Business blog example 2: Be a consultant

There are a frustrating amount of blogs by consultants out there.

Frustrating because they outnumber us ‘in the trenches’ marketers. And because they all do the same thing … give out tips on how to do marketing right.

Consultants are smart, and they are used to telling others the best way to do something. This doesn’t always work in a blog.

Maybe this works for their target audience. Maybe its good enough to help someone googling for answers to a marketing problem.

But I don’t think it’s enough to develop a following.

I’m a manager. I got here because I already know the basics. I’m looking for what’s new on the radar, and for meaningful discourse on the gray-areas of decisions. Or something fun.

So, of all the consultants’ blogs that I read, I’m going to single out Jim Logan’s B2B Rainmaker blog as one done right. There are a couple others getting close, but I find myself drawn to commenting on posts over and over at Jim’s blog. That means he’s engaging me.

Here is a good example of a typical Rainmaker post titled Patel Leads: “No one is responsible to generate leads – Incredibly, every company I’ve worked for had this problem.”

Look at that, a gray area–responsibility for leads! I’ve gotta read this post!

Interestingly, Jim himself helped point to the reason his blog is engaging with his latest post: The obvious answer to who is the smartest kid in school

“But is it the answers we have or the questions we ask that truly demonstrate our intelligence and understanding? …

The answer is obvious, it’s the questions we ask – not the answers we give – that define our level of understanding and earn greater respect. The smartest kid in school is the one that asks the best questions.”

(And that Marketing-LOLcat, its an inside joke, or sorts. Another way of engaging readers.)