We recently started our new annual blog awards series where we'll be recognizing our favorite blogs from a variety of categories. There are a lot of really great blogs out there that we at YoungEntrepreneur.com read and learn from on a regular basis, and our goal is to highlight these blogs so you too can enjoy and benefit from them.
This week, we're recognizing the top 10 blogs from Founders and CEOs. As young entrepreneurs, these are the guys and girls we're all trying to be. These are the people who started companies that were successful beyond their wildest dreams. These are the people who changed their industries, changed the world.
If you're serious about being an entrepreneur, we highly recommend checking out these blogs and spending some time learning more about these CEOs and founders. They have remarkable success stories that inspire and educate us on how to be better entrepreneurs.
Our selection process
In case you missed our previous round of awards, let's quickly recap how it works.
When we came up with the idea for distributing YoungEntrepreneur.com Top Blog Awards, we wanted to give these out to blogs we truly love. These awards aren't about typical metrics (subscribers, comments, rankings, etc.), but instead, they're about exposing the blogs we believe have the highest quality content and provide the best overall experience for readers.
Is this scientific? No. Subjective? Of course. But do we carefully scrutinize every option to ensure all award-winning blogs are truly special? You bet.
So, let us give you a quick rundown of the categories we used to judge these blogs.
- Visual Aesthetics"Let's face it: It's hard to get into a blog that still uses the default WordPress theme. Design matters, and it's important for making new visitors feel comfortable. We looked for blogs that were easy on the eyes.
- Quality & Consistent Content"Our favorite blogs are the ones that produce great content on a regular basis, rather than one good post to several filler posts.
- Overall Experience"The overall experience includes everything from how the author interacts in the comments to how well posts are categorized so you can easily find the content you're looking for.
*Please note these blogs are not listed in any particular order. All 10 blogs are YoungEntrepreneur.com Top Blog Award winners and thus are equal.
And the awards go to…
Craig Newmark – Does the name Craig Newmark not ring a bell for you? Well, his website will. Craig Newmark is the Craig behind Craigslist. Like his tagline says, this is a blog where "Craig from Craigslist indulges himself." You'll learn about the things that interest the founder of one of the most important websites ever. Twitter: @CraigNewmark
Bob Parsons – Bob Parsons is the CEO and Founder of GoDaddy, and in his video blog, he brings the edginess and attitude we've all come to love from the GoDaddy commercials. To date, he's posted 39 "episodes" on his video blog, offering tips to help entrepreneurs be more successful. The blog is funny and insightful, and we suggest checking it out. Twitter: @DrBobParsons
Guy Kawasaki – Guy Kawasaki was an Apple Fellow at Apple Computer, Inc., and he's the managing director of the venture capital firm Garage Technology Ventures. He's written 9 books, and he authors a monthly column in Entrepreneur Magazine. Check out his blog for tips every entrepreneur can use. Twitter: @GuyKawasaki
Richard Branson – As the founder of Virgin, Richard Branson has taken what started out as a mail-order record retailer and turned it into a group of about 200 companies spanning 30 countries. The mega-rich entrepreneur is an interesting, passionate character who has inspired countless entrepreneurs. Twitter: @RichardBranson
Rex Blog – Rex Hammock is the founder of the content marketing and media firm Hammock Inc. and the creator of SmallBusiness.com. We love this blog for a couple of reasons. First, Rex provides quality posts with tips on marketing and running a successful business. He also regularly shares his favorite links to stories from around the web, with great content that's worth a closer look. Twitter: @R
Blog Maverick – Love him or hate him, there's no denying the fact that Mark Cuban has been incredibly successful in business. The billionaire's blog is exactly what you'd expect from the opinionated entrepreneur. He shares his thoughts on business, the economy, technology, and more. It's well-written and incredibly insightful. Twitter: @MCuban
The Counterintuitive CEO – George Colony is the CEO of Forrester Research. His blog contains tips and observations to help other CEOs and entrepreneurs attain success. And the guy has no problem telling it like it is. Just check out his recent post where he says Mark Zuckerberg is overrated as a CEO, calling him a "one-trick pony." Twitter: @GColony
Ross Mayfield's Weblog – Internet entrepreneur Ross Mayfield of Socialtext shares his thoughts on the latest happenings in the tech industry and in the world of social media. If you're at all interested in social media, this is a good blog to follow. Twitter: @Ross
Kevin Rose – Kevin Rose is the founder of the massively popular social news website Digg. And while there might be those complaining that the new Digg has lost its way, Kevin Rose remains an important figure in the tech world. Twitter: @KevinRose
Calacanis – The founder of Weblogs, Inc. (a popular internet venture sold to AOL) and Mahalo.com, Jason Calacanis never seems to be far from controversy. He upset the internet marketing community when he said that "SEO is bull****" at an SEO conference hosted by Danny Sullivan. But whether you agree with him or not, he's always entertaining and unafraid to express his opinion. Twitter: @Jason
What are some of your favorite blogs by founders and CEOs? Nominate your favorites by leaving a comment.
