I heard of a rapping Southwest Airlines attendant today … that is what online marketing is about. But can you plan that? No. The best ideas come from thinking outside the box and empowering employees to be the best for your clients.

Sometimes I can sound like a broken record – your business is different, there is no right answer for everyone, the answer is always “it depends.” But the goal in all of that is to make our clients and friends in the business take the examples we have seen and inspire ideas in their own lives. That is the ultimate goal in New Edge Media blogging, to inspire and be inspired. We know that each of us at NEM are learning everyday, no one knows everything in this business, and that is why we love it.

My inspiration has come from a large number of sources in the past year, but I want to focus on one. The mothers who have shaped and defined many parts of this business. Look around at some of the best minds out there and they are mothers doing what is best for their family and their own personal development.

Note: There are fantastic dads too, their countless and beautiful stories have inspired me as well. I don’t want to sound biased, it’s just moms have been very apparent in my world recently.

There is the now infamous Mothers in Business competition that host a number of well know names vying for your vote. I know we have all heard about this one. I am voting as often as I am reminded on twitter, but I more enjoy reading about and stumbling upon the businesses of the other lesser known mothers out there who have changed business because they are that strong. Their families supplement the strength they naturally have, and they turn that into a power to change the world.

I met a woman recently who started a daycare so that she could spend time with her then three, but going on five children. That business has grown to be one of the top 25 daycare businesses in the United States. She is dedicated to the care and development of all her children (not just the 5 biological ones) and her employees. She gets that it is her employees that make her business great.

New Edge Media was started by such a woman who wanted to support her family and start an agency close to home that had the values she held so dear. Brandy has been an inspiration to me and I would dare to say many others. Just like every other woman out there running a successful business. They are not doing it alone, but they are doing.

So just shy of mentioning specific women who have inspired me recently in the industry, I want to thank you all for being an inspiration to me and everyone else around you. You know who you are.

So what is your inspiration today?