2004 / October 26^th/ Excellence in blog: Down to Business

This is an experiment of mine. Over the coming months I will choose out specific blogs and try and point out what makes them great. When I first found out about blogs I saw them as mostly useless, mostly entertainment. Fortunately, I soon found out that blogs can be a bit more than just entertainment. I’ve come to view blogs as the next revolution in information. It’s like having your own personal newspaper column to yourself. Those blogs that draw massive amounts of traffic have done so on their own merit, no million dollar companies backing them. I think that personal publishing (blogs) will truly change the way information is spread in this country, and I’m loving it.

So the first blog I’d like to point is is Andrew Neitlich’s Down To Business blog over at SitePoint. This is probably my favorite blog to read. Every time I see the little red dot on my bloglines notifier light up I pray Andrew’s got another article up. Every single article, has without fail, impressed me to no end.

A little about the author

Andrew Neitlich runs www.itprosuccess.com and offers IT consulting services. That may seem like a mouthful, but in all reality what he does is help others make more money. He is a marketing genius with an MBA from Harvard, a wife, and one son. He’s helped companies turn $12 million in three months. He’s made 6 figures of revenue (to himself) in a week. He is what I strive to be marketing-wise.

The blog

In his blog, Andrew discusses business and marketing with special reference to online companies. Web design firms, mostly. He publishes a few times a week on average, and writes about an article a month for SitePoint. All of his entries are easy to read and informative. His ideas are really nothing new, but more regurgitating success plans from other companies and lesson’s he’s learned throughout school.

So what sets him apart? Well he’s got the credentials to back it up. He’s helped many companies make more money than they’d imagined. He’s made more money than he’d I’d imagined. He speaks from experience in applying textbook theories.

If you’re a web professional, I don’t think you have a reason not to be reading Andrew’s blog. It’s helped me more than I could ever think. But most importantly - it’s given me confidence. When I first started doing this whole freelance business I was undercharging and worried that clients would turn me down because of price. After I started reading his blog I learned that web professionals should demand higher prices - but more importantly, I learned why I should charge higher prices. I understand now why charging $2500 is not an extraordinary price as I had initially thought when beginning. Even though I no longer have to work on marketing (due to my job at WA), I still enjoy reading his blogs. They give me insight into the marketing world that I would have never learned about otherwise.

So check out this blog. Read it. Bookmark it. Subscribe to the feed. You won’t be dissapointed.

1. 

   Daniel Oliver

   October 26^th | #

   Nice idea Kyle. I think it would be great for you to review some of the blogs your read and share them with others.

   Great work.

2. 

   richard

   October 29^th | #

   Just found my way back to your blog… I’m looking forward to learning about your favorite blogs. I’m subscribed to Andew Neitlich’s blog using Bloglines and read him daily as well.

   Speaking of Andrew… my favorite political blog is Andrew Sullivan. He just posted an outstanding endorsement of Kerry at TNR which I referenced in my blog a couple days ago here.

   IMHO, his article is very objective and respectful of both parties. Gives credit where credit is due.

   Sorry to give off subject… looking forward to your future posts!

   BTW, how are you liking WA?

3. 

   richard

   October 29^th | #

   btw, those are some great looking sites in your “town crier”… where did you come across the the Arroyo Linda site? Looks from the pictures like it’s right off 101 south of Traffic Way. I agree - nice, clean markup… I’m just learning so much looking at these sites :)

4. 

   Kyle Neath

   October 29^th | #

   I was the web producer for the Arroyo Linda site, so that’s where I found it. The rest of them I find here and there. Various links from sites, emails from co-workers, discussion forums - everywhere :)

   And you’re right… the Arroyo Linda property is up in AG… it’s right next to 101 (you can see the freeway in one of the pictures).

5. 

   richard

   October 29^th | #

   very well done! that’s one of the best photos of AG I’ve seen too (front page). makes me glad I live here! In fact, my house is slightly past the right side of the photo…

6. 

   SEO

   July 25^th | #

   My main concern is that you can’t guarantee every page of your website will be included in the SERPs. Considering I’m constantly adding new products to my company’s website, I need to be sure that customers can find them as soon as possible.http://www.seoptimizerz.com

7. 

   nefEndafBaiva

   November 30^th | #

   Every day, thousands of people are turned down for finance because they have past payday advance or no credit history.

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