4 ms·

There are 2 main strategies imo. 1. A blog that makes you a thought leader. People will like you, check out what you're doing, and perhaps start using your app

There are 2 main strategies imo. 1. A blog that makes you a thought leader. People will like you, check out what you're doing, and perhaps start using your app. This is the typical way to go for b2b, or if you have a big ego :) Another pro is that if you change your app, you still (may) have your readership. 2. A blog that extends the content of your app. This fundamentally is a set of landing pages that improve your SEO. One common strategy is to talk about problems that people may have, and that your app solves. Whether you want or not to be too explicit about your app it's a matter of tastes.

SN76477 9y ago
excellent way to put this.
jseliger 9y ago
It also helps a lot, in my experience as both a reader and a writer, to have something unique or unusual to say. Most people do not and consequently don't get readers and often waste a lot of time in the process. I'm admittedly in a somewhat unusual position, though, because I contribute to a blog about grant writing (http://www.seliger.com/blog http://www.seliger.com/blog) and basically no one else has anything useful or interesting to say about the topic. I exaggerate, but only slightly. I don't know how well blogging works for others, but I do feel like I've seen a lot of people and companies with really lame blogs and I have to think, "Is that really doing anything for you?" I'd be curious to see anyone with data on this subject, especially because I'm not even real sure what "data" would look like in this case.
flashman 9y ago
Format 3. "Problem I had while running my business, and my solution." Engineering blog posts are very popular on HN or /r/programming. Marketing, growth or product development might do better shared on Twitter or LinkedIn. People read it because the solution is interesting to them, but get exposed to your business as a consequence. CandyJapan's posts on dealing with credit card fraud were how I found out about their service, for instance: https://www.candyjapan.com/behind-the-scenes/how-i-got-credit-card-fraud-somewhat-under-control https://www.candyjapan.com/behind-the-scenes/how-i-got-credi...
- flashman 9y ago
  As an example, less than a day after my comment: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=16612536 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=16612536 "I'm doing ____. Recently I encountered an issue: ____. I've solved it by ____ and as a result ____."
vadimberman 9y ago
> A blog that makes you a thought leader I keep hearing that, but... Has anyone here actually seen it working? Not nitpicking, just looking for actual examples to learn from.
- sireat 9y ago
  The list is practically endless: Joel on Software, patio11, DHH, Seth Godin, Tim Ferris, countless SEO blogs, and so on in increasing order of cringiness. It is the whole modern melting of personality/advice/authority/promotion . Some are really sincere some are really good at faking it.
  - vadimberman 9y ago
    OK, thank you. For these guys the blogging seems nearly a full-time job though. I wonder if it's realistic to get there with a small slice of time.
- markshead 9y ago
  Keep in mind there is a whole spectrum of what constitutes thought leadership. Several times, I've had clients say, "Last night I was looking for X and I found a great article on it. Turns out it was something you wrote!" Another organization was going through their contracting process with me. One of their managers later told me that when they Googled for my name they were blown away by the size of my online footprint. Most of that was simply 10 years of blogging a few times each month about whatever topics I was finding interesting. Also based on my blogging, I've had fairly well-known companies interview me for their blogs or webinars while using descriptions like "one of the worlds leading experts in X." This was all based on years of blogging on the topic. Another great way to be viewed as a thought leader is to write a short book. Imagine you are looking at hiring two candidates that both look good, but when you search for their names you find that one has a book for sale at Amazon on a topic of interest to your company. It is a very strong way to market one's expertise.

SN76477 9y ago

excellent way to put this.

jseliger 9y ago

It also helps a lot, in my experience as both a reader and a writer, to have something unique or unusual to say. Most people do not and consequently don't get readers and often waste a lot of time in the process. I'm admittedly in a somewhat unusual position, though, because I contribute to a blog about grant writing (http://www.seliger.com/blog http://www.seliger.com/blog) and basically no one else has anything useful or interesting to say about the topic. I exaggerate, but only slightly. I don't know how well blogging works for others, but I do feel like I've seen a lot of people and companies with really lame blogs and I have to think, "Is that really doing anything for you?" I'd be curious to see anyone with data on this subject, especially because I'm not even real sure what "data" would look like in this case.

flashman 9y ago

Format 3. "Problem I had while running my business, and my solution." Engineering blog posts are very popular on HN or /r/programming. Marketing, growth or product development might do better shared on Twitter or LinkedIn. People read it because the solution is interesting to them, but get exposed to your business as a consequence. CandyJapan's posts on dealing with credit card fraud were how I found out about their service, for instance: https://www.candyjapan.com/behind-the-scenes/how-i-got-credit-card-fraud-somewhat-under-control https://www.candyjapan.com/behind-the-scenes/how-i-got-credi...

flashman 9y ago
As an example, less than a day after my comment: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=16612536 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=16612536 "I'm doing ____. Recently I encountered an issue: ____. I've solved it by ____ and as a result ____."

vadimberman 9y ago

> A blog that makes you a thought leader I keep hearing that, but... Has anyone here actually seen it working? Not nitpicking, just looking for actual examples to learn from.

sireat 9y ago
The list is practically endless: Joel on Software, patio11, DHH, Seth Godin, Tim Ferris, countless SEO blogs, and so on in increasing order of cringiness. It is the whole modern melting of personality/advice/authority/promotion . Some are really sincere some are really good at faking it.
- vadimberman 9y ago
  OK, thank you. For these guys the blogging seems nearly a full-time job though. I wonder if it's realistic to get there with a small slice of time.
markshead 9y ago
Keep in mind there is a whole spectrum of what constitutes thought leadership. Several times, I've had clients say, "Last night I was looking for X and I found a great article on it. Turns out it was something you wrote!" Another organization was going through their contracting process with me. One of their managers later told me that when they Googled for my name they were blown away by the size of my online footprint. Most of that was simply 10 years of blogging a few times each month about whatever topics I was finding interesting. Also based on my blogging, I've had fairly well-known companies interview me for their blogs or webinars while using descriptions like "one of the worlds leading experts in X." This was all based on years of blogging on the topic. Another great way to be viewed as a thought leader is to write a short book. Imagine you are looking at hiring two candidates that both look good, but when you search for their names you find that one has a book for sale at Amazon on a topic of interest to your company. It is a very strong way to market one's expertise.