People I Admire, Part 3: Mitch Joel

Most people I know probably have no idea who Mitch Joel is. That’s not to say he isn’t well-respected or an authority in his field, but he doesn’t crave the limelight. He has spoken before about how he could have taken a different route to gain more exposure for his blog, but he chose to use it as a vehicle for what he thought, not a watered-down version that would be easier for the mainstream consumer to understand. (Cue any Rage Against the Machine song.)

You’d never know Mitch didn’t complete college from hearing him speak or reading his published work. I respect his opinions and style just as much as any other media outlet or personnel I learn from. He continually surprises me with the quality of his work, especially since his roots are in marketing, not journalism. He asks the kind of questions that you’d expect out of hard-hitting reporters or digital philosophers, not someone in the business of earning the ultimate currency: attention.

If you asked any of Mitch’s guests, I’ll bet they would say they had a more thought-provoking discussion with him about their field than they had with anyone else recently. He gets the best nuggets out of his guests and the research he does as well, so there’s a valuable lesson or three to learn from each piece of content he so carefully crafts.

Mitch is never afraid to share an opinion that contradicts the majority, even if it refutes the expert he interviews in a given episode of his podcast. I certainly don’t consider myself a marketing expert this early in my career, but I feel legitimately smarter each time I tune into Mitch’s thoughts.

Whether or not you’re in the marketing industry, I highly suggest you listen to Mitch Joel’s podcast (and read his blog too). If you’d like to be seen as an authority in your field, there’s a lot to be learned from one of digital marketing’s superstars.

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If you enjoyed this post, you’ll like the previous two entries in this series. One is about me (so your satisfaction is 1,000% guaranteed), and the other is about one of the people I look up to most in the professional world.

Part 1

Part 2