Where to Find The List Maven:
Blog URL: http://www.splendicity.com/thelistmaven/
Category: Entertainment, Women’s Issues

The List Maven

Who doesn’t enjoy a good list now and again? Or, for us more obsessive-compulsive types, several times a day?

Whether you admit to it or not, we all have an affinity for lists. Which makes The List Maven an ideal women’s blog.

The List Maven - Why You Should Go

The List Maven, maintained by two B5 Media/Splendicity bloggers, Rachel Segal and Mary Jo Manzanares, is a blog targeted primarily towards a women’s audience packed with fun and informative lists of…well, just about anything a girl could want. From celebrity flubs to top chocolate treats, beauty products, fashion trends, and more, The List Maven has it all…and all of it in nicely compact, simple lists that allow us to enjoy it all despite our constant states of busyness and overwhelm (you might even find a list to help with that!).

Summing Up The List Maven

The List Maven makes keeping up in a harried world simple. These ladies hit all the best subjects relating to fashion and beauty and more, and deliver it in an easy-to-commit-to format of fun and entertaining easy reads. For fly-by fashion advice and more…

Go here to check out The List Maven.

Mary Ward
Do You Digg It!
Blog Review Team
Do You Digg It! © 2010

Quite a mixed bag here this week, but fun and interesting nonetheless!

Week In Review, May 23, 2009

• We went down to the farm for our first stop at the Tiny Farm Blog, where we learned about sustainability and organic farming, and doing what you love!
• Next stop was to Heather R’s kitchen and Chocolate Bytes where she’s cooking up and celebrating the best of tasty chocolate treats, and sharing a general love of the stuff!
• The next day didn’t bring us a review per se, but it did bring us some news from the B5 Media network and their reorganization and refinement efforts.
• Wanna bet?  Wanna celebrate your love of thoroughbreds?  See our next blog review, Jarrod Horak’s Thoroughbred Fever blog.
• Back at home after the races, take some top tips from Karen Weideman at her Keeping the Castle blog–a blog dedicated to home and family functionality and fun.

That concludes our list of blog reviews for the week, but don’t miss last week’s, either!  Click over to last week’s Do You Digg It Recap Review.

Mary Ward
Do You Digg It!
Blog Review Team
Do You Digg It! © 2010

Where to Find Keeping The Castle:
Blog URL: http://www.blisstree.com/keepingthecastle/
Category: Personal Interests, Home, Cooking

Keeping The Castle

They say a man’s home is his castle, but the same is true of a woman. Home is the castle, and keeping it comfortably is an art—an art that Karen Weideman excels at, as evidenced in her blog.

Keeping the Castle - Why You Should Go

Keeping the Castle has a little bit of everything for the home. Karen herself is a stay-at-home-parent who also works from home, so has lots of insights into those avenues. Along with that are many ideas and posts about child rearing, cooking, general kid’s activities, party planning, family time and issues, and more. There are posts to help you plan for the day to day and special events, and posts to help you get more enjoyment out of your home and living area. Karen also writes the B5 media’s Thrifty Mommy blog, so some cross over from there is present as well (both Thrifty Mommy and Keeping the Castle are part of the B5 network via their new Blisstree site).

Summing Up Keeping The Castle

Keeping the Castle is a one-stop shop for homemakers of all kinds. While Karen is a stay at home mother, her tips, tricks, and resources are useful and inviting to all and, mother or father, we could all use a few more tips and tricks up our homemaking sleeves.

Go here to check out Keeping the Castle.

Mary Ward
Do You Digg It!
Blog Review Team
Do You Digg It! © 2010

Where to Find B5 Media: http://www.b5media.com/
Category: Blog Networks

B5 Media has a reputation as being a fun and informative blog network, hosting hundreds of top-quality blogs. We’ve reviewed this blog network for precisely this reason before. Many B5 Media blogs stand as primary blog resources in their particular fields. With growth, however, often comes growing pains. B5’s popularity resulted in a large and still growing network that became somewhat un-navigable. Until now.

B5 Media Branches Out And Reorganizes Content

“With over 300 successful and diverse blogs in their network, and hundreds of talented writers, b5media saw an opportunity to deliver a more well-rounded experience to their readership by showcasing content from across the network streamlined by topic and presented in this simple and efficient way.”

Don’t worry—all the great B5 Media blogs that you’ve come to know and love are still there, but now they have been arranged into four dedicated websites which better target reader interests. The four main categories under which the B5 media blogs reside are:

• Men’s Lifestyles (everyjoe.com)
• Women’s Lifestyles (blisstree.com)
• Fashion and Beauty (splendicity.com)
• Business (bizzia.com)

About the sites:

“Blisstree covers everything from parenting tips, cooking gadgets and recipes and eco-friendly advice, to party planning, dating tips and healthy dieting guides. Splendicity is about fashion, beauty and accessories – showcasing the best and worst in celebrity fashion, the hottest new beauty and skin care products, and the latest style trends. Bizzia features valued insights from bloggers along with exclusive interviews and reviews, timely business information, insights, and news. EveryJoe is the ultimate boys club. From tech tips and gaming tricks, to the latest sports news and entertainment buzz, EveryJoe delivers non-stop action to men on the go.”

The result is an even more inviting set of collaborative sites that make it easier for you to find the types of blogs that interest you, saving you your precious time and getting you to the goods faster. Kudos to B5 for continuing to deliver great content, and for understanding what benefits readers before we did!

Mary Ward
Do You Digg It!
Blog Review Team
Do You Digg It! © 2010

Where to Find Healthbolt:
Blog URL: http://www.healthbolt.net/
Category: Health

Healthbolt

Healthbolt is, as you might have guessed it, a blog about health; but it’s not just “another” blog about health, and, as author Liz likes to say, “It ain’t your Mama’s health blog.”

Healthbolt - Why You Should Go

Healthbolt is a blog on the b5 Media network that brings you all manner of information and news from the world of health. There are your more run-of-the-mill health posts with tips and advice for things like fitness and weight loss, but then there are those health topics that many health bloggers dare not talk about—some turned into features like Sexbolt Saturday and The Sunday Sidebar (now a Monday morning feature). The categories list is absolutely bursting with interesting health topics, many you probably haven’t given much thought to before. This health blog covers every aspect of health in the news, not shying away from any given topic. From the general to the “interesting, weird, and intriguing,” Healthbolt delivers the goods for a whole picture of health.

Summing Up Healthbolt

Healthbolt is more than a polite blog talking about the politically correct topics of health. It’s a whole-health experience that entertains as it educates.

Go here to check out Healthbolt.

Mary Ward
Do You Digg It!
Blog Review Team
Do You Digg It! © 2010

I would think (hope) that there will be lots of answers to this question.

Across the internet and blogosphere, it seems there are some networks and platforms that are much more than what they appear; but sometimes you only get to know about these if you are a member of the platform or community itself. That stands to reason, because really how can you be a part of a community without being an active participant in it in some way—either as a frequent visitor or fellow blogger?

Community Magnets

Nevertheless, it seems some places tend to create more of a community than others. The more time I spend looking around Blogger blogs, the more I think that Blogger is one of those spaces. There is always a web weaving from one blog to another (a web that often provides me with many of the subsequent blogs for review). The more I review, the more I find these links looping back upon each other—and no, not always from their original spots. In fact, I’m surprised at the frequency of coming back to a blog weeks after the fact from a seemingly unrelated blog.

Sometimes it is the network that really builds that sense of community across interests—b5 media comes to mind once again. Of course, the best bloggers are masters at this, since community really is what blogs are all about.

It does seem, though, for whatever reason, that some places build communities more easily than others. Who knows why that may be (although if you have an idea—do share!). Being that blogging is as much about the people as the topic, it’s an interesting subject to explore. It’s also a great idea to share those places that do attract a sense of community. I’d very much like to hear where you find the best blog-related communities to be.

What Do You Think?

Comment below, and tell us, where are the best blog communities on the web (platform, network, or singular blog—anything goes!)?

Mary Ward
Do You Digg It!
Blog Review Team
Do You Digg It! © 2010

Where to Find b5 Media:
Blog URL: http://www.b5media.com/
Category: Blog Networks

B5Media Network

Many of the blogs reviewed here come from leading blog networks; and like the blogs themselves, there are great ones, middling blog networks, and lesser players. One of the networks that comes up again and again is the b5Media network, a network that has given rise to some very well-known blogs and bloggers.

B5Media - Why You Should Go

What is most impressive about b5 is the range and quality of their blogs. By and large, you can trust a b5 blog to be good, and also updated and well-maintained. In part this looks to be the result of b5’s dedication to its network and community. Their bloggers are either field experts or people with passions who know their subject well. The network describes itself in this way:

“b5media is a global new media network covering a wide variety of topics in entertainment, technology, beauty, health, music, travel, sports, business and lifestyles. With content written by passionate people from all over the world, our blogs attract a large, loyal audience for companies looking to build major brand appeal.”

One of the more impressive features with b5 is that they make an effort to maintain quality blogs even when their writers move on. In this way, b5 is able to deliver long-standing blogs and deliver continuity to their community.

Summing Up b5 Media

B5 continues to lead with the best of blog networks because they continue to provide top-quality blogs that people really want to read and come back to again and again. Visit b5 to explore the offerings, find your niche, and enjoy new blogs of interest.

Go here to check out b5Media.

Mary Ward
Do You Digg It!
Blog Review Team
Do You Digg It! © 2010