If you are an active follower of my blog it may interest you whose blog I read, especially since it often inspires what I write. Attracting RSS subscribers is basically like breaking into a circle of friends in highschool as the new kid: A potential RSS subscriber (the “in” crowd), will add you to their list for a few days to test the waters. If they like what they see you make the cut and you’re in their favorite feed reader!

The inspiration for the above analogy actually came from the movie Mean Girls. (I can’t believe I just found inspiration in Lindsay Lohan) :P. Getting back on track, for the most part I follow bloggers who are well versed, knowledgeable, and insightful but that’s not always the case. Here is a breakdown of why I would add you to my list blogs to follow (Newbie Hint: If you fall into none of these categories you may want to rethink your approach):

What it Takes for Me to Add You to My List

1. Your blog is extremely popular (good or bad bloggers)
2. Your blog makes tons of money (good or bad bloggers)
3. You are a provider of well written, insightful, unique blog posts
4. Your blog is a source of new, unique information
5. Your blog is fun to follow and offers something different
6. You are a person I want to learn about
7. I want you to learn about me

Each blogger I subscribe to falls into at least one of the categories mentioned above. If your blog meets my requirements, then I might want to follow your blog as well. Drop me the name of your blog in a comment and the number you fall under. Anyways, here is a list of all the blogs appearing on my iGoogle and a brief summary of why I bother to read them. Where possible, I’ve linked to recent posts on each that stand out.

Work at Home and ‘Make Money Online’ Bloggers

John Chow: I don’t think I’ve read a worthwhile / relevant post from him in months but its fun to watch in awe as he continues to monetize and exploit his blog to new extremes while maintaining readership. (1)(2)

Andy Beard: Provider of solid search engine advice and analysis. Very well respected blogger worth following. One of the only bloggers still trying to figure out PageRank. (Give up like the rest of us!) :) (3)(6)

BloggerNoob: Extremely active blogger with consistently entertaining posts. Brings a nonchalant, open, down to earth attitude to blogging that is refreshing to read. (5)

Dosh Dosh: Lengthy, well written, and insightful, this is a must read for anyone working online. (1)(3)

ShoeMoney: Some decent content, great advice on monetization strategies; in my opinion a step up from JohnChow with a similar tone. (1)

Nate Whitehill: Offers practical advice, helps out where he can, and has posted some great tips. Only concern might be the decades of time that pass between posts. :) (3)

Tech and Startup News

TechCrunch: The leader in Dot com technology news, fantastic source of info. (1)(4)

Mashable: The premier source of info for new startups on the net. I love to hear about what sites are getting what venture capital. (4)

StartupNorth: I enjoy reading their opinions on the start up scene in Canada, where else can you find companies with skating rinks behind the office? Posting is a little infrequent and often on a narrow range of topics (which might be their angle) but I wouldn’t mind some more posts on impacts to Canadian business as a result of international implications, instead of purely Canadian content. (4)(5)

Matthew Ingram: Works for a Canadian newspaper and blogs about technology news. Basically he takes from other feeds and adds his own opinions to the topic. Often has some thought inspiring and unique slants. As a fellow Canadian blogger I had hoped he would one day blog about the Canadian WhyDoWork.com, but to no avail. Yet. (7)

The Post Money Value: Another Canadian startup blog featuring musings from a real live VC. Provides candid advice and has a down to earth approach to the whole thing. (6)(7)

Hacker News: A small circle of regular readers, this is a Digg like site on the YCombinator (a business incubator and VC) site. A great place to learn about the latest startups before they’re reported on by larger sources like TechCrunch. I should get around to eventually signing up and participating since I’m going to StartUp School ‘08 in a few weeks. (5)

Other

I also read some random blogs on topics unrelated to my work or nerdy interests:

Perez Hilton: Celebrity trash; usually reported first. (1)(4)

What Would Tyler Durden Do (wwtdd): Again more celebrity trash, but presented with edgy and often comical writing. (5)

The Zsa Zsa Zsu - While the name comes from a television show I despise (Sex and the City), the content is entertaining and I sometimes find myself enjoying old school style blogging (i.e. dear diary…this is what i I did today..). There’s also some occasional tech-talk which makes for a good mix. A relatively recent addition to my daily read. (5)

WhyDoWork Member Blogs - Each of our > 30,000 members at this site has a personal blog. Some choose to write in it, others choose just to syndicate their existing blogs, which is also cool. I read this daily to make sure the content is appropriate, and to welcome new members if they post something that catches my eye.

Why Did I Bother to Make this List?

I think it’s helpful to draw out the criteria that we all have as to why we choose to follow a particular site. The key to a successful blog hinges on the amount of people following it. By sharing why, how, and who I follow, hopefully you can get a better idea of how you can attract more readers.

If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed.!