There are very few business blogs I read during the week. There are just so many that I had to cut back to the ones that really give me something to think about.
After analyzing these top business blogs I thought it was interesting that each kind of offer something different. I’m going to analyze each and see if we can pull something out to learn from them as we try to create our own successful business blogs.
Entrepreneur
Blog: Entrepreneur
This site is great for news about being a business owner. In fact, you just have to be in business to get interesting information on this site. I love the idea of taking the news in an industry and providing perspective. Anybody can report the news (for some reason reporters think it’s a race to be first), but it takes more skill to analyze the implications for readers.
That’s what Entrepreneur does.
Inc.
Blog: Inc.
Inc. has become Home Of The Lists. The entire site is a big list it seems like, but you know what? People love it. The information seems so basic on the surface, but I find myself going back there. I don’t get value out of every post, but some are really useful.
The great thing about a list is it’s easy to take action. Entrepreneurs want to take action. That’s why Inc. gives them lists. The site has found a formula that works and they really hammer it home and it’s working.
Forbes
Blog: Forbes
This isn’t my favorite site, but tons of people visit the site and have read the magazine. They must be doing something right. I think they have a lot of thought provoking articles. The writers seem to have points to prove and that’s not always a bad thing. When the status quo is challenged it forces all of us to question the way we do things.
When we challenge ourselves we take things even further and that’s great.
Atlantic
Blog: The Atlantic Business
Over the last two years I’ve been reading a lot of Atlantic articles. I hadn’t even planned on doing it. I just saw articles from the Atlantic all over social media and I thought they were an interesting case to include on this list. The newspaper is not exclusively about business, but they do have a very good business blog.
I don’t know when business became so involved in politics so I avoid those articles, but there are still some great ones on this site. The great thing is they are usually very in depth.
Don’t think people read long stories or blog posts?
People read The Atlantic like crazy.
Seth Godin
Blog: Seth’s Blog
Seth Godin’s blog was one of the first I started reading back five or six years ago. He has an interesting approach to marketing. He tells stories. He makes things actionable without giving away too much information.
Godin’s posts are short. He’s always focusing on his main product, which is the book. He writes much on his blog, but he saves the really meaty material for his books. It’s a great example of a blog that can drive interest and sales in a product.
Takeaway: Tease your target readers with really good information and then dazzle them with your product. I like using the example of a plumber here on the GBW Blog. A plumber can easily write about unclogging drains on a business blog. It helps people, but to the plumber it’s basic information. But with the blog the plumber earns trust and when the bigger projects come along readers hire the blogger than helped them.
Conclusion
There are many other business blogs and we all have our favorites. I think that’s the point of blogging. You write for a few people, not everyone.
Share your favorite blogs in the comments and let’s continue the discussion about top business blogs.