Here are their best tips. I think you’ll agree there are some excellent ideas here.

#1: Be Active in Other Communities First

Here’s what Mitch Joel, author of Six Pixels of Separation and the blog at Twist Image, recommends:

“You’ll have no semblance of community unless you’re an active community member in other spaces. If I had to do this all over again and start from scratch right now, what would I do?

Without question I would start a blog and fill it with relevant and valuable content for the community, but I would spend ten times as much time adding value to the five or ten existing communities where my potential members might be hanging out, reading and connecting.

It’s not a ploy and it’s not a trick—I would do this because I’m interested and want to engage with the other community members. I would also be hopeful that those community members would appreciate my contributions and take a chance on checking out what I’m up to on my own space.

Give more than you get.”

Top 10 Social Media Blog Nomination: Laurel Mackenzie likes Mitch Joel's Six Pixels of Separation blog because "not only is his written content intelligent and thought-provoking, but his podcasts feature discussions on relevant topics with true industry thought leaders."

#2: Write About What You Love

Here’s how Michael Brandvold grows subscribers on his blog:

“The best advice I can give anyone who wants to grow their subscribers is write about something you love and are passionate about and keep writing.

Readers can tell the difference when someone writes about a topic because they feel it and love it, it’s their life, versus someone who writes about a topic because it was just assigned to them. No magic formula, no secret trick… just hard work on something you love.

Since my first website in 1995 I’ve learned that users will find and continue to return to content which is genuine and created with a passion.”

Top 10 Social Media Blog Nomination: Anthony Best says Michael Brandvold "knows his stuff and presents marketing and social media concepts in ways that are simple to understand and execute immediately. Not only does he share what to do, he also explains specifically what NOT to do."

#3: Write Insanely Great Content

Mark Schaefer, author of The Tao of Twitter and the popular marketing blog {grow}, recommends:

“Blogging is not my full-time activity. I have a thriving business, I teach and I have family activities and charitable efforts I’m devoted to. So when it comes to the blog, I only have time to concentrate on one thing: INSANELY GREAT CONTENT.

I tend to look at things from a unique perspective that seems to set fire to interesting conversations. That’s all I know to do, really! Celebrate smart conversation.”

Top 10 Social Media Blog Nomination: Neicole Crepeau likes {grow} because "Mark combines insightful and useful information with posts about his personal soul-searching as spurred by his social media work. His community is amazingly engaged."

#4: Answer Questions for Your Audience

Mark Robertson, founder of ReelSEO, recommends:

“The number-one way that we’ve been successful in driving readership to ReelSEO, though I realize this is a bit cliché, is through creating compelling, informative and unique content. For ReelSEO, we’ve found that the most read and most compelling content usually comes from two sources.

First, we respond to our readers’ requests and often solicit feedback both on and off the site. When a reader reaches out to us to ask for advice, we can often safely assume that all others would be interested in the topic. As a result, we often write articles that specifically address our readers’ requests.

Second, we try to write about those things that we (internally) are interested in learning more about but can’t find sufficient information online to address the learning.

For example, I searched everywhere for a list of apps to record video with Skype in order to do some video interviews. I was unable to find any useful resources on the Internet. So, I assigned this topic to a writer and not only did I learn what I wanted, but our readers were extremely pleased that we offered up this resource.

Additionally, because it was a question with few results in search to address it, we obtain new readers every day through long-tail search.

If you’re truly passionate about your blog’s area of expertise, you can successfully grow your audience and continue your own learning through answering all the unanswered questions.”

Top 10 Social Media Blog Nomination: Jayce likes Reel SEO "because it's super-intelligent and the place to go for video SEO!"

#5: Offer Real Value

Danny Brown, award-winning marketing and social media blogger and founder of For Bloggers by Bloggers and 12for12k, recommends:

“Offer REAL value to your readers. Instead of just offering generic simplicity—like the Top 10 Twitter Management Tools—offer reasons and strategic comparisons why.

What sales benefit does this have? How can you use something like HootSuite to manage campaigns? How can you then track this using Google Analytics? And how should you use this information to adapt future campaigns?

Don’t just offer an easy top 10 list—get deep and explain the mechanics behind your choice, and really give your readers a reason to come to you over generic blogger X.”

Top 10 Social Media Blog Nomination: Martyn Hodgson likes Danny Brown's blog because he's "always prepared to say what he thinks."

#6: Be There for Your Readers

Mike McGrail, owner of the popular blog The Social Penguin, recommends:

“For me the key to building a strong and loyal readership is to create content that matches their needs.

I know that many small business owners read the Social Penguin, so I look to ensure that the majority of our posts will appeal to them and most importantly will help them.

Having an opinion is also hugely important, as well as showing a willingness to respond to comments and questions. People take the time to read your content, so make sure you give them time back.”

Top 10 Social Media Blog Nomination: Geoff Kennedy says the Social Penguin has a "no-nonsense approach and takes a different angle on a lot of topics."

#7: Say Something New

Deb Ng, conference director for the BlogWorld and New Media Expo and author of Kommein, recommends:

“The best way to grow blog subscribers is to write content that’s useful, creative and original. Blogs are a dime a dozen nowadays and most bloggers are writing the same thing. No-one has time to read a dozen blogs saying the same thing.

If you want more subscribers, say something new, say something helpful and say something awesome.“

Top 10 Social Media Blog Nomination: Andy Hayes likes Kommein because "while many focus on tactics, Deb takes a step back and forces you to ask the tough questions—Why? Who? Where? What? And she doesn't shy away from difficult topics."

#8: Make Your Readers Feel Good

Gini Dietrich, lead author of the popular blog Spin Sucks, recommends:

“People want to feel like they’re part of something and that what they have to say is smart and well-regarded. When they take the time to comment on your blog, they want to know you’re reading and considering what they have to say, even if you don’t agree.

But the real magic happens when people begin commenting to one another and the blog takes on a life of its own. As the blogger, your responsibilities are to pose one side of a debate and open the conversation. At times, it’s even important to continue the conversation in the comments.

But if people begin commenting to one another and you can be graceful about differing opinions, your subscriptions will increase because people will be coming to your blog for their daily brain food.

I always say that blogging is mostly about stroking other people’s egos and making them feel good. I get A LOT of pushback about that because most people don’t want to take the time, nor do they consider it part of increasing their readers. But, if you scratch others’ backs you’ll be amazed at what you get in return.”

Top 10 Social Media Blog Nomination: Justin Brackett says Spin Sucks is "trustworthy and way outside the "clutter of the ordinary." You'll always get a reply to any response that you leave on their site. That's why they're the best there is!"

#9: Respect Your Audience

Francisco Rosales, author of SocialMouths, recommends:

“The single most effective method I’ve used to build up my subscriber list, both RSS and email, has been always to respect my audience. I made a couple of decisions earlier, such as not using pop-ups or not abusing the frequency that I send out email, among others. The intention is to grow organically.

Sure, my growth rate is not as explosive as I’ve seen with other bloggers, but I believe I’m compensated with a higher-quality base of subscribers and with an “unsubscribe” rate of 0%. I think for now I’m happy with the results.

What I do recommend to everybody is setting up Goal Conversions on Google Analytics to be able to track what percentage of your visitors are actually signing up for any of your subscriptions.”

Top 10 Social Media Blog Nomination: Kristi Hines says, "SocialMouths has been a favorite of mine for a while because the content is always useful. I haven't visited a post yet that didn't give me some great ideas to implement.

#10: Focus on Evergreen Content

Stanford Smith, author of Pushing Social, recommends:

“From my experience, I’ve found ‘problem-focused evergreen content’ to be the killer bait for attracting blog subscribers. This content is useful year after year—hence the ‘evergreen’ title. Evergreen content works because it rewards readers with comprehensive answers to their problems.

Readers eat up this content and reward the blogger with their attention and subscriptions. For maximum effectiveness, build your editorial schedule around writing 10 to 12 in-depth posts. Your focus on solving problems will appeal to readers, get shared, garner high search rankings and fill your list with loyal subscribers.”

Top 10 Social Media Blog Nomination: Jay Baer says Pushing Social is "always topical, not afraid to tackle big issues, prolific, interesting and useful."

#11: Know Your Goals and Stick to Them

Tom Webster, author of BrandSavant, recommends:

“In a lot of ways, I’m the last person on this list you should ask about growing subscribers. While mine have grown considerably over the past year, BrandSavant certainly doesn’t attract the kind of traffic that some of the other Top 10 Blogs do.

I marvel at the ability of people on this list like Jay Baer have for not only producing quality content, but producing it prolifically!

If I could offer some advice, though, it would be this: know exactly what you want to accomplish with your blog, and do not waver. I don’t have advertising on my blog, nor do I have any information products or reports to sell. So traffic does little for me.

I get paid when people hire me to ask smart questions and develop insights around the answers. So I made up my mind early on that I would not be a curator of content (which is a fine approach, of course), but would only author my own original insights, and I would only hit ‘publish’ on things that I am proud of that adequately represent the quality of my thinking to prospective clients.

Some weeks I get two or three posts up; others (like this week!) only one. What I’ve found from this approach is that often when I first publish a post it may or may not get traffic immediately. People might click over from a Twitter link, see some gigantic discourse and not read it right away. But they come back to it—sometimes weeks or even months later. That’s when I know I’ve accomplished my goal.”

Top 10 Social Media Blog Nomination: Eric Boggs says BrandSavant is his favorite social media blog by far because "Tom is a brilliant marketer and he always publishes high-caliber and thoughtful content. The comments are usually just as good as the content, which is the hallmark of a quality blog."

#12: Deliver as Promised

Lee Odden, author of the TopRank Online Marketing Blog, recommends:

“The most important thing a blog can do to grow subscribers is very fundamental: give readers a great reason to subscribe every time you publish.

That means making a promise about what you’ll deliver (promotion of your blog overall as well as promoting individual posts) and keeping that promise (great content that leaves readers satisfied and wanting more).

There are numerous functional ‘tricks’ like using plugins that detect new visitors and then solicit them to subscribe or contests that incentivize subscriptions. To build real value among a community of readers and inspire buzz about your blog, being able to ‘deliver as promised’ goes a very long way.

Social Media Examiner and the Top 10 Social Media Blog winners do this very well. They understand who their audiences are and make an effort to both create and promote great content on a regular basis.”

Top 10 Social Media Blog Nomination: Stacey Acevero says Lee Odden and TopRank blog "research and provide some of the more technical aspects of social media, such as SEO."

#13: Give Each Reader Opportunities to Interact With You

Jay Dolan, author of The Anti-Social Media blog, recommends:

“Always remember the little people. You can’t build your readership one reader at a time. That method, while it sounds nice, is too slow and time-consuming. You have a life off of the Internet and you can’t spend your days coaxing one or two new readers.

However, you can give each and every reader a chance to interact with you and make that interaction special and memorable. Not every reader will take that chance, but when it happens and you exceed their expectations, you’ll gain a reader who will bring more readers than all of your efforts to court one person.”

Top 10 Social Media Blog Nomination: Christine Choi says "The Anti-Social Media blogger Jay Dolan provides regular posts that are witty, fresh and relevant. And it's very evident that he cares about his readers and has made many efforts to initiate dialogue and create productive forums for social media haters and lovers. In a culture that is increasingly embracing, testing and reinventing our notions of "social media," Jay consistently leaves his readers with questions and ideas to chew on in regard to how that media is reshaping old conventions or reinstating new ones. And he draws his own illustrations, too. You can't find that kind of heart everywhere."

#14: Ask for Subscriptions at the End of Your Article

Jason Keath, president of Social Fresh (a social media education company), recommends:

“Prominently place the subscription form. If it’s above the fold and the clear call-to-action on the page (the CVI, center of visual impact), then people will see it more and in turn subscribe more. This same concept holds true for pop-up subscription forms, but I rarely advocate these, as they are usually an annoyance to the user.

Emphasize email, not RSS. More people know email and check it daily than RSS. And if someone really wants your RSS feed, they’re used to looking for a smaller RSS icon.

Ask for subscriptions at the end of an article. If a reader makes it to the end of the article, he or she has gotten value and will be more likely to sign up for more.

Post daily, or at worst on a regular schedule. People subscribe to a regular schedule of content and daily blogs get way more subscribers.”

Top 10 Social Media Blog Nomination: Brandon Uttley likes Social Fresh because "it's full of timely and actionable social media information, aimed at business professionals.

#15: Place Your Subscriber Box at the Top

Mack Collier, author of the popular MackCollier.com social media blog, recommends:

“My best tip is to move the subscriber button/box to the TOP of the blog, or at least make sure it’s ABOVE the fold. I did this on my blog and instantly noticed a 30% increase in email subscribers.

It also helps if you have a Google Reader button at least, in addition to the standard RSS button.”

Top 10 Social Media Blog Nomination: Jonathan Saar says Mack Collier "creates great discussion, is very much engaged with his readers and his content is supremely timely and helpful."

#16: Offer a Benefit

Ricardo Bueno, author of the popular RicardoBueno.com social media blog for real estate and small business, recommends:

“Offer a free eBook. Don’t know what to write about? Well, what’s your blog about? Think of ways to share some of your best ‘how to’ content.

For example, I author a blog on social media for the real estate industry. So last year, I interviewed eight top real estate bloggers on their methods and techniques for building a successful real estate blog. I compiled these interviews into an eBook that I could give away for free and offered it to my opt-in subscribers (I had 73 subscribers in the first day).

If you use AWeber to email your content, you can easily set up a follow-up email with a download for your PDF. If you’re using FeedBurner, you might try the RSS footer plugin to provide a download link for your PDF.

Bottom line is to offer a benefit (something of value) to people who subscribe. Then, deliver good content consistently to keep their attention.”

Top 10 Social Media Blog Nomination: Adam King likes Ricardo Bueno's blog because he "cuts through the BS, gives you the foundations of effective social media practice and helps the newbie get off to a great start."

#17: Let People Follow You in the Way They Prefer

Kristi Hines, author of the popular social media blog Kikolani, recommends:

“My best tip for growing blog subscribers is not to focus so hard on forcing readers to pick one particular method of subscription, but give lots of options.

Personally, I subscribe to different bloggers in different ways including via my RSS reader, email and StumbleUpon. For some blogs, I know I’ll want to share their content with my followers, so I ‘subscribe’ to them by setting up their RSS feed in Twitterfeed to automatically share their latest posts on my Twitter account.

If you want people to follow you, let them follow you in the way that best suits them. Make sure links to your RSS feed, subscribe via email, Twitter, Facebook fan page and other social networks where you update your latest posts are easy to find on your website. The top spots would include your sidebar and the end of each of your blog posts.

Some other great ways to grow your subscriber list would be to include your subscription links in author bios for guest posts, social networking profiles, email signatures, free reports/eBooks and pretty much any other place where you can insert them. The easier you can make it for readers to find your subscription links to your blog, the more subscribers you will gain.”

Top 10 Social Media Blog Nomination: Sarah Arrow says Kikolani "is very useful and well thought out."

Now It’s Your Turn

These tips are the beginning of a great foundation to grow your blog audience and blog subscribers.

What do you think? How do you grow your blog subscribers? What other tips do you have to share? Please leave them in the comment box below.

This article showcases 10 top blogs in multiple markets. Follow their lead to take your blog from good to great. And if you don’t have a business blog yet, now’s the perfect time to get in the game!

Each of these successful blog examples has incorporated unique features that have attracted thousands of readers. The great news is that you don’t have to reinvent the wheel—just model the best. Take a look at these thriving blogs and apply the same success strategies to your own blog.

#1: Sweet Leaf Tea

Sweet Leaf Tea is a blog site that sells specialty teas. They’ve figured out a way to humanize their blog while staying true to their brand. Sweet Leaf Tea uses their blog design to bring a less formal, more human touch to their brand.

Notice in the image below the casual fonts, the old-world feeling of their images and the informal language they use to spotlight the features on the site. It’s more “people-speak” than “marketing-speak” and this strategy instantly draws in their target audience.

Sweet Leaf Tea also showcases their employees in a very friendly, casual way. They show photos of their teammates (they call them “Tea Mates”) and give us a behind-the-scenes glimpse of their fun work environment by posting the Tea Mates’ nicknames and interests.

Tip: Consider allowing your employees to be the face of your brand. Highlighting your team is a great way to bring your readers behind the scenes and let them see the team camaraderie. This kind of transparency builds trust with your readers. Also, your team can help you keep things informal, fun and relatable. It’s important to be professional, but remember your readers are human and everyone enjoys a little fun too.

#2: Stonyfield Farm

Stonyfield Farms specializes in organic dairy products. Their branding is geared toward family, farming and living an organic lifestyle.

Stonyfield does a great job of staying true to their brand by creating a targeted theme within their blog. As you can see from the image below, they use a barnyard as their home page backdrop, and include pictures of healthy families and articles about healthy living. All of these components reinforce their theme of family and healthy living. Plus, notice how they say “Let’s Be Friends,” a much friendlier, warmer way to encourage people to connect with you on your social sites.

They also use video in a very genuine, behind-the-scenes kind of way. Just like their blog’s theme of family and farming, their videos are not professionally done, but with real people living the lifestyle they personify. Many of their videos come from the farm of an organic dairy farmer in Vermont, who supplies milk for their products. You can’t get much more behind-the-scenes than that!

Staying true to your theme, as Stonyfield has done with their videos, allows your audience to know, like and trust you. This is key to building a solid blogging foundation.

Another thing they do very well is their use of soft sales messages contextualized in value-added content. For example, they may write an article about the importance of eating organic fruit, but weave in the idea of mixing Stonyfield yogurt in with your fruit for an extra dose of nutrients. There’s nothing wrong with promoting your products on your blog; just remember that the most successful blogs place added value before selling.

The Stonyfield Farm blog is a great example of a big brand using their blog to build community and educate their readers about their market.

Tip: Try to weave in a theme throughout your blog. To help with this, consider inviting outsiders to contribute to your blog. Another great tip is to go deeper by allowing your audience to see what’s behind the curtain. Behind-the-scenes stories and footage invite the reader in even more and will help you create content that stays true to your theme.

#3: Pioneer Woman

Pioneer Woman is an excellent example of a successful lifestyle blog. The blog’s creator, Ree Drummond, has used her blog as a platform for a variety of projects, including promoting her cookbook and showcasing her photography. Her “secret sauce” lies in her ability to connect personally with her readers while creating a welcoming, friendly and warm experience one blog post at a time.

One great example of Ree’s welcoming persona is her simple bio on the home page. And take a look at her social sites. They’re easy to see and are also uniquely designed to match her site. This is smart branding at its best!

Another way Ree is consistent with her branding is in her blog’s header. She changes it depending on the season and time of year. Because so much of country life is about holiday and seasons, this small touch is directly aligned with the overall vision of the blog. Also notice her brilliant use of photography. Photos on a blog are essential when you want to create a feeling or experience for your readers.

In addition, her blog layout is easy to navigate, which is extremely important considering the short attention span of most readers today. Ree has added icons that allow you to view her blog in multiple ways, including multiple blog thumbnails to a page or just a few at a time. You get to decide. These small touches are just some of the reasons her readers continually return for more.

Tip: Be aware of your brand when you’re designing your blog. Consider using photographs and brand-specific design elements to draw in your readers. By increasing your blog aesthetics, you can easily create a more personable and relatable experience for your readers.

#4: Citrix

Citrix’s unique blogging strategy is all about adding value. Their blog, Work Shifting, is a work/lifestyle blog that focuses on the issues people in business experience when on the move. What’s interesting is that you have to really look hard to know which company is behind the blog because Citrix downplays their involvement. Instead, they’ve put their audience’s needs first and have created a space that resonates with their audience’s needs and interests.

In addition, to set their blog apart from the rest, they use distinct visual branding with their logo and images. Plus, their visual branding is memorable—another surefire sign of a successful blog. In addition to their branding, notice below how the content and topics are all about the target audience’s needs. This is key when creating a blog that’s bigger than your own brand.

They also use a broad range of contributors—people who do not actually work for Citrix. This is a smart strategy to diversify the content of your blog and attract new readers via those who already follow your contributors.

Tip: Focus on adding value to a market that’s bigger than your brand. You can do this by collaborating with contributors who are experts in your market and who will resonate with your ideal audience. Offer as much free value as possible and keep your sales messages as low-key as possible to keep the focus on the content. This strategy will build trust with your target audience and keep your readers coming back for more.

#5: Danny Brown

Danny Brown’s blog is a terrific case study for consultants or anyone with a personal brand. This site positions Brown as an expert in his field and showcases his expertise, knowledge and services.

A brilliant feature on this blog is the way Danny presents his consulting services without being too pushy or arrogant. It’s all about the language he uses. Instead of saying “Hire Me” on his site, he instead uses the phrase “Work with Me.” It’s a subtle shift in language, but conjures up an entirely different experience.

In the image above, you’ll also see that Danny uses the cliffhanger concept by posting a snippet of a blog post and then adding a “read more” button to get the reader to dive deeper into his blog site. This is a powerful way to get people’s attention and entice them to stay a little longer and explore your site. Also, this concept helps you save space on your home site by just giving a teaser of your article content.

One of my favorite features on his blog is the share sidebar next to his blog posts. The WordPress plugin is called Digg Digg and the sidebar floats on the screen. When a reader scrolls down the page, the sidebar follows them. This is a smart way to make it as easy as possible for people to share your content.

Tip: Make content sharing on your site as easy as possible for your readers. If they have to look around for the share features, they’ll likely skip sharing altogether. Consider using the Digg Digg plugin to make this possible on your site.

#6: Ecoki

Ecoki is a blog site that offers a wide range of articles, tips and ideas on everything related to living a green lifestyle.

The beauty of this blog is the clean, grid-based template. This style makes it easy to read and showcases the various topics. In addition, they make it simple to navigate the site by adding easily visible headers, such as featured article, latest news, popular items and resources. Sometimes just calling out the specific areas on your site is all you need to do to get people more engaged with your content.

In addition, Ecoki has two types of navigation bars. The top navigation bar calls out the main topics they cover, including food, technology and design, and the navigation directly under it showcases their media delivery, including articles, video and info on contributors. These two different navigation bars give more power to the readers by allowing them to choose how they want to consume the content.

Tip: If the content for your blog site includes multiple topics, consider the grid layout design. It’s easy to follow and allows you to showcase multiple areas in a simple format. Also, one smart strategy is to add in photos to break up the text in your grid layout and make the site more inviting and less static.

#7: Nuts About Southwest

Southwest Airline’s blog, Nuts About Southwest, is one of the most popular airline blogs around today. Their secret to success is they understand their loyal flyers’ needs and interests and capitalize on that throughout their blog. The blog is designed to build a relationship between the brand and their consumers.

One thing to remember is that blogs are so much more than just text. What Southwest does best is mix up their media. They use written articles, videos, photos, polls and surveys to capture the interest of their many readers. They often lead with images to draw in the reader, a great strategy for any business blog.

In addition, Nuts About Southwest has added a feature where returning readers can create an account to customize their profile and engage with other Southwest readers. Since frequent flyers are often loyal fans, they’re likely to exchange travel stories and experiences with other readers. Southwest created a way to make this easy for their readers.

Tip: Special features on your blog are a great strategy, especially if you have loyal fans who will likely return to your blog on a regular basis. (After all, this is the goal for most blogs, right?) Treat your returning readers as VIPs by creating features and content that facilitate engagement with you and other readers.

#8: Disney Parks

Disney Parks is a site designed to encourage more visitors to Disney’s parks. They do a fantastic job of making their site memorable and useful.

One great feature is the way they showcase their blog authors. Next to each post is a photo of the author. This allows their content to be a bit more friendly and transparent.

Also, Disney is a world-renowned company and they’re known for their professional branding and impeccable productions. To be consistent with the branding and to meet the expectations of their audience, this blog site posts professional videos, photos and content. Unlike the Stonyfield Farms blog mentioned earlier, Disney Parks does not have that casual, homegrown feeling to it. Instead it’s polished and professional to match their branding.

This blog site also includes a comment policy to inform their readers that comments are monitored. Because they’re appealing to families with children, Disney Parks needs to make sure parents feel safe when their children visit the site.

Tip: Keep your design simple while staying true to your audience’s expectations. If you have a polished, professional image, don’t stray too far from this on your business blog. The key here is to know your audience’s expectations and go above and beyond to deliver what they want to read, see and experience most.

#9: Procter & Gamble

Man of the House, a Procter & Gamble blog, is a great example of a blog that targets a very specific audience. The blog is designed specifically for men and covers all areas that interest men, including money, career, technology, family and fitness. Although there are many “mommy blogs” out there today, there are very few sites that focus solely on men and their interests. This site captures that niche market perfectly.

They do many things right, but one great feature is their use of photos on their home page. Each blog post includes a thumbnail photo above each post to allow their readers to browse the articles easily. This is a great way to showcase your content, especially if you’re writing on a variety of topics and want your audience to browse your archives.

Also, similar to the Citrix blog mentioned earlier, this site also does not blast advertisements and push their products. Instead, they’ve built a site with great content and engaging features and subtly weave their marketing messages into the site, but only as a secondary outcome. Adding value for their audience with tips, tricks and ideas is their number-one goal.

The key is to create a site that caters to your target audience, and once you own the platform, you’re able to subtly weave in your marketing messages to a warm audience. If you do the hard work up front and do it consistently, you’ll create a platform that practically sells your brand and products for you!

Lastly, the Man of the House blog places social media sharing buttons at the top of each post, instead of the bottom where most people are used to seeing them. Because many readers will not read the entire blog post, placing the buttons at the top encourages readers to share their content.

Tip: Think about how you can address the needs of your audience even if it has nothing to do with your products or services. The more you can make your posts interesting to your target audience, they’ll consider your site as the “go-to source” for quality info and keep coming back for more.

#10: Delicious Days

Delicious Days is a front-runner when it comes to impeccable blog design and overall layout. This site is a great example of knowing what your audience will respond to and delivering your content in a way that grabs their attention.

The use of white space and the black-and-white design makes the site easy to read and navigate. Notice how there’s not a lot of background noise and the clean, minimal look is inviting and calm.

Also, Nicky Stich and Oliver Seidel, the creators and designers of the blog, have added a feature that’s not often seen on most blogging sites. In the upper-right corner you’ll see a tab that reads, “Can I help you?” This serves as their website search tool.

In addition, the “A+” and “A-” buttons increase or decrease the font size of their blog site, again making their site even easier to navigate. These two features are great examples of taking care of your audience and addressing their needs front and center on your blog.

Also, Nicky knows what will lure her readers in, and in her case, its enticing photos. She is a master at mixing text with imagery to tell the story and evoke emotion. This is evident in the two images below.

Tip: Don’t underestimate the power of white space. It can make your blog more user-friendly and visually appealing to attract readers and keep your existing readers on your blog longer. Also, know what attracts your audience’s attention. If enticing photos will catch their attention, as with Delicious Days, use more photos! Keep it simple and give your audience what they want.

Want to Learn More About Blogging for Business?

If you’re not fully leveraging the power of blogging, don’t worry. You’re not alone. Most businesses are just now getting started with blogs.

There’s one easy way to take your blogging efforts to the next level. By attending the web’s largest online blogging conference, Blogging Success Summit 2011, you’ll become empowered to use blogs to gain more exposure, better engage customers and grow your business.

The great part is you’ll be learning from 23 blogging experts. Join Technorati’s CEO, Scott Monty, Darren Rowse, Brian Clark, Michael Stelzner and experts from McDonald’s, Cisco, Southwest Airlines, Sony and Procter & Gamble as they reveal proven blogging tactics at Blogging Success Summit 2011.

It’s the web’s largest online blogging conference. Go here for a free sample and to learn more.

What do you think about the above business blogs? Have you tried any of these techniques with success? Let us know! Please leave your comments below.

Social media is a big subject. If you’re looking for some reliable places to go for the best tips and social media tactics, look no further!

Our second-annual contest generated more than 300 nominations. Our panel of social media experts carefully reviewed the nominees and finalists, analyzing the quality of their content, the frequency of posts and reader involvement (among other things).

The following are the winners of Social Media Examiner’s Top 10 Social Media Blogs for 2011.

If you’re looking to master all that social media has to offer, these rich blogs need to be at the top of your reading list.

1. Brian Solis: The grand master of social media, Brian is one of the web’s leading social media evangelists and his blog is required reading for businesses.
2. TopRank: This popular blog, the brainchild of Lee Odden, provides exceptional social media advice and should be one of your daily destinations.
3. Convince & Convert: Jay Baer’s Convince & Convert provides outstanding content for businesses seeking to embrace social media. This is the second year Jay has made our list.
4. Six Pixels of Separation: Mitch Joel offers consistent and thought-provoking content delivered with personality.
5. Social Media Explorer: This blog, from Jason Falls, provides excellent perspective on the current state of social media and should be a regular stop for serious social media marketers. This is the second year Jason has made our list.
6. Brand Builder: For businesses looking to dive deep into social media discussion, check out Olivier Blanchard’s rich insights. This is the second year Olivier has made our list.
7. Spin Sucks: Gini Dietrich’s blog takes a look at social media from a PR perspective. Check her site out!
8. Danny Brown: Danny Brown’s blog examines the human side of social media with rich content and insights.
9. The Anti-Social Media: For something completely unique, check out Jay Dolan’s satirical blog on the state of social media.
10. BrandSavant: This unique blog from Tom Webster combines a great intellect with with common sense, giving it an edge.

Congratulations to the winners. Be sure to check out these amazing blogs!

Share the love: Feel free to post the above list on your blog (just reference this post).

The badge of distinction: If you’re a winner, you can post the image you see here on your blog and please link back to this page.

A special thanks to our judges! Thanks to David Armano (Edelman), Debbie Weil (author, The Corporate Blogging Book) and Rick Calvert (CEO, BlogWorld) for their participation.

Do you frequent any of these blogs? What do you think? Share your comments in the box below.

The list of 23 finalists is pretty impressive! Take a look for yourself below.

The Judges: Our judges include David Armano (Edelman), Debbie Weil (author, The Corporate Blogging Book) and Rick Calvert (CEO, BlogWorld). They are currently finishing up their reviews of these sites.

Here are the finalists (in alphabetical order):

• Anti Social Media
• Brand Builder
• BrandSavant
• Brian Solis
• Convince & Convert
• DannyBrown
• Grow: Marketing. Social Media. Humanity
• Kikolani
• Kommein
• Mack Collier
• Mark Oborn’s eMarketing
• Michael Brandvold
• Pushing Social
• Reel SEO
• Ricardo Bueno
• Six Pixels of Separation
• Social Media Explorer
• Social Fresh
• SocialMouths
• Social Penguin
• Spin Sucks
• StormDriver
• TopRank

How We’ll Pick the Winners

1. Initial qualification: A blog must have a strong social media focus, must have been nominated multiple times by multiple individuals and must be regularly updated. If someone nominated more than one blog, only the first nomination was counted.

2. Final winner selection:

• Quality of posts: Our judges will examine and score the quality of posts on each blog. Educational and discussion-spurring posts are more valuable than self-promoting posts (55% of decision).
• Frequency of posts: Blogs that feature multiple posts per week will score higher. This is a sign of the blogger’s commitment to blogging (15%).
• Reader involvement: Blogs that have regular comments from readers are another sign of a healthy blog. In addition, the numbers of nominations for a specific blog play a part in this (15%).
• Blog ranking: The number of other blogs that link to the nominated blog shows the value of the content (15%). We’ll use accepted third-party blog ranking systems for this portion of the score.

Congratulations to the finalists! We’ll announce the winners here soon!

What do you think about these blogs? Leave your comments below…

For Danny Brown, it wasn’t a sports car, Vegas trip or marathon run. He was inspired to set a different challenge for himself—to bring people together and raise money for worthy causes.  And the response was very unexpected…

To celebrate his 40^th, Brown and his wife spent a few days at Niagara Falls. Taking a break at a local café, they noticed an elderly woman come in by herself and order ice cream.

Brown wondered about her story.

After he and his wife headed home, Brown couldn’t stop thinking about the lonely-looking woman in the café—and regretted not talking with her.

“Everyone in social media talks about how we need to connect and open up,” Brown says. “I couldn’t make that connection to the lady we saw in the restaurant. We forget human connections offline. I wanted to make sure that if someone needs help or just a little bit of company, that people are reaching out to them.”

That a-ha moment kicked off a project that has since raised nearly $100,000 to date—reaching countless people.

One Man, No Budget

Brown launched the 12for12k Challenge, an initiative to bring social media communities together to help people offline in 2009. For years, Brown has worked in corporate communications and social media for companies like British Telecom. Currently, he’s the social media strategist for Maritz Canada.

Brown’s challenge takes the power of social media to the nonprofit world. “I know quite a few people offline who do charity work and the struggle is administrative costs,” he says. “I knew social media could offer a wider audience for far less investment.”

The 12for12k Challenge set an ambitious goal: raise $12,000 monthly for 12 months for 12 different charities—with no budget (the only costs were the website and hosting, which Brown paid for out of pocket).

His vision: Solely rely on social media to spread the word and raise donations for a featured charity each month. Then, 100% of donations go to the charity.

When word spread of Brown’s plans, his contacts and their contacts lined up to help. There may not be funds, but ideas, persistence and passion are the currency of social media anyway. In that regard, more than a dozen core 12for12k volunteers made it a “rich” initiative.

Four Cornerstones of the Campaign

Danny Brown launched the 12for12k.org site after an experience left him wondering “just how social we are.”

First, they set ground rules. Each supported nonprofit must operate with no more than 10% administrative costs, be a registered charity, and accept donations via PayPal or credit card.

Social media activity drives people directly to the 12for12k.org website to learn more and donate via ChipIn, a Flash widget that shows a running total of donations. Donations go directly to each nonprofit’s bank account.

About half a dozen volunteers joined Brown in generating updates on 12for12k’s four social media cornerstones of the campaign: blogging, video, a Facebook group and Twitter. More recently, they started a Ning community.

Updates on the Facebook group focus on featured charities, events and fundraising progress. The organization posts videos on YouTube and Viddler to kick off monthly campaigns and highlight related causes, such as homelessness.

Additionally, about 30 blog partners take Brown’s messages to their audiences.

Danny Brown prepares to kick off the 12 Days of Christmas Homeless Push in December.

One Cause Nets $15,500 Via a Tweet-a-Thon

Taking advantage of Twitter’s viral capabilities, the organization created a Twitter avatar “frame” for followers to include on their profile pictures, which encourages their followers to ask about 12for12k.

Last March, 12for12k featured Share our Strength, a national organization working to make sure no child in America grows up hungry. The organization’s “Pledge to End Hunger” campaign, led by MediaSauce and Kompolt, sought pledges online in response to a challenge from Tyson Foods. For each pledge, Tyson would donate 35 pounds of food or 140 servings.

Scott Stratton of Un-Marketing.com volunteered to help 12for12k host a Tweet-a-Thon for Pledge to End Hunger. For each $12 entry, donors were entered into a drawing to win one of about 20 prizes, such as an iPod Touch, Amazon Kindle 2, Flip video camera, gift cards, Nintendo Wii Fit and jewelry. A purchase of 10 entries automatically earned donors a free website review.

With entry fees and raffle prizes, the effort hoped to raise $12,000 in just 12 hours.

Scott Stratton of Un-Marketing.com donated his time and ideas for 12for12k.org’s Tweet-a-Thon for Pledge to End Hunger.

Supporters of 12for12k and Share our Strength, and hundreds of other friends and supporters, Tweeted away all day, from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m.

The resulting response exceeded Brown’s and Pledge to End Hunger’s expectations. They hit their goal of $12,000 much faster than 12 hours – in just five-and-a-half hours.

“Honestly, I was shocked,” said Jeff Wiedner, director of community engagement at Share Our Strength. “I had a feeling that the timing was right for our mission and, since Scott knew so many people, that we’d do pretty well, but I never expected how quickly we reached that $12,000 target.”

When all was said and done, the total reached $15,549 for Share Our Strength, which pushed donations beyond monthly averages for the nonprofit. But the impact extends well beyond the actual donations.

“We got attention from folks like Mashable, Chronicle of Philanthropy and other media,” Wiedner said. “That led to more folks knowing about SOS and our mission, which led to a bump in our online community, which led to greater interactions with our community and building out of other campaigns later with other bloggers. There were some additional corporations that learned about us, too, as our reach grew.”

A total of 477 contributors raised $15,549 for Share Our Strength during a 12-hour Tweet-a-Thon.

4000% Traffic Increase

Brown turns to analytics tools Woopra and Quantcast for detailed measurement of traffic on the 12for12k.org site. With those, he not only knows traffic numbers but where they live, their income level, average spending, ethnicity and gender—letting him tailor content and events to his audience.

In March, the site was “hammered” with a 4000% increase in traffic in a 12-hour period because of the Pledge to End Hunger Tweet-a-Thon.

Yet the most important metrics for 12for12k don’t require fancy measurement tools. In 2009, the initiative fell short of its goal of $12,000 every month. But it still raised $91,275 that all went directly to charities and the people they help.

More importantly, Brown did so without any organizational budget, on the side of his day job.

Well into 2010, he still hasn’t stopped. In fact, the momentum of last year has inspired him to do more. Plus, he’s intent on continuing to support the charities of 2009 as he can with exposure and social media help, if needed.

Year two began by featuring Hope for Haiti, bringing in $8,000 so far from 140 contributors.

Brown wants to expand by enlisting sponsors, hosting more events and focusing on three charities each quarter, rather than one each separate month. This year’s theme, “connect globally, help locally” will encourage people to do more in their own communities.

“A lot of people don’t do anything because they’re just one person,” Brown said. “If you think you can’t help financially, help a local charity in your city understand how to use social media to tell their story. Ask a charity what you can offer them.”

What do you think about this story?  Have you seen any great examples of social media impacting nonprofits in your community? What are they doing well?