What Bloggers Do You Follow That Have an Incredible “Voice”?

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1. deanouellette on July 6, 2010 8:49 am

   Drew, I wrote the top ten posts of the day for a year and during that time followed over 300 blogs on a regular basis. I feel I have a good grasp, at least in my opinion, of some of the strong voices out there. A few others to consider are Rob Hahn (I think has to be in any top 5 group with Davison) Dan Green, Jeff Brown, Justin McHood and Jim Duncan. There are a few great content writers out there that few have ever heard of that include such as Mary Pope-Handy (http://sanjoserealestatelosgatoshomes.com), Joe Manausa (http://www.manausa.com/). Then there is also Michael McClure at Professional One.

   Guess it depends on what you mean by voice. If you mean someone who speaks out and generates a lot of discussion then my vote would be for
   Davidson
   Hahn
   Thompson
   McHood
   McClure or Berg

2. drewmeyers on July 6, 2010 9:23 am

   Dean-
   Everyone you mentioned have awesome voice in their writing as well. Picking a top 5 is always tough and someone will inevitably get left out. Maybe I should expand this to 10-15…but then I guess I'd still be leaving people out. Oh well, the comments here will be the rest of the list for people that are really interested in finding examples of great voice.

3. Goodyerlivng on July 6, 2010 1:15 pm

   As a real estate dork myself, and newbie to wordpress/ blogging I have been searching the net for great real estate blogs for content and format ideas. I have found that there is only two types of real estate blogs.

   1. A blog were the agent or broker just vomits Re data and listings allover there blog and facebook pages and adds nothing of value to reader.

   And

   2. Blogs like Ines's miamism or Jay Thompson's were you actually get to know the person who is writing. I think this the best way to go.

   Eli

4. Patrick Birdsong on July 6, 2010 6:05 pm

   Great question… I follow quite a few bloggers as well.

   In real estate:
   Ian Watt – http://www.ianwatt.ca/
   Brian Copeland – http://nashvilleandbeyond.com/
   James Nellis – http://www.nellisgroup.com/Blog/
   Ashton Gustafson – http://www.texomahomesource.com/Blog
   John Jones – http://www.johncjones.com/Blog

   Out of real estate –
   Chris Brogan – http://www.chrisbrogan.com/
   Chris Guillebeau – http://chrisguillebeau.com/3×5/
   Tim Ferriss – http://www.fourhourworkweek.com/blog/

   Shamless plug – our new video blog http://www.WestAustinMarketplace.com.

   Thanks,
   PB

5. Karen Goodman on July 6, 2010 8:35 pm

   My favorite blog would surprise most people. Most of the blogs I read are on blogging, marketing or social media. Most are somehow related to the real estate field.

   I read very few 'personal' blogs, but my favorite blogger writes mostly about his kids and the life lessons that he recognizes from raising them. He throws in an assortment of topics on lessons learned from work and life in general, and once in a while tosses in a tech field comment. His lifestyle and background is about as far as you can get from mine. Still, I can't get enough of his posts. Maybe it's because he has welcomed all of us into his family and his failings, while he strives to do better.

   I always feel that I should be as insightful as he is when I finish reading.

   You should check him out:

   Brent Nordquist
   http://blog.nordquist.org/
   @akula

   Here is a post that gives you an idea of what I mean:
   http://blog.nordquist.org/nights-like-these/

6. JoeColleen on July 7, 2010 6:51 am

   Just visited AVC and enjoyed it and subscribed. Nice concise and powerful list Drew.

7. JoeColleen on July 7, 2010 1:51 pm

   Just visited AVC and enjoyed it and subscribed. Nice concise and powerful list Drew.

8. Brett Nordquist on July 8, 2010 5:16 pm

   Karen, you made my day. No, you made my month with your comment. Thank you.

9. Ardelld on July 10, 2010 10:58 pm

   As with anything else, there are different “voice” objectives. Someone with an awesome “radio voice” often has a studied affectation that makes it so. An admirable quality, but others might prefer more reality to the voice, like Harold Stern

   Same is true for bloggers, I appreciate “knowing” someone through their blog voice, so I expect a match. My choices would likely mirror Drew's for that reason. When I met Jay Thompson, I already knew him. Same with Marc Davison.

   There are many, many bloggers who have “voice”…but it isn't necessarily “their” voice. It's a professional persona that they adopt much like “the radio voice” and does not reflect a true picture of the person behind that blog-voice. Once a blog is being used as a “marketing tool” and viewed primarily as a “marketing tool”, all too often the “voice” of the blog does not reflect the true personality of the blogger.

   That you “like” the person is not the barometer of voice, and the best of bloggers often have a love/hate relationship with their readership. So try naming all the bloggers you hate, as likely they also reflect true “voice” in their blogging.

   There are many bloggers I have met whom I did not like in person…and I did not like their blogging either. It was “a match” and they have “voice”. For the consumer, knowing who they do not like, is just as important as finding the ones you do like.

10. Mary Pope-Handy on July 11, 2010 10:49 pm

    Dean thank you so very much! I have a couple of blogs (the other one is better known and twice as old) and am really trying to grow this one so really appreciate your kudos and plug!!

11. Jonathan Dalton on July 12, 2010 6:32 am

    Well, I still like me.

12. drewmeyers on July 12, 2010 5:10 pm

    I'm with you Ardell – the best bloggers stay true to themselves and aren't in it just to market themselves. It's obvious when they are passionate about what they are writing about, and it shows in their voice.