Hugh Mcleod - talented or lucky?

It's strange, this blogging world.

In real life, you meet people and their ego, dress sense, voice or something gets in the way.

You meet them online and all that outside stuff is cast aside. You meet the person's brain.

Hugh Mcleod is a classic. At first glance, unprepossessing, someone described him as Bunteresque - which probably was too close for comfort. He lurks in his Cumbrian eyrie, periodically showing up at blogfests and conferences.

He's a very smart cookie though. He is furiously spinning his web of contacts. No, make that a web of  fans.

When I met Scoble's wife Maryam last year, I was impressed that her business card had my favourite Mcleod cartoon on the back. The one with two droopy looking people looking at each other: the man says something like "was it good for you?" and the woman replies "read my blog".

This is only one of McLeod's talents. A lot of his drawings miss the mark, for me at least. But he is so darned prolific his 'hit rate' is well up there with the top cartoonists. A long time ago he decided that 'drawing cartoons on the back of business cards' was a good basis for something. I wonder if he ever dreamt what?

He turfs up at events and people - the A-listers especially - practically queue for Hugh to draw something for them. What a great way to build an address book. I wonder if he's done one for Bill Gates yet? And, regardless of his address book, what a way to drive curiosity about him and links to gapingvoid.

As a door-opening device, it's unbeatable. And no-one else can mimic him, even if they had the talent.

Then he blogs. My God, does he blog. And, of course, all these people with business cards (and a lot, like me, without) link to him and talk about him. He is the God of disruptive marketing. Well that's the impression he gives. Sometimes I think he's full of shit, but most times I don't.

I think he's actually very good at seeing opportunities and coming up with creative ways of exploiting them.

"The English Cut" - a British tailor hauled from obscurity and made into an international brand. Largely through blogging. The tailor (Thomas Mahon) talked about his first love (tailoring) in a blog. I mean, can you imagine your tailor doing this? It got noticed. He got coverage and his threads are now coveted by those who can afford them.

Stormhoek wine - Mcleod is trying to get 100 blogger dinners set up across America. And the deal? Stormhoek will supply the wine.

Thingamy is another pie into which Mcleod's fingers are well and truly inserted. Watch this space.

And so it goes on.

He says "copy me" - anyone can do it. But, frankly, I don't think many people have the talent to seize the first mover advantage like Hugh does.

If you want a stimulating read, take a look at his essay on how to be creative. It could change your life.

Comments

[dahowlett]

Now you know why I got him to do me a MacLeod original on the question of ROi...

[Hugh MacLeod]

"He says "copy me" - anyone can do it."

I actually do believe that, pretty much.

As far as being full of shit, well, the hardest part of my job is not getting too excited about ideas, too quickly.

Thanks for the kind words =)

[David Tebbutt]

You're welcome. (I think most of them were kind anyway)

[David Everitt-Carlson]

Hugh and I started on the same day at Leo Burnett in Chicago in 1989. This book is a long time coming and welcome.

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