn’t design a brand, it defines it.

It gets more sales reps to hit quota; transforms challenging problems into the “do-able.”

It keeps people up at night—and helps them sleep better at the same time.

So where do you go for inspiration?

In no particular order, here’s my Top 7 Places I go on the Web to Get the Creative Juices Flowing:

  • The Brandbuilder Blog: https://thebrandbuilder.wordpress.com

    If you’ve never read Olivier Blanchard’s The Brandbuilder Blog, you’re missing out on some of the best cultural analysis, and insights into human leadership principles on the Web. Oh, and he’s not bad at marketing, social media, and general business practices too. Brevity’s not generally his style, so be prepared for a good sit-down reading session when you visit. But what he does write is never dull, and his takes are almost always dead-eye spot-on.

  • Brains on Fire: https://www.brainsonfire.com

    I actually found Brains on Fire from a link on The Brandbuilder, which isn’t all that surprising considering they’re both based in South Carolina.

    Brains on Fire is an eclectic mix of design ideas, social media thought, and an exploration of what drives people to discover—and then share—remarkable experiences.

  • Harvard Business Review: https://www.hbr.org

    Cliché, but still true—the Harvard Business Review aggregates and comments on the most thought-provoking business developments around.

  • Rands in Repose: https://www.randsinrepose.com

    Contrary to popular belief, the writer of this blog isn’t named “Rands.” It’s actually Michael Lopp, and he’s the funny, fascinating author of the book Being Geek. He’s a Silicon Valley “insider,” who’s made the rounds across a variety of industry heavies as a software engineering manager.

  • Seth Godin’s Blog: https://sethgodin.typepad.com

    Does this really require an explanation?

  • The Sales 2.0 Network Blog: https://sales20network.com/blog

    Donal (that’s pronounced “Dough-nall”) Daly is the CEO of the TAS Group, a provider of cloud-based business analytics tools—but don’t let the description scare you.

    His writing combines business analysis and wry British humor into a highly engaging read for sales managers and reps.

  • The Ad Contrarian: https://adcontrarian.blogspot.com

    I stumbled on to Bob Hoffman, the self-proclaimed Ad Contrarian, when he wrote a a guest post for on one of my previous sources of inspiration, CopyBlogger. Unfortunately, in my opinion CopyBlogger has almost completely sold out; I haven’t been to their site in months, and the half-dozen times I went prior to that, the content was lackluster.

    Luckily, Bob’s personal brand of hilarity and scathing analysis of the marketing and advertising industries is alive and well on his own blog.

Honorable mentions:
The Funnelholic
The Bridge Group’s Inside Sales Experts
BNet’s Sales Machine blog

So what about you? Where do you go to get your brains back on fire?

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