When Marketing is Gross

I'm usually not one for crowing about my own abilities, but I've come to realize that in social media, if you don't speak up, you're apt to be ignored. Unless you raise your hand and join in the conversation, there's enough going on online that you stand the risk of being missed (or ignored).

To wit, I'm taking a page from Sherlock Holmes:

"I cannot agree with those who rank modesty among the virtues. To the logician all things should be seen exactly as they are, and to underestimate one’s self is as much a departure from truth as to exaggerate one’s own powers."

Today, I discovered that I made it to #144 - that's right a gross - on the Power 150 Top Marketing Blogs list, a global ranking of top English-language marketing blogs. Not that it's a completely scientific analysis of the space; but it is at least a comparative ranking of where marketing blogs rank with respect to each other.


The reason I'm making such a big deal out of this is
because exactly 8 weeks ago, I finally switched to my own domain name - but it was not without consequences. I lost all of my Technorati links and rankings and knew it was going to be a slog to regain them.

I realized that the only way that I'd get back in the game was to get noticed. I contacted Todd And, the keeper of the Power 150 list, to let him know that my blog existed. He put in through the And-0-meter and I debuted at #240 on April 3. Admittedly, this was below the fold and in the Honorable Mention category, which was respectable, but certainly shy of my goal of being in the top 150.



I began commenting on a variety of blogs, plus my Twitter network began driving traffic to my site and providing links. I joined 2K bloggers and was invited to participate in an ebook. All of this, plus contextual links that fellow bloggers shot my way based on the content I created, lead to where I am today.

That's a long way of saying I couldn't have done this alone. I have personally witnessed the true power of a social network by its collegiality and cooperation to encourage all its members to improve. I'm perpetually amazed, encouraged and humbled by the willingness of my new media colleagues - many of whom I've never met in person - to go the distance to help out a fellow marketer.

As Mr. Holmes said, "I am lost without my Boswell."