Blogtipping for December – Entrepreneurs Galore!

Blogtipping is the brainchild of Easton Ellsworth. The concept is simple:

Here’s what you do: On the first day of each month, list three blogs on your site. Provide each one with three reasons why you like them and add in one tip. The result is a great mix of people finding new blogs and celebrating blogs they’re already familiar with. The more people that blogtip, the more connected we all become.

Given the focus of this blog, I’ll be targeting 3 entrepreneur-related blogs that are worth everyone’s attention.

Blog #1: OnStartups by Dharmesh Shah (feed subscription)

1. Thought-provoking. Dharmesh isn’t towing the Web 2.0 company line. He’s not mindlessly following Web 2.0 furor. He’s asking tough, important questions about Web 2.0 and the state of the software industry.

2. Helpful. At first you might find his tone too blunt, but if that’s your style and you’re looking for some great advice, you can’t go wrong with OnStartups. Just read Startup Suicide: Five Ways To Kill Your Startup, Which Will You Pick?

3. Great community. As a result of his great writing and blog efforts, Dharmesh has created a very devoted community. Every single post has comments, and often he’s getting 20+ comments on posts. Most interesting is a recent post Web 2.0: On Bubbles and Business Models which is in effect a guest author’s post based on that person’s comments and emails to Dharmesh. That’s the power of community.

Tip: Keep doing what you’re doing, and telling us what you think. Plus, think about repurposing your content into entrepreneurship guides (Dharmesh: are you writing a book yet?)

Blog #2: Shoemoney by Jeremy Schoemaker (feed subscription)

1. Does It With Style. There are lots of blogs about making money online. But Shoemoney stands out with its style and flair. You get a feeling for Jeremy’s personality directly through his blog.

2. Keeps It Practical But Not Overly So. Shoemoney has a great combination of entertainment value and practical insight. It doesn’t read like a generic “How-To Guide” but there’s enough information on how to do things (including through his Net Income podcast) to make it worthwhile.

3. Keeps It Brief. Most of Jeremy’s posts are fairly short. In a world of too much content (and plenty of long-winded folk, myself often included!) it’s nice to get in and out quickly.

Tip: I’m not sure Jeremy needs any tips from me. Have you seen his AdSense checks?

Blog #3: Pow! Right Between The Eyes! by Andy Nulman (feed subscription)

1. Personality Shines Through. This shouldn’t surprise anyone. Andy’s the former co-founder and CEO of Montreal’s Just For Laughs Festival. Each post has a spark of Andy’s personality in it which is bound to make you laugh.

2. Fresh. The tagline of Andy’s blog is, “Andy Nulman’s Blog About Surprise”. Ok, I’m in? Surprise me! What’s fresh about this is Andy’s take on the world of business and entrepreneurship. You’re not going to find his style anywhere else.

3. Entertaining and Meaningful. Can you teach something and entertain at the same time? Sure. Shoemoney does it in his way, Andy Nulman does it in his own way. One of Andy’s recent blog post titles was Giving Great Head. Um…need I say more?

Tip: My tips are all blog-setup related. I’d add a feed icon at the top (to make it easier for people to know how to subscribe), and I’d probably add digg/reddit options after each post. I would make headlines clickable so people could copy and paste post links faster (to their own blogs, in emails, etc.) These are all minor mechanical/infrastructure things – the content is there, and well worth it.

The End

So that’s it! Blogtipping for December – mission accomplished!

These are far from secret/hidden blogs in the blogosphere, but they all deserve shout outs anyway. In the future I’ll bring you some lesser known bloggers that still deserve plenty of attention and praise!