As its blog title implies, Wharton MBA for Executives is a blog managed by and written for MBA students of Wharton School?s Executives program. There are actually two blog administrators, although the blog also features guest bloggers from time to time. Basically, the contents of the blog chronicle the authors? experiences in their pursuit of an MBA program.
What makes this blog special
Unlike most MBA blogs, which may be classified as informative or feature blogs that typically discuss basic management and business principles, this Wharton blog falls under the “personal blog” category. For instance, one of the authors wrote about his trip to Marrakech and how price-haggling with souvenir vendors gave him an idea for a paper in his negotiations class. Set on a clean and simple three-column WordPress layout, the blog contains links to the official Wharton EMBA site and other Wharton blogs, as well as the authors? Facebook and LinkedIn profiles. Since the target readers are Wharton EMBA students?and those who aspire to be?other useful links include business journals and news articles on finance.
Navigating through the site is easy, as one of its three columns show the blog categories and tag clouds. This allows readers to find entries only on topics that they are interested in without having to spend too much time digging through the site. The archive link and RSS button enable followers of the blog to find old entries and receive blog updates conveniently.
Areas for improvement
However, the blog still needs tweaking in some areas. The blog description on the header indicates that one person maintains the blog, although its “About” pages show two different authors. Also, simple does not have to mean “boring,” so adding images to the entries will make the page more attractive to readers. Adding relevant widgets will also optimize the blog?s clean look and readership.
MBA Answers is a blog that seeks to provide sound answers to all MBA-related questions. This is one place on the Internet where current and would-be MBA students can get useful information from someone who has plenty of experience in the field, ranging from taking the GMAT to online MBA programs and international business schools.
What makes this blog special
One thing that makes MBA Answers stand out as a career blog is its magazine-type layout. On its homepage, you can see snippets of its featured posts, which are grouped under the categories, “About MBA?s,” “GMAT & Business Schools,” “MBA Updates,” and “More MBA Answers.” Write-ups in About MBA?s contain general information on the degree, such as its benefits and factors to consider when assessing one?s readiness to pursue an MBA. Posts under GMAT & Business Schools help readers choose which program and business school is right for them. The MBA Updates category provides links to useful and recent MBA materials, while More MBA Answers is where readers interact with each other in typical Q&A fashion commonly found in e-forums.
What makes MBA Answers stand out is that by subscribing to the blog (simply type your e-mail address into the appropriate field), you will also get newsletter issues delivered to your inbox. For those who don?t like getting too many messages in their inbox, they can still subscribe to the blog?s post and comments updates via the RSS button.
Areas for improvement
Despite the blog?s nice layout, readers may find some difficulty navigating through the site. The homepage contains tabs and links which turn out to be serving the same function?directing the reader to the same page containing the same information. For instance, clicking on the “About MBA?s” tab on the upper-left side of the homepage and the “More Featured Posts” link under the “About MBA?s” box on the same page will give you the same result. In addition, it will be much better if readers get to post questions directly, as most are posted (moderated) through the site administrator.
