Business blogs have a wealth of ideas

Published 12:24 am Monday, November 16, 2009

We continue to be amazed at and fascinated by the growing number of business blogs on the Web. We believe that every entrepreneur — from the newbie to the seasoned veteran — needs to develop a set of favorite business blogs to use as an important resource in helping them run their small business.

There has been an explosion in the number of blogs the last few years. There are more than 130 million blogs on the Web.

We recommend that small business owners use business blogs as “food for thought” — an opportunity to explore a variety of business ideas and strategies from a variety of perspectives. Almost every imaginable business topic is now being written about around the clock in the blogosphere.

Our list of favorite business blogs continues to grow each month. Consider checking out our latest finds in developing your list:

You’re the Boss, boss.blogs.nytimes.com.We have been pleasantly surprised with this new blog on the New York Times Web site. It promotes itself as a blog with an “insider’s perspective on small-business ownership and gives business owners a place where they can compare notes, ask questions, get advice and learn from one another’s mistakes.” The blog has six different contributors. We especially enjoy the musings of contributor Jay Goltz, who owns five businesses with more than 100 employees.

Penelope Trunk’s Brazen Careerist, blog.penelopetrunk.com. We look to Trunk’s blog for her insights on generational workplace and social networking issues. Trunk gets what people in their 20s want from their work life and communicates her ideas in a very engaging manner. She is also brutally honest about her own work, family and life issues. She writes a career advice column for more than 200 newspapers.

Steve Yastrow, Ideas for Creating Profitable Customer Relationships, yastrow.com. Yastrow has been at the forefront of developing ideas on how businesses need to recalibrate with the realities of our economy and the new age of thrift. We have found his blog entries around enhancing your brand and customer relationships particularly valuable.

Signals vs. Noise, 37signals.com/svn. This blog is one of our newer finds. The site calls itself a blog about “design, business, experience, simplicity, the Web, culture and more.” Since products can no longer be just functional, but also need to be beautifully designed, we have found the content very helpful in exploring the impact of design on business.

Shoestring Branding, www.shoestringbranding.com. This blog primarily focuses on marketing and branding issues for the entrepreneur. Although the author only posts a couple times each month, we have found his blog interesting because of the real-life examples he chooses to make his points.

The Franchise King Blog, www.thefranchisekingblog.com. This is the blog for everything about franchising. If you’re considering purchasing a franchise, this site is a must-read resource for helping you understand the potential opportunities and pitfalls of owning a franchise.

Tim Berry, Planning Startups Stories, timberry.bplans.com. Berry is the president and founder of Palo Alto Software, the maker of the popular business planning software package Business Plan Pro. The subtitle of Berry’s blog tells it all. His focus is primarily on planning and starting up a new venture. We have enjoyed his recent entries on entrepreneurship education and the inherent challenges teaching someone to be an entrepreneur.

The Simple Dollar, www.thesimpledollar.com. In today’s economy, what small business owner can’t use some tips to save money with their personal finances? Author Trent Hamm blogs on a variety of personal finance topics, such as investing, reducing monthly spending and credit card debt, and planning a frugal wedding. Hamm also has a set of 14 commonsense money rules.

Pat Sisneros is the vice president of College Services at Everett Community College. Lynne Munoz is director for the School of Business Design. Please send your comments to entrepreneurship@everettcc.edu.

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For local updates, see Herald reporter Amy Rolph’s small-business blog, The Storefront.