General Economic Statistics - how income and unemployment will impact your consumers

• US Department of Labor Bureau of Labor Statistics - http://stats.bls.gov – good for economic data
• The Conference Board - http://www.conference-board.org/data - economic stats, including consumer confidence and leading indicators - good information for figuring out whether consumers are feeling like spending or feeling like saving

Demographic/Consumer Behavior Information – getting to know your consumers

• US Census Bureau Quick Facts - http://quickfacts.census.gov - a great place to find out demographic statistics for U.S. locations
• Claritas My Best Segments - http://www.claritas.com/MyBestSegments/Default.jsp - a top geo-demographic website which divides the US into segments based on ZIP codes. Check out the "ZIP Code Look-Up" link
• ESRI Tapestry Segmentation - http://www.esri.com/data/esri_data/tapestry.html - another good ZIP code demographic/psychographic market segmentation tool
• Strategic Business Insights - http://www.strategicbusinessinsights.com – home of the VALS (Values and Lifestyles) Survey, which uncovers and categorizes consumer insights
• Easy Analytic Software - http://www.easidemographics.com - another ZIP code database w/ stats in easily readable formats! - while you do have to register to be able to get their data, registration is free

International Marketing - information sources for global strategies

• Michigan State University – globalEDGE - http://globaledge.msu.edu - a knowledge web-portal that connects international business professionals worldwide to a wealth of information, insights, and cultural learning resources on a multitude of global business activities.
• International Trade Association - http://www.ita.doc.gov - an excellent resource for anyone who's thinking of doing marketing on a global scale
• CIA World Factbook - https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/index.html - the CIA knows a lot about the world, and they’re opening up their “classified” documents to you!  This site is full of facts and figures on history, government, demographics, economics, geography and much, much more for over 250 countries
• Globesmart:  www.globesmart.com – while it only has specific information for three countries that you can access, however it has valuable general resources about “doing business in” an international environment.

General Marketing Resources- information about a variety of marketing issues

• KnowThis - http://www.knowthis.com -- general marketing articles and other links, including a link to now-defunct marketing websites. A good history lesson of what not to do
• Interbrand - http://www.interbrand.com - highlights the importance of brands and the value of a good brand name in the BEST GLOBAL BRANDS section
• Fast Company Magazine - http://www.fastcompany.com/tag/marketing - great real-life articles on timely marketing (and other business) topics
• Entrepreneur Magazine - http://www.entrepreneurmag.com – more good articles, focusing on start-ups and small businesses
• Retailing Today - http://www.retailingtoday.com - good articles about all facets of retailing
• SMM for Sales and Marketing Professionals - http://www.salesandmarketing.com - one of the best magazines for the sales and sales management industry
• Brand Week - http://www.brandweek.com/bw/index.jsp - a branding/product development site designed to deliver news that affects brand identity marketing
• Direct Marketing News - http://www.dmnews.com – this site provides comprehensive coverage of the convergence of direct, database and online marketing and advertising

Advertising Resources - sources of information about the advertising industry

• Creativity Online - http://www.adcritic.com - gives videos and prints of current and past ads (even those that have been pulled) - fun site, although it's now subscription-only
• Advertising Age - http://www.adage.com - one of the best ad industry resources
• Adweek - http://www.adweek.com - another good source for advertising industry news
• Nielsen Media Research - http://www.nielsenmedia.com - the go-to place to find out how TV ratings and other advertising metrics are done
• Media Week http://www.mediaweek.com/mw/index.jsp - the latest news, TV ratings and data on television and related industries
• Arbitron - http://www.arbitron.com – the definitive source for radio metrics and ratings

Professional Marketing Organizations

• Direct Marketing Association - http://www.the-dma.org - a global trade association promoting direct marketing
• American Marketing Association - http://www.marketingpower.com - a resource-packed site from the leading marketing organization in the US
• Outdoor Advertising Association of America - http://www.oaaa.org - check out the creative resources and other stats on outdoor advertising
• Institute for Supply Management - http://www.ism.ws - lots of industry information for logistics and supply chain