There are zillions of blogs out there competing for your limited time and attention. As a small business owner, you want to maximize your learning opportunities while reading the fewest blogs possible.

Lucky for you, I have separated the wheat from the chaff for you. Over the years, I have whittled things down to the ultimate blog reading list for small business owners. Here ya go!

You can find everything you need to know about running and growing a small business at OpenForum. Topics are divided among four buckets: Planning for Growth, Managing Money, Getting Customers, and Building Your Team.

Apps you use

Subscribing to the blogs written by the companies behind the apps you use provides you with a wealth of knowledge around how to make the most of them. For me, that list includes MailChimp, Insightly, Hootsuite, and Envato.

The Business Journals

From Albany to Wichita, pretty much every major and major-ish city in the U.S. has its own dedicated Business Journal. Subscribe to your local edition to keep up-to-date on the local business scene.

Duct Tape Marketing

There are a lot of marketing blogs specifically for small businesses, but Duct Tape stands out for its perfect blend of humor, personality, and solid advice. To wit: their most recent blog post as I type this is called The 20 Minute Social Media Routine for Haters.

ProBlogger

If you want to get better at content marketing in general - not just writing and blogging, but keywords and search engine optimization - ProBlogger is your go-to source of information. Personally, it's one of my favorite reads.

Small Business Administration (SBA)

Surprised I include a blog from the Feds? The SBA actually has a suite of great blogs that cover starting a business, managing a business, financing, contracting, healthcare, and sales, and their newsletter is worth signing up for, too.

SmartBrief

Two of my favorite sources of information are SmartBrief on Small Business and SmartBrief on Social Business, which aren't technically blogs. Instead, they are daily emails that curate the best articles on a given topic from around the Web in one place. I consider these must-reads.

Social Media Today

I think it is fair to say that Social Media Today is the most comprehensive source of information on digital marketing around. They cover more than social media - you'll find content marketing, SEO, branding, and more - and they publish numerous articles every day.

Vendors and partners

Do you subscribe to the blogs (and newsletters) put out by your vendors and partners? I do. It's a great way to keep up with everyone while learning something new in the process.

WordofMouth

Last, but certainly not least, we have WordofMouth, which, as you might guess, writes about word-of-mouth marketing. What I love about their blog is their dedication to using stories from large companies and small businesses alike to show what great word-of-mouth looks like in real life.

Did I leave out your favorite blog? What is your go-to source for info on running a small business?

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