Like a tourist destination, a blog destination must offer uniqueness, widespread appeal and a pinch of pizzazz.

But just as most places are a far cry from Turks and Caicos, most B2B blogs simply lack those traits necessary to draw substantial visitation. Neither tourism dollars nor business leads are generated.

People ask us all the time – just how do you go about establishing a successful B2B blog? Frankly, it’s difficult and requires a great deal of effort and commitment. If blogging were easy, everyone would be doing it (well).

There’s something to be said for having a sound distribution strategy; there’s something else entirely to be said for making your blog the destination for a topic that drives your business. That’s storytelling that creates value for your readers while also helping them understand the story of your business.

You can accomplish this two-pronged objective through many methods – industry tips, inside looks at your team, feature updates, etc. Ultimately, though, the goal must be sharing knowledge and driving leads to your business.

To become the best, start by reading the best. The elite are as diverse as they are talented. Some of the following industry-leading blogs are fresh-faced startups, while others are heavy hitters who have been getting content marketing right for years.

Editorial confession: A few of these bloggers are tools we use and a few others are customers. But their blogs still rock. Each blog listed below (in no particular order, by the way) comes with an example post that shows their stuff. Your next destination? B2B blog bliss.

1. Baremetrics

Josh Pigford, founder of Baremetrics, is great at putting together a compelling and transparent narrative. It helps that this blog is filled with business tips that impact your bottom line (and, it just so happens, they help you watch that bottom line with analytics for Stripe data).

If you’re only going to read one: 3 things we did to reduce churn by 68%

2. Vero

The consistency, the detailed examples, the in-depth content… it makes the editorial team at Beegit happier than someone using “farther” and “further” correctly. Or maybe it’s just the ever-eloquent Jimmy Daly, who routinely gives us blog gold with his prose: “Welcome emails are the Daryl Dixon of lifecycle email marketing. Soft-spoken, sometimes overlooked yet always kicking ass.”

If you’re only going to read one: 20 Tips for Dramatically Better Emails

3. Keen IO

They crush guest posts that show you how to use their product while telling someone else’s story (full disclosure: we know firsthand from a guest blog we did with them in 2014). They also do candor better than most, particularly when they discuss their growing pains and product roadmap.

If you’re only going to read one: Don’t Let Anyone Tell You That You Can’t be a Developer

4. Slack

Of course the Slack team gets their blog right. Do they do anything poorly? They’re like that rich, popular kid you want to hate, but then they offer to help you with your homework. They do feature updates and how-tos better than anyone. Those aren’t our favorite things in a blog, but they do them so well we forget that. Bonus points to them for a great blog title (Several People are Typing).

If you’re only going to read one: 722 Ways to Say “I Got Your Message”

5. Groove

Like many on here… it’s insanely candid. But it also has practical tips on marketing, growth and their moneymaker, customer service. Read it by their “Best Of” section, which acts like a blogging Hall of Fame of sorts, stocked full of insightfulness and inspiration.

If you’re only going to read one: Why I Turned Down $5 Million in VC Funding

6. Buffer

Good marketing tips and deep reviews of many other tools that complement their app. As social media continues to grow and evolve, these guys remain ahead of the curve. A social media marketer’s dream come true.

If you’re only going to read one: Facebook Insights to Test Today: Results from Studying 500 Million Facebook Posts

7. Help Scout

Serving as your own personal help desk, this blog explores the customer experience and customer-company relationship from unique angles. It lives up to the credo of helping “build a company people love.” Help Scout’s blog also earns an “A” for user-friendly topic organization.

If you’re only going to read one: What We’ve Learned Building a Remote Culture

8 & 8 1/2 Jay Acunzo

Jay Acunzo is technically only getting one spot on this list, but he has two blogs worth reading: Sorry For Marketing and The View From The Seed. It’s not often a two-way player comes along. The VP of Platform at NextView Ventures contributes both a personal content marketing blog and a venture capitalist blog for his firm. Both are of high quality. A blogger who counts both content marketers and VCs among his audience? Even Deion Sanders and Bo Jackson should be proud.

If you’re only going to read one: Startups: Here’s How to Brainstorm Better, According to Science

9. ExpenseBot

Yes, we help them. Still, this is innovation in a less-than-innovative industry. ExpenseBot has a knack for producing intriguing content related to the business travel industry. So we’re giving credit where credit’s due.

If you’re only going to read one: Should Your Business Have a Policy on How Much Traveling Employees Tip?

10. viperks

Full disclosure: We help these guys, too. But don’t let our modest level of assistance deceive you – viperks knows its stuff. No matter your company’s size, the employee engagement concepts contained within this blog can provide value.

If you’re only going to read one: 10 Unique Ideas to Create Employee Engagement

11. Content Marketing Institute

Is it a blog if it’s your whole business? We don’t know and we don’t care. It’s not surprising that a business built on content marketing gets content marketing so right. But it’s still impressive. Putting aside the love CMI gets as a fellow-Cleveland company, they are the powerhouse blog team to finish this post off right. They do everything well: guest posts, storytelling, infographics, how-tos… Just go copy their blog and you’ll be fine.

If you’re only going to read one: How to Find the Best Pieces of Content in Your Industry