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Some blogs truly define today’s business voice. These blogs represent a healthy mixture of independent and mainstream voices, prominent academics and small business owners with equally strong opinions.

We compiled a completely biased sampling of our 50 favorite blogs, sorted by category. The categories are neither based on anything official nor are representations within them equal. For example, we have included a ridiculous number of finance and investing blogs, an industry where coverage truly stood out this year. It is possible that we have forgotten other categories.

However smattered the designations on this list, rest assured that every single one of these blogs is worth reading. If you find something missing, or want to show off your own blog, we encourage you to comment.

Here they are, categorically sorted, and alphabetically ordered:

Advertising

Dim Bulb Author and advertising critic Jonathan Salem Baskin picks apart ads and marketing campaigns, then offers advice on how to do them right. Hint: Watch the branding.

Business Leaders

Jonathan’s Blog Sun CEO Jonathan Schwartz is arguably the best exec blogger in the ‘sphere.

Blog Maverick, Mark Cuban’s blog. Commentary on various issues that Mark Cuban is interested in. Makes readers feel like an insider to the upwardly mobilized.

Business Travel

The Economist’s Gulliver is not only one of the best business travel blogs on the Web, it is one of the only ones.

China

All Roads Lead to China provides economic and business analysis and news from China, by an American expert.

Customer Issues

Church of the Customer covers customer evangelism. Useful for both companies and individuals.

The Consumerist looks at business from a consumer-rights standpoint while remaining remarkably readable and informative.

ECommerce

Practical ECommerce lives up to its name, offering really useful advice and tips for those with online presences.

Economics

Marginal Revolution: Tyler/Tyrone Cowen and Alex Tabarrok author one of the Web’s essential economics blogs.

Freakanomics Blog at the New York Times: The authors of Freakonomics present…more Freakonomics! This econ blog is a treat.

Economics Roundtable offers useful daily econ- and business links.

In Beat the Press, Economist Dean Baker points out flaws and missteps in economic reporting, often giving valuable insight in the process.

Entrepreneurship

Toilet Paper Entrepreneur: Mike Michalowicz offers invaluable tips, resources, and networking/exposure opportunities for new entrepreneurs in this innovative blog.

Environmental Sustainability

The Oil Drum gives thorough peak oil and enviro-news opinion and analysis.

Financial News and Investing

Steadfast Finances offers down-to-earth tips and coverage of finance, for everyday folks.

Financial Armageddon: Author Michael J. Panzner covers the carnage using media and official outlets.

Seeking Alpha compiles reports and commentary from more than 2,000 contributors, making it a information hub and one-stop shop for an assortment of financial information.

Market Movers at Conde Nast Portfolio: Felix Salmon blogs on the financial industry all day at this blog. And he does a mighty good job of it.

Credit Writedowns offers the best credit crisis coverage on the Web.

Calculated Risk: Lending, mortgages, indices, and cutting-edge macroeconomic coverage–Calculated Risk covers it all, one step ahead of the rest.

Financial Times’ Alphaville Deftly filtered real-time coverage of market activity, from the UK but covering the US and EU as well.

Abnormal Returns is the perfect place to browse updated, smartly filtered links on investing.

Franchising

The Franchise King Blog is an invaluable resource for franchisers and those interested in the business.

Generational Blogs

These were tricky to sort out. No single blog covers all of a generation’s issues, but some blogs address those issues while primarily focusing on some other aspect of business. Here are our picks:

Baby Boomer: My Retirement Blog

Gen-X: Startup Addict and Gen X Finance

Gen-Y: Employee Evolution

Human Resources

HR Bartender integrates current news, events, and tips into a comprehensive and elegant HR resource.

HR Wench offers frank, pithy, and entertaining advice on real-life human resources issues.

India

Trak.in’s Arun Prabhudesai shares startup, Internet, entrepreneurship, and other business buzz from India.

Influence Science

Incentive Intelligence covers the sometimes-mysterious world of incentives, rewards, and influence in a very readable and interesting blog.

Innovation

Endless Innovation’s lengthier, insightful posts on innovation inspire and inform.

IT/Tech

TechCrunch: Stop here first for tech news.

Silicon Alley Insider provides essential snark about Silicon Valley.

The Business of IT provides carefully considered posts relevant to IT departments across the board.

Job Search Issues

Unemploymentality gets to the heart of the unemployed, well, mentality.

The Wall Street Journal’s Laid off and Looking follows eight laid-off MBAs through their job searches, offering insight from the ground.

Leadership

The Practice of Leadership offers inspiration, motivation, and tips for leaders.

Marketing

Duct Tape Marketing: John Jantsch continues to do small business marketing well in this classic blog.



Copyblogger shares a wealth of useful information on copywriting for online marketing and other businesses.

Seth Godin’s Blog: The Oracle of Marketing speaks.

Opinion (Various Topics)

The Brazen Careerist Penelope Trunk offers a columnist’s wit and insight on a variety of work-related issues.

Coyote Blog provides thought-provoking commentary on a variety of business-related topics by an independent thinker.

Pharmaceuticals

Pharmalot Pharma journalist Ed Silverman covers the industry with pleasing professionalism.

Private Equity

PE Hub makes private equity not only interesting, but cool.

Public Relations

Edelman Blog: PR guru Richard Edelman writes about PR and reputation management.

Regulatory Issues

SOX First focuses on Sarbanes-Oxley management and compliance, but covers a wider range of issues.

Social Networking

Riveting Rosie talks about social networking, advertising, and a variety of other topics from an insider’s perspective.

Thought Leaders

Harvard Business Review’s Monitor Talent Group Blog provides stimulating posts by today’s great thinkers.

The Becker-Posner Blog provides impressive, thorough commentary by two eminent minds: Nobel-winning economist Gary Becker and US Court of Appeals judge Richard Posner.