Links

What is a cool or valuable link is so subjective.  Here are some connections to what or who I feel are:

• Providing valuable information
• Making the world a little better
• Useful or clever sites
• Just plain interesting to me!

May you find something useful here for your marketing and promotion solutions.

Marketing Resources

Ideas for marketing strategies and tactics…

• HotCards.com & PrintingForLess.com & OvernightPrints.com & NextDayFlyers.com— get a quick printing quote from these inexpensive online print houses.
• MarketingProfs.com — a constant source of marketing ideas if you sign up for their newsletter
• GoDaddy.com — quickly check the availability of website domain names… and possible alternatives.
• BizJournals.com White Papers— free info from marketingexperts
• Business Journals marketing — changing weekly articles on sales and marketing
• American Express OPEN FORUM—  an amazing site full of marketing insights and expertise, including video podcasts
• Inc.com Marketing tips — an ever changing series of articles on marketing strategies
• Marketplace radio — a business radio show that’s an enjoyable listen, particularly for its sense of humor and for humanizing the world of business with human interest stories
• Constant Contact — a popular user friendly platform for mass email marketing and online surveys, for businesses and nonprofits
• iContact — another email marketing service
• GroupMail — yet another email marketing service
• Guerrilla Marketing — a site featuring the classic series by Jay Conrad Levinson
• Free Stuff — available on this website, along with examples scattered throughout the site
• Marketing Snapshot— our product to assess where you are and what you could be doing
• The Associates — the talented people I work with listed on this site
• USPS Find a Zip Code — an easy way to find out where that zip code is
• Survey Monkey — if you need to find out what people think, try this site “to enable anyone to create professional online surveys quickly and easily.”
• ESRI data — one of the classic sources of demographic and market data
• Claritas data — another classic source of market data
• American Affluence Research Center — data and studies about the wealthiest households
• Marketing Survival Kit — new to me, but looks somewhat interesting
• Marketing Scoop — likewise…
• Marketing Toolkit & Checklist — an article on “8 Major Marketing Approaches & The 40 Most Effective Marketing Tools for Your Toolkit”

Media Connections

Local

• PopCity Media — an upbeat, stylish weekly e-zine for Pittsburgh optimists
• Pittsburgh Post-Gazette — our best local news source, since local television subscribes to “if it bleeds, it leads”
• Pittsburgh Business Times — our leading business weekly; subscribe to daily e-updates too
• Pittsburgh Tribune Review — not my favorite, but often has good community reportin

National, International

• American Express/OPEN FORUM — just as they describe it “a wealth of resources for savvy business owners” on the latest topics, including marketing
• National Public Radio — turns national and international news into in-depth stories to pique your curiousity and broaden your understanding
• Fast Company — a stylish younger version of Fortune or Forbes magazines
• Inc. Magazine — less hip than FC, but also a good source for the entrepreneurial types
• CNN/money.com/Fortune magazine — another perspective and online package for business news
• Building Your Business — a weekly feature of BizJournals.com
• Business Infosource — a Canadian-based site with a wealth of tips for businesses, including startups
• Business Week — also includes their business books best sellers list
• GreenBizJournal — a site that “covers sustainability from a strictly-business point of view.”
• TIME.com/business— still another national business news resource
• Slate.com — a news and blogging sources that often collaborates with NPR
• New York Times — a broader perspective on national and international news
• London Times — a European perspective on the news
• YouTube — a monstrous collection of videos of all sorts

Business Resources

• Help Startups — a “web portal serving entrepreneurs and all those providing services and support to the entrepreneurial community.”  Also check out my startup check list.
• Fast Track — a well-respected program that is “a practical, hands-on business development program designed to help entrepreneurs hone the skills needed to create, manage and grow a successful business.”
• SBDC at Duquesne University — have a great reputation for helping startups, etc.
• SBDC at Pitt — also has a great reputation and a special focus on family businesses
• Urban Redevelopment Authority of Pittsburgh — offers a variety of programs to help businesses and manages Mainstreets Pittsburgh
• newPA.com — a variety of resources, including financing, available from the state of Pennsylvania
• Northside Community Development Fund — financial and technological resources for business locating to or already on Pittsburgh’s Northside
• Northside/Northshore Chamber of Commerce — join and connect with other local businesses
• Riverside Center for Innovation — one of just a few business incubator buildings in Pittsburgh and housing a variety of economic development programs and services; located on Pittsburgh’s Northshore
• Dewey & Kaye Mosaic — the most complete listing of management jobs in the local nonprofit market
• Bayer Center for Nonprofit Management — Pittsburgh’s leader in nonprofit leadership education and in consulting to organizations
• Entrepreneur and Home Office Resources

Community Development

Some organizations that are making things happen or letting the world know about it…

• Neighbors in the Strip — an energized and fun CDC/chamber hybrid working to enhance one of Pittsburgh’s most unique neighborhoods
• Penn Avenue Arts Initiative — making progress transforming a community through the arts
• Mexican War Streets Society — a well-organized community moving ahead in an historic neighborhood
• Deutschtown community — my community, with a new website in 2009
• Pittsburgh Today data — an enormous and growing collection of data and stats on the Pittsburgh region
• CTAC-Community Technical Assistance Center — a very professional nonprofit that works with neighborhoods and community development corporations on a variety of organizational and development issues
• Urban Redevelopment Authority of Pittsburgh — offers a variety of programs to help businesses and manages Mainstreets Pittsburgh
• Main Streets standards — 10 performance standards for business district revitalization as defined by the National Historic Trust for Historic Preservation, as well as “The Main Street Approach“
• Pennsylvania Downtown Center — manages most PA Main Streets programs, including training, and stages an annual statewide conference
• Northside Community Development Fund — financial and technological resources for business locating to or already on Pittsburgh’s Northside
• Northside/Northshore Chamber of Commerce — join and connect with other local businesses
• Riverside Center for Innovation — one of just a few business incubator buildings in Pittsburgh and housing a variety of economic development programs and services; located on Pittsburgh’s Northshore
• Project for Public Spaces — uniquely creative and aware of the need for thoughtful design and planning
• Dwell Magazine — national and international perspectives on architecture, design, green building and development
• Building New Hope — Pittsburgh-based and doing great things in Central America
• White Dog Community Enterprises — founded by a high school classmate of mine who has won numerous business and civic awards, this Philadelphia organization is driven by sustainability principles

Cool Culture & More

Take a break and open your mind to new possibilities… (i also like several of these because they’re walkable for me!)

• Pittsburgh Childrens Museum — headed by a very creative director who brings in world class people and ideas to this city, in addition to providing creative educational experiences.  A fun must see for all ages.
• Mattress Factory — always edgy room-sized, international qualtity installation art, plus a cool cafe and gift shop
• Carnegie Science Center — a favorite with the curious, young and old, with a fun gift shop
• New Hazlett Theater — this newly renovated venue hosts a huge variety of cultural and civic events
• Pittsburgh Cultural Trust — the big magilla for culture in downtown and leading the way in making the Golden Triangle a cultural mecca
• VisitPittsburgh.com — the tourist and promotion organization for the region
• Squonk Opera — a very innovative and witty multi-media theater group building national acclaim
• Attack Theater — another innovative arts group with innovative dance and multimedia mainstays
• Studio 360 — a usually fascinating hour-long radio program about the arts and society produced by Public Radio International
• National Portrait Gallery — of the 5 institutions I visited in DC in January ‘08, this was the most exciting in its variety and display
• National Geographic Kids — fun, entertaining with educational games, activities and videos all for kids of all ages… even Homework Help!

Cool Creativity Tools & More

Some sources of images, words, music and more for your creativity and enjoyment…

• Flickr — millions of images by amateurs and professionals
• Open Stock Photography — again, million of images, many free, mostly amateurish, but some good finds
• FotoSearch — images from more than 100 publishers on one searchable website
• HOW — a great magazine on graphic design, advice, readings and an
• Print — another great graphic design magazine
• Real Simple — another creative mag “to bring clarity to everyday tasks, so readers can focus on what really adds meaning to their lives.”
• iD — an award-winning magazine known for its Annual Design Review
• Dwell Magazine — national and international perspectives on architecture, design, green building and development
• iTunes — get only the music that you want now from a huge selection
• CreativePro.com — bills itself as “where creatives go to know” and includes things like starting a blog
• The Quote Lady — perhaps even better at finding quotes than Bartlett’s below
• Bartleby.com — famous quotations search somehow related to Bartlett’s Familiar Quotations
• Dictionary.com — look it up, including a thesaurus and encyclopedia
• OneLook dictionary search — search a bunch of dictionaries at one time; includes a “reverse dictionary” too!
• Business Dictionary.com — specializes in business terminology
• Snopes.com — a website dedicated to researching the veracity of “urban legends”, societal rumors and mythical beliefs

Green and Sustainability Connections

Some local and other leaders in the Greening trend…

• Sustainable Pittsburgh — working to affect decision-making in the Pittsburgh region since 2000.
• Green Building Alliance — began in 1993 as “a loose coalition of forward-thinking western Pennsylvania professionals intereste in green building” and is now helping to make the region a national leader
• PA Home Energy — a site for state residents to find out how to improve the energy efficiency of their homes
• Citizens Against Litter — the amazing retired Pittsburgher Boris Weinstein launched this grass roots effort which has grown into an enormous regional movement
• Willam McDonough, architect — a world leader in sustainable design who promotes an innovative “cradle to cradle” design paradigm
• GreenBizJournal — a new/beta site that “covers sustainability from a strictly-business point of view.”
• Green Thing — a fun site for people who want to lead greener lives every day
• Co-op America — a cool effort “to harness economic power to create a socially just and environmentally sustainable society.”
• Table magazine — a local, sophisticated environmentally conscious food mag published by smart and creative people
• Consumer Consequences — easy, fun test to find out if you are living a sustainable lifestyle… sadly, not me yet.
• Artemis — a local “environmental building materials and development” store selling products that “are better for the environment, perform well, and contribute to healthier living”
• Sustainable ABC.com — a nexus site for “sustainable architecture, building and culture”
• GenGreenLife — another cool, multi-faceted green website