Last year one of the most popular blog posts here on the blog was  10 Blogs to Watch in 2010 where I featured my favourite blogs and resources that I visit on a regular basis and which help move my business forward.

The first thing you noticed with that post was that I struggled to keep the list to 10. In fact compiling a top 10 list of anything is a bit like choosing your top 10 favourite songs of all time.  So much depends on your mood or the purpose; relaxing, working out, which makes drawing up a top 10 song list so difficult. And it’s just the same with blogs. 

The truth is there is a lot of great content out there. Some blogs are hot for awhile and then they die, others just disappear, unfortunately very few pass the test of time.   Which is sadly what happened to some of sites on my 2010 list. Either they  are no longer what they were or have now gone to ‘blogging heaven’. With the sites either being taken offline, sold, or the owners simply having  moved on to other projects.

So, with a new year, it’s good  a time as any to take the opportunity and refresh the list for the most useful and actionable advice blogs that are currently on my radar. Listed below are the  sites that I visit on a regular basis (some daily, others weekly) and these are my genuine recommendations for sites that will either improve your blog, your life or income.

Whilst  this list is more my general business and related blogs, I will also be publishing a list of blogs/resources which will be invaluable to entrepreneurs looking to  grow thier businesses, so please check back soon!

Blogging and Writing

Problogger

Darren Rowse the ’Daddy’ of blogging has been blogging for 9 years, so knows what he’s talking about. Great resources and actionable tips to help you build a better blog and especially useful if you’re looking to make money online.

Copyblogger

Great blogs need to get their message over effectively. Looking back at my own work over the last year or so, I can see that my style has changed enormously. Thanks to sites like Copyblogger, I’ve learnt a lot about blogging but also about writing and titling the blog post.

Notaproblog 

Not a problog by Jordon Coopers is an entertaining read which to my mind has pushed conventional thought about blogging and writing with humour. About 6 months ago he redesigned his blog to create a landing page so people knew what his site is all about. Unconventional yes and his style may not be for everyone. But he uses his humour (as a former standard comic) to educate and push boundaries.

Men With Pens

I first came across Men With Pens following a mention in one of Chris Guillebeau’s online manifestos. Whilst Men With Pens are predominantly web designers (they designed this site) and writers, it’s a great resource for freelancers and those in the online community for advice on building communities and engaging with your audience through the written word.

Johnny B Truant

Johnny is another blogger with humour who is also a featured ‘Emperor’ in Chris Guillebeau’s Empire Building Kit  –  having built his own lifestyle business out of necessity. Johnny writes mainly on being yourself and making a living from it. Great advice around being authentic and ‘how not to do things’ .

Passive Income Generation / Business Start Up

Virtual Business Lifestyle

VBL as it’s often referred to is by a guy called Chris Ducker who I’ve become good friends with over the last year since he launched his blog. Chris is no ordinary blogger and I hesitated whether to include his blog under passive income/start up or in business advice. The reason is that Chris has a real 250 person outsourcing business based in the Philippines. So he is supremely qualified to talk about outsourcing and his new discovery passive income generation from real world experiences. Chris originally started VBL to journal his quest to be a virtual CEO but now he’s achieved that goal, the blog is even more useful for those looking to balance their work/life commitments.

SteveScottsite

Steve Scott’s blog has been around for about a year now and has become a ‘go to’ resource for internet marketing advice. Steve is an seasoned internet marketeer making a full time living off the internet, even funding his recent 7 month trip to Europe on the back fo it. On his site he shares his secrets with very informative ‘How To’ articles which tell you exactly what to do to become an internet marketeer or simply drive more traffic to your blog.

Brandon Connell

Brandon Connell is another internet marketeer who seems to be ‘everywhere’ writing or guest posting. His stuff is a more general than Steve’s but nevertheless very useful and gives you a tonne of useful ideas which you can take away and implement.

Murlu

What can I say about Murray Lunn… Murray is a super productive guy looking to make his living on the internet. He documents his own experiences trialing various techniques and  he writes extremely detailed and practical articles which explain almost step by step what you need to do get results. Murray has guest posted  on here a few times too

Itty Biz

Difficult to pigeon hole exactly what ittybiz is as it’s basically a thought provoking/kick in the backside blog telling you exactly how it is. Basically aimed at small business owners (hence the name!) it’s a ‘no holds barred’ source of advice to running your business.  Not for everyone, it contains a (a lot of ) swearing in very liberal amounts. Excellently written and the source of some excellent eBooks.

Escaping The 9 To 5

Maren Kate is a seasoned entrepreneur yet she’s only 25. She writes mainly about start up’s and being entrepreneur. Some great tips especially for those looking to looking to escape the day job.

Smart Passive Income

Written by Pat Flynn this blog has taken off in the last 12 months. In part due to Pat’s openness and honesty. He shares his monthly income reports telling you exactly what he made from what and how.  He’s an extremely generous and open guy. With very informative articles focused on generating passive income.

SEO/Traffic Generation

These 3 sites in this section could have been included in blogging, but to be honest, SEO is something I struggle with but thanks to these guys, my traffic has increased dramatically and my search engine rankings continue to improve.

Think Traffic

Think Traffic is a relative new blog by Corbett Barr. It’s aimed at traffic generation and has some extremely useful tips for getting more traffic.

Alex Whalley

Aussie blogger Alex has had a lot of success building his site into a niche site/keyword research advice blog. He explains the various techniques straightforwardly and in a very entertaining and personable style.

Ice Blue Banana

Written by Mark, Ice Blue Banana started out (like this blog) as a site to document the stuff he learnt. Basically an online notebook.  Mark doesn’t just write on SEO but when he does he has amongst the clearest and simplest suggestions to improve rankings I’ve ever seen. Which if you’re an SEO novice, is just what you need.

Business Advice

These are the sites where I spend most of my time!

Adrian Swinscoe

Over the last year I’ve become good friends with Adrian. He’s a UK based blogger specialising in a similar niche to myself (business growth advice) although he’s more from the marketing and customer experience angle than I am. So, I think we complement each other well.  

Rise To The Top

If you could bottle Dave Siteman Garland’s enthusiasm you’d have a very sell-able product. Dave has his own TV show which you can see on his site where he features interviews with some of the most successful entrepreneurs today.  His archives are jam packed full of really useful interviews which often spark ideas for me. 

Inc

This is the website of the magazine with the same name and not so much a blog but a great resource for tools and information as well as interviews with leading entrepreneurs and business owners.

Toilet Paper Entrepreneur

Toilet Paper Entrepreneur is very much aimed at Entrepreneurs and has actionable articles and advice which could help take your business to the next level.  

Duct Tape Marketing

Very similar to Toilet Paper Entrepreneur as it’s in the same niche, but focused on marketing advice for small businesses.

Personal Development

TheBenLumley.com

Being a blogger has opened a lot of doors for me and I’ve met some really great people online. One such person is Ben, who I’ve actually met a couple of times too.  He’s a personal achievement coach and has some great advice on getting the success that you want to achieve.

A Meaningful Existence

Karen Ruby is another good blogging friend (although she’s based in Canada) who puts together some great thought provoking articles around goals and personal achievement. What is particularly unique about Karen is she is not looking to make a living online, but is actually sharing her life experiences.

Heaven and El

Eleanor Edwards was actually featured in Problogger’s 40 bloggers to watch in 2011. El has dubbed herself the ‘hostess of happiness’ and you can see why. She’s always cheerful and certainly shares some great life experiences as a  mum and a wife. If you need cheering up, just pop over to see El.

A Different Kind of Work

Entrepreneurship is great, but not for everyone. Some people need a job and Christine Livingston tells you how to get one. Christine is a UK Based career coach. She shares practical advice to getting a job but more importantly getting the right job for you.   Lot’s of practical advice and some really useful debates in the comments section of her site.

So that’s what’s on our list, but what about yours? Anything we should know about? Please enter your thoughts and suggestions in the comments section below.