Spotlight on Irish Blogs: Irish Blog Awards finalists

In a slight change to the normal Friday fare of putting the spotlight on UK Blogs, here I am passing on a list of the Irish Blog Award finalists for your delight and delectation.

This year, as I have already written, I am particularly chuffed because two of the finalists in the Best Business Blog category are businesses that I have worked with and so I am naturally very pleased to see that they are so highly recognsied here.

The Blog Coach and the Irish Blog Awards

Well, I am very pleased to say that two of the blogs which have made the short list for Best Business Blog in the Irish Blog Awards 2007 come from organisations which The Blog Coach has been working with over recent months.

Two very different sites as well and it’s nice to see that they have been so well received after all the hard work put in by Krishna De and Ann Greene who write and run them.

Biz Growth News – Krishna De

A traditional blog in terms of format, though one that is absolutely full of information for a business looking for ideas and new information about anything and everything to do with developing business and building a brand online and offline. Podcasts, webinars and offline seminars as well as the blog itself and yet that is still only scratching the surface of what Krishna offers.

In March, we’ll be looking in a little more detail at the thought processes that went on in terms of the modifications and the implementation of the final result that you see now. However, as you read the posts, you will see that all that this does is complement the great content that Krishna provides. A blog which just cries out to be in your RSS reader!

Allagi Consulting – Ann Greene

This is a full Blogsite (that’s to say a complete website including a blog which is all built using Blog software) which has given Ann Greene, who runs Allagi Consulting, total control over the whole of the site in terms of being able to add and change content as she requires, as well as the ability to add pages and so grow the site when she needs to – with little to no intervention from anyone, including me.

The site also incorporates the Allagi Blog which Ann uses to great effect to look at her specialist area of expertise of team building and team development. Although it’s still in its infancy, the blog was already considered worthy of a place in the shortlist and you can’t say fairer that that!

Do check out both blogs and I wish them both the best of luck in the final which will be announced at the Awards Dinner on March 3rd. In the meantime, so as you don’t miss any, I will be listing the nominees in the main categories in a special version of Spotlight on UK Blogs (in this case Spotlight on Irish Award Blogs) this Friday.

Spotlight on UK Blogs – 16 February 2007

Back again after a bit of a long respite, but still following the same format as previously. Each week, I will be highlighting some of the Business Blogs which exist in the UK. The aim is to show a cross section of what people and businesses are writing about and how they are approaching the task of using blogs in their business activities. As a result, you’ll find that these posts will contain a mix of Blogs displaying a range of topics and styles.

In addition to this weekly selection, I am working with others to build a comprehensive list of Business Blogs in the UK. So if there are UK blogs which you have visited and would recommend (including your own!), then please let me know by leaving a comment or sending me a message. Thanks!

Krishna De’s Biz Growth News
A real find is Krishna’s blog which looks at Brand Building and Business Development for Professional Services Firms, though to be honest the lessons and advice here is applicable to companies across the board.

John Eaton’s Reverse Therapy Blog
Recommended to me by another blogger I respect, so dropped into the mix here, this is a blog looking at the concept of Reverse Therapy to address the symptoms of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and a variety of other problems.

David Miliband – Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
Well, with the recent outbreak of Bird Flu up in my part of the country (that’s to say, Suffolk), it only seems appropriate to highlight the blog from the minister in charge of this area for the old government. Not exactly ‘Bootiful’ but a good first step nonetheless.

Iain Dale’s Diary
Just so I can’t be accused of any political bias one way or the other, another blog and this time on the right-hand side of the political spectrum as this former Conservative candidate and now prolific blogger amongst other things tells it how he sees it.

Righttrack Consultancy
Nice idea to get across a feel of what the company offers but in a slightly different way to other blogs you might see as they offer it through the diary musings of 4 fictional characters – so it’s a blog within a blog then? They explain what they are up to here.