German psychologists Jana Ehrhardt and Eve Ehrhardt wrote a book titled Good Girls Go to Heaven, Bad Girls Go Everywhere. With a catchy title and a simple concept they describe how some women tend to feel the need to believe that someone else should take care of them. The authors get into the historical and cultural reasons why. For the purposes of this post, let's remember that asking permission first may not get you places.
A button given to me by leadership consulting company Corporate Hope quoted Laurel Tatcher Urlich with "Well behaved women rarely make history". I think what the title and quote say is that there is still a difference in perception that comes with being a woman. Well, there is, and it means that it comes with a different sensibility to everything. That is good.
Meet the Top 20 PR PowerWomen. Extracted from Todd And's (now in partnership with Ad Age) Power 150 list of marketing and PR blogs by Kami Huyse at Communication Overtones a couple of weeks ago, this list represents as diverse a universe as you can find in the blogosphere. The statistic Kami drew out is valid pretty much all over the place. Go to Fast Company Expert blogs where I post every Thursday and count the males and female bloggers -- 26 to 6.
I know there are more women bloggers, for the PR and marketing profession, these are the Top 20:
- What’s Next Blog B. L. Ochman
- Diva Marketing Blog Toby Bloomberg
- BlogWrite for CEOs Debbie Weil
- Communication Overtones Kami Huyse
- Forrester’s Marketing Blog Shar, Charlene, Chloe, Christine, Elana, Laura & Lisa
- The Origin of Brands Laura Ries
- Branding & Marketing Chris Brown
- Customers Rock! Becky Carroll
- Conversation Agent Valeria Maltoni
- Corporate PR Elizabeth Albrycht
- The Copywriting Maven Roberta Rosenberg
- CK’s Blog CK (Christina Kerley)
- Spare Change Nedra Kline Weinreich
- Marketing Roadmaps Susan Getgood
- advergirl Leigh Householder
- Brand Sizzle Anne Simons
- Kinetic Ideas Wendy Maynard
- Flooring The Consumer C.B. Whittemore
Presto Vivace Blog Alice Marshall - Email Marketing Best Practices Tamara Gielen
I come late to the party, others have preceded me in expressing why this is a great starting point. C.B. Whittemore, CK, Becky Carroll, and Roberta Rosenberg, also co-authors of The Age of Conversation, wrote posts for the occasion. It is indeed the age of conversation. Tom Peters and Kevin Roberts have been saying it for years better than I ever could -- women rock at conversation.
Maybe we can start a W-List to help us all discover great blogs authored by women. Adding to CK's:
- Moda di Magno by Lori Magno
- Get Shouty by Katie Chatfield
Many of you may already know a few not on the marketing list:
- Deborah Schultz by Deborah Schultz
- The Engaging Brand by Anna Farmery
- Liz Strauss at Successful Blog by Liz Strauss
- Manage to Change by Ann Michael
- Lorelle on WordPress by Lorelle VanFossen
- Inspired Business Growth by Wendy Piersall
- Back in Skinny Jeans by Stephanie Quilao
- Learned on Women by Andrea Learned
- eSoup by Sharon Sarmiento
- Management Craft by Lisa Haneberg
- Productivity Goal by Carolyn Manning
Also check out newer entrants:
- Modite by Rebecca Thorman
- Tech Kitten by Trisha Miller
- Get Fresh Minds by Katie Konrath
- Conscious Business by Anne Libby
- Narrative Assets by Karen Hegman
I have enjoyed getting to know these ladies and think their blogs would make a fine addition to RSS readers.
If I left out anyone, I'm sure you or the women I inadvertently left out of the list will be able to add to this one. Top 20 + 13 + 5 = the beginning of the W-List and more great blogs and link love. What other great blogs are out there authored by women? To link forward, simply copy all these links into your post and add yours.
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UPDATE: Krishna De at Krishna De's BizGrowth News was the first woman to pick up the list, put it in alphabetical order and add some of her links. She aptly renamed the effort The W List: aka Women Who Blog. She adds:
- Wiggly Wigglers authored by fellow Podcast Sister Heather Gorringe
- The Blog Angel aka Claire Raikes
- Wealth Strategy Secrets by Money Gym author and Founder Nicola Cairncross.
The first always deserve honorable mention. I'll be keeping track off line so feel free to link back or trackback to this post to signal your participation.