It does matter; unlike the web development world where blogs are ubiquitous, in some industries writing a blog may be a complete waste of time. A better way to

It does matter; unlike the web development world where blogs are ubiquitous, in some industries writing a blog may be a complete waste of time. A better way to market yourself may be to go out and actually shake hands with people. There is only one problem: getting someone to agree to a face to face meeting carries a higher opportunity cost for them than spending a few minutes reading your blog, so you are less likely to get agreement there. When you combine that fact with the large number of unemployed individuals in traditional industries who would love to get face time with an important person in their industry, it's just not a good idea for a manager, HR guy, or other decision-making individual at a company to agree to meet with each individual who requests a meeting. The basic problem in some older industries is essentially that a person can only demonstrate their skills within the context of a (sometimes large) company. A web developer or a designer can create a website or a blog and show the world how good they are, but a welder or a wind tunnel technician doesn't have the same opportunity. And hiring someone (especially at a large company) can be very expensive with all the benefits, training, and time spent acclimating the new hire to the company and its culture. Most companies simply prefer to go with the less risky option and screen employees who have been out of work for a while, which is very unfortunate.