Joel Spolsky runs a software company, and he writes very well on the subject of software. He has written some insightfull articles that we've talked about on this site.
But he is an incessant and unrelenting self-promoter. Which seems undeniable unless you ask Joel himself.
This section of an interview from a new book by Bob Walsh on Indie Software Vendors just cracked me up.
They are talking about blogs and marketing, and the subject comes around to Joel's blog:
Q: "Do blogs fit there?"
Joel: "Tell me whose blog. On my blog, I don't attempt to blog for the purpose of marketing."
Q: "So PR is free and low price. It may be your blog, or it may not be."
Joel: "I don't think a blog can do marketing"
...
Q: "Well, what would you say about Joel on Software then?" [joel's blog]
Joel: "Ah! You see this is sort of different. Joel on Software is editorial not on the subject of my business."
A fun drinking game is to visit joel's blog and drink every time you see a story that promotes his own software or books.. but please kids don't play this game unless you can afford to sleep off a nasty drunk at a friends house.
http://www.joelonsoftware.com/All kidding aside, joel is a great writer. but come on joel, your blog is not on the subject of your business, and it has nothing to do with marketing. that's a good one.
