Useful Links

Some useful resources for you:

The latest Valuable Content newsletter (December 2011) – http://bit.ly/tjytWs - 5 simple ways to make your marketing more valuable in 2012

Sign up for your monthly update  -  http://eepurl.com/bgTr5

• November – http://bit.ly/sVgayl – Build relationships before you sell
• October – http://bit.ly/usuYGh – Article writing: set your ideas free
• September – http://bit.ly/pYea7y – New term, new look newsletter
• July – http://bit.ly/pP23W4 – How to use content to gain more referrals
• June – http://bit.ly/lQwLZ8 – What’s all this about new marketing?
• May – http://bit.ly/lQwLZ8 – What’s the one thing you could do to improve your marketing?
• April – http://bit.ly/fyzdka – Valuable content heroes to learn from
• March 2011 – http://bit.ly/i2BMMj – Spring clean your website
• February 2011 – http://bit.ly/eD5Xru – The customer relationship issue
• January 2011 – http://bit.ly/h8N1YA – Content trends and resolutions
• December 2010 -  http://bit.ly/emhWZc – Wrapping up for Christmas
• November 2010 - http://bit.ly/bwsS40 – The website issue
• October 2010 -  http://bit.ly/cgpqRq – Lift your business with what you write

Blogs and websites well worth reading:

• Hinge Marketing’s blog: superb articles on marketing and branding for professional services firms
• Charles H Green’s Trust Matters blog:  the professional services guru and author of The Trusted Advisor, on the theme of trusted relationships in business
• Seth Godin’s blog: The most popular marketing blog in the world – for good reason
• Remarkable Communication: Sonia Simone has pink hair and dispenses beautifully written and down-to-earth advice on matters of small business marketing. We like her style.
• Mel Lester’s blog on all aspects of business development. He writes for architects and engineering firms but the advice he gives is absolutely relevant to all professional sectors. Worth subscribing to his newsletter – the best we have seen. Most definitely one of our valuable content heroes.
• www.ianbrodie.com: Thoughtful nuggets of intelligent advice for professional service firms on all aspects of sales and marketing strategy.
• www.principledselling.org: David Tovey shows us how to sell more without selling your soul.
• www.marketingdonut.com: Useful articles and resources on marketing and PR for small businesses.
• www.raintoday.com: Hub of articles, interviews, resources and regular webinars on how to grow your service business.

Books we have read, noted, re-read and recommend:

• ‘The New Rules of Marketing and PR’ – by David Meerman Scott
• Inbound Marketing – by Brian Halligan and Dharmesh Shah
• A Website That Works – Mark O’Brien of Newfangled
• Spiraling Up – by Lee Frederiksen and Aaron Taylor
• The Art of the Start – by Guy Kawasaki
• Making Change Happen – by Jane Northcote
• The Well-Fed Self-Publisher – by Peter Bowerman
• The Trusted Advisor - by Charles H. Green

Our Twitter Pick:

• For small business marketing: Bristol’s www.twitter.com/BryonyThomas and www.twitter.com/MarketingDonut; US brigade www.twitter.com/DuctTape, www.twitter.com/thisissethsblog,
• Professional services business development: www.twitter.com/CharlesHGreen, www.twitter.com/RainToday, www.twitter.com/IanBrodie, www.twitter.com/hingemarketing, www.twitter.com/principledsell
• Content marketing experts: www.twitter.com/JuntaJoe, www.twitter.com/Junta42, www.twitter.com/MickDickinson
• Examples of ‘real’ consultancy and professional service companies who use Twitter well: www.twitter.com/London_Law_Firm, www.twitter.com/RapidBI, www.twitter.com/SackmanAndCo, www.twitter.cm/relevantrisk

Consultancy companies getting their websites right:

• www.hingemarketing.com
• www.trustedadvisor.com
• www.recourses.com
• www.huntingtoncopper.com
• www.portfoliodirectors.co.uk
• www.clear-thought.co.uk
• www.helmgodfrey.com
• www.ianbrodie.com
• http://www.bizedge.biz
• www.relevant-risk.co.uk

Recommended, services and products:

• For design and development of valuable small business websites and blogs: www.iainclaridge.co.uk
• For business coaching: Heather Townsend at www.efficiencycoach.co.uk, Lee Duncan at www.leeduncan.com and Paul Simister at www.paulsimister.com
• Wordsmith Sharon Tanton for copywriting: www.sharontanton.co.uk
• For beautiful graphics, branding, photography and book illustration: www.lizzieeverard.co.uk
• Christine Martin at Fast Track for intelligent outsourced telemarketing and research: www.fasttracksolutions.co.uk
• David Stoch at Meerkat PR – the only person I recommed for B2B PR services: david@meerkatpr.co.uk www.twitter.com/DavidStoch
• Karen Swinden at The Hot Hive if you want to self-publish a business book: www.thehothive.com
• 37signals’ products such as Highrise contact management tool and the brilliant Basecamp project management tool that we use to manage all complex client projects – simple but hugely effective: http://37signals.com
• The wonderful Thesis theme for Wordpress (that powers this blog)

Good causes we fully support:

• Surfers Against Sewage – www.surfersagainstsewage.com
• The National Autistic Society – www.nas.org.uk
• The RNLI  – www.rnli.org.uk