I often get asked what are the best business building websites available, to the point where I thought it was about time I compiled my “Top Ten Business Building Sites”. This is a diverse list, collectively covering every business topic imaginable. I have included a brief overview of the value I see in the individual site and how best it can help the budding (and experienced) entrepreneur. I would love your feedback and please let me know if there are any other sites out there that you would put in your top ten list. I’m always looking for new ones.
BNET
A division of CBS, it’s no wonder that BNET has so much information – over 130,000 white papers, 26 million articles, 63,000 videos covering interviews, videos and podcasts. Without a doubt, this is one of the most visually impressive and easy to use websites. The production standards combined with the depth and quality of information make this a priority “must visit regularly” website on my list.
TED
If you are one of the few people who haven’t found TED yet – I strongly recommend that you spend a few minutes and check it out now. However be warned, it is very easy to lose hours of your life here, but it is well worth it. The TED community is a video based site with the tag – “Ideas worth spreading” and they are. There are riveting talks, by remarkable people and they are free.
Flying Solo – Micro Business Community
I have worked with the Flying Solo team for years and they are true believers in the solo entrepreneur. This is a great Australian site, very clear on its niche and I really think it does an exceptional job of creating a community for solo business owners. The site offers high quality contributors providing regular articles that are 100% relevant, a good forum and positive weekly newsletters.
Entrepreneur.com
This is the official site of Entrepreneur Magazine – a major publishing success story. It is an American site and whilst some of the information regarding accounting, franchising and Government issues may not be that relevant, there is a pile of very good information for the aspiring entrepreneur. The sheer amount of information on this site can be a little overwhelming, but with a little patience and the use of the search feature you will find more information than you can possibly imagine.
Smart Company
I particularly like this site because of the current nature of the information and the fact that it is Australian. The articles are very well researched and written. If I am trying to find out what is going on in the Australian business landscape this is the site I visit.
Springwise
This site is one of my absolute favourites. I spend a lot of time searching through the pages for great stories of innovation and entrepreneurialism from around the world. There are some excellent resources on this site as well, mainly innovative ideas from the organisations featured on the site.
Success Magazine
One of the oldest, yet most innovative publications in the world. Success Magazine’s website has all of the same great information as the magazine, just more of it, with a lot of inspirational and motivational stories. This site is well worth a visit first thing in the morning to start the day off in the right frame of mind.
Business Blogs
This is a New Zealand based site, which covers a very broad range of business related topics. There are some excellent content providers and very relevant articles well worth periodically checking in on. This is also a good site for those people who want to increase their own exposure by submitting an article or two.
Start Up Nation
This is a very good site for those people who are new to the world of business. There are lots of simple, practical pieces of advice, a great step-by-step section (covering the main issues start-up businesses face), and some good video’s. Certainly the right place to start if you are looking for specific “how to” advice.
The Marketing Profs
This site has some particularly interesting articles, but being American, some of them are not that relevant to the Australian market. In saying that, the higher-level management and leadership information is very good, as are the trends, statistics and case studies. I use this site when researching Marketing Plans or specific industries when I need some background data.
It is WordPress site (customised by my web development team).