Chris Brogan posted his picks for 8 Marketing Bloggers To Watch for the coming year, and then laid down the gauntlet: if you don’t like his list, you can submit your own, either via comments, or via blog.
I have 3 quibbles with his list.
- Chris picked 8 Social Media-Centric bloggers. With marketing, public relations, social media, publishing, and technology all converging, there are some bloggers that should be followed in 2009 that just do not fit into that very narrow category.
- I have a problem with declaring “Veterans.” Not everyone provides value all the time (I am a perfect example of this), so no one should get an automatic pass. Either you belong on the list of 8, or you don’t.
- Chris Brogan belongs on the list, but he did not nominate himself.
So here is my list:
Chris Brogan is what I would call a “thought leader”; where he posts, 100s of others follow.
A single Brogan post can send shockwaves ripping through the blogo/twitter-sphere. Sometimes he does not know his own power.
The really interesting thing is, much of what he writes about can be applied to all industries.
For example: Chris spins the analogy of a pirate ship into a admonition to cut through the cruft and clutter and get to the heart of your business.
And he didn’t mention Twitter or social media once. 
If you have been reading this blog, you know I am a big fan of Amber. The whole idea behind the social contract post came from reading her blog over at Altitude Branding.
So you look at her tag line, and it says: Marketing, Branding, Social Media. That’s pretty much covers her corner of the internet.
Do not get fooled by this.
Like Chris Brogan, she bleeds into business, strategy, and the philosophy of how all of this stuff interconnects.
Spend some quality time in the archives, and you come up with some gems: The Dead Horse of ROI, The Lost Reality of the Value Proposition, or Why Follow Through Matters Most.
If you aren’t in marketing, or in social media, follow her anyway. Sometime in ’09 she will drop some science that will have you rethinking your business strategies.
David Armano is not on Chris’ list, even as a veteran. Did someone kick sand on someone’s shoes or something?
Ostensibly, David writes about business and user experience strategy. The real key about David’s blog, Logic+Emotion is the amazing way he continually breaks down complex concepts or interactions with simple yet amazing graphics and direct prose.
Take a look at Shotgun + Sustainable, or the Human Feed, and you will see what I mean.
Jeremy Pepper is a new one for me.
He writes in the PR space, but ask him and he would probably describe himself as a f**kin’-generalist.
What I like is that along with posts about PR, Marketing, and Social Media, he will just drop the pretense and call it like it is. It may not seem like much, but it is refreshing to have someone just say “pick up the damned phone” or “Can I get a big cup of STFU, Please?” in reference to the death of PR.
There are a bunch of bloggers that try to “keep it real” by just spewing vitriol. Jeremy actually seems to want to fix what is broken, while providing insights into PR trends.
Aaron Brazell does not write about marketing, even though he is listed as one of the Top 100 most influential marketing blogs.
Aaron concentrates more on the connections between people and businesses, and the sorts of messages are being exchanged.
As part of that he talks about the perils of tying a social networking strategy to a particular tool, or about not going social enough with the Xbox 360, or spinning nuclear winter into a lifehack parable about how to survive the coming economy.
It’s not exactly marketing, but it is always interesting.
I am in complete agreement with Chris on this one. I found out about Jason wandering though the social media backwaters of Twitter.
Jason Falls writes about just about everything social media and marketing.
Like the other folks on this list, those categories are not enough to really categorize Jason. His post on The Future of Advertising could just as easily be rewritten for any industry (finance for example). A video on Social Media Doesn’t Matter really is about all the things we get our panties in a bunch over online, from social media “experts”, to open source, evil corporate empires, or Digg.
Just perusing the last month of Jason’s archive makes me wonder what he’s going to blog about in 2009.
Josh Klein is not technically a marketer: he’s a “web strategist”. His interest is generating media and marketing channels that people actual want to use, something that most social media bloggers overlook.
He also doesn’t shy away from controversy. He’s called bullshit on the whole SEO blogging crowd, pointing out that you aught to make websites and blogs worth caring about instead of peddling Snake Oil 2.0.
Can’t wait to see what grenade he throws next.
Chris Brogan has Brian Solis on the Veterans list, as well he should be.
It would be really easy to peg Brian as a social media guru. That’s not really accurate. He really writes more as a philosopher of social media, technology, and marketing.
Take a look at The Social Revolution is Our Revolution or Social Media Is Not the Final Frontier of Marketing, and you will see what I mean.
Anyone in business, not just those in marketing or PR, should be watching his blog.
So, there you have it: my 8 Blogs to Watch for 2009. I hesitate to call them “marketing blogs”, because the bloggers and their content are not so easy to pigeonhole.
What blogs are you paying attention to for 2009? Post them below, or over on ChrisBrogan.com.
{ 4 comments… read them below or add one }
The problem with any of the successful bloggers of today; whether we’re talking John Chow or whoever; is that they essentially represent ‘personality cults’ that are actually pyramid schemes.
People actually believe if they follow this successful person, they will drink some liter of sweat that person produces; thus making the new blogger a success as well.
But it doesn’t work that way. In terms of information, unless your are into ACTUAL dissent of a particular line of logic (let’s say Ron Paul versus Barrack Obama) you aren’t really worth noticing. And these guys wear the ‘bling’ of great bloggers; but they are really more like insurance salesmen.
Look at almost any modern blog; it’s typically some guy posing in front of the car he bought. Is he successful via perception or skill? Chances are good it’s perception. And then, there are a million people that can do it. So why listen to that guy?
The real way they make their money is by leading people on. You don’t really think that a gamer blog offers more news than a place like IGN do you? You don’t think that a political pundit is more accurate than a book or Wikipedia do you?
in the end, it’s leading the everyman on.
My opinion might not count because Jason says I’m a personality cult, but I wanted to say that your list is awesome. Really great list and I love all those folks on it, except that Brogan weirdo. (I can’t put myself on my own list. Sheesh.)
Jeremy Pepper is awesome, and definitely worth a watch.
Want to know a magic trick about lists? They’re never good. They’re never the right people. Not even the Oscars. They’re just lists. What they do best, as you’ve demonstrated, is stimulate you to think about YOUR views.
And that’s the trick. : )
Lists are lists.
As long as I’m happy with what I write and say, that keeps me going. Thanks for the props here as you grasp what motivates me. Which, is much more than “social media”.
Lots of great thinking on the Web. Love it.
The weirdest part about this list is that I already read every blog you mention. What the hell… I’m never supposed to actually be right about anything
Thanks for the kind words, and putting me in the same company as these wise men.
David Armano’s comment above reminds me of a story. I grabbed drinks with David and a few of my colleagues when he was in New York about a year ago. I remember asking him what he thought about the fact that Apple Computer violated practically every “new marketing” tenet (social media, etc) in the book: secrecy, transparency-fail, animosity to hackers, and so on.
He said, “that’s because they sell crack – they can do whatever they want.” Saying he breaks down complex concepts is an understatement
He definitely isn’t pigeon-holed to social media.
Anyway, Jason’s comment above is accurate about some bloggers, but not the crew you mention here. It’s important to remember that not everybody is selling Snakeoil 2.0 — most aren’t selling anything at all.
Who the hell would want to blog for a living?
P.S. – Definitely using your “Snakeoil 2.0″ in a rant as soon as humanly possible.