Interview with Dave Jung, lustrum blogger

Dave Jung has been running b2blog for 5 years. Thanks Dave for accepting to participate to this e-mail interview:

1) What started b2blog?
The original title of the blog was “The one-man marketing blog”. I am the solo marketer here at my employer, and I wanted to reach out to others like me.

I was struggling with decisions about when to quit traditional promotions like trade directories and magazines, and how much to invest in ‘new media’. It was a time of flux and seemingly important decisions that had to be made. I was hoping to find others to discuss them with–or at least discuss with myself (which is how a blog works for me).

2) Is b2blog the oldest b2b blog?
Hmm. That was five years ago. Looking through my bookmarks (from before RSS was invented), I did find one. It was Poelog, and interestingly enough, it was written by a fellow in the same city, working for a major manufacturer here. He started in May of 2001, lost steam in 2004, and finally called his blog dead last year.
It is still rare to find ‘marketing cogs in the machine’ like myself blogging. Most of the b2b marketing bloggers are working at agencies or are consultants.

3) What was the concept behind b2blog 5 years ago? How has it evolved?
I’m surprised by how much hasn’t evolved, to be frank. It apparently was a fully-realized concept at the start, I just couldn’t see the end-product without making it. Kind of like getting married: you look at this woman, feel like getting married, and do it. Then, ten, (or in my case 17) years later, you look back, satisfied.

4) During the period, did you experience (m)any blogging dips? How did you overcome them?
I’ve had a couple periods where I hadn’t posted in two or three weeks. But blogging was still in the back of my mind. To get out of the dip, I’ll pick a simple, timely, and fun subject to post about.

A couple times I’ve burdened myself with a subject that was too complicated to easily post about and get stuck with writer’s block. In those cases, I’ve found it easier to turn the post into a ‘questioning’ article just to get it done and past–and hope a couple readers comment on it and help me out.

5) How do you evaluate the experience after 5 years? What’s the main thing that made it worth your while?
Without a doubt, the greatest thing about blogging is talking to my readers. Comments on the blog, private emails, and even the occasional phone call are things that you don’t see on the the blog itself, but that really are the heart of B2Blog. As much as blogging is a solitary pursuit, it is also all about community.

To that point, I encourage readers to reach out to the bloggers they read. Post comments, ask questions, even contradict them. Both bloggers and readers will get so much more out of the blogoshere.

6) What’s next for b2blog?
Good question. I still write for myself, so the question kind of is, what is next for Dave Jung? I think I need to grow into my ‘manager’ title, so you may see more posts pondering what it takes to be an effective marketing manager.