When I started writing this column back in 2006 there were virtually no blogs by any label converters anywhere in the world (other than my own company blog). Today it is a different story. From my count there are well over a dozen blogs by label converters in the US and Europe with more coming online on a frequent basis. Many of the blogs I am writing about here I have been reading since they launched, and there is some excellent information being produced. Here is my roundup of what I consider to be the five best blogs in our industry.Dion Label Printing, based in Westfield, MA, USA, has moved into blogging in a big way. Stacy Santos, the marketing manager at Dion, sees the importance of social media and being more than just a website online. The blog benefits Dion by being more visible online for their customers as well as prospects that arrive at their blog through the search engines. These days Dion has the most prolific blog in the label industry, with almost daily blog posts written by Stacy and Erinn Gormley, her marketing assistant. Their posts cover a range of topics such as graphic design, sustainability, branding, as well as featuring products and commentary on a number of vertical industries.Lauren Hayes is busy. Not only is she VP of sales for Falmouth, MA, USA flexo printer In-Touch Direct, but she is also in charge of their company blog. Lauren says the primary purpose of their blog is "to give their customers a broader perspective of the labeling world." The company does an excellent job of keeping to topics that are of interest to buyers of labels. Recent posts discussed the successful packaging redesign at Mike's Lemonade, the adoption of the Smart Choices labeling program by General Mills, and a new UV fluorescent thermal transfer ribbon for product security. Lauren says that they post only when they have something interesting to write about, which works out to be a couple of times a week on average.Scott Pillsbury, a former TLMI chairman and president of Rose City Label in Portland, OR, USA, is a name known to many people in the label industry. Now he is adding blogger to his list of achievements. Scott is the author of the Rose City Label blog, which he says he started mainly to "highlight specific jobs that are unique or challenging that not everyone can produce." But the blog has become more than that; it is also a way to educate customers and communicate about anything interesting that is happening at the company.From across the pond we have long time blogger Adrian Steele of Mercian Labels, Cannock, UK. Mercian specializes in short run label printing as well as tamper evident security labels. Steele is also very knowledgeable in information technology, in particular what is called open source software, so there are a large number of blog posts devoted to software. But there is also some great content of interest to label converters. Recent posts discussed designing artwork for continuous sleeve flexo printing, information about the 2010 UK Label Show and a commentary on the (not so) tamper proof self adhesive postage stamps from Royal Mail.Everyone in the label industry could learn something from John Fisher, the founder of StickerGiant. There may not be another company in this industry that is doing a better job of getting the word out online about their company. The blog is just one of the ways the company promotes itself, and as blogs go it is pretty simple. Mostly he just shares a picture and a few words about label and sticker projects that his company produces. Occasionally, instead of a picture, he will produce a short video featuring a project. He recognizes that labels and stickers are visual products � you might as well show them off.That rounds out what I consider to be the most interesting blogs in the label industry. Now, there is one blog I haven't mentioned, the Lightning Labels Blog. I hope you will allow me this small self-promotion. Our blog is the oldest and most established blog (around 300 articles) in the label industry dating back to early 2006. We update it twice a week focusing on a broad range of topics of interest to buyers of short run labels.