Tom Clancy and I share a birthday (not the year – I’m 29 – just check my Facebook Page – you know everything you read there is true).

I laughed out loud with this little tidbit from Goodreads (it’s the paragraph after the quote that caused the guffaw):

“The only way to do all the things you’d like to do is to read.”  Tom Clancy

Tom Clancy (born April 12, 1947) dreamed of joining the military in his youth, but his poor eyesight prevented him. Undeterred, he channeled his passion into his books. After finding success with best-sellers like The Hunt for Red October, he bought himself a tank.

If you don’t subscribe to Goodreads quote of the day, consider doing so. You’ll get inspiration, ideas and a frequent “I didn’t know that” response from the 7-day-a-week quick treat.

I tend to appreciate “so there” stories, which are plentiful in Goodread’s missives. Each is a few sentences or less.

There are other internet gems I make part of my daily diet.

Kevin Ringold’s Vitamin K Daily (your daily dose of positive) provides inspiration and personality often through anecdotal posts that are frequently funny. His auto feed shoots these out at around 3 a.m. (EST), so even early risers can grab a coffee or tea and a minute or two to start the day with an uplifting push. It’s especially great on those mornings when you fall out of bed on the wrong side.

Darren Hardy Daily offers (usually video and/or audio) two minute or so tips weekdays. His focus is on personal development, proactive business mindsets and action.

While Kelvin could be described as a supportive, encouraging, enthusiastic and a glass half-full cheerleader, Darren is more like a devil’s advocate challenging you to let go of ingrained beliefs, excuses and blame to prompt you to become a better you. Both have great content to help you make smarter mindset decisions through their very different styles.

Anu Garg puts out A.Word.A.Day. This brief free (paid if you want no ads – they’re discreet) e-mail subscription service includes terms (and etymology) presented in a fun and effective way. He even has an artist that comes to play with them on occasion. Sometimes these will be words you’ll never use, but many can become wonderful, descriptively-rich replacements for less precise terms or substitutes for your tired standbys.

If you are struggling to find great small business marketing or writing inspiration or just trying to get new ideas and attitudes to integrate into your daily routine, there are some great resources that only take a few minutes a day to digest. The four mentioned above are some of my quick tip favorites. I ingest them with gratitude every day (read – I don’t ever hit delete before absorbing the nutrients  offered). In a later post, I’ll highlight longer reads I’ve chosen as staples.

What about you? Do you have online resources you relish daily that fill you with small business marketing or other worldly wisdom? Please reveal these treats in the comments below. If you would, too, consider clicking the easy icons on the share bar to the left if you enjoyed this post. Thanks!