A reader wrote:

Can you recommend a few other blogs about business ideas that I should read?

Our answer: Sure, and we will do you one better!

Below are 30 blogs about business ideas and opportunities we know you will enjoy:

They are sorted alphabetically below.

1. Bits Blog – NY Times tech blog
2. Business Model Innovation – The future of business models
3. Carpe Diem – Mark Perry’s blog of economics and business ideas
4. Complete Innovator – Ideas and best practices on innovation, collaboration, and social media
5. CoolBusinessIdeas – Brand new business ideas and opportunities
6. Crowdsourcing.org – Crowdsourcing and crowdfunding
7. DesignTAXI – Creativity and innovation
8. Fastcodesign – Business + innovation + design
9. Future Feeder – The Journal of Architecture and Computation Culture
10. Future Foundation – Future trends
11. FutureWire – Futurism and emerging technology
12. Gigaom.om – At the intersection of business and technology
13. Idea Couture – Strategic innovation
14. Inc.com – Small business ideas and resources
15. Innovation Excellence – Innovation from around the world
16. Iterative Path – Marketing strategy and pricing
17. Japan Trends – Marketing and innovation from japan
18. Logic Emotion – Insights, ideas and interactions
19. Niche Geek – Showing you what others overlook
20. On Startups – What it takes for startups to succeed
21. Pluggd.in – Indian entrepreneurs and small business
22. Springwise.com – New business ideas, trends and innovation
23. Tech Cocktail – Tech startup events, news and resources
24. Tech In Asia – Asia-focused tech news
25. Technology Review by MIT – Tech news from MIT
26. The Verge – Tech, tech & more tech
27. Top Trends Now and Next – Observations on current and future trends
28. Uncommon Business – People and their weird ways of making money

Wait, where’s number 30?! Don’t forget this one. We’re the number one site for small business ideas and opportunities on the internet, but it would be rude to say so.

Did I miss any sites you love? If so, please add them in the comments.

Photo by designsstock/ShutterStock.

The post Top 30 Blogs for Business Ideas appeared first on Business Opportunities.

Dane, can you recommend any other good blogs to read?

Thanks for that suggestion. Instead of just posting a list in response to your questions, I’m going to start a short interview series with as many small biz bloggers as I can locate.

If you’re one, contact me and I’ll profile you.

My first profile is posted here.

The post Other Business Blogs? appeared first on Business Opportunities.

FDL Reporter.com:

Swanson, who operates Lemon Tree Photographers with her husband out of their Fond du Lac home, uses her blog to post photos and provide information for customers.

She goes a step beyond with another blog, The Modern Tog, which she started to help new professional photography entrepreneurs. A pricing guide for photographers is one of her most popular posts.

Sites like Facebook and Twitter may be social, but you only have so much space to write before fans and followers click away. Instead, Swanson and Page Wheeler link their blog to social media pages, so those who want to read more can click to visit the blogs.

Photo by Victor1558

The post Use Your Blog To Reach Customers appeared first on Business Opportunities.

LA Times:

Meet Silicon Valley’s version of Martha Stewart.

Stewart may have invented lifestyle branding, but Brit Morin is determined to give it a digital makeover.

Morin, a 25-year-old former employee of Apple and Google, is launching a new lifestyle brand that she describes as a cross between Real Simple and Wired magazines. She says she’s hoping to help people channel their digital domestic diva with a company that publishes content, creates software and rolls out products. And, like Stewart, she’s branding her business with her first name, Brit.

She says her website, hellobrit.com, is “a digital manual for creative living.”

The post The Hacker & Homemaker appeared first on Business Opportunities.

Do you use Google AdSense or other ad services on your personal blog or website? If you live in the city of Philadelphia, you might want to rethink that decision.

According to the Mashable web site, last week, the Philadelphia City Paper published an article discussing the potential impact of the city’s Business Privilege Tax on residents that engage in “activity for profit” – activity that includes blogging, provided a user’s blog runs advertisements or makes money in other ways.

The city of Philadelphia’s Business Tax Privilege requires residents to pay a privilege license for a one-time fee of $300, or $50 annually, in addition to a percentage of gross receipts and/or taxable net income, depending on the nature of the business.

The problem is that this license technically applies to any person conducting business activity in Philadelphia, regardless of that activity’s profit or loss margins. That means that Joe Blogger who makes $12 per year from AdSense ads on his blog is theoretically required to pay 6.45% in taxes on that income, in addition to the cost of the license.

Photo by samlevan.

The post Philadelphia Wants $300+ From Bloggers appeared first on Business Opportunities.

Open Forum:

There are 130 million blogs on the Internet (according to Technorati), and 350 million people reading blogs daily (according to Comscore). Clearly, engaging with influential bloggers can be a real boon to your business, if you can win them over towards your brand and persuade them to evangelize your product.

Rather than offering your bloggers sale prices or freebies, try offering up some exclusives to them. Other bloggers/readers will be thrilled at the thought that they were among the first to read about a certain story or offer on your site.

Always make sure that you have a very interesting story to tell that will not only captivate the attention of your readers but will also create a sort of bond between you and your readers. The more they feel for you and feel that they have in common with you, the more they will return to your site.

And last but not least is be sure to be available to your readers and fellow bloggers in the easiest ways possible. The last thing you want is a fellow blogger or one of your readers to get irritated and stop visiting your site because they can never get a hold of you.

The post How To Win Over Your Bloggers appeared first on Business Opportunities.

Missoulian:

Home is where Nici Holt Cline nourishes her heart and her business, both of which seamlessly commingle in her busy life as a mother, entrepreneur, writer, designer of kids’ clothing and gardener.

Other labels would also define this fourth-generation Montanan, among them, wife and risk taker.

Flexible and imaginative, Cline, 32, quilts together an unusual workday from her house in the heart of Missoula.

In and around meals, outings and naps with her young daughters, Cline writes a blog — which has paid sponsorship — and sews whimsical children’s clothing that has become so sought after that Cline is hiring another seamstress because local shops can’t keep her handcrafted items in stock.

You can find Cline on Facebook, on etsy.com and on her website, www.digthischickmt.com, and in specialty retail stores across the state, including the Blackbird Kid Shop in Missoula.

All of this falls under one label, a brand called “Dig This Chick,” which Cline gave herself years ago when she named her unusual business that offered gardening and graphic design services.

That business faded away when Cline became the development director at the Missoula Art Museum. When she became pregnant for the second time, she wanted to become a full-time mother, who wrote and sewed every day.

“It was a huge risk and a huge decision to stay at home and be a mom,” Cline said. “I loved my job at the museum, but my kids are my No. 1 priority.”

Logo from dig this chick

The post Mom’s Multi-Pronged Home Business appeared first on Business Opportunities.

photo credit: Robert S. Donovan

It’s not easy to know what is worth reading in social media these days. As technology makes it simpler and simpler to create content, the predictable problem this causes is that people who have no business creating content are doing it with abandon. Do any Google search that returns more than a million search results and you’ll easily understand the downside of this phenomenon. Recently posted on Open Forum.

One very simple way to figure out which blogs you want to read is to set up an RSS reader. This makes it super easy for you to set up a whole account where you can specify which blogs interest you and which ones you would like to follow.

Almost every blog out there will have a list of fellow blogs that they enjoy reading and may even recommend that others read as well. Take a look at those and see if there are some that tickle your fancy to add to your list of favorites.

Another great way to automatically get a hold of the blogs you want to read every day or even every week is by subscribing to all of your favorites, this way they will be automatically sent to you when they are posted to their websites.

The post What Blogs Should You Read? appeared first on Business Opportunities.

photo credit: William Hook

Most of us who own our own blogs probably have never even thought about little own considered advertising their blog on television. It’s just not the obvious thing to think about when working with your blog. But surprisingly advertising a blog on television is not only an awesome idea, but it can also be done for much cheaper then you would probably think.

Google TV is part of Google AdWords, and it works much the same way. It’s an auction-based system where you choose the price you want to pay. Obviously, the more you pay, the more people you’re likely to reach. But it’s possible to run an ad on network television for as little as $20. As stated recently on Copyblogger.

So why is it such a great idea to advertise your blog on television? Well, consider how big the general public is…some couple million people or so, multiply that by the average amount of television that these people watch a day which is anywhere from 3 to 5 hours a day, and you have a lot of people watching your advertisement numerous times in a short period of television time!

Imagine how many people that is that your advertisement (depending on the channel you advertise on) would reach and thus all the feedback, business, new members, referrals and more that would start flowing in. I don’t believe i could think of a better place to advertise on then television!

The post Promoting Your Blog On Television appeared first on Business Opportunities.

If you’re looking for parenting advice, asking your mother or a neighbor might not be your first choice. At a time when nearly everyone seems to be hooked into the internet there is bump in the number of moms that are dishing the information you seek right on their own blogs, reports Keloland.com.

And blogs aren’t just offering advice on which bottles or diapers to use…moms are making money. With the millions of moms around the world…Mommy Blogs could soon to take over the World Wide Web.

Shaina Herrmann, native of California, has lived in Sioux Falls for just a few years now. So her name may not sound familiar… But her blog [Sioux Falls Frugal Mom] might.

“Lots of readers every day. Today I think it was at 105 so it’s really taken off,” Herrmann said.

From grocery buying tips…to laundry advice…and money saving coupons, this mom is here to help.

“We all want to save money and if there’s anything on my blog that can help even one mom then it’s worth it,” said Herrmann

Her family of three lives on a part time income right now as her husband finishes a programming degree. And like many looking for a good deal, the internet has become her outlet – as a mom of a toddler and as a consumer.

Logo from Sioux Falls Frugal Mom

The post Saving The World, One Mommy Blog At A Time appeared first on Business Opportunities.

al.com:

Christy Jordan is a busy work-at-home mom, wife and blogger who has built a business she began as a hobby.

Her blog, SouthernPlate.com, led to her selection as a “kitchenista” by Kraft Foods.

The “Velveeta it! Kitchenistas” shared daily tips and advice on VelveetaKitchenistas.com “to help make dinnertime a success,” Jordan said.

“Not only does Christy have strong cooking skills and a passion for food, she is a valued resource for readers on all aspects of home and family life – making her a natural fit for the kitchenistas,” Angela Wiggins with Kraft said.

The promotion’s goal is “to arm people with ideas, tips and inspiration in the kitchen to mix up their weekly meal lineup with new recipes,” Wiggins said. “Velveeta is an ingredient that can easily work with many recipes.

“Velveeta asked five top ‘mom’ bloggers to team with them to bring even more mealtime ideas and helpful tips to their readers during their ‘Velveeta It!’ campaign,” Jordan said. “I was incredibly honored to be chosen.” Each kitchenista had a designated weekday theme. Jordan’s time was “Tasty Traditions Thursdays.” “I shared tips on preserving family mealtime traditions, something close to my heart,” she said.

Jordan’s blog receives more than 6 million page views each month. All her recipes are no-hassle meals for cooks of all skill levels.

Screenshot from Southern Plate

The post Try This Recipe For Success appeared first on Business Opportunities.

photo credit: lotopspin

Copyblogger:

You don’t get to opt out. Businesses that think they can ignore all this “Twitter stupidity” tend to get painfully rude awakenings. The conversation will happen with or without you. You definitely don’t need to respond to every chuckle head with a Facebook account (and you shouldn’t), but you need to keep your ear to the ground, and you need a clue.

The post Realities Of Social Media appeared first on Business Opportunities.

photo credit: Damien Basile

Many of us in business know how important social media marketing is to our company, however, what most of us don’t know is how to go about it. We look at this concept and view it as complicated, confusing and time consuming but social media marketing can actually be quite easy as long as you have the proper tools to work with. Look below for some very helpful tips on social media marketing that I recently came across on Crowdspring.

• Facebook is an excellent way to work up your social media. They offer all sorts of low cost and some free services, not to mention there are hundreds of thousands of people that you can connect with and inform them about your company.
• I’m sure your company has a website of some sort (if not then you need to set one up right away), so in addition to your website you really should set up a blog. This can serve as another great place to post upcoming sales, promotions, special dates as well as where you can give suggestions, take suggestions from your customers and post information about the history of your company.
• In addition to setting up your own blog and participating on a regular basis in discussion on your blog, you really should get out there and participate often on other peoples/companies blogs that are in your niche. Offer suggestions to others, tips, advice, solutions that you may have already found to their problems and even invite them to be a guest blogger on your blog.

The post Social Media Marketing Tips For Small Businesses appeared first on Business Opportunities.

photo credit: Hamed Saber

Weekends tend to slow down for most marketing systems on the Internet, so take full advantage of the lack of competitors and start marketing the most on the weekends. If your content is one of the very few on the weekends, there’s a good chance you will obtain most of that traffic.

Based on a post from StartUpNation.

The post Drive Traffic To Your Website appeared first on Business Opportunities.

photo credit: purplelime

Seems like blogs have kind of made it into the main and don’t get talked about as hot social media plays, but in my mind, a web hub of education based information, easily created and housed on a blog, is the ultimate social media foundation element and probably the key to success when you engage prospects in other social media platforms.

When attending to your blog always remember these three rules… read, follow, and listen. This is so you can be the best at your blog by listening to others input and advice, following other peoples blogs so you have many ways of obtaining ideas and inspiration, as well as reading all comments that are posted to your posts in order for you to respond and continue growing your online community.

Another great way to get more out of your blog is to ask for your readers participation by giving suggestions, comments, advice, and any other sort of input on your blog that may help you make it better.

Try becoming a guest blogger on someone else’s blog. Many of you may think that this is a weird thing to do, but in reality it helps your blog to grow. By providing your input on another blog as a guest poster you will be reaching out to people other then those that are in your immediate network and thus bringing more traffic to your blog, as stated on Duct Tape Marketing.

The post Get The Most Out Of Your Blog appeared first on Business Opportunities.

photo credit: milena mihaylova

Many business owners are coming to the realization that having a blog is a very powerful tool for their business to have in its corner, but many of them don’t really know how to start a blog or how to make it grow into something great for that matter.

Choose your niche wisely. Decide on a topic for your blog and then deliver your news and information in a fashion that will entice and engage readers. Select your theme well, and make sure it’s something you’re passionate about, as you’ll be married to it day in and day out, constantly sourcing information for content. Also, consider the competition in your genre. The more unique your chosen topic is, the more chance of success you will have.

Your readers are your key to a successful blog. Remember that they all value their time and want to see interesting content. They want this content in small doses so that it’s not taking up too much of their time. They want to see something exciting, valuable, and something that makes them want to read more every day.

Check out other blogs within your niche and see how theirs is laid out, what they write about, how many followers they have, any offerings that they include on their site and more. This will not only give you a sense of where about you should be but it will also give you a chance to join their blogs in order to build your community.

Remember that your blog is a powerful tool for your business, and in order to keep that tool successful you have to work at it. As posted on Open Forum.

The post Start And Grow A Very Successful Blog appeared first on Business Opportunities.

Lots of good blogs on his list, including this one.

The post Must Read Small Business Blogs appeared first on Business Opportunities.

photo credit: bfick

Once you create your blog, you’ve created the need to have not only content, but interesting content, several times a week. You want to find subjects that will keep your customers interested, make them want to interact with you, and that will also help them learn a little bit about what your company stands for. Located on Small Biz Trends.

One awesome place to find these topics is located within your customers concerns. Your customers express theirs problems and concerns to you on a daily basis and maybe even several times throughout the day, this is an excellent topic source for your blog.

Use the industry news as topics for your blogs. Most customers now a days don’t have a lot of time to spend relaxing in front of NBC news t.v. or reading a newspaper to catch up on what’s happening. Provide them with some topics that are related to whats happening around them on your blog.

Try bringing in some guest bloggers who have their topic ideas already in mind. It also never hurts to get a little personal every now and then, not that you should every day but maybe once a month or so would do fine. Write about thing’s such has how the company got started, the different avenues you went down before locating the perfect product or service, anything to let them know you are human.

The post Locating Great Blog Topics appeared first on Business Opportunities.

photo credit: kevindooley

There are so many blogs out there that get thousands of readers everyday, so how do they do it? How do they bring in all that traffic everyday? They have found ways to set up their blogs in such a way that it automatically attracts attention to the readers, it pulls them in time and time again. MyVenturePad recently posted an article on different ways that you can make your blog work better for you.

Try establishing a theme to your blog. There are several different sites both free and low cost that can provide you with several different themes that will surely set your blog apart from the rest. Self-host your own blog. This gives you more direct control over the way your blogs appearance is, style, writings that are posted and more.

There are a host of excellent blog communities around that will help you both promote your own blog and find other bloggers to read and learn from. Scribnia, BlogCatalog, Technorati,  Bloggeries, Loaded Web, Alltop, CommunitySpark and others are great starting points.

In the end, make sure you are truly opening up and sharing with your readers. They want to read something and learn something on your blog that they have never seen anywhere else. Provide them with some insight, helpful tips, advice on various matters and more.

The post Making Your Blog Work For You appeared first on Business Opportunities.

photo credit: Piez

A headline to your articles is the single most important part of that article. Your headline is what will determine whether a person reads your article, just scans over it looking for important information or simply deletes it without even reading one sentence. Your headline tells what type of article the reader is about to read. Your article very well may be extremely helpful and interesting, but if you don’t include the proper attention getting headline to back it up, the reader will never know what was contained in the article.

Tim Berry has a few suggestions on what you can do with your bad headlines below.

• There is always the two obvious answers here, you can either delete it, or start over.
• Figure out how you could add one or even two extra words to it that may spice it up a little bit, something like violent, brutal, devastating. Something that is eye catching.
• Walk away from it for a few minutes, think about the whole article itself and what it means, then try to think of one single sentence pertaining to the article that would make YOU want to read it.
• Try browsing some different blog websites where you can look at just headlines and get a general idea of what people are using for attention getting headlines.
• Or there is always the fall back option, you can leave it as is and blame it on the readers, editors and everybody else other than yourself as to why no one is reading your article.

The post What You Can Do With A Bad Headline appeared first on Business Opportunities.