One aspect of the budding entrepreneur and blogger community that really energizes me is the massive amount of support and networking.  When you have community that's so tight knit yet has global reach, it's pretty powerful.  I know that when I need advice or help promoting something, I can count on my virtual allies to be there and I take great pride in being there for them.  It's a profound ebb and flow that's ultimately become a rhythm that sets my ambitions in motion.

I've subscribed to a fair amount of blogs covering topics like green parenting, product reviews, deals, and well, blogging.  But I've also made it a point to subscribe to blogs that can help my brand and my business grow.  I know a lot of bloggers do this already, but if you don't, I highly recommend you add some to your feed reader NOW.  I've compiled a list of some of my favorite sources for my business "pleasure" (nope, no oxymoron there, when you do what you love business truly IS a pleasure).

• Patrick O'Keefe writes his blog by the same name.  If you've got an online forum, manage or moderate one or want to set up one for your community from scratch, Patrick's your guy.  He also wrote the book Managing Online Forums: Everything You Need to Know to Create and Run Successful Community Discussion Boards.  I just finished reading it and it's helped as I've developed an online forum for MomForce.com (launching soon) immensely.


• Tara Hunt writes the blog, Horse Pig Cow, covering community marketing (her specialty), her latest links online (she's THE tastemaker of what's worth checking out) and lots of clever insight.  If you become a regular reader of her blog, the term "whuffie" will definitely become part of your vocabulary.  Speaking of whuffie, check out her book, The Whuffie Factor: Using the Power of Social Networks to Build Your Business.


• Seth Godin's blog by the same name is an easy-to-read, wonderful blog that will grab you immediately.  His ideas around building your personal brand, marketing, and connecting with your clients and/or readers are a great resource with ideas you can implement RIGHT NOW.  He's also written the best sellers, The Dip: A Little Book That Teaches You When to Quit (and When to Stick)
  and Tribes: We Need You to Lead Us.


• Guy Kawasaki's blog header really says it all "How to Change the World: A practical blog for impractical people".  If you like tongue and cheek, clever insight with a lot wit, Guy's your man.  Plus, for those aspiring and seasoned social media consultants, he's got a amazing source of current job openings too.  I've just downloaded his most recent book, Reality Check: The Irreverent Guide to Outsmarting, Outmanaging, and Outmarketing Your Competition, to my Kindle: Amazon's Wireless Reading Device. Guy is also the creator of Alltop where you can find the most authoritative and influential voices in the blogosphere in every niche imaginable.  I am proud to be included on the Egos and Twitterati lists.


• Joseph Jaffe's blog Jaffe Juice is fresh squeezing creativity and thoughtfulness.  He's the author of the book Join the Conversation: How to Engage Marketing-Weary Consumers with the Power of Community, Dialogue, and Partnership and his blog that encourages interactivity, invites you to do just that.


• Andy Sernovitz's Damn, I Wish I Thought of That! blog is chock full of word of mouth marketing ideas.  It's fun, it's fresh and I know I've learned a lot from it.  His book, Word of Mouth Marketing: How Smart Companies Get People Talking, is a great read with lots of practical ideas and "Aha" moments.


• Josh Bernoff of Forrester co-authored with Charlene Li the book Groundswell: Winning in a World Transformed by Social Technologies also blogs and recently wrote about Walmart's ElevenMoms on his Groundswell blog.  He writes all about "winning in a world changed by social technologies".

There are countless others I read too, but these are a few that are good for getting started and building your industry-related feed subscriptions and business library.

Since I'm a very visual person, I've put all the books mentioned on a Shelfari book shelf for your viewing pleasure.

YOUR HOMEWORK ASSIGNMENT

Subscribe to a few social media marketing industry blogs using the ones I mentioned as a starting point.  Pick out a book that speaks to your marketing needs and challenges and read it, absorb the knowledge and then pass it on to a friend.  In the comments section here, please share what you learn from your experience after exploring and checking out the blogs and books recommended.  Also, please comment about what you would hope to learn by reading industry blogs and their related business books.  If you have some favorites that weren't mentioned (I know there's plenty!) please share that as well.

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