It seems that the blog roll may have seen better days. Before Twitter lists and FaceBook fan pages, I think the blog roll was much more important. Now, I’ll be the first to tell you that I really do love all the blogs I have listed on mine. The only problem is that these lists become too long and I can’t possibly tell someone new to this medium why each blogger is so special to me by just throwing them each in a category.
So I came up with a solution.
I am going to blow up my blog roll.
Instead, every two weeks I am going to highlight 3- 5 blogs and tell you why I like them. Some may be blogs you already read and hopefully, some will be new to you. I want you as readers to understand why these writers inspire me, challenge me to think differently, and why they make a difference in my life. Then, I’m going to put these posts on a special tab so people can come back to them. So, there’s no better time than the present to tell you about a few I love.
So, for me, I am starting with THE Queen of the HR blogs. Punk Rock HR is authored by Laurie Ruettimann. Laurie is brash, bold, stratight-forward, smart, and snarky. Oh, and did I mention cute? We’ll, lets just say she’s the total package. I’ve been reading her blog for years and she is the person that inspired me to write mine. Why should you read Punk Rock HR? She posts answers to some tough HR and business questions, she posts humor, and she rants and raves occasionally too. Another plus, if you write a comment to Laurie, she always responds. Even if she has 100 comments. You’re important to her.
Bottom line: A++ for her honesty and integrity.
Frank Roche of iFactual has a blog I just do not ever skip reading. If he writes it, I’m reading it. What I like about Frank is that he doesn’t necessarily post like other bloggers. Some of his most inspiring posts may only be a sentence or two. He’s direct and when you read the wisdom of Frank, you have those “ah-ha” moments. Another plus is that Frank will use whatever means necessary to reach out to you. He writes, he uses video, pictures. All things to grab your attention and not let go of your brain all day. Of all the blogs I read, I keep more of his posts than anyone else’s. Bottom line: Smart guy, smart writing. Read it.
Paul Hebert makes me a better person. He makes me a smarter business professional. He makes me question what I know and what I don’t know. He makes me think about employee motivation and intelligence in a whole new way. He can do the same for you. Paul writes these incredibly smart posts that often make me pause before commenting. It’s because I want to live up to the thought he puts into his posts by giving equal thought to my response. I also recommend Paul’s blog because if you are in HR and only focus on pure HR blogs, you will miss quite a lot of great information. Bottom line: Challenge your brain and read Paul’s blog. You’ll be glad you did.
11 Comments
Trish!
I really like the idea! I always look forward to reading your posts! You inspire me!
Shenee
Wow… I am so… wow…. so very, very nice. I truly appreciate the words – and to be on the same page with Laurie and Frank. Wow.
You know the feeling is mutual as well… Thanks for reading and thanks for the shout out. I really means a ton. I am so glad we met.
Way to go, Trish. I dropped the blogroll very early on, because while it was time-consuming, it added very little value to my readers. I could write an extra post a week (and I started doing so last year) with the time it took to maintain a “good” blogroll.
Great idea. Posts like this are so much more valuable than a blog roll. I’ll be checking back for more intros to some other great bloggers.
excellent idea. i’ve pondered doing the same, which is not why it’s an excellent idea. 😉 and you’ve picked terrific people to start with. look forward to reading more & finding some new sources of information & inspiration from your efforts.
thanks, trish.
f
well there go all the visits to my blog…thanks for nothing. you’re dead on, though; the roll carries much less value than it used to. i’m not blowing mine up yet, but i’ll be downsizing pretty soon. thx
@Charlie- No worries Charlie. After several rounds of me writing about the blogs, it will be a new, more detailed blog roll of sorts. I’m going to highlight yours in 2 weeks so any sucking up you’d like to do would be valuable now. lol
You make an excellent point Trish. Great post!
Thanks for the recommendations. I like the 3-5 featured blog idea much better, since blog rolls are often ignored. I was already subscribed to the first two, but added i2i to my reader and like what I see already!
Trish, I am so flattered. This really made me smile. Thanks so much!