Big Time Consultant Dead Wrong About Blogs & Social Media?

Are you famous because you blog? Or is your blog a success because you're already famous and have a great brand? Which comes first, the brand or the blog? In a twist of the chicken or the egg question, some pretty famous experts are in a heated debate online.

Debbie Weil of BlogWriteforCEO asks, "Which comes first, generally speaking: a brand or a blog? And, the central question, is social media effective at reaching a corporate audience if that's who your intended clients are?"

Weil gives a great summary of a heated debate going on over at Million Dollar Consultant Alan Weiss' ContrarianConsulting Blog. Newt Barrett of Content Marketing Today also does a great job of writing up the issues and summarizing the arguments.

Here's what stirred up the hornet's nest. Alan Weiss wrote this in a post called Blogs, Facebook, Twitter, and Chance on June 4, 2008:

"Blogs are only effective if you already have a brand. People come here, or go read Seth Godin, or Marshall Goldsmith, or Jeffrey Gitomer, or David Meister, because we’re all well known in our areas of expertise. That is, a blog follows a brand, not the other way around. You can’t create a brand just with a blog, unless you’re ridiculously lucky, and business can’t be based on luck."

With over 64 comments, Weiss' blog post achieved some pretty strong reactions from a few of the Internet's most successful bloggers, notably Seth Godin and Robert Scoble. They weren't very well known before they started blogging and they've since created strong personal brands through blogging.

Weiss goes on to make other bold statements about social media being a waste of time:

"My focus is on helping consultants and entrepreneurs to market their services better and improve their lives. I don’t think it happens with social networking on the Internet."

"With rare exception, consultants aren’t going to meet key corporate buyers online."

"... it’s a lousy place to find and meet clients."

Here's further comment about Weiss from Debbie Weil, corporate blogging expert:

"Weiss is best known as the author of the book, Million Dollar Consulting, as well as a host of other books and is a consultant (according to his About page) to dozens of Fortune 500 companies. He has a distinctive - some might call it abrasive - personality that seems to go over well with his C-suite clients. His over-the-top style is amusing in person (I've heard him speak) but I find his derogatory tone on his blog - specifically, in response to comments - off-putting."

This discussion is well worth going to the source to read all the comments. Make your own mind up after reading what others have to say.

Newt Barrett shares his own story of successful branding thanks to going online in 2007 to establish his brand:

"I started blogging in October 2007 and have since written more than 200 blog posts.  Virtually everything I have written focuses on content marketing and related marketing, PR, and advertising topics. 

"When I began, hardly anybody on the Internet was aware of me.  Not all that many more were aware of the concept of ‘content marketing.’ 

"As a direct result of a consistent weekly output of content marketing related articles, my blog/website comes up #1 on Google when you search for the term, content marketing.  Similarly, in the fourth quarter of 2007 the search term, content marketing, led only a few dozen people to my site; in the first quarter of 2008, more than 1600 content marketing searches directed visitors to ContentMarketingToday.com."

What do you think? Does blogging only work if you're already known? Or is it the other way around, you get known because of your strong online presence through blogging and social networking online? One thing I can say is that The Blog Squad wouldn't be where it is today if it were not for blogging!

The Blog Squad is presenting on Branding and Blogging this Thursday, July 10, 2008 at 2 p.m. ET on a teleseminar with Arvee Robinson and Lee Pound for Speak Your Way to Wealth. Registration is free (scroll to bottom of page and click on 2008 Teleseminars link).

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