29 Resources Sure to Make You Smarter and More Interesting
We’re kidding, of course. If you’re reading this blog, then surely you’re smart and interesting. You’re probably stylish and good-looking too, but that’s a post for another time.
It’s been said leaders are readers. Let’s bulk up that platitude. Earners are learners. Makers are intakers. Creators are ruminators.* Okay, enough bad rhyming. You get the point. 😉
Anybody who works in digital anything knows that the rules are always changing and the best way to be the best is to stay aware of what the rest of the best is doing. And that means reading. Daily and carefully. If you’re going to have the discipline of a regular, constant learner, it’s especially important that you curate your resources list wisely. We Dragons are a helpful bunch, so we have compiled and categorized our favorites.
Some of these resources will give you interesting fodder for your upcoming springtime happy hour with the friends you’ve only seen on screen for a year. (And we all know that anything that helps to make us less post-Covid socially awkward is helpful.) Others will fuel your strategic brilliance and help make your next campaign even more successful.
Happy reading, friends!
Marketing news and data to widen your thinking and inform smart strategy.
Why it’s great: As you’d expect from its name, Digiday is a snapshot of how technology is impacting (disrupting) marketing and media. This one requires a subscription for some content, but it’s high value and wide-reaching.
Why it’s great: It’s part of the Morning Brew ecosystem and bills itself as ‘marketing news you’ll actually want to read.’ This daily email comes in midday with news and quick hits about changes in the landscape.
Why it’s great: This one is for the data heads. Morning Consult is a global data intelligence company. Their daily newsletter delivers hyper-fresh, relevant insights and statistics about marketing and brand happenings.
Honorable mentions: MarketingProfs, Adweek, sparks & honey, Culture Study, HubSpot
Words about words. There’s a lot to say here but we’ll aim for brevity.
Why it’s great: Ann Handley is the godmother of content marketing. Her bi-weekly newsletter is as entertaining as it is educational. It’s a singular source of info and links to deep-cut resources that will make you a better writer. Also, she’s at the helm of one of our other favorites, MarketingProfs.
Why it’s great: If the wit in the name of this resource doesn’t tell you what you need to know about this newsletter, we will — it’s smart and witty, and the discussions on the invite-only member newsletter get epic.
Why it’s great: Contently is technically a content management software solution but they transform client experience into some of the best learning resources in the biz, and their emails bring them all together. (Learn how to track ROI for content? Yes please.)
Honorable mention: Content Management Institute
Defacto design, UI, and UX deliveries.
Heads up; we’re giving you four sources here because UI and UX are so multi-layered. You’re welcome.
Why it’s great: A grab bag of all things design and UX, this weekly newsletter promises to help designers think more critically about their work. (And the visuals are great. Go figure.)
Why it’s great: It makes sense that a research firm focused on usability, state-of-the-art e-commerce, and UX performance would be a go-to resource for in-depth articles and reports about navigation, search, product pages, checkouts, mobile e-commerce, and more.
Why it’s great: Nielsen Norman Group claims to be the ‘World Leaders in Research-Based User Experience,’ and their periodical newsletters dedicated to UX prove their credibility with smart, actionable written and video-based content.
Why it’s great: Hello, crowdsource. Since 2012, Sidebar has collected the best design links of the day. You can sign up to get the top 5 links on the interwebs related to visual design, code, UX, and technology each day or visit their site. Either way, this is good stuff.
Honorable mention: None. We already added an extra resource. This should keep you busy.
Emerging (and regular old) technology stuff and ideas that’ll make you sound like you can see the future.
Why it’s great: Holy cool stuff, Batman! This daily digest is a curated list of the best of Product Hunt. You can get it in your inbox or add it to your Chrome homepage. (Go ahead and lock up your credit card now.)
Why it’s great: This OG generously sends ideas, gear, and industry-specific tech news in multiple formats so you can get your fix however it’s most convenient for you.
Why it’s great: Here’s another rabbit hole of interesting technology and culture developments. Lots of future thinking in this one, plus nuggets that’ll impress your friends (like how you can own a flying puffer jacket…ya know, in case you want to take your fashion game…to new heights).
Honorable mention: Why limit your intake to just one newsletter? Use the aggregator app Feedly to fill your feed with just the topics and sources you want (like Engadget, Gizmodo, Slashdot, WIRED, Unity Blog, RoadToVR, and VRFocus).
Daily news and insights to give you interesting tidbits to share at your next happy hour.
Why it’s great: Say what you want about Google, this aggregator service gives you a continuous flow of organized links to news from thousands of publishers and magazines. It’s easy to sort and hyper-current.
Why it’s great: So not a blindspot, this newsletter brings together reporting across multiple sources and is non-partisan so it’s ‘created for everyone.’ Plus it has a mobile app, browser extension, and weekly report so you can stay informed however you want.
Why it’s great: Pick your favorites from more than 50 topics in multiple languages and get them delivered right to your email. Bonus, you get one of their excellent recipes each day so you can cook a great meal and have intelligent conversations at the end of the day.
Honorable Mentions: NPR, CNN, Bloomberg, WSJ, AJC, Strands of Genius
We’re willing to bet that you have a great resources list of your own! Connect with us on LinkedIn to share. Let’s fill the world with brilliance. It’ll help us all transition back into intelligent in-person discourse.
*A ruminator is someone who thinks a lot.
