Welcome to the launch of the MarketingProfs Daily Fix, a group weblog featuring news, opinion and commentary on marketing, advertising, and business-related issues, both offline and online. Think of it as a sort of Huffington Post for marketing (but without the politics, clunky design, and Clooney-gate)...

Like the HuffPost, in fact, the bone and marrow of the blog are, first, the analysis, opinion and commentary on news (and newsy-kind of stuff) from our stellar collection of 20-plus writers, a number that will undoubtedly grow over time (good writers: Heads up!); and, second, the news itself.

The day's top stories, updated on the blog regularly, are provided by our good friends at Watershed Publishing, home of MarketingVOX and MediaBuyerPlanner. (Publisher Tig Tillinghast, in fact, is one of the industry luminaries who'll be writing for the Daily Fix. Plus, he has the best sidekick: Check out his photo below.)

You might be wondering, "Why a blog? Why now? And why is it any different from the weekly newsletter that MarketingProfs already publishes?"

To tell you the truth, yesterday I asked myself that question, too. By late afternoon, low blood sugar and pre-launch details had me in a cranky mood, and I thought, "After years of working a daily newspaper beat, am I nuts?!"

The truth is: It's less madness than a mission. There're so many great minds writing great stuff out there, it seems a shame not to give authors and readers of similar minds a place to come together. So often, I come across content or a submission that strikes me as a great read, but wouldn't necessarily make for great content for the MarketingProfs newsletter.

What's more, some of our authors are too busy with their own businesses and lives to maintain a regular blog—and so the Daily Fix gives them a forum. In fact, this blog offers even our regular newsletter contributors a place to let loose a freer voice and looser style. I want personality and humor that's appropriate; I want us all to have a little fun.

My hope is that the Daily Fix will become an engaging, interesting, lively, daily stop for many of you—a place to read the news and opinions of the day, some lively writing, some bit of inspiration, or a write-up about a great Web site, resource, tool, or fun viral campaign.

I'm indebted to Poynter's Chip Scanlan for his inspiration (via "Why I Blog") for these three main points:

1. A blog is part of a rapidly evolving media landscape. And, as such, it gives writers the freedom to write about whatever strikes their fancy as the days evolve, within looser parameters.

2. A blog is less formal than other forms of content, "less freighted with the expectations," as Chip writes, adding, "Blogging hasn't made me indifferent to revision or accuracy; it just makes the process of generating words less susceptible to the inner critic." And for a writer (and those who read him or her), that freedom is extraordinary.

3. Change is good. Variety rocks. You'll read some new voices here on the Daily Fix.

Finally, as promised: Here's the "Recipe for a Blog," originally created by Chip Scanlan:

Blog:
6 cups freedom
2 1/2 cups experimentation
1/2 cup opinion
2 tsp variety
1/2 teaspoon marketing
Inspiration to taste

...to Chip's recipe, I'd add: you, the readers. Because without you, of course, we're just talking to ourselves. So, as always, your comments here are welcome and encouraged.