I get inspiration and information by reading blogs daily. (Here’s how and why) I also scan social bookmark sites like delicious and Mixx, monitor my Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn communities and subscribe to newsletters like the SmartBrief series or run by AllTop. This routine of content consumption takes up a part of each day and feeds me with a great deal of the ideas and information that I in turn share with my readers.

But, about once a month, I take a step back and dig into a different set of online publications that are more focused on larger, more global issues and trends. I believe consuming this information in conjunction with my daily routine is what allows me to see the proverbial forest for the trees.

When you keep you head down and play in the same sandbox day in and day out you can come to believe that all the people talking to each other all day long have all the answers and that’s a recipe for getting left behind.

Below are the publications that I make a habit of including as a monthly supplement to my reading and content consumption. (Of course I’m always reading about three books at any given time as well – right now enjoying a prepub copy of Tim Sanders new book)

• Score Card from SurePayroll – nationally recognized economic indicator that tracks the health of the U.S. small business economy.
• trendRoll – a directory of blog dedicated to trends as aggregated by the folks at TrendSpotting
• Marketing Experiments – a research lab that runs tests to discover what really works in optimization and then shares the results
• TrendHunter – is the largest, most updated collection of cutting edge ideas, crowdsourced by thousands of Trend Hunters
• Econsultantcy – puts out very comprehensive reports on current research and trends – this one requires a paid membership, but it’s worth it.

How about you, what extra research have you found?