Why Google Loves Blogs
Mike Golby points us to an article by John Hiler that tells us why.

"When you cut out the bullshit, what's left of marketing?"
Doc points us to this oldy but goody in response to the conversation on the Dvorak piece (of crap) on Cluetrain. Also, I can't go without pointing you to Cluetrain co-author Chris Locke's eloquent response to the article. Dvoraks pitiful rebutle. And RB's response.

From David Weinberger in a Fast Company Interview: Web Sites Need to Belong to the Customers
"The biggest mistake that most companies make is to think that a Web site belongs to them. Companies just don't get it. Individuals believe that the Web belongs to us. ... On the Web, companies can only control the conversation by being interesting -- and most corporations are afraid of being interesting."

"Most important, I'd avoid the temptation to think of my Web site as mine. Look at the Royal Dutch/Shell site [www.shell.com]. There, visitors can engage in online conversations on a wide range of social issues. Many of the comments are critical of the company, but Shell doesn't interfere. The company understands that it can't own the Web. In a way, that's a huge -- and rare -- leap forward."

I can't get this out of my head: "A company's web site should belong to its customers." This just makes so much sense. I think I feel a Paradigm Shift coming on. Look out!

Advertising After the Revolution
Rageboy points us to this verycool piece and this piece too on the Cluetrain list. Give yourself 10 minutes and some speakers and enjoy.

If you like those, taste these here.

Google Enhances Ad Offering
Google has made it's relevant advertising a little more relevant. Ever notice how when Google adds something to it repertoire, it's always really, really neat?

Is Advertising Dead? Adweek's Jack Feuer, Gonzo and Cluetrain
My December 3rd issue of Adweek has been sitting on top of my dresser for the past couple months folded (now permanently) to an op-ed that brings up a feeling I get reading Cluetrain and Gonzo.

The feeling is ... do exceptional advertising professionals already use the same concepts written about in Cluetrain and Gonzo? Are we just frustrated at the advertising junk which increasingly pervades our lives while not recognizing true advertising ingenuity and greatness? Because I think ingenuity and greatness in advertising is out there.

Within Reach: Looking for people, not their demographics or lifestyles. The author is Jack Feuer. (Sorry no link, Adweek doesn't keep an archive online). This is how the story goes:

Jack's revelation occured while sitting behind a Land Rover with tinted windows. The truck had a sticker most have seen: That snarling kid taking a whiz. The Land Rover and pisser sticker juxtaposed, Jack reflected. Why doesn't a lot of advertising work?

Jack writes:

Advertisers know all about fragmented media. They don't know enough about fragmented consumers .... [Advertisers] change us the same way they have changed the media.

For sure, they recognize that we have endless choices. That we are in control of the ever-multiplying array of media we are exposed to every day. But what's needed is real insight into how that choice and control change us. [personally, for that insight I recommend reading Cluetrain and Gonzo Marketing].

They change us the same way the have changed the media. We are demassified.

This, of course, is why marketing to demographics doesn't work as efficiently anymore. But the obvious response to that--crafting media plans and creative based on lifestyles--is equally futile. Because each of us is now a market of one."

Jack gives us an example of himself. Jack's demographic makes him out to be the bar hopping type. But Jack's really a huge Buffy fan...

If you knew me as a demassified individual, as a market of one, you'd forget my penchant for dimly lit bars and bad scotch. You'd ignore the gray in my hair and the extra pounds. You'd advertise on a TV show only 12-34s are supposed to like.

All the talk about relationship marketing and one-to-one communication is just vapor, because those concepts are mostly honored in the breach.

With all the vaunted technology that advertising brings to bear, we still haven't really figured out how to reach people as individuals. How to reach them through their minds instead of their demographics or their lifestyles. Through what they care about instead of what they're supposed to care about.

Optimizers won't do it. Focus groups are mostly just exercises in creative collective lying.

And this is where I think Jack takes an interesting turn. Instead of saying, "go out and buy Gonzo Marketing to learn how to converse within the micromarketplace," he says "Perhaps media people ought to act a little more like creatives. Get out on the street. Talk to people. Pay more attention to the 'outlyers' on both ends of the tabulation charts. Barrow some account planning tricks."

Or transform "advertisers" to the real people in the corporation. Let them talk to the customers. Underwrite sites of common interest. --- alright, Jack didn't write this last part.

One of the things that kept tugging at my conscience while reading Gonzo Marketing were the role of Account Planners and exceptional creatives in creating effective advertising in the age of the web. They don't talk in "corporate-speak." For example, Nick Usborne isn't breaking any companies, he's writing great copy for the web. Just like great copywriters have written great copy for great ads for over a century. I don't think every (qualified) individual in an entire corporation has to start communicating with the outside world for corporate communication (FKA advertising) on the web to be effective, as Gonzo suggests.

Good advertisers need to understand how the web works. Know how it empowers customers. How customers are people. Not demographics. Not targets. Not to be marketed to.

Gonzo teaches us many things. Primarily, broadcast doesn't work on the web. Also, people are talking in micromarkets on the web. They are smarter and more cynical about advertising. But I think Gonzo is a tactic to be used. It's not the system's new replacement.

Blogging and Journalism
I've read a lot recently on comparisons between blogging and journalism. I never made the connection until I read Doc's blog today.

What's wrong with Journalism today? As Deborah Branscum, a contributing editor to Newsweek and a contributor to Fortune.com's Valley Talk column, alludes to in her blog, journalism has become "the space between the advertisements, which pay for the entire operation." She continues describing how journalists only know what they're told, which is often one company's spin on how they want to position themselves ... and in worse case scenarios flat out lies to cover up scandal (i.e. Enron).

Blogging on the other hand, like Doc points out, allows individuals to tell stories as they see it. Not as what they're told to say. Because blogging is so personal, not influenced by ad revenue (or any outside revenue/pressure for that matter), but projects one's true passions and visions, more truth is seen in in blogging. And truth is the ultimate goal of journalism. Doc even goes further and says the conversation--the give and take of blogging--produces more authentic truths:

We're all sources for each other here, and don't have the pressures of space, deadlines or formats to restrict who we source or the stories they tell. Here we can vet ideas about what might be true, in faith that others who know more will correct us, or pick up the story and carry it forward.

Blogs are thickly woven into the web of what we know, what we want to know more about and how we inform each other. That makes them vastly different from the information distribution system that constitutes Journalism as Usual.

On the Web, we are not distributors of Information. What we give and gain is not a commodity. It's what we know. And when we share what we know, we get improved knowledge and far more well-qualified opinions.

Journalists blogs will become a great source of information. My question for the audience is (all one of you), does the public in general realize and care about the pressures from ad revenue and limited sources? Will they become tuned in to blogging? Or will it seem to the Bud Light drinking, Friends watching, NASCAR loving typical American like some weird internet thing for techie geeks? How and how quickly can the masses become engaged with blogging as a source of information?

Brainstorm Better
Just something very practical from MarketingProfs. Though some of this might seem obvious, we sometimes need a refresher because of all the deadlines we're under and the expected reactions we obsessively anticipate from clients.

EGR: Watching the Detectives
Where to start??? And how ironic. I'm seriously chuckling. Big brother is watching, and look what they snagged. My employer, like many, has decided to start using software to monitor emails coming into my inbox. Looks for "dirty" words. Literally. This is the message I received:

-----Original Message-----
From: spamadminit@.com [mailto:spamadminit@.com]
Sent: Tuesday, February 05, 2002 9:18 PM
To: "ScottKnowles@mail..com"
Subject: Dirty Words_Notify


************* eManager Notification **************

*****Your message was trapped due to foul language. Please contact the sender of the message and have them remove the offending word and resend. Please refrain from future use of foul language to prevent your messages from being trapped again. *****

Now this wasn't one of the hundreds of peda-porno-necro sleeze ball spamo email messages I have received at my work email address over the past year. It was the latest enstallment from EGR. Of the 2,952 words that so brilliantly, intelligently and informatively appear in the text, a whopping 2 fit one's definition of "dirty words." (Don't get me wrong, I don't claim to understand 2,245 of those words, but somehow it all jives together) I do have to disclaim: I typically don't receive any Locke related email at work (I know better than that), but email problems at Excite (which, I must say, they handled extremely well considering the crap they had to put up with) forced me to make a temporary change.

One final thought: The irony of the title of Locke's latest send, "Watching the Detectives." I think it's time we start watching the detectives.

KFFL Case Study
Content Biz from MarketingSherpa provides a great case study on a business model that works. KFFL is an online fantasy football site that has become one of the best NFL news sites on the web. The case study even claims pro-trainers and scouts use the site because it's so up to date. A mix of subscription fees and ad revenue keeps them up and very successful. Text ads dominate and advertisers get calls from KFFL if their ads suck and need to be changed. Some advertisers have been loyal for years.

Charles Munat on Design
Charles Munat creates a compelling vision of web design. Charles argues that designers are stuck in control mode. All forms of creativity before the digital age were in a fixed space. The designer always had the illusion of controlling the design. But as Charles points out, that was never the case. Every creation has never truly replicated the designers intended presentation. Films in crappy theatres (one of my favorites), paintings with unintended lighting and muted TV commercials. What makes the internet different is it is truly interactive. It has the potential to illuminate the control put on viewers. It puts the audience and the creator in a conversation where the experience for the audience (or users) is truly democratic. Or so Charles would argue.

Or is this a pipe dream. I think the web makes this more possible. But not entirely possible. The designer is always in a sense going to control the user's experience. Every designer has a vision. And, I think, by definition that means they want to control how the audience views his/her work. Now, a lot can be said about increasing interactivity. After all, it benefits "the establishment" to design for the needs of the user.

David Weinberger brings Charles' argument down to earth in Darwin. David argues that pure collaboration is undesirable and that there is a price to severing content and presentation. I'm just curious what David thinks that price is.

MIA
Did Eric Norlin go Blogump? No posts since January 9th? Where is the fearless warrior of the Internet? Did he take on another fearless covert mission of his former self battling bin Laden's cronies in the trenches of Afghanistan? Or did he conspicuously disappear with that "funky chick that he met through a Colorado professional association?" Will we ever know? And if we did, would he have to kill us?

Coaching Carousel
I remember the days when football in January used to be about playoffs. Dirt. Mud. Grud. The best of the best. Battling head to head. But it's the NFL and it's New Economy owners (e.g. Danny-Boy) have created something more of a As the World Turns than (read in NFL films voice) The Packers At Lambeau Field. Really, I thought the WWF was the soap opera for guys. No, no. It's the NFL. What's next. Check out the rumor mill.

I want my NFL. Not these Days of our Lives.

Spurrier Routs Schottenheimer
Joel Achenbach - How the rest of the NFL failed to land Spurrier while Danny-Boy goes for the bomb.

Does Advertising Even Work?
Market Profs asks this question and follows up with, if so, when and why. But we should be also asking how advertising works (or does that fit under why ...) There is so much focus on which type, which medium, which vehicle, which formula is best. What about good old creative? I truly believe advertising works, but it is becoming less effective for two reasons: There is increasingly more of it, and increasingly more of it sucks. Why? We are less engaged with customers. We don't connect, except in very few cases. There must be more attention paid to how we connect with customers. They are smarter and more cynical.

The article from MarketingProfs is a good start. But I think the answer to the question posed above runs much deeper.

The Media Grok back with a New Face: Media Unspun
The editors and creator of the Industry Standard's Media Grok ezine are back. Of course International Media Group retained the naming rights to Media Gork and Industry Standard, but Jimmy Guterman promises the same quality as the original Grok. This is really what the new media journalisim needs ... I'm glad they're back.

The only bummer is they will be charging $40 for the subscription come March once it becomes a daily. I hope it works. But some have their doubts. Until March, though, I know I'll be eagerly awaiting. And who knows, maybe I'll chip in for a sub.

Bad Customer Service .... Right Back At Ya!
From Doc Searls' blog - the greatest complaint I've ever seen. This makes you want to jump up and shout, "yeh! one for the team!"

Gonzo Engaged - Real World Quesitons
There's a great thread going on a Gonzo Engaged about the profitability of Gonzo Marketing and how to gauge it's true value to a company. I'm not sure what stance I would take ... I really need time to go back through the thread. But Clay Shirky asks the question any sane business will ask and that we Gonzo Marketers need to have a business friendly answer for ... can a company utilize Gonzo Marketing, spend less money and get a better return: "If you tell P&G you have a way to sell more Jello, you'll be politely shown the door. If you tell them you have a way to sell more Jello for the same money they're spending now, you'll be told to take a number. Only if you tell them you have a way to sell more Jello for less than they are spending now will you be ushered into the marketing directors office."

to be continued ...

The Media Monopoly & The Big Ten
Chris Locke directs us to a great article and chart from The Nation about the monopolizing of information sources. Honestly, only skimmed the article, but I want to put it here to explor later in greater depth.

The Truth About Asking too Many Questions
This is a great article by Dev Bhatia at ClickZ on the New York Times' attempt to collect more data from its online registrants. I've always heard and intunitively known the more questions, and more personal the questions, one asks (no matter how valuable their brand is, i.e. NYT) it doesn't make much web sense.

From the article:
Instead of asking the registrants for the answers to these questions, what if The Times had gone to a third-party data bureau and simply appended this data to its files? Demographic data of this sort is a commodity and can be had for pennies per record. Had The Times done this, it would likely have gotten more accurate data, because appended data is much more likely to be accurate than online-form data, which is notoriously unreliable. So, it could have expected to raise the price of future advertising even higher. In addition, The Times would not have suffered from the drop-off in conversion rates, which occurs when too many questions are asked.

In economic terms, The Times could expect to make more advertising dollars in the future by measuring its cost as the cost of appended data rather than that of lost registrants. It would be creating revenues without harming its asset. Clearly, The Times's online enterprise is valued by its total number of subscribers.

POELog Links To Hyper-Conversations
Thanks Rob Poel for linking to my blog .... you're the first that I know of. Check out Rob's Blog.

Google's 2001 Zeitgest
Nostradamus is the big winner this year. Honorable mentions go to: World Trade Center, Anna Kournikova, CNN, Osama Bin Laden and Harry Potter. The big losers are: Election Results, Pokemon, the Olympics.

The Adventures of Cy Netson
Year: 2084
Place: Somewhere in the Mid West

Cy: Mom, what is that symbol?
Mom: What symbol?
Cy: Everytime I get mail, this squarish thing with a triangle in the middle pops up on my Com.
Mom: That's what they called an envelope.
Cy: What's an envelope?
Mom: When I was just a little girl we used to receive messages on paper. They were enclosed in an envelope and delivered to a physical box, we called a mail box. You would call it an inbox. All the companies couldn't afford to keep sending mail.
Cy: How much did it cost?
Mom: I could send your grandmother a letter for $3.17.
Cy: Grandmother didn't have a Com?
Mom: No, she came from a different generation.

Happy New Year!
I'm ready to kick some butt in 2002! Starting with making my Q1 goals, losing 40 lbs and kicking my career in the upward direction (this plateau has worn out its welcome!).

Another good Gonzo Review.
Locke's Cluetrain cohort, David Weinberger, reviews Gonzo on Darwin.

Dot.Bomb
I got Sean Carton's Dot.Bomb Survival Guide for Christmas this year. So far, I'm enjoying the read. Lot's of facts and figures backed up with Sean's web sense. So far, the only thing I don't like is I wish Sean would put in more analysis. Because when he does, it's right on.

Gonzo Marketing Review from disinformation
A very thorough, well though-out, although critical review of Gonzo Marketing. This is the first review to say Locke didn't go far enough, that he doesn't discuss the long term implications thoroughly enough. Not sure if I agree yet or not:

"My problem with Locke's book is not just that I'm jealous he wrote it before I did, but because, in nit-picking True Believer style, I don't believe he goes far enough or considers the long-term implications of what he proposes. Gonzo Marketing hints at the transition currently under-way in marketing--a transition sparked by the Internet, and also by the glaring limits of current demographic/psychographic modelling tools--yet a transition that also requires a psychological shift by the marketeer beyond 1to1 models or living off the growth of alt.subcultures."

Eric Norlin
That bastard is going to Vail ... yes I am envious. That's it, I'm moving to Colorado. Sometime.

BTW, just noticed Eric got front page propson Blogger.com for comparing rap music to blogging. I never liked rap music. But I dig the comparison.

The Power of the First Person
Nick Usborne birngs up one of the best points I've heard on online copywriting: "The network of the Web is made up of hundreds of millions of individuals who email, chat, discuss, and share in the first person. People online connect with one another on an individual basis far more frequently than they buy at online stores. The Web is a fabric of individuals above all else, not a mall." So "perhaps the Web is the one place where the first-person singular is absolutely appropriate."

Which led me to think about the old days of the web when there were webmasters for each site. They had ownership on these sites. Nick suggests using this first person technique on corporate sites. I wonder out loud whether companies should not only give their sites the voice of a singular person, but actually put a real (not corporate mascot) personality behind it. An actual person. "Wecome to Coke.com. My name is Scott Knowles and let me show you around."

An Email Message From Corporate
It's not very often something from the heart comes from someone at the top. This is from TMP's COO and Global Director of North America. This is a hard nosed guy who doesn't take squat from nobody. He's one of the most saaviest business people around. And he has a warm heart.

As we enter the Holiday season, reminiscing on the past seems to be part of the year-end tradition. You look back at all that has transpired. Moments of elation, and joy coupled with moments of frustration and sadness. This year I have struggled to find the joy. With the difficulties we have all experienced in business, the life altering events we have faced as global citizens and the issues challenging our nations, frustration and sadness weigh heavy on my heart.

Life repeatedly shows us, that even in the worst of times, in the darkest of days, the greatness of the human spirit does shine through. In acts of heroism, in acts of kindness, in the simplest of words, people change people for the better. I have been fortunate in my life to have been inspired by extraordinary people. One such person, a jovial kind man named Father Mychal Judge, at every meeting, during every exchange would ask you simply…“Do you believe in yourself?” If you said yes he would reply…“Good, then all is well here.” Simple words intended to change people. Father Mychal went on to be the Chaplain of the New York City Fire Department, a position he loved and served faithfully until September 11th.

Most recently we saw the passing of another great person whose simple words changed people. He wrote and sang of long, cold, lonely winters, reminding us that things would turn around, and it would be all right. George Harrison passed with dignity and grace, as he lived his life, and challenged us all to make a difference. To change the world one person at a time.

Two extraordinary people who remind us of the greatness of our spirit.

History’s pendulum swings, while cycles come and go. Life goes on, we work, we strive we recover, we grow, we reminisce and we smile again. 2001 was a hard year, but 2002 gives us the opportunity to start anew. We have made many changes building a stronger TMP, and with your contributions 2002 will be a great year. Thanks to each and every one of you for all your hard work, focus, understanding and perseverance. We faced the blows, got stronger and we’re moving forward. You are all extraordinary people. Happy Holidays to you, your friends and your loved ones. Here’s to a brighter 2002…


Jim

BlogSnob
New text based advertising tool like PyRads that drives traffic to your blog -- I signed up. Lord knows, I'm ready for some traffic. It's really a text barter deal. Every time an ad appears on your blog, your ad appears on another. So I see and chicken and egg problem. But I kinda like the concept.

IdealBB.com
Supposed to be and ideal BB system. I'm no techie by any means, but it looks like a great idea.

Usenet Archives on Google
This has got to be the coolest thing I've seen in a long time! Reminds me when I was all over ListServs Freshman year, 1993!

I found some of my own .... I was a little firecracker ... thank God I've moderated a bit (I was a Freshman in college, so cut me some slack!)...

From 4/27/94

From 4/2/94 (this one is really a riot - funny how you learn netiquite)

“For those whose dreams were taken, Here are a few nightmares. This is gonna shine like a diamond in a goat’s ass.”
Enough said.

Scriblings and Out-Loud Thoughts on Gonzo Marketing
(These are opinions held at the time and don't necessarily reflect my opinions of the present or future. But they usually do.)
(Sideways scriblings from margins, between paragraphs and squeezed between lines to be translated to Blog in the very near future).

“If the pitch is the epitome of broadcast, the story embodies the essential character of the Web. Stories, like conversations, don't have targets, fixed goals, Q2 objectives. They circumambulate their subjects. They explore. They don't have mission statements.”

Not sure I agree with this. Everyone has a mission, especially if you have passion. Everyone is subjective. To say we’re running around without aim is false. In the sense, though, that Q2 objectives and mission statements tend to be corporate goals, not human, I see the point he is trying to make.

“Because entry costs require high returns on investment, broadcast media rarely offer such emergent voices a hearing. However, the Internet reverses this trend, providing many low- cost vectors for small-scale publishing -- Usenet newsgroups, email lists, weblogs, web pages. Think of these as "micromedia" as opposed to mass media.”

This is the gist of the internet. This provides a marketplace to all voices. Low entry cost is the vital characteristic of the web.

P. 109-110
“I might care a lot if come company offered to hook me up with a bunch of interesting people who think sorta like I do, and could tell me stuff I wanted to know. Or even better, people good at telling stories, sharing experiences, insights, new perspectives. There are many places where that sort of exchange is happening on the net. But most of them are zines or email lists, or personal sites created by talented turned-on individuals.”

“Very few companies offer anything even remotely close …. Maybe I’m blind I just don’t see people hanging out at corporate web-sites.”

Companies need to gel human stories …. That come from actually grappled with the class of problems the product or service purports to solve. In other words, companies need to tell stories based on genuine understanding, not purposeful misdirection. However to tell such human stories, companies need human beings.”

Do/will stories capture everyone? I think there is a segment of the population who is already engaged or could easily be engaged in Locke’s storytelling. But how true is it that “micromarkets” consist solely of people who have “unique” interests? I think most people are still affected by Mass communication and most interests are mainstream. Sports, Beer, Fashion, Soda, Gardening. Who will the audience be of this storytelling? Who will have the time to listen?

Most people have been trained to operate efficiently (and they’re happy doing so … they haven’t been taught to look for more than two answers, Find my flight. What’s that price. What product is the best value. A story can build brand allegiance, that’s for sure, if it strikes the right chord. But in the business of commodities, who’s gonna take time to listen to stories or take the time to develop new relationships with other people representing those brands, even if they are genuine?

I think we’ll see a 80/20 type rule, but it will be more like 97/3. 97% of what we’ll consume will be commodity and totally unaffected by story, while the other 3% will be. The question is, is this cost-effective for businesses? And, what percentage of businesses’ customers will actually take interests in their stories/communication.

So …. 2 questions: What percentage of products purchased by a typical person be affected by Locke’s style of communication? And, what percentage of products sold (or customer base) by a typical person will be as the result of Locke’s style of communication?

Also, it’s important not to look at this as a brand new style of strategy, entirely (accept for being genuine and customer-focused in all messaging); however, we should look at it as a valuable new tactic.

I think the advertising discipline of account planning plays a very valuable role in trying to achieve what Locke wants to achieve through marketing and advertising. Account planners have their ear to the ground, they talk with their customers, they do, yes, market research, but not of the kind Locke speaks of in the group. They go beyond quantitative analysis, and sterile focus groups to examine a customer base in their true setting and what they want. An account planner’s job is to make sure advertising works for the customer. Because if it works for the customer it also works for the client.

Baltimore agency Carton Donofrio’s use of cultural anthropologist and their techniques help a company communicate most effectively to people by looking at key events in their (potential) customer’s buying process.

IDEA: paper entitled, “A Conversation between Christopher Locke and Jonathan Steele.” Same prognosis … different prescription.

P. 113
“Collaborative filtering works bottom up by feeling out the edges of emergent micromarkets based on personal tastes and interests – in effect, defining potential online communities. This is a powerful capability, much better suited to a networked medium than the top-down demographic slicing and dicing typical of broadcast. Such techniques could enable companies to stop marketing to and marketing at. Instead, personalization could be used to get genuinely personal, connecting members of these emergent micromarkets to each other. DO that, and something different in kind results, People start talking, having conversations, telling stories” ….


Now we’re talking! Imagine if every company did what amazon did with collaborative filtering. Conversations at Ford’s web site, conversations at Home Depot’s web site. What’s so great about Amazon is that they’ve come up with multiple ways for visitors to share their voice. Reviews is the first, but that takes a lot of effort, and you better sound good. That can be pressure. But it can also be a valuable tool for shoppers. Also, think about their lists. I have two lists. People who pull up Cluetrain are showed my list, which also includes Catcher in the Rye and Truth, Lies and Advertising.

Take the commerce away from Amazon and we’ve got a whole new breed of people. People go there, and it’s a store. Imagine the possibilities in a non-commerce environment (albeit, Amazon has created a non-commerce atmosphere which is why it’s so good a commerce) (note to reader, Locke ends up proving this wrong, like he did so many times) Counterthought: but then how does this site become a successful business without commerce? I don’t think you can create the conversations on Amazon in an atmosphere where contributors know all that’s important is that their being counted as page views for advertising revenue. Maybe, ironically, business sites are the crux of the Internet. Because they don’t need to depend on advertising revenue, they can use their own revenue streams from products and services to maintain effective web sites. Looks like a win-win to me!
I’m starting to think I had it slightly wrong up top … conversations start by customers. Companies do the listening, and engage in conversations. From Gonzo quoting Cluetrain:

“To speak with a human voice, companies must share the concerns of their communities. But first, they must belong to a community. Companies must ask themselves where their corporate cultures end. If their cultures end before the community begins, they will have no market. Human communities are based on discourse -- one human speech about human concerns. The community of discourse is the market. Companies that do not belong to a community of discourse will die.”

And they better start opening their ears, and start listening.

P. 120 – “As networking replaces broadcasting, communication must become richer and more interesting – Not just louder and more insistent.” – Link to story about Fox using background images at World Series.

IDEA: Blog: Marketing Hall of Shame & Fame

A Vision: At the start of micromarket conversations the use of broadcast vehicles to speak more intimately with their audience. Instead of targeting the 18-24 year olds with HH incomes of $70K or greater, a company can target a micromarket by carefully listening to / being a part of their conversations. So now, a radio commercial from a hiking boot manufacturer can target avid rock climbers who listen to Radiohead and NPR, not because that is the micro market but because that is the conversation the micromarket is having. It shows that audience that company Z is listening and they’re adding to the conversation via radio. How's that for branding. How’s that for market research.

Update
Been working on my links and "about me."

On a seperate note, it's beginning to look a lot like Christmas .... in Bermuda! I mean... look at the weather here! (It was 76 today!)

Merry Christmas - Yah Haaawww!!!>

Great email I got ... (thanks Derek)

An Important Message From Santa Claus I regret to inform you that,
> >effective immediately, I will no longer be able to serve the Southern
> >United States on Christmas Eve.
> >
> >Due to the current, overwhelming population of Earth, my contract was
> >renegotiated by North American Fairies and Elves Local 209.
> >
> >I now serve only certain areas of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Wisconsin and
> >Michigan. As part of my new and better contract, I also get longer
> >breaks for milk and cookies and am not required to lift packages
> >weighing more than 28 pounds 13 ounces, so keep that in mind.
> >
> >However, I'm certain that your children will be in good hands with your
> >local replacement, who happens to be my third cousin, Bubba Claus. His
> >side of the family is from the South Pole. He shares my goal of
> >delivering toys to all the good boys and girls, but there are a few
> >differences between us.
> >
> >1. There is no danger of a Grinch stealing your presents from Bubba
> >Claus. He has a gun rack on his sleigh and a bumper sticker that reads:
> >"These toys insured by Smith and Wesson."
> >
> >2. Instead of milk and cookies, Bubba Claus prefers that children leave
> >an RC cola and pork rinds (or a moon pie) on the fireplace. And Bubba
> >doesn't smoke a pipe. He dips a little snuff though, so please have an
> >empty spit can handy.
> >
> >3. Bubba Claus's sleigh is pulled by floppy-eared, flying coon dogs
> >instead of reindeer. I made the mistake of loaning him a couple of my
> >reindeer one time, and Blitzen's head now overlooks Bubba's fireplace.
> >
> >4. You won't hear, "On Comet, on Cupid, on Donner and Blitzen" when
> >Bubba Claus arrives. Instead, you'll hear, "On Earnhardt, on Wallace,
> >on Martin and Labonte. On Rudd, on Jarrett, on Elliott and Petty."
> >
> >5. The traditional "Ho, ho, ho!" has been replaced by "Yee Haw!" And you
> >are also likely to hear Bubba's elves respond, "I hear'd dat!"
> >
> >6. As required by Southern highway laws, Bubba Claus's sleigh has a
> >Yosemite Sam safety triangle on the back with the words "Back Off." The
> >last I heard, the sleigh also had other decorations on back as well. One
> >is the Ford logo with lights that race through the letters, and the
> >other is a caricature of me(Santa Claus) peeing on the Tooth Fairy.
> >
> >7. The usual Christmas movie classics such as "Miracle on 34th Street"
> >and "It's a Wonderful Life" will not be shown in your viewing area.
> >Instead, you'll see "Boss Hogg Saves Christmas" and "Smokey and the
> >Bandit IV" featuring Burt Reynolds as Bubba Claus and dozens of state
> >patrol cars crashing into each other.
> >
> >8. Bubba Claus doesn't wear a belt. If I were you, I'd make sure you
> >have the wife, and the kids turn the other way when he bends over to put
> >presents under the tree.
> >
> >9. And finally, lovely Christmas songs have been sung about me, like
> >"Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" and Bing Crosby's "Santa Claus Is
> >Coming to Town. "This year, songs about Bubba Claus will be played on
> >all the AM radio stations in the South. Those song titles will include
> >Mark Chestnut's "Bubba Claus Shot the Jukebox," and Garth Brooks'
> >"Grandma Got Run'd Over By a Coon Hound Wearing Antlers."
> >
> >Merry Christmas y'all,
> >Santa Claus
> >(Member, North American Fairies and Elves Local 209)

New Ad Tool (from Doc)
Similar to Google, PyRad utilizes text based advertising. In the end, my question is, what is the difference (strategy speaking) between this and DoubleClick with words?

Marketplaces
I used to think online yellow pages were a lost cause (place foot in mouth). They seemed so basic. So old-school. So much like putting a circular peg in a square hole. But I think they could be a leading model for the future of web advertising. Superpages is, in the most traditional sense, a marketplace. Merchants set up shop, customers come to check out the goods. Through Superpages' Merchant Match, customers can be directed to a Merchant Match web form from the business owner's listing. This form is emailed to the merchant. The shopper receives a personal (written by a person for a person) with a link to request an appointment, a link to purchase product or service, link to merchant's web site and merchant contact info. Shopper corresponds with Merchant via links or email.

I think what Superpages is missing is actual customer feedback posted live about merchants (similar to Amazon's reviewing). This would create a true hyper-conversation. Perhaps even working in some sort of collaborative filtering devise could make merchant recommendations to visitors to Superpages.

Open Source Marketing
Doc' Searl's take to advertising on the web. I think this is right on. To paraphrase: consumers don't see the web as a medium. Rather, it's a place. The web is more a kin to the telephone rather than "print," "TV," or "radio." Markets are coversations. And conversations make up the Internet.

Darwin: Into the Intranet
Great article in mainstream press on Intranets. And a good bit of feedback.

I'm wondering how blogging can be incroporated into intranets. This would permit people with common scenerios to innovate / work together / share ideas. On a similar front, I would think list-servs could serve a similar purpose. For example, I would love to have an ongoing discussion via email with my co-workers on new tactics / strategies.

Friendly Fire
The realities of war. This is no video game, kids.