New kid on the block

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When I started blogging a couple of years ago, one of the things that really frustrated me was the ability to find new blogs and bloggers.  Getting onto Twitter was a help and led to me finding a number of other blogs. But then the other problem was keeping up to date.  There are times when I see a post being promoted on Twitter and I’m grateful that I was there at the right time to read it, but I’m sure for each one I catch, there are a hundred that I miss.  I tried Google Reader for a while but then the posts piled up and I didn’t have time and so I started to do mass deletes…..which kind of defeated the point.

So a little while ago I started working on a project to try to rectify this. I’m not technically minded at all and so it was always going to be a struggle. Fortunately I had some help and support. And today, I’m pleased to say that I can unveil the results of that project….

British business bloggers, or Bbb as it has become affectionately known. A site aimed to bring together those people blogging about business in Britain…”simples” as a certain rodent would say!  The site works through RSS feed, meaning that the content remains on the blogger’s own site and that the only way to read the full post or to comment is by visiting the site.  All that we ask in return is that people display a logo on their blog (that looks a bit like the one above).

Why bother? Well a couple of reasons really.  Firstly, to try to deal with the situation I explained above….to help readers find new blogs on topics that they are interested in. Secondly, to help bloggers grow their audience through sharing readers…..you read a blog that is part of the community, click on the logo and find other blogs that you might also like….etc.  Blogging shouldn’t be a competitive sport and if you are writing good content, then readers will always come back, the insecurity that being part of a community might somehow dilute your own impact or importance is, in my mind, short-sighted and counter productive.

It is a work in progress, it isn’t totally where I hope it will end up…but I’m proud of the work. I hope you like it too.  If you are a blogger and you fancy helping me with this project, then you can join here.  If you are a reader, then please go and check out the other fantastic blogs on there. And PLEASE, tell people. Talk about it, like it or hate it. If you have feedback then let me know, this isn’t all about me, this is a completely different project and one that I would love to be embraced and supported by others.

You can find the site here: www.britishbusinessbloggers.co.uk

You can register here: www.britishbusinessbloggers.co.uk/bbb-directory/submit-your-blog.html

And you can follow us on Twitter here: www.twitter.com/britishbloggers

Note: If you see that I have already included your blog on the site as part of testing and you don’t want to participate then please let me know and I will take you off immediately. I’ve tried to contact everyone individually, but some may have fallen through or got lost or misdirected.