It is around 3 years since I first started blogging and if you have been following My Story you will know I have come along way.

But what is most amazing to me is just how far some of my featured Top Bloggers of 2009 have come. It almost feels crazy to think that many of these bloggers started their blogs at home, in a spare room or bedroom, just like most of us and yet today they are ‘famous‘ all over the world for their blogging.

I have said it many times on this site and in my Blogging eCourse – the OPPORTUNITIES in blogging are almost endless and today’s post of the fifty most influential bloggers of 2009 proves it.

Before you check out the list completely I would like to just draw attention to 3 individuals in particular who have been a huge inspiration to me. (Actually very hard to pick out three – because as soon as I did it – I could think of three more who equally could appear here)

The first is our No 1 Blogger (Video Blogger) – Gary Vaynerchuk. I was fortunate last September to visit with Gary in his offices in New York and do this interview. I don’t think I really need to explain why Gary is No 1. You would have to be living under a rock in the last 12 months to not know who Gary is.

Gary comes out with the most profound statements – he states the TRUTH in a unique and inspiring way and the quote below by Gary acts as a very good reminder to all of us.

”People are always talking about what you’re doing now… To me, it’s not what you’re doing now, it’s about where you’re going.”

The second individual I would like to give a special mention to is Timothy Sykes. I have also met with Timothy in New York (a different trip) and his insights and business wisdom has been a huge help to me personally. Timothy has also done an interview for me and you can find it in this Earning Big Money With Blogging post.

And finally there is my good friend James Schramko. James is such an amazing guy and a very generous teacher who has been a huge influence on what I have done with IncomeDiary.com. You can see my interview with James at this post: Work At Home Dad – Dominates Affiliate Marketing

Please Note

There is no scientific way to choose those who are on the list, these are purely the people who I know have impacted the way I and my friends do blogging. If you feel that we have missed anyone out, please leave a comment below.

I hope you are inspired you to follow in the footsteps of these most influential bloggers of 2009 – I know I am

I look forward to your comments below and it would also be great to hear who has inspired you the most to build a better blog!

To Our Success

Michael

#1 Gary Vaynerchuk
	Why Gary Made The List Gary has shown the blogging world that anyone can be successful at blogging as long as they are passionate about what they are talking about. Gary is one of the world’s best video bloggers and has set a high standard for everyone else who wants to make it in video blogging. He has just released his first book “Crush It” where he shares how to cash in on your passion which no doubt will inspire thousands of new starts ups around the world.Websites http://garyvaynerchuk.com http://tv.winelibrary.com
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#2 Collis Ta’eed
	Why Collis Made The List In 3 years has gone from living in his wife’s parent’s garage to running one of the largest and most successful blog networks. Thousands of blogs have started with the aim to have a fraction of the success Collis has had in the blogging world. Collis’s network boasts over 430,000 twitter and RSS readers earning his company several million dollars a year!Websites http://envato.com http://thenetsetter.com/blog/
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#3 Darren Rowse
	Why Darren Made The List Darren in the past year has gone from strength to strength, now with 3 super successful blogs and 100,000’s of RSS readers, he really does know what he is doing. Darren has monetized his Problogger website in two new ways this year, by adding a paid forum and an eBook which has influenced a lot of other bloggers to follow suit.Websites http://www.problogger.net http://digital-photography-school.com http://www.twitip.com
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#4 Timothy Sykes
	Why Timothy Made The List Timothy is doing things the way they should be, you don’t have to just monetize your website with banner adverts, and you want to diversify your income so it comes in multiple streams. Timothy has earned over $150,000 in one month from his blog and makes it look so easy, check out one of his monthly blogging reports to see how he does it!Websites http://timothysykes.com
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#5 Tim Ferris
	Why Tim Made The List Tim is a angel investor and blogger. He was nominated as one of Fast Company’s “Most Innovative Business People of 2007, and is the author of The 4-Hour workweek which has been written and sold in 35 different languages. The book hit #1 in the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, and was also a BusinessWeek bestseller.Websites http://www.fourhourworkweek.com/blog/ http://www.timferriss.com
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#6 Pete Cashmore
	Why Pete Made The List Pete deserves to be on our list because he started the most popular social networking blog online to date, Mashable. Mashable has then acquired many authors to write daily content on the social side of the internet, including news, reviews and new web startups. Pete is an inspiration to everyone in the blogosphere. Websites http://mashable.com
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#7 Michael Arrington
	Why Michael Made The List He is a corporate attorney who left law to become a Web entrepreneur. When he took a year off, and returned to the work world, he started blogging as a way to understand the new Web start-ups that had arisen in his absence. TechCrunch took off, and he soon found himself an accidental power broker. Another success story for those who blog about their passion and the money and success follow.Websites http://www.techcrunch.com
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#8 Vitaly Friedman
	Why Vitaly Made The List Vitaly made our list because he started up one of the most popular design blogs on the internet that teaches thousands of people daily principles of design. Smashing Magazine is known in every corner of the internet. The content served up on this blog daily is amazing. Designers can head over to Smashing Magazine and expect to find something new, original and juicy each and every day. Websites http://www.alvit.de/blog/ http://www.smashingmagazine.com
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#9 Brian Clark
	Why Brian Made The List Brian Clark most well known for CopyBlogger and Thesis Theme is one of my favorite bloggers because he keeps everything clean and hasn’t sold his soul to get to where he has today. His theme has been a huge hit among bloggers making it easy for those who want to customize their blog to do so. Can’t wait to see what 2010 brings…Websites http://www.copyblogger.com
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#10 Alborz Fallah
	Why Alborz Made The List Alborz made our top 50 list because he is the creator / founder of Australia’s fastest growing automotive editorial site, caradvice.com.au. Their posts, reviews, news and photos they put up on the site makes it stand out from the competition. Alborz is a big influence to many car lovers. Websites http://www.caradvice.com.au http://www.alborzfallah.com
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#11 Lisa Stone
	Why Lisa Made The List Lisa made our list for her compassion and work she has done on her web statup, blogher. Lisa co-founded blogher.com (the woman’s blog network). Blogher reaches more than 15 million woman each month, via the website and conferences. Keep up the great work Lisa! Websites http://www.blogher.com
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#12 Yaro Starak
	Why Yaro Made The List Yaro known in my circle of friends as the nice guy in blogging who lets his products and blogging speak for themselves. I have interviewed him twice and both times the wealth of information he has shared for FREE has been astonishing. For those who are new or advanced with blogging, check out his course’s as he has something for everyone.Websites http://www.entrepreneurs-journey.com http://www.blogmastermind.com Become A Blogger
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#13 Adii Rockstar
	Why Adii Made The List Adii Rockstar is a remarkable man, which is why he has scored so high up in our list. Adii renamed himself just for marketing purposes, that’s how passionate he is. He owns one of the biggest theme websites, WooThemes, and blogs on his personal blog Adii.co.za. He has recently started video-blogging, which has been a huge success. Adii’s posts are very genuine, plus he started one of the biggest blog theme websites, that’s why he is a big influence in the blogging world. Websites http://www.adii.co.za http://www.woothemes.com http://radiiate.com
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#14 Arianna Huffington
	Why Arianna Made The List Arianna made it to our list because she is the co-founder and editor-in-chief of the famous Huffington Post. The Huffington post is an online styled newspaper / blog that writes about politics, business and entertainment. Arianna’s website is read by hundreds of thousands of people. Websites http://www.huffingtonpost.com
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#15 Matthew Mullenweg
	Why Matthew Made The List Without Matthew half of the people on this list wouldn’t be doing what they are today. Matt is the founder of the world’s best and most well known blogging software, WordPress. The reason he is on the list is because without all the new features Matt and his company release each month, we wouldn’t be having the results we are having today.Websites http://ma.tt http://wordpress.com http://automattic.com http://wordpress.org
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#16 James Schramko
	Why James Made The List Another person I met at the Underground in 2009, James has really set a new standard for affiliate blogging. If you took James’s site and put it along side some of the top blogs in our list and looked at the traffic, James would only have a small fraction of their traffic but would most likely be earning more! Check out James’s website and learn how to create a affiliate funnel to bring in a lot more money from your blog!Websites http://www.internetmarketingspeed.com/about/ http://www.jamesschramko.com
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#17 Pawan Agrawal
	Why Pawan Made The List Pawan first came to my notice back in 2007 when he launched MaxBlogPress Stripe Ad which is a stripe advert along the top of a blog which can still be seen on some of the blogs that made this list. Since then he has released multiple new products including WordPress Wizard, an eBook teaching you how to create a successful blog and also a WordPress plugin convert text into affiliates links.Websites http://www.maxblogpress.com
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#18 Brian Gardner
	Why Brian Made The List Brian made our list because he has come so far in so little time. Around 2 years ago he had never owned a domain name or touched a piece of WordPress code. Today, he has a nice blog, and offers services alongside his blogging which include WordPress theme design, Website Strategy and Internet Marketing. Websites http://www.briangardner.com
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#19 Gina Trapani
	Why Gina Made The List Gina is a Technophile, writer, and coder. She has her own podcast named TWIg, blogs on smarterware.org and also blogs about tech, is a programmer and also is a book author of “Upgrade Your Life: The Lifehacker Guide to Working Smarter, Faster, Better”. She is also a Sun certified Java programmer who builds Firefox extensions and web applications. Websites http://www.ginatrapani.org http://smarterware.org
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#20 Jeremy Schoemaker
	Why Jeremy Made The List Jeremy made our list because of the content he publishes on Shoemoney.com Shoemoney teaches people how to make money online, something Jeremy is very good at, and passionate about. He is a very clever man, and his website gets thousands of daily readers. Jeremy is a big player in the blogosphere, and there is much to learn from himself and his website. Websites http://www.shoemoney.com
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#21 Chris Brogan
	Why Chris Made The List Chris teaches entrepreneurs and bloggers how to use social media to build their business and brand. Chris can be seen speaking at some of the biggest events around the world and tweeting tips to his 100,000 twitter following.Websites http://www.chrisbrogan.com
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#22 John Chow
	Why John Made The List John Chow, also known as the dot com mongol blogs about his life, and the miscellaneous ramblings of the dot com lifestyle. John influences many people, and teaches them how to make money online. All of Johns posts are original, fresh and interesting, not just your standard stuff. That’s why he shines over many competitors in the blogosphere. I have read Johns blog since a very early age when I was in school, back when he had just over 1,000 RSS Readers. Since then his blog has grown dramatically along with the internet. Keep up the good work John! Websites http://www.johnchow.com
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#23 David Risley
	Why David Made The List David launched two blogging products this year, 3 day money and blog masters club which were both a big hit in the blogging world. David is most well known for being a 6 figure blogger in the tech industry but has recently been looked at as more of a guru to the bloggers. Look out in the coming months for the relaunch of his blogging membership website.Websites http://www.davidrisley.com
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#24 Andy Beard
	Why Andy Made The List I always have know about Andy but never spent much time reading his content but earlier in the year I contacted him for a review and the wealth of knowledge he sent back in an email was just remarkable, a guy every blogger should be speaking with! Websites http://andybeard.eu
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#25 Mario Lavandeira
	Why Mario Made The List Mario made our top 50 list because he is the founder of perezhilton.com, one of the biggest celebrity blogs. The notorious gossip columnist brands himself as queen of all media. The website has thousands of daily readers, and attracts alot of attention. Mario inspires many with his daily articles about news, celeb and gossip. Websites http://perezhilton.com
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#26 Steve Pavlina
	Why Steve Made The List Steve writes a blog about personal development for smart people. Although his site has a plain design, its booming with traffic, so it just goes to show content is king. Steve has his own podcast and also speaks at many events. His blog attracts more than 2 millions readers every month! His book “Personal Development for Smart People” was published back in 2008, and since then been translated in to several languages. Websites http://www.stevepavlina.com
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#27 Heather B. Armstrong
	Why Heather Made The List Heather, the founder of dooce.com made our list because of her compassion as a blogger and writer. Her website makes enough money to support her family, and enabled her husband to quit his day job. Heather has wrote books which include “It Sucked and Then I Cried” and “Things I Lenard About My Dad In Therapy”. Websites http://dooce.com
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#28 Jake and Amir
	Why Jake and Amir Made The List When I think of funny videos, I think of college humor. Jake and Amir created this awesome website that attracts tens of thousands of daily readers. They have inspired thousands with their network of funny humorous videos, awesome images and funny ramblings. Websites http://www.collegehumor.com http://www.jakeandamir.com
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#29 Al Carlton
	Why Al Made The List I first met Al by accident in 2006 on Digital Point forums and somehow I got him on MSN, after a random chat I realized he was one of top earning bloggers I knew but had one of the best business models. Simply blog about what you love and the money followed, TOP bloke, making blogging a more fun place. Websites http://www.coolest-gadgets.com http://selfmademinds.com
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#30 Robb Sutton
	Why Robb Made The List Anyone who can get given over $100,000 worth of products to review for their blog in under 18 months is someone to be watching. I have been really impressed with what Robb has done in such a short time from his first blog, anyone who wants to make money reviewing products should check out his eBook.Websites http://robbsutton.com Ramped Reviews eBook
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#31 Nick La
	Why Nick Made The List Nick made the list because he has influenced so many individuals including myself from a very young age. I remember reading his first blog ndesign-studio when I was in school. Nicks artwork, blog posts and overall designs influenced so many people and his site grew very fast. He then went on to launch bestwebgallery, webdesignerwall and recently icondock. Nick is a true inspiration to the art & design side of blogging. Websites http://www.ndesign-studio.com http://www.webdesignerwall.com http://bestwebgallery.com http://icondock.com
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#32 Daniel Scocco
	Why Daniel Made The List Daniel made this list for a couple reasons, he has a small popular blog network know as “Daily” which he earns a full time living from but the really great thing about his blogs is his following, so many people have 10,000s of subscribers but they don’t seem to take action, care what you write about or share their point of view. This is not the case with Daniel’s blog, he has a strong community built around him that everyone should aspire to have.Websites http://www.dailyblogtips.com
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#33 Ewdison Then
	Why Ewdison Made The List Ewdison contacted me earlier in the year when he saw me publish a post of the top earning bloggers, he mentioned he saw me it on Twitter and that he was earning over $60,000 a month from his tech blog. Ewdison has a great network of blogs where he uses several monetization techniques to make sure he doesn’t keep all his eggs in one basket.Websites http://www.ewdisonthen.com http://www.slashgear.com
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#34 Hongkiat Lim
	Why Hongkiat Made The List Hongkiat Lim blogs on his very well known site hongkiat.com. He teaches people daily how to design, by providing tutorials, inspirational showcases and huge sets of resources for bloggers and designers. Hongkiat is a true inspiration to now only bloggers, but web designers. Websites http://www.hongkiat.com
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#35 Alvin Phang
	Why Alvin Made The List Alvin is most well known for being the author of his eBook “Atomic Blogging” which teaches new bloggers how to make money from a blog. Alvin has made over $300,000 from blogging in the last 3 years and when asked if he would take twice that to work a 9 – 5 job again, would he take it? Phang replies, “Of course not, I will never do it, even if I am broke because I treasure and love the freedom of being my own boss”.Websites http://www.alvinphang.com http://www.gathersuccess.com Atomic Blogging
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#36 Fabio Sasso
	Why Fabio Made The List Fabio started one of the most inspirational design blogs ever made, called Abduzeedo. There are some outstanding design showcases posted on there every month. His blog is all over search engine results, and he teaches thousands of people Photoshop every day. An inspirational person for sure, and that’s why he deserves to be on our Inspirational bloggers 2009 list. Websites http://fabiosasso.com http://abduzeedo.com
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#37 Leo Babauta
	Why Leo Made The List Leo runs one of the top blogs in the world with over 140,000 subscribers he sure knows what people want out of a blog, CONTENT! Recently Leo has released a new blog teaching people how to write great content for there blog and how to create better blog posts. Leo proves to us all that you don’t need no $5000 design job, just a really clean, simple theme will do the job if your writing is up to scratch!Websites http://zenhabits.net
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#38 Walter Apai
	Why Walter Made The List Walter made our list for sure with his website WebDesignerDepot. WDD has a large twitter base of over 60,000 people. Walter writes daily articles for WebDesignerDepot, including inspirational showcases and galleries, tutorials, tips and tricks, and ramblings. Walter has inspired many with his extremely creative, original and colorful website. Websites http://www.webdesignerdepot.com
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#39 Ted Murphy
	Why Ted Made The List Ted Matters because he has created two great companies to help bloggers monetize their websites, them being IZEA and PayPerPost. IZEA represents over 250,000 bloggers and 25,000 advertisers worldwide. Put simply, they help advertisers identify people who will promote their products and services on their blog.Websites http://www.ted.me
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#40 David Leggett
	Why David Made The List I first met David back in March after convincing him to come to Yanik Silver’s underground event. We both sat down in the lobby with other attendees giving out blogging advise and setting up there blogs. When I returned home to England he took my idea for IncomeDiary and brought it to a whole new level. Leggett adds the wow factor to every site he gets his hands on, if you ever get the chance to work with him, take it! Websites http://www.theleggett.com http://www.tutorial9.net http://www.uxbooth.com
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#41 Skellie
	Why Skellie Made The List We think Skellie deserves to be on the list, because she manages all of the Tuts+ network which is owned by Envato. That Tuts+ network consists of many different tutorial blog sites including the famous PSDTuts that started it all out, NetTuts, AETuts and so many more. Its the biggest tutorial networks on the internet today and every day teaches thousands of people about design and programming. Websites http://www.skelliewag.org http://tutsplus.com
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#42 Rosalind Gardner
	Why Rosalind Made The List Rosalind made our list because she is a truly inspirational person. When she first started blogging, she received a first check for $10.99, and by the end of the year was turning over $5,000 a month. Rosalind blogs about affiliate marketing, blogging, content development, traffic generation, business strategy and many more topics. Websites http://www.netprofitstoday.com
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#43 Michael Martine
	Why Michael Made The List Michael has been exploring the web and making websites since 1997. He created his first blog in the year 2000, and since then has come a long way. Michael runs remarkablogger.com where he blogs about marketing, and also coaches individuals and large groups about blogging. Websites http://remarkablogger.com
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#44 Rob Benwell
	Why Rob Made The List I first met Rob back in 2006 when he spoke at Yanik Silver’s underground seminar and he shared a wealth of information about blogging, some stuff people haven’t even heard of yet! When it comes to blogging, this guy knows his stuff! 3 years old and he has made over a million dollars from blogging and from selling his best selling eBook on blogging!Websites http://bloggingtothebank.com/bttb/
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#45 Lorelle VanFossen
	Why Lorelle Made The List Lorelle is most well known for helping people learn more about blogging and WordPress. On her personal blog which is surprisingly still hosted on the WordPress.com domain she gives out tips, advice and techniques for blogging and using WordPress.Websites http://lorelle.wordpress.com
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#46 Chris Garrett
	Why Chris Made The List Chris co-authored the ProBlogger book with Darren Rowse which shares secrets for blogging your way to a Six-Figure Income. As well as his the book and his personal blog, Chris writes for some of the biggest blogs on the internet including Blog Herald, FreelanceSwitch and CopyBlogger.Websites http://www.chrisg.com
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#47 Carl Ocab
	Why Carl Made The List I first found out about Carl when he was 13 years old and he had launched his first main blog about making money online. Carl has made this list because he has set a standard for ALL young bloggers who want to make money blogging. He has inspired and shown that anyone young can get online blogging and make it big. Although Carl hasn’t blogged much this year, he released a premium blog theme which has been really popular among some of the top bloggers.Websites http://www.carlocab.com http://www.ultimatebloggingtheme.com
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#48 Joost de Valk
	Why Joost Made The List Joost is well known for his search engine marketing and speed to user experience, the things a lot of people forget, yet are really important. On his personal blog and at live events,  he shares tips and tricks for WordPress users to get more out of there blogs.Websites http://yoast.com
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#49 Jack Humphrey
	Why Jack Made The List Jack runs the Friday traffic report, which is a blog on blog marketing tips. Jack talks about blog promotion, social marketing, interviews people, link building tips and many more. He also has his own radio show. Jack has influenced many bloggers, and has a huge reader audience. Websites http://www.fridaytrafficreport.com
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#50 Lisa Irby
	Why Lisa Made The List LIsa Irby deserves to be on our list, because she created the website 2createawebsite.com where all beginners can go to find out how to create a blog from start to finish. The brainstorming process, design process and finishing result all included. Lisa has influenced many new people into creating their own blog using her forever growing guide. Also included in her free online guide are video tutorials, free blog creation software / builders and many more tips and tricks. Websites http://www.2createawebsite.com

To Our Success,

Michael Dunlop

PS. To have your chance of being on this list next year, check out my FREE eCourse to making money blogging by clicking here!

PPS. Who has made the biggest impact in the way you do blogging?

Blogging has been great platform for so many people to become a huge success. Take me for example, because of my Retireat21 blog I was offered to host a hit new MTV show in LA just because they liked how I came across on my blog. Blogging isn’t just about making money online, for some people it could be because they want to be a best selling author but can’t get a foot in the door right now and for others it started just so they could pay there grocery bills. Today I have created a really cool list of 20 people who started blogging and now are so much more then just bloggers. Looking down at the list I have created today, I should really rename it the 20 best bloggers ever as these guys have set such high standards for all of us. Please note that the list isn’t really in any particular order, just the 20 best although I have to say Tucker Max’s story was one of the most entertaining.

If you would like to take the first steps to follow these bloggers and make it big then check out my FREE eCourse teaching you exactly how to build your first blog, drive traffic and make money!

20 Entrepreneurs Who Started With Blogging

#1 Tucker Max
		Tucker’s Blog TuckermaxWhy He Started Blogging: Tucker Max was blogging about his drunken, womanizing exploits before the phrase “blogging” even existed. Tuckers blog attracts 100,000s of visitors weekly who like to read about his ‘interesting’ exploits and enjoy his amazing writing style. Where He Is Now: Because of Tuckers blog, he was able to get a book published which The New York Times called “…highly entertaining and thoroughly reprehensible…” no wonder it was in The New York Times best sellers list for 100 weeks. He is filming a movie based on his book/stories/life by the title “I Hope They Serve Beer in Hell” coming soon!
#2 Gary Vaynerchuk
		Garys’s Blog GaryvaynerchukWhy He Started Blogging: Gary Vaynerchuk’s story started as the co-owner of a wine store in New Jersey. He gained fame as the host of Wine Library TV, a video blog on the subject of wine, built his wine store into a multi-million dollar business and established his personal brand with TV appearances and speaking engagements around the world. Where He Is Now: He has now signed a seven-figure book deal about the things that made him as successful as he is in creating opportunities for himself via his video blog. He also is among one of the most sort after speakers for any marketing events.
#3 Collis Ta’eed
		Collis’s Blog Tutsplus.comWhy He Started Blogging: Began his first blog, FreelanceSwitch, in 2006 with his wife Cyan in her parents garage when their first site wasn’t earning as fast as they expected. Where He Is Now: Collis is now one of the top earning bloggers in the world with over a dozen high traffic blogs, collis has been able to quickly launch new blogs because of such a rapid and loyal readership. Collis is able to work from anywhere in the world while he travels with his wife on new and exciting web projects because of the success of his blogging career.
#4 Mario Lavandeira
		Mario’s Blog Perez HiltonWhy He Started Blogging: Mario has always loved intrigue and who better to showcase this than celebrities so his blogs started all about celebrity gossip. After graduation from New York University in 2000, Mario attempted to be an actor, but he end up working as a very well earned blogger because he thinks setting up a website like this “seems easy” unlike being an actor. He found his talent in riling up gossip and controversies about Hollywood figures and is one of the most infamous bloggers in the United States. There are actually two sides to it since he is hated by many Hollywood stars but is loved by millions of web patrons. Where He Is Now: Mario rides on both fame and infamy. In 2007, Mario announced that he would be starring in his own reality television show on VH1, titled “What Perez Sez”. He is also a regular on TRL, Much Music and Extra where he reports about Hollywood gossip from his own closet studio. In May 2008, he also launched his own radio show called “Radio Perez”.
#5 Michael Arrington
		Michael’s Blog TechcrunchWhy He Started Blogging: He is a corporate attorney who left law to become a Web entrepreneur. When he took a year off, and returned to the work world, he started blogging as a way to understand the new Web start-ups that had arisen in his absence. TechCrunch took off, and he soon found himself an accidental power broker. Where He Is Now: Michael now spends his time scouting the internet and investing in some promising internet start-ups.
#6 Pete Cashmore
		Peter’s Blog MashableWhy He Started Blogging: Due to his inquisitive mind and great interest with web-related matters, Pete Cashmore focused solely on writing about MySpace and other social networks. One of Cashmore’s first articles that became instantly popular was, “If You Don’t Have A MySpace, You’re a Lametard.“ It was a unique approach to blogging, but it worked. Where He Is Now: Peter still does writes about everything happening on the Internet although he has slightly deviated from his focus on just social network news. Given the fame of Mashable, Peter has weaned himself from writing and has begun to concentrate on the entrepreneurial side of his web-business. To further strengthen his enterprise, Peter moved to California and focuses on West Coast operations. His success has brought him to celebrity status and he has been featured on many shows in the US and the UK. Peter also travels between the two countries as a consultant and speaker.
#7 Josh Marshall
		Josh’s Blog TPMWhy He Started Blogging: Marshall started a blog called “Talking Points Memo” during the 2000 Florida election recount. He was inspired by political bloggers such as Mickey Kaus and Andrew Sullivan. Where He Is Now: Josh Marshall played an important part in exposing a scandal which involved the politically motivated dismissal of US Attorneys by the administration of George W. Bush. For that he was nominated by Arianna Huffington to the Time 100. After declining numerous offers to buy his company, Josh still operates it in Manhattan with a staff of seven reporters. Aside from managing, Josh also has established himself as a columnist for Washington DC newspaper, The Hill.
#8 Alborz Fallah
		Alborz’s Blog Car AdviceWhy He Started Blogging: Alborz has always had a great passion for cars. Curiously, he started out just like a few bloggers who wasn’t sure what topic to write about, so he created three blogs at once to see which one would stick. Sticking to his passion, he noticed that the car blog got the traffic so he dropped the other two and slowly built up his site off the back of his own content. Where He Is Now: Alborz sold some of his blog to investors and his blog became a real serious business that he finally left his job to focus 100% on his project. Capitalizing on his success, Alborz has shifted his focus from the web to other forms of media. He has now moved into DVD sales of his videos and doing podcasts. Of course, nothing will ever pull him away from his life’s greatest passion; cars!
#9 Robert Scoble
		Robert’s Blog ScobelizerWhy He Started Blogging: Robert Scoble started blogging four years ago, when he worked for NEC, a Japanese technology company. His blog is all about a place where he could converse with NEC’s customers, give tech support and listen to feedback. He was always honest about the products, and his readership grew. Where He Is Now: Scoble and Shel Israel are currently writing a business bloggers book, called The Red Couch.
#10 Darren Rowse
		Darren’s Blog ProbloggerWhy He Started Blogging: He started blogging just about 5 years ago, and it was just a hobby. After a year he began to experiment a little with advertising and affiliate programs on my blogs and discovered that they could actually make money! He began to record the things he was learning on the topic of making money from blogging on his personal blog. Where He Is Now: Darren’s success has earned him great fame and he was awarded the Best Web Development Weblog blog award in 2006 for ProBlogger. In 2007, he was also named in the Forbes Celebrity List. In the following year, Darren co-authored the book ‘ProBlogger: Secrets for Blogging Your Way to a Six Figure Income (Wiley) and founded TwiTip – a blog dedicated to Twitter Tips. Preferring to live a simple life, Darren lives in Melbourne, Australia but does frequent traveling for numerous speaking engagements.
#11 Jeremy Schoemaker
		Jeremy’s Blog ShoemoneyWhy He Started Blogging: Starting with absolutely no capital, he educated himself and began building ecommerce sites to earn revenue. During this time, he started blogging his experiences at Shoemoney.com and then used the blog to springboard new companies like AuctionAds, which had one of the most impressive launches of any online advertising company ever. Through his blog, Jeremy provides advice on all areas of Internet Marketing, including SEO, affiliate management, blogging, and revenue strategies. Where He Is Now: Jeremy continues to launch new start-ups and also chronicles his adventures on his own blog site. Given his fame and expertise, Jeremy is a frequent speaker at search engine marketing and affiliate conferences, and co-founded the Elite Retreat conference.
#12 Tim Ferriss
		Tim’s Blog 4 Hour Work Week Why He Started Blogging: Tim being a productive guru had a message to convey and blogging was the means he deemed fit for his purposes. Being a neuroscience graduate, Tim has many innovative ways of looking at life and gives valuable advice on how to approach situations differently. His blogs are well-written and very thought provoking. It is a favorite among CEOs around the world. Where He Is Now: In 2007, Tim launched his book, The 4-Hour Workweek under Random House and marketed the book mostly among bloggers. The book launched him to stardom and he is now a guest lecturer at Princeton University and has spoken in hundreds of seminars and conventions.
#14 Timothy Sykes
		Timothy’s Blog Timothy SykesWhy He Started Blogging: After incurring great losses in his previous businesses, Timothy Sykes decided to write a book detailing his journey into managing the hedge fund and the lessons he learned from losing so much money. Capitalizing on the potential of the web, he then started a blog, with the goal of documenting the step by step process of turning another $12,000 into millions. Where He Is Now: Tim is now a writer for AOL Finance and has been featured on ABC, CNN, CBS, CNBC, FOX News, FOX Business Network, Reuters, Business Week to name a few. He also starred in the TV show, “Wall Street Warriors” on MOJO. His monthly blog income is in the 6 figures and this is definitely one young man who should be checked out!
#15 Steve Pavlina
		Steve’s Blog Steve PavlinaWhy He Started Blogging: Steve is someone who started blogging about his take on LIFE and other personal development stuff, and now has one of the leading sites in that niche. Where He Is Now: On twitter, he says he is a human alarm clock. He awakens people who are sleeping through life. Steve Pavlina has been doing some research into the art of video, and playing around with making and editing sample videos. Eventually there will be videos on the Steve Pavlina site, and we would love to see a Steve Pavlina personal growth DVD product in the future as well.
#16 Lisa Stone
		Lisa’s Blog BlogHerWhy she Started Blogging: Founded in February 2005 as a labor of love by three bloggers, BlogHer’s mission was to create opportunities for women who blog to pursue exposure, education, community and economic empowerment. Where she Is Now: BlogHer reaches more than 14 million women monthly through its conferences, Internet site and publishing networks.
#17 Heather B. Armstrong
		Heather’s Blog DooceWhy She Started Blogging: She started her website in February 2001. A year later she was fired from her job for her website because she had written stories that included people in my workplace. When most people would fear the worse when hearing “your fired”, Heather just saw it as a challenge and took on blogging as a carerr. Where She Is Now: In October 2005 she began running enough ads on her website that her husband was able to quit his job and become a Stay at Home Father. Since running her blog she has found that she has a loyal readership and was able to publish two books so far.
#18 Jake and Amir
		Jake and Amir’s Blog CollegeHumorWhy They Started Blogging: CollegeHumor started to posts blogs and articles through ideas form its staff and users, including humorous essays, comics, interviews and weekly columns on sports, video games, college life, and dating. Where They Are Now: Jake and Amir are now both making a lot of money from advertising on their site. In December 2008, College Humor.com proudly announced the premiere of the MTV Show “The College Humor Show”. Jake and Amir along with everyone else in their team wrote on the show and play fictionalized versions of themselves.
#19 Michelle Malkin
		Michelle’s Blog Michelle MalkinWhy She Started Blogging: She started and still is focusing on creating blogs which are always form a conservative viewpoint. Where She Is Now: Malkin was a frequent commentator for FOX News Channel and a regular guest host of The O’Reilly Factor. She then quit, and concentrated on her writing, blogging and public speaking, although she still appears on television on occasion.
#20 Harvey Levin
		Harvey’s Blog TMZWhy He Started Blogging: He is an American television producer, lawyer, legal analyst and a celebrity reporter. His blogs started all about celebrity gossip since this is one of his passions. Where He Is Now: He still produces and hosts TMZ on TV. He is also a frequent guest of The Kevin and Bean Morning show, in addition to CNN’s Larry King Live, and recently the Fox News Channel and Local FOX Affiliates regarding Michael Jackson’s death.
#20 Yaro Starak
		Yaro’s Blog Entrepreneurs-JourneyWhy He Started Blogging: Started his first blog because he thought it would be good for SEO and a chance to talk about his business journey. Where He Is Now: Yaro found himself being one of the most respected bloggers and launched two blogging membership websites teaching people exactly how he has done it. Earlier in 2009 he launched a new membership site teaching how he makes money from membership websites. This guy is one entrepreneurial blogger you should all be following!

To Our Success,

Michael Dunlop

PS. Who’s background in blogging appeals most to you?