Before we began this search, I spent some time trying to answer a very basic question : What type of person is required to create a successful business blog -- at HubSpot or any other company?
My answer? It's simple. You need to hire these five people:
Ernest Hemingway (A Great Writer) -- Great writing makes great blogs . Sure, you don't need to be Hemingway (and if you're not it certainly shouldn't stop you from blogging), but life is a lot easier if the person in charge of the blog can crank out ideas, edited copy and new posts without overheating his or her engines.
Steve Jobs (A Product Visionary) -- If you're running a business blog, you need to understand your business. Traditional journalists can get away with a focus exclusively on content. Business bloggers can't. Business bloggers need an analytical streak and a fixation on figuring out which type of articles are ranking in search engines, building reach and producing leads and sales .
Ashton Kutcher (A New Media Promoter) -- Ashton Kutcher used Twitter , photos and videos to vault onto Hollywood's A-List. He understands the value of content, the way it moves across social networks and the ways to use these forces to advance his own celebrity. Bloggers need to expand reach and engagement with their content. Posting an article and going home is not an option; successful bloggers post, share and engage.
Esther Dyson (A Thought Leader) -- A great blog adds great value. Value doesn't come from rehashing old ideas. It comes from challenging the way people think, and introducing new ways of doing business. If people don't learn from your blog -- if it doesn't add clarity to their view of the world -- they won't read it.
Michelangelo (A Cathedral Builder) -- You have to think big. Michelangelo wasn't doing drawings for a church in Rome, he was building St Peter's Basilica. If you think your blog is going to stay small, it will. If you think it could change your industry and improve people's lives, it might.
Of course, you can't actually hire these people -- and most small businesses can't devote somebody to blogging full-time. But when you're writing your blog, or you're thinking about who in your organization is the best person to lead the blog, these are the people to keep in mind.
So what do you think? Is there anybody else you'd add to this list? Let us know in the comments.
And one last thing: If you're a remarkable mix all these people, we'd like to hear from you .
Photos: Wikipedia
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Rebecca 8:31 AM on September 28, 2009
Could these people work well together? Even in these days of flat-world telecommuting, collaboration is essential, and having the right mix of people is almost as essential as having the right skills, and I think Ernest and Ashton would get on each other's nerves.
I'm being silly here, of course. You have a great description of a business blogger, and it's an inspiring reminder to those of us who blog for our businesses.
I hope you find your rockstar!
Rick Burnes 8:33 AM on September 28, 2009
Rebecca, I sure they couldn't!! That's why we need to find all these people channeled in one well-balanced superstar!
ilya 8:38 AM on September 28, 2009
1) Moses (a great leader)
2) Genghis Khan (a fellow who really wants to win marketshare)
Luke Brown 10:26 AM on September 28, 2009
Esther Dyson is one who stands out as an original thinker. Twitter and Facebook are full of people who post famous quotes by famous people. Like candy, that's nice while the buzz lasts, but there are no long-term benefits.
Even worse, these people are self-proclaimed 'social media gurus'. Thanks for the reminder that original thought prevails in the long run.
Shawn Cohen 11:42 AM on September 28, 2009
I would add a statistician, although I don't know any famous ones, and the reason for that is obvious to this crowd: metrics!
Tyler Hurst 12:42 PM on September 28, 2009
Wait...Ashton used twitter to vault onto Hollywood's A-List? Seriously? His marriage to Demi Moore had nothing to do with that?
Marjorie Steele 1:17 PM on September 28, 2009
Hemmingway was infamously spare with his words - which is why he's an excellent choice for this list. Great bloggers are writers who have mastered brevity, who know how to "pack a punch" with few words like Hemmingway. Or like HubSpot! Thanks for the motivating post.
Donna 1:45 PM on September 28, 2009
Seems to me Mother Teresa would be a great pick. She excelled at building followers and lived the life she preached about.
Helen Vaikona 5:18 PM on September 28, 2009
Hi, Thank you for sharing your suggestions. These are great leaders and advisors from history and present. However, my greatest icon is GOD. Through reading a chapter a day from the Bible GOD teaches us how to run a business the most simplest way. All it takes is an individual to have faith in GOD and deliver information that caters all categories of life. You can capture the whole market. Be yourself and deliver your information in the most professional respectable approach. GOD knows!
Take care. Lots of love from Helen
helen.vaikona@yahoo.co.nz
Pete Lambie 5:32 AM on September 29, 2009
I don't think Michelangelo built cathedrals, he just painted them (ceilings mainly)
Rick Burnes 7:16 AM on September 29, 2009
Pete, he was one of the primary architects of St. Peter's Basilica.
lisa thorell 8:36 AM on September 29, 2009
Hmmm.. let's not forget a portion of humor, sparkling wit and ridiculous tomfoolery: William Shapespeare Steven Wright, Dorothy Parker, Stephen Colbert...
Or passionate compulsiveness which reaches attention-absorbing whacko levels on a subject. Gary Vee. ;-)
Danusia 6:40 AM on October 01, 2009
How about Jeremy Paxman for his own inimitable interview technique? Or Simon Cowell for brutal honesty, actually maybe not, that probably won't endear the reader too much.
William Thomas 8:08 AM on October 01, 2009
Nice article. Creating content that will be appealing and useful to my target audiance while not taking 8 hours a day to do it is a huge challange. I would take any of your picks and get them posting right away.
Kenny MacCarthy 11:17 AM on October 01, 2009
Very insightful. Thanks for the thought poke. As a new blogger, I need all the help I can get.
Maddie 8:52 AM on October 08, 2009
Concise list; well organized. I will add that if your writer was Hemingway, it would most likely be raining whenever he wrote and Ashton would probably punk people on a daily basis.
That being said, there's a lot of truth to each of their standout personalities and capabilities.
Oh, Re: Shawn Cohen - I'd recommend R. A. Fisher for your famous statistician.