Time for a New, Big List of Links to Business Blogs, or a List of Lists?
Every time I do a presentation on business blogging, I go looking for current examples of business blogs, preferably with some evident connection with the interests of the particular audience I’m to address.
To do that efficiently, it helps to have lists, with domains, so I don’t have to do the basic digging myself.
Back in 2004-05, when the Blog Business Summit was just getting underway, one feature of their blog site which I particularly liked was their “List o’ Links”, which was a convenient list to see examples of business blogs. It included my Thinking Home Business, so I was a bit biased, but what I found particularly convenient was that I could refer coaching clients and others to that list rather than having to do a list for them. I seem to recall I included it as a link in the first version of my 7 Step Business Blog manual, then checked one day and found the List o’ Links had gone. Pity.
Admittedly, the number and diversity of business blogs these days is such that it would be a huge effort, no doubt, for anyone to put together and maintain a list with reasonable claims to comprehensiveness and quality.
And I acknowledge that there are excellent sites such as iBlogBusiness and the Small Business Blog Directory, both of which are run by people with excellent knowledge and high standards and where your site has to be vetted before it’s included.
Also and very significantly, Blog Business Summit’s Teresa Valdez Klein and KnowMoreMedia’s Easton Ellsworth have their impressive collaboration on the Fortune 500 Blog Project Wiki, which - going on the url - is hosted by Blog Business Summit.
It would be good to have, in addition to these resources, a high quality list of lists, for business blogs, with some policy and statement of principles to give readers a sense of how reliable, comprehensive or otherwise the list claims to be.
Surely this would be a great project for a business school or other academic institution to sponsor - lots of scope for some serious analysis, data collection, categorizing, tagging, not to mention disputation! - and could produce a valuable resource for business.
Or is there a business case for such a list of lists to be put together - and maintained/updated regularly - as a purely commercial venture?
And if you manage or know of lists which you would have expected me to acknowledge here or which you believe can usefully be included in the putative list of lists of links, please let me know via the comments.
Tags: business-blogs, Directories, listsRelated Stories
POSTED IN: Corporate, General, Knowledge Management, Resources, Small Business
7 opinions for Time for a New, Big List of Links to Business Blogs, or a List of Lists?
Easton Ellsworth
Apr 19, 2007 at 9:42 am
A list of lists? The idea is very intriguing, Des. I guess I’m not understanding very well what your idea would encompass - but I’m willing to help and get some folks to pitch in. We sorely need a fresh directory or compendium of excellent business blogs - corporate blogs, freelance blogs about business, blogs covering specific companies, blog network blogs, etc. - or something that would give people a quicker sense of where to find some excellent case studies or examples.
Elliott Thompson
Apr 19, 2007 at 10:46 am
If you’re looking for some great business blogs stop by: http://www.bizsandiego.com/blog
There are a wide range of engaging business blogs here, some great stuff.
Top News Online Business Next Blog Business Summit Announced for September in Chicago
Apr 19, 2007 at 1:12 pm
[…] Time for a New, Big List of Links to Business Blogs, or a List of …Every time I do a presentation on business blogging, I go looking for current examples of business blogs, preferably with some evident connection with the interests of the particular audience I’m to address. To do that efficiently, … […]
Des Walsh
Apr 19, 2007 at 5:19 pm
Easton
Thanks for the offer to help. I wasn’t really wanting to take on the job but I don’t want to shirk it if it’s going to be worthwhile. Your not quite understanding the scope of the idea is matched by my limited understanding. A man I worked with once, who used to oversee a lot of research projects, had a standard guideline for whether a project was worth doing: it was “ask a manageable question”. So that might go something like this: “What would list of business blogs look like if the aim was to provide models of practice?” or “What would a taxonomy of blogs look like if your aim was to provide reference sites for businesses wanting to (a) get into blogging or (b) wanting to improve the effectiveness of their blogs?” But I’m not an academic, let alone a qualified taxonomist :) So it would be interesting to hear from others. We could do a teleconference ??????
Des Walsh
Apr 19, 2007 at 5:26 pm
Elliott
I checked out the link, but could only find one blog, with posts by various individuals. I couldn’t see a blogroll or list of blogs. Are you using “blogs” as meaning “posts”? Or have I missed something?
Christian Del Monte
Apr 20, 2007 at 9:59 am
Thanks Des for your posting. Looks like Easton beat me here again:)
Anyways…regarding your “What would a taxonomy of blogs look like if your aim was to provide reference sites for businesses wanting to (a) get into blogging or (b) wanting to improve the effectiveness of their blogs?” comment…i hear ya and have thought about it as well.
The “a” part is relatively easy i think because there is already some great measuring sticks you can use to deam a blogs quality like Alexa and Pagerank. I know neither of them is perfect, but its a start:) I think beginners should start looking at these first in their respective industry. (We currently dont rank them this way, but could consider doing so)
The “b” is more of a collction of resources or blogs that talk about bubsiness blogging as a strategy. I think we can reffer that one to Easton:) Otherwise, we do offer a business blogging category.
Telecon?? Let me know…
Christian
Easton Ellsworth
Apr 20, 2007 at 10:35 am
Yeah Des I see what you’re saying. I think it would be great to get a few people together on a call or in some sort of online discussion, to toss some ideas around.
Have an opinion? Leave a comment: