Today I’m going to give you a list of the blogs I read and why I recommend them, which is response to Stefanie Deverey, who nominated FADS for a Lovely Blog award.  So I would like to pay it forward and, perhaps, you’ll find new blogs here that you’re also interested in reading.

1. AllBusiness.com – The Small Business Blog by Rieva Lesonsky. I met Rieva at the International Franchise Association conference in San Diego this past January and was immediately blown away by her. Not only does she have an impressive resume, she knows small business – the inner workings, the mistakes all entrepreneurs make, and how to succeed in tough times. She’s my business soulmate because we think alike in how businesses can, and should, be run.

*Full disclosure – I now write for the franchise blog on AllBusiness.com, but I was a Rieva fan and reader long before that happened.

2. BusinessWeek.com – Small Business. I started reading this section of BusinessWeek in May, after I met Steve McKee at a conference. Since then, we’ve become friends (I just guest blogged for him yesterday at Find Your Nerve) and I love his style, especially because he’s an advertising guy who sees the value in PR. The blog is full of small business lessons, case studies, and ideas. His fellow bloggers on the BW site are just as smart, plus it’s fun to connect with some of their editors (like Shirley Brady) on Twitter.

3. Convenience Store Dreaming. This blog is so off the beaten path for what I read, but it’s written by someone I worked with many, many years ago and it’s a GREAT Friday afternoon read. She works in a convenience store and blogs about the people she meets. Trust me on this one – you will cry from laughing so hard.

4. Fast Growth by Doug Davidoff. I met Doug because he answered a couple of Vistage questions (he’s a speaker and past member) and then we met in real life a few weeks ago. He blogs about the sales process and how to design something that works for your customers, not for you. His theory is that customers want to know what you can do for them, not how they fit in your process, and I love this thinking. Plus he gives away so much of his own intellectual property, you’d be silly not to read what he has to say.

5. Harvard Business Review. Just yesterday, someone on Twitter asked me where I get such great content all the time. I wish I could take credit for it, but it’s all HarvardBusiness.org. You know…the Ivy League school? Yeah. Really good information here daily. I like it because it’s smart, it’s sophisticated, but it doesn’t read like a technical paper.

6. Hunting for Big Sales by Tom Searcy. I met Tom a couple of years ago when he spoke to my Vistage group about creating a process for your internal sales teams that allows you to hunt the whales in your industry. Even though he doesn’t blog often, when he does, it’s worth reading.

7. It’s Time to Lead by Randy Hall. For those of you who know me, you won’t be surprised to see Randy on this list. Even though I nag him weekly to post more often, when he does, what he writes about is fantastic. His expertise is leadership and how executives can hone their skills to get results. He is, by far, my favorite leadership blogger.

8. OPEN Forum by American Express. There is a lot of information on this blog so you have to sift through what you find interesting. For that very reason, I send this particular blog to my Google reader and expand the list so I can quickly scan if there is anything I want to read. I suggest you do the same.

9. You’re the Boss - the New York Times blog. I started reading this blog after I met Jay Goltz, who owns a few companies here in Chicago, and he mentioned he had just started blogging for the New York Times. Curiosity killed the cat and I went there to read what he had to say. Not only does he offer great and useful information, his fellow bloggers do, as well.

And, of course, I can’t forget Stefanie! Her blog is the New York Real Estate Lawyer blog, which is pretty specific, but forward her link to anyone you know in the real estate law field and help me pay it forward!

In addition, following are some blogs I try to read at least once a week because I admire the people who write them.

1. Conversation Agent by Valeria Maltoni

2. Altitude Branding by Amber Naslund

3. Escaping Medicrity by Sarah Robinson

4.  I Think, Therefore I Blog by Jeff Lipschultz

5. Small Business Marketing Blog from Duct Tape Marketing

6. The Sun Rises Today by Tim Jahn

7. Convince and Convert by Jay Baer

8. Marketing Strategy and the Law by Adrian Dayton

9. Exceed Your Expectations by Julio Varela

10. The Holmes Report by Paul Holmes

I’d love to know from you, in the comments below, which two or three blogs you read that you think I’d like, as well.

I tell you all of this because I’ve not read any of Seth Godin’s books. Not because I don’t think he’s smart. Mostly because he’s a New York Times bestseller, multiple times over, and I can hear Dr. Spencer’s voice in the back of my head telling me I don’t want to read what everyone else reads.

Until “Small Is the New Big” was released. I was intrigued. After all, we are small. We compete with the big agencies. Did Godin have something in there I needed to know to surpass the competition? I bought it and ignored that voice in my head.

I love the book! Not all of it, but he even says on the cover that he dares every reader not to find one thing you really love. I found that one thing (and many others).

“The Soy Luck Club, my favorite place in New York, just announced the breakfast club. Pay $40 or so and you get breakfast every day for a month. “Grab and Go,” it’s called. If Vivian sells one hundred memberships, it’s a home run. With $4,000, she can certainly buy a lot of whole-wheat bagels and grapefruit, and send ends up creating a cadre of superloyal customers. Best of all, she starts finding products for her customers instead of finding customers for her products.

Imagine a new chain of cafes that offers a coffee club. For a flat fee, you get all the WiFi and lattes you can handle. With the markup on both, the owner does great, and people would feel terrible every time they strayed.

They say to ignore sunk costs. People are terrible at that, though.”

So I read that and started thinking about all the ways a business could implement this idea. Yesterday I went to pick up Jack Bauer from “camp” and I was very excited because I orginally wasn’t going to pick him up until this morning. But I got an earlier flight home and was able to pick him up before they closed last night.

Imagine my dismay, then, when she handed me my receipt and it read, “Extra charges for late pickup.” Late pickup? I’m early! You don’t have to feed him dinner or breakfast! You don’t have to give him his epileptic medicine! You don’t have to take him for walks or scratch his belly! I’m early! How can you charge me for late pickup. Hrumph!

What if they took the extra step, instead, to print on the receipt, “One night boarding: $45.00. Pampered daycare for Jack Bauer: $20.00. Nail trim: $10.00.” All of that is on the receipt already except in the place of “pampered daycare” is “late pickup.”

See the difference in how that makes you feel? And it’s simply changing two words.

Have you seen some examples like the Soy Luck Club? Do you have examples like pet “camp” that can easily be modified for better customer service or engagement? Share here!

And P.S. If you haven’t read the book, I recommend it. I dare you to find one thing you can apply to your business/life/career.