At YoungEntrepreneur.com, we aren't just bloggers; we're blog readers too. And there are so many blogs out there that we love to follow that we collectively came up with the idea to give out awards to what we believe are the best blogs in various niches. In each category, we'll be giving out Top Blog Awards to our 10 favorite blogs.
To kick things off, we're recognizing the top 10 blogs in the Success category. While many of the blogs below cover a wide range of subjects, they're all devoted to helping readers be more successful. Whether that means being healthier and happier or being more productive and effective in business, we believe these 10 blogs can help you accomplish more in your life.
Our selection process
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…
The Blog of Tim Ferriss"We've always been firm believers in "Work smarter, not harder." Tim Ferris is all about being successful by cleverly avoiding hard work while still getting the job done and not sacrificing quality. Tim Ferriss, nominated as one of Fast Company's "Most Innovative Business People of 2007," is an angel investor (StumbleUpon, Digg, Twitter, etc.) and author of the #1 New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and BusinessWeek bestseller, The 4-Hour Workweek, which has been translated into 35 languages. He has a lot of very inspiring stories to share, and his blog posts are all spoken from the heart. Twitter: @tferriss
Life Optimizer"Life Optimizer is a complete guide to personal growth. According to the blog's About page, "May people live below their maximum potential…(because they) do not optimize their life. There are aspects of life which can be made better and more effective than they are now." The blog is updated on a pretty regular basis, and there are hundreds of archived posts you can browse through to get on the path to becoming a better you. Twitter: @lifeoptimizer
The Positivity Blog"Is it just me or have we become a really cynical society? The Positivity Blog is a very refreshing reminder of the power of positive thinking. It's all about opening the door to new possibilities and finding new ways to improve your life. The blog has a clean, welcoming design, and it covers a wide range of success topics, including creating better habits, improving productivity, and bettering your social skills. Twitter: @positivityblog
SCORE Women’s Success Blog"Despite its name, this blog isn't just for women. All entrepreneurs can learn a thing or two about achieving business success by following the very insightful tips and commentary provided here. It's all about giving you the tools you need to live your dream of entrepreneurship. Twitter: @SCOREMentors
SUCCESS"This is the blog of SUCCESS Magazine which is not only inspirational but also instructional in taking a balanced approach to success by offering guidance and insight into improving one's entire life. The SUCCESS blog team is extremely talented and committed to bringing their readers inspiring, informative and personal-achievement-based articles and posts. Twitter: @SuccessMagazine
Escape from Cubicle Nation"The tagline says it all "From corporate prisoner to thriving entrepreneur. Pamela Slim posts on a weekly basis offering detail-rich posts with tips for becoming a better entrepreneur and even improving your personal life. If you're a first-time entrepreneur or a corporate slave thinking about making the jump, this blog can serve as the perfect guide to your future success. Twitter: @pamslim
Lifehacker"Lifehacker is an award-winning blog (even before winning this award!) that's devoted to making life simpler. It's all about helping readers be smarter and more efficient. This is one of the rare blogs that combines quality and quantity beautifully, offering more than 20 new tips each day for making life easier. Twitter: @Lifehacker
Dumb Little Man"We know what you're thinking "Wait a minute. I'm not a dumb little man (or woman)!" Don't pay attention to the name. This blog is anything but dumb. The blog runs on guest posts from readers, so you get a really wide range of tips on everything from improving your productivity to saving money. There are more than 1,700 articles in their archive! That's a huge database of valuable information you can learn from. Twitter: @JWhite
Pick the Brain"Pick the Brain has been around for several years now, and it's quickly become one of the top self-improvement blogs on the web. The thing we really like about this site is it covers a huge range of self-help topics, rather than focusing on a tiny niche (e.g. Get rich quick!). Twitter: @PickTheBrain
The Self Improvement Blog"One thing that quickly sets this blog apart is that it's authored by a woman with a masters degree in nursing and a doctoral degree in metaphysics. She's also a certified hypnotherapist and has been practicing for 12 years. In other words, she knows her stuff, and she's constantly sharing new tips for achieving happiness and improving yourself.Â
Congratulations to our first set of YoungEntrepeneur.com Top Blog Award winners! Keep your eyes open for our upcoming awards in our next category. We'd love to hear about other blogs you think should be nominated for next year's Top Success Blog Awards here on YoungEntrepreneur.com.
