As a solopreneur, you likely cannot hire a full-time content marketing company to handle your company’s digital marketing. The operative part of the word solopreneur is ‘solo.’ If your company will achieve anything through content marketing, or even DO any content marketing, it’s all up to you. And, the field changes quickly, especially when new technology like augmented reality or voice assistants burst onto the scene and bring their own new opportunities.
It takes a conscious and consistent effort to stay up-to-date on the digital marketing industry. Not only do you need to be aware of the latest trends, but you need to understand them well enough to evaluate them for your own brand. The best way to do that is to follow the marketing blogs who best have a handle on marketing solutions and trends that small businesses can use.
Following the top marketing blogs not only keeps you informed, but also inspired. Over and over again, I find myself reading a blog and saying, “I can do that!” So, here are my recommended marketing blogs for solopreneurs. Follow them, read them, and learn from them.
Moz
Moz has been a leader in SEO for over a decade, and they are a powerful resource that churns out tons of helpful stuff on a regular basis. Their blog is the hub of it all, from their infamous Beginner’s Guide to SEO to the hundreds of Whiteboard Friday video tutorials. Moz has never been afraid to experiment with different content types, showing and telling visitors how great content can power marketing blogs. Solopreneurs and small business owners can profit greatly from their easy-to-understand resources.
Content Marketing Institute
Content Marketing Institute is a publishing powerhouse, taking advantage of a large contributor network to cover every nook and cranny of the content marketing profession and related fields. Because they cover the content marketing profession so fully, they branch out and add variety to their content in ways other than changing topics. Often, CMI lands surprising keynote speakers (Mark Hamill, Tina Fey, Joseph Gordon-Levitt) for its in-person events, so some of the most eye-opening blog posts on the blog in recent years have been recaps of their presentations.
Overall, this blog is the gold standard for the industry, sharing a great mix of evergreen, strategy-focused information like insight on developing buyer personas and copywriting techniques. But that’s also balanced with more timely information like tool recommendations and advice for contending with GDPR. Solopreneurs, you can find it all here.
HubSpot
HubSpot’s marketing blog provides daily blog content on all things marketing, hundreds of downloadable resources, free tools, and their free marketing courses and certifications. Solopreneurs, here you can find and benefit from an entire curriculum on digital marketing. While not every piece of blog content is directly related to their product (for example, this amazingly useful guide to Microsoft Excel), every piece hits on the pain points of solopreneurs and marketers from companies of all sizes.
Neil Patel
As the founder of several tools for marketers like Kissmetrics and Quick Sprout, Neil Patel doesn’t just share his own experiences in marketing, but that of thousands of other marketers. His blog reflects Patel’s wide breadth of experience, making it a hub you can find helpful whether you need help with creating content or analyzing marketing data. Besides written blog articles, podcasts, and YouTube videos, his blog curates visual how-to tutorials, infographics, quotes and statistics, and examples of successful marketing. There’s something for every solopreneur and small business owner on this site.
Hootsuite Blog
The Hootsuite Blog is a great place to find simple, easily digested articles to grow your marketing knowledge and skills. While they offer a full line of marketing tools and products, their content focus is not limited to how to use their stuff. I enjoy their articles and always find something I can use almost immediately. This article on using Instagram for business is a prime example of their straightforward approach to providing marketing solutions.
Solopreneur Solutions
Donna Amos is an experienced business coach and former solopreneur who helps solopreneurs and small businesses grow through marketing and other areas. Her blog (which you are reading now) provides great content on all kinds of subjects that help solopreneurs in the realm of marketing. Moreover, her Twitter feed is constantly sharing more resources she curates from other great marketers that can benefit any size business. This latest post on email and social media is an example of the helpful stuff you can find on Donna’s blog.
What are your favorite blogs to follow for marketing information? Share your favorites in the comment section for the rest of our readers!