Find insight and benefit from the thought-provoking blogs of these product marketing experts. Each tackles the problems and issues that we all face as product marketers from their unique perspectives. My top 10 list, in no particular order, includes:
- Shardul Mehta – Street Smart Product Manager
- Jeff Lash – How To Be A Good Product Manager
- Marlon Davis – Connecting.Some.Dots
- Ben Rees – Focus Product Marketing
- Cindy Alvarez – The Experience is the Product
- Stewart Rogers – Strategic Product Manager
- Chris Cummings – Product Management Meets Pop Culture
- Nils Davis – Wait, I Know This One
- Teresa Torres – Product Talk
- Rob Berman – Rob Berman’s Blog
There is a brief profile on each blog along with a link to their site. In addition to a screen shot of the site, I’ve provided few words usually edited right from their own About section. In most cases, I’ve also included their Twitter address.
A note on why these 10 blogs. I tried to focus on blogs that were written by individuals and not blogs from groups or companies. There are some great blogs that fall into this latter category, including:
- Brainrants – the Brainmates Blog
- On Product Management
- Pragmatic Marketing Blogs
- The Product Mantra
- A Random Jog
- Tyner Blain
Shardul Mehta…Street Smart Product Manager − The down-to-earth realities of what it takes to be a product ninja every day
Shardul Mehta is a simple product guy whose passion for great products is only exceeded by his love for chicken curry.
Here’s what you can expect to find on his blog:
- Tangible, actionable advice that you can execute on immediately. This is based on things I’ve seen work and not work. Writing about this actually sounds easier than it is.
- Thought provokers. Posts that push the envelope in thinking about how to conceive, validate, build and launch products. Hopefully, they will elicit discussion, debate, which can only help strengthen our field.
Find him on Twitter at @shardulmehta
Jeff Lash…How To Be A Good Product Manager
This is a blog that provides resources and tips on good product management practices. While it focuses more on managing technical and online products, most of the concepts are appropriate for broader product management purposes.
In most cases, Jeff came up with ideas for the postings based on a “good” product management experience, and then I tried to think of the exact opposite approach that would be a “bad” thing to do. Other times they are based on examples, case studies, or others’ experiences. “Bad” examples should not be interpreted to be based on product managers I have worked with in the past or with whom I am currently working. (Hopefully, though, they are not representative of product managers I will work with in the future!)
Find him on Twitter at @jefflash.
Marlon Davis…Connecting.Some.Dots
A blog on Product Management and Marketing Experiences, Connecting.Some.Dots was created to share Marlon’s experiences with other product managers who are working with technology and its application in order to introduce new and innovative products into the market and to sustain their success.
Visit Marlon’s LinkedIn profile to comment on his blog posts.
Ben Rees…Focus Product Marketing – A blog about product marketing, mostly for software companies
Ben Rees comes from a Product Management background but then moved over to the dark side of Product Marketing – which is the subject of this blog.
Find him on Twitter at @benjrees.
Cindy Alvarez…The Experience is the Product
Cindy Alvarez is a product manager who turns understanding the customer into competitive advantage.
Her philosophy is it’s all about the experience. She’s excited by companies who “get it” – that consumers don’t separate user experience from features and benefits of a product when they decide whether or not to use and recommend it.
But “the experience” isn’t just about consumers – it’s a dedication to ongoing improvement in how you work together and communicate and empower your teams. Everyone has to know where we’re going in order to get there.
That requires effective communication and a shared vision across multiple teams who often don’t “speak the same language”. She evangelize a product experience-driven development process.
Find her on Twitter at @cindyalvarez.
Stewart Rogers…Strategic Product Manager
Stewart is a promoter, evangelist and recognized thought leader of product management best practices. He is an experienced product management professional with over 10 years in online and technology product management.
Find him on Twitter @stewartrogers.
Chris Cummings…Product Management Meets Pop Culture
Product Management Meets Pop Culture is Chris’ attempt to give something back to the community that helped shape him as a product management professional. Why the pop culture?
Because most people “get” pop culture, and most people don’t really understand the role of “Product Manager” … but a good PM can mean the difference between a product achieving its goals or missing the mark.
Chris developed this site — using movies, comics, and other pop culture ephemera — to illustrate product management ideas that anyone can start using immediately, and to encourage discussion of best practices that we can all benefit from.
Follow him on Twitter @chriscummings01.
Nils Davis…Wait, I Know This One
On his blog Nils hopes to share some insights and experience he’s gained over 20 years of practicing and studying software product management. He has both a less sanguine view of product management plus a more extravagant view of its meaning. He’s most interested in the specific challenges that arise because product management is a complex domain and discipline.
Product management is not like other disciplines – management, sales, marketing, development, etc. And he doesn’t put much store in techniques that are meant to address those merely complicated domains (e.g., project management), because they don’t work well in the face of the complexity of product management. In short, he doesn’t think a machine is going to take over our job any time soon! In the product management world we constantly struggle to understand how products are successful, and why some are not successful despite the best efforts of our colleagues, while others succeed despite “doing everything wrong.”
You can also follow him on Twitter @nilsie.
Teresa Torres…Product Talk
Teresa is a product consultant and coach who works with early-stage companies helping them translate their big ideas into great products. Her focus is on helping product managers be better at what they do by sharing knowledge, building know-how, and refining practice. You can read more about the goal of her blog in her first post, Turning Big Ideas Into Great Products.
You can follow her in Twitter @ttorres
Rob Berman…Rob Berman’s Blog − Propelling Marketing Ideas
Rob helps companies grow their revenue and profits. He created this blog to share his experiences and to engage in conversation. In particular, he leverages his experiences as a marketer, product developer and product manager who consistently brings new products to market, manages existing lines of business, drives communications and achieves financial targets.
Follow him on Twitter at @rcberman.
Channel Instincts - A Marketing Blog By Greg Bonsib 