Beat this

Tech news for business people: say hi to VentureBeat. It gives information about technological trends, specifically targeted at executives in both big and small companies. This blog helps managers make use of social media, mobile technology and more.

Trending topics such as the Facebook investment hype and even the new Diablo III game are covered with many articles, written by tech-savvies who know what they’re talking about. Apart from the many informative posts, here’s one about game addicts’ preparation for the Diablo III release. Have a laugh, then check out all the useful info on this blog.

Go the zen way

Leo Babauta quit smoking, started running, became vegan, and ended up writing a best-seller novel and having one of the top-ranked blogs in the US. Showing the world that having a healthy lifestyle is not just for fitness freaks, environmentalists or yogis. Zen Habits is his first blog, that got itself to the Time magazine top 25 within a year.

Internet, social media, technology: it can be so useful, but often very distracting. Zen Habits helps you to keep it simple and to stay focused on what is most important in life: living. Here‘s a post that helps you avoid getting distracted by all the temptations on the World Wide Web. Breathe. Relax. Be zen.

To. The. Point.

Are you ready for some career building? Brazen Careerist will happily be your source of inspiration. With relevant and practical advice for college students and professionals, this blog can help you build a network, get a job, make your boss happy, and eventually, build an incredible career.

If career building is not your Ultimate Goal In Life, Brazen Careerist can still offer you some useful tips about for instance taxes, having a job alongside your studies or how to write cool blogs. A call to all bloggers: read this article. Learn. To. Be. Concise.

Spin doesn’t suck

PR professionals: making a living out of manipulating people’s minds. These spin doctors often don’t have a very positive image, but this blog proves their critics wrong: it fights the negative connotations around PR and shows that most PR really is ethical, and not manipulative.

There are of course exceptions to the rule, that are also tackled on the blog, along with suggestions to improve these shady spinning practices. Spin Sucks looks at all dimensions or PR: social media, advertising, marketing and more. Here’s a (slightly discomforting) article about neuromarketing. Beware of bad PR, but have faith. Not all spin sucks.

A Rebel

Ah, how I love the sound of a little sarcasm in the morning. To counter all the raving reports stating Facebook Is The Road Towards Democracy and Twitter Is The Best Thing That Ever Happened To Me Besides Having Children, The Anti-Social Media Blog is, surprisingly, not another ode to social media.

Jay Dolan writes posts about how social media is creeping into our lives, and points at the dark, shady, and annoying aspects of Facebook, Twitter, and more. So social media ain’t all that good. But Jay sure has made his blog a wild success, attracting both social media haters and lovers.

Apart from many funny posts about the irritating and frustrating parts of social media, Jay also has some useful advice about managing your online persona. Here’s his guide to becoming a badass on Linkedin.

Revenge of the nerd

Modern Nerd points at, and jokes about, everyday nerdy issues and dilemmas. It has been launched by Nick Cernis, a designer-slash-programmer, living in the UK. From the quality of toilet paper in office bathrooms to his own mental battle before buying an iPhone: Modern Nerd is funny, cynical, and sometimes, quite useful.

An especially relevant article stresses the ‘Importance of abandoning crap’:

“Anyone can make something. But to make something great, you have to find the courage to ditch the things dribbling along at half-past average.”

Read it. Learn from it. Abandon your crap.

Kiss and tell

KISSmetrics targets businesses online, and offers marketing software that help companies monitor and manage their online visitors. But this is not the end of the story: the KISSmetrics blog is a beautifully designed source of information for companies that are starting to get the hang of communicating with their customers online.

On this blog, you can find fun and informative graphical presentations, for instance on how colours affect purchase behaviour, demographics of social media users or how loading time affects a company’s bottom line. It also offers (free!) marketing guides on for instance social media outlets, keyword research, and, of course, blogging. All in all a very useful blog for the less advanced online marketers. Click here to check it out.

Be cool

Cool Hunting has been celebrated by Time Magazine (2011) for its excellent use of video. As it name already hints at, Cool Hunting hunts for anything that’s cool. Naturally, this is all done in a very cool way, with nice little short documentary-style videos that show the newest trends in technology, food, culture, fashion and more.

This blog has many in-depth articles with beautiful pictures, for instance one that shares five must-see places in Amsterdam that are overlooked by all the tourists. To check it out, click here.

I think this blog shows that in this world of one-minute news feeds and Twitter messages, in-depth journalism is still appreciated. Delve into the content of this blog, as it is a rich source of well- written articles and clever videos.

Blogger bites back

Dooce.com is the blog of Heather B. Armstrong, that turned from an on-the-side blog into a full-time job that pays the bills. Her husband Jon manages the technical and business-related issued around her blog, which allows Heather to fully focus on writing witty and interesting posts, next to looking after her children and dogs.

Her story shows how bloggers can bite back: she was fired for writing stories about the people she worked with. She warns her fellow bloggers:

“My advice to you is BE YE NOT SO STUPID. Never write about work on the internet unless your boss knows and sanctions the fact that YOU ARE WRITING ABOUT WORK ON THE INTERNET. If you are the boss, however, you should be aware that when you order Prada online and then talk about it out loud that you are making it very hard for those around you to take you seriously.”

Getting fired turned out quite well for Heather, which shows the business potential of a blog, even though it is ‘just’ about music, pop culture or lifestyle. Any subject can turn into something profitable, as long as enough people read your stories. Advertisers want to reach people, so make them do so through your blog. Click here to see Heather’s example.

Customers bite back

New media provides companies with an opportunity to receive feedback from customers. This can be used to improve customer satisfaction, but fact remains that many companies fail to deliver good products or services.

Paying for goods or services that are lacking in quality can be frustrating, which is exactly what the Consumerist blog shows. Their logo states: ‘Shoppers bite back’, and this blog lives up to its name. The Consumerist informs and warns customers about misleading advertisements, failing customer service, faulty products, basically anything that can turn buying a good or service into a tiresome and unsatisfactory endeavour.

A useful tool for consumers, and a warning, maybe, to companies who refuse to respond to customer feedback, either online or offline. Click here to visit the Consumerist blog.