[fardo]

> I don't ask my plumber to show me their blog posts.

Yes, but you probably read his reviews online, compared his quotes with competitors in the space to pick one with a good reputation, and otherwise sought signals of competence. Blog posts are the very same thing, quickly verifiable, albeit potentially wrong, signals of skill and competence.

> Just hire people that can do the job you're paying them for

Speaking bluntly, this is what hiring people that can do the job looks like. Attacking those that take the effort to show they have that experience because others wouldn’t is tall poppy syndrome, and it neither improves the quality of the field nor actually helps those struggling that need more support so they can operate at the same level as others.

[fnimick]

I didn't know being a plumber that gets good reviews involves putting in a substantial amount of unpaid work.

[fardo]

It often quite literally will.

Free quotes and inspections prior to work commencing, time potentially spent waiting for jobs to come in in which customer support and taking calls are essentially a pure unpaid cost center for the business, taking the time to answer customer questions wholly unrelated to the job potentially even after the job completed, a desire by customers to hear you say things like

> hey, I saw your valve on blah was loose when it shouldn’t be, since I was there and it was an easy fix, tightened it for you as part of the job, no charge.

And there are likely more, I’m not a plumber.

If you are looking for it, you’ll find many cases of “free work is used as a tool to distinguish oneself, delight, and lubricate business”, and plumbing is no exception.

[wiseowise]

All things equal, I’d rather hire plumber who has a blogpost where they tinker with some plumbing systems.

[aembleton]

Some make content for YouTube which gets them work.