1. On a scale of 1-10 (where 10 is most likely), how likely is it that you you would recommend this blog to a friend or colleague?
2. How did you hear about it?
3. What led you to become a subscriber, versus just reading an article and leaving like everybody else? (or, if you’re not a subscriber, what would it take to convince you?)
4. What do you hope to see here in the future?

Thank you!

(Questions originally by Eric Ries)

New posts will be automatically be imported to our shiny new fan page. You can also leave comments, ‘like’ posts, write on the wall, upload pictures etc.

This time we’d like to revive the age-old town vs country debate and ask whether it has any bearing on how lovely a company is. What do you think?

Poll closes: Friday 10th April, 2pm.

Thanks Milo!

I was inspired to start writing in the first place by smaller companies such as MOO and innocent drinks and larger companies such as Google and Facebook. The first proper post (after the introduction) was about the efforts of Google.org.

In May 2008, the Thinking Digital conference inspired me to write about the amazing example being set by Zappos (thanks Tara) and Kiva and now, wherever I look, I spot companies doing delightful things!

No summary of the last year would be complete without mentioning the state of the global economy. But we have taken a positive attitude by highlighting solutions and I believe that the current state of affairs offers great opportunities to entrepreneurs and to lovely companies.

This blog has been a spare-time project for me. In some months I have posted almost every day, in others, not at all. The quality of posts has varied and at times I may have stooped to the depths of rumour mongering however the site has still been visited by more than 1,500 people with the average time spent on the site an impressive two and half minutes! For you stats fans, the most popular post of the year was the poll that we ran asking who your favourite lovely company was – innocent drinks won!

The community has been really great too. All the emails and comments that I’ve received have been very encouraging! Please do keep commenting and don’t hesitate to write in with your experiences and tips.

Here’s to the second year of LovelyCompanies.com – I’m looking forward to it already!

The winner by a clear margin was smoothy maker innocent drinks who managed to get 118 votes (a whopping 45% share of the votes)!  In second place was MOO , the delightful printing company with 41 votes (16%) and in third place, charity fundraiser, JustGiving with 34 votes (13%).  If someone from innocent gets in touch we’ll knock up a People’s Award badge for your blog!

If it’s of any interest, this poll brought in quite a lot of traffic to LovelyCompanies.com – the 17th November saw 151 visits, a new record!  The post containing the poll became the most visited post with six times more page views than the next most popular page: Simple Things To Make You Smile .

Thanks again to everyone who voted and look out for future polls on LovelyCompanies.com!

There are just under 24 hours left before the poll closes at 6pm (GMT) on Friday. That’s easily enough time for one last rally to push your favourite company to the top of the rankings! So get a quick blog post up, mobilise your twitter following and instant message your friends telling them to call in and place a quick vote!

Vote here:

http://lovelycompanies.com/2008/11/14/vote-for-your-favourite-lovely-company/

Since February 14th (Valentine’s day), we’ve written about many of the lovely things that companies have been up to. Now it’s your turn to vote on your favourite company!

Once you’ve voted, spread the word far and wide about this poll and try to win as many votes as possible for your chosen company! Also, you could add the reason for your vote in the comments…

The winning company will win the prestigious LovelyCompanies.com People’s Award and will be able to display a special badge on their website!

The poll closes next Friday (21st November) at 6pm!

If you would like to write about the lovely things that your own company does please drop an email to editor@lovelycompanies.com.

Also, if you would like to hear from somebody inside a particular company then let us know and we will camp outside their offices until we get a blog post or interview out of them.

Inspired by a new generation of small companies such as MOO and innocent drinks who not only have great products but also have exceptional customer service, admirable ethical policies and generally give those around them a warm feeling inside.

The purpose of this site is to inspire the next generation of entrepreneurs, together with existing companies, to do more to be lovely.

We welcome guest posts so do get in touch if you’ve had a lovely experience with a company recently.

Also, if RSS feeds are your thing, you can subscribe here .

David Haywood Smith, Editor