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Power 150 Adds Alexa Metric

November 30, 2007 | 19 Comments

In response to your constructive feedback, the Power 150 ranking of marketing and media blogs is evolving yet again with the addition of an Alexa traffic metric. The Ad Age Power 150 team and I have been discussing and testing improvements for the last few months and this morning the Alexa addition was rolled out.

Many have argued that Alexa constitutes a stronger measurement of popularity than Google, Technorati and Bloglines combined. Sure that can be debated, but five distinct factors now being weighed in the total score unquestionably makes the list a more comprehensive and well-balanced measurement tool.

To all the Bloglines haters out there, we can’t eliminate Bloglines yet because there are no alternatives. Google Reader doesn’t offer an open API yet (Hello Google?!), which is necessary since the Power 150 is fully automated and receives its data directly from the source (i.e., Google, Technorati, Alexa, Bloglines). And while Feedburner does offer an open API, it is a voluntary system that only reports member data… and not every blogger is a member.

So, to ease the Bloglines burden, we’ve scaled its weight on the overall score back a bit. Here are the new scales:

// Google Page Rank: 1 to 10
// Todd And Points: 1 to 15
// Bloglines Subscribers: 1 to 15
// Alexa Traffic Rank: 1 to 30
// Technorati Ranking: 1 to 30

The sum is a nice round 100 possible points and probably a pretty accurate reflection of the marketing and media blog market. We know that each metric isn’t perfect, but we feel we’re working with the best the web has to offer (an automated system that updates daily) at the moment.

As always, please feel free to share your feedback and suggestions. The Ad Age team and I are constantly looking for ways to enhance the list and make it an even stronger tool.

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Posted by toddand | Filed Under Advertising, Blogging, Marketing, Media, News, Public Relations, Social Media

CNN Aces Horticulture Journalism 101

November 29, 2007 | 9 Comments

I’m fascinated by the social media uprising after last night’s YouTube/CNN Republican debate. Apparently, CNN is pulling weeds… they cut Keith Kerr from the debate rebroadcast because it was later discovered that he has ties to Hillary Clinton’s campaign. Check out the report of the “disappearing Hillary plant” by Hot Air. And, according to Fox News Contributor Michelle Malkin’s blog, there were several other “plants.”

Plants, pulling weeds… horticulture journalism.

By the way, I LOVE what YouTube is doing to compile the video questions and responses in one easy-to-navigate location. Brilliant. I bet social media will help boost young voter turnout for this election.

Disclosure: I consider myself an Independent, having voted both Democrat and Republican in past elections.

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Posted by toddand | Filed Under Blogging, Media, Politics, Social Media, Video

A Very Special Star-Spangled Banner

November 26, 2007 | 5 Comments

This is one of the most moving renditions of our national anthem, The Star-Spangled Banner. I don’t think I’ve ever heard a crowd sing it that loud. Amazing.

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Posted by toddand | Filed Under Music, Random, Video

How to Sell Soap

November 25, 2007 | 3 Comments

Source: Tsufit

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Posted by toddand | Filed Under Advertising, Educational, Marketing, Public Relations, Social Media, Video

The Age of Conversation Going Amazon

November 23, 2007 | 14 Comments

More than 100 authors generously gave their time and content free of charge to make The Age of Conversation, a book that was released in July 2008 and has since raised over $11,000 for Variety the Children’s Charity. The book was the brainchild of Drew McLellan and Gavin Heaton. Today, we have some more exciting news about the book that should help raise even more money for the charity…

Starting November 30, the paperback version will be available at Amazon.com and book sellers around the world. The price will be increased to cover the book sellers’ commissions and the hard cover version will be discontinued. Bulk orders and e-books will still be available on lulu.com. So, if you’re looking for a great Christmas gift, head over to lulu.com and pick up

If you want to buy a great book this holiday season and simultaneously help raise money for a good cause, then consider Age of Conversation both for yourself and even a present for Xmas! The list of authors is impressive:

Gavin Heaton, Drew McLellan, CK, Valeria Maltoni, Emily Reed, Katie Chatfield, Greg Verdino, Lewis Green, Sacrum, Ann Handley, Mike Sansone, Paul McEnany, Roger von Oech, Anna Farmery, David Armano, Bob Glaza, Mark Goren, Matt Dickman, Scott Monty, Richard Huntington, Cam Beck, David Reich, Luc Debaisieux, Sean Howard, Tim Jackson, Patrick Schaber, Roberta Rosenberg, Uwe Hook, Tony D. Clark, Todd Andrlik, Toby Bloomberg, Steve Woodruff, Steve Bannister, Steve Roesler, Stanley Johnson, Spike Jones, Nathan Snell, Simon Payn, Ryan Rasmussen, Ron Shevlin, Roger Anderson, Robert Hruzek, Rishi Desai, Phil Gerbyshak, Peter Corbett, Pete Deutschman, Nick Rice, Nick Wright, Michael Morton, Mark Earls, Mark Blair, Mario Vellandi, Lori Magno, Kristin Gorski, Kris Hoet, G.Kofi Annan, Kimberly Dawn Wells, Karl Long, Julie Fleischer, Jordan Behan, John La Grou, Joe Raasch, Jim Kukral, Jessica Hagy, Janet Green, Jamey Shiel, s, Dr. Graham Hill, Gia Facchini, Geert Desager, Gaurav Mishra, Gary Schoeniger, Gareth Kay, Faris Yakob, Emily Clasper, Ed Cotton, Dustin Jacobsen, Tom Clifford, David Polinchock, David Koopmans, David Brazeal, David Berkowitz, Carolyn Manning, Craig Wilson, Cord Silverstein, Connie Reece, Colin McKay, Chris Newlan, Chris Corrigan, Cedric Giorgi, Brian Reich, Becky Carroll, Arun Rajagopal, Amy Jussel, AJ James, Kim Klaver, Sandy Renshaw, Susan Bird, Ryan Barrett, Troy Worman, S. Neil Vineberg, C.B. Whittemore, Mack Collier, Andy Nulman

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Posted by toddand | Filed Under Advertising, Blogging, Educational, Marketing, Media, News, Public Relations, Social Media, Strategies+Tactics, Technology

A Million Ways To Go Viral

November 23, 2007 | 3 Comments

There are a million ways to go viral, but here is one of my favorites. What I loved about this viral effort was the compilation climax. Check it out…

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Posted by toddand | Filed Under Marketing, Music, Public Relations, Random, Video

‘Tis The Season For Traffic, Stress and Crazy Shoppers

November 20, 2007 | 2 Comments

Happy Thanksgiving and Merry Shopping Season!

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Posted by toddand | Filed Under Humor, Random, Video

The Best Social Media Tool Thanksgiving Cooking

November 18, 2007 | 3 Comments

Forget digg, flickr, YouTube and Facebook. The best social media tool of the week is allrecipes.com. After learning about the site from my wife (who reminds me that she’s known about this site for years), I’ve probably cooked more this week than I have my entire adult life… and will definitely be using it for some Thanksgiving concoctions. Allrecipes is amazing… users submit favorite recipes and rank others. Plus, users can add comments to each recipe about variations and cooking tips. Check out the BBQ and grilling section or browse recipes by course, popularity, season, holiday, ingredient, user, etc. Found a recipe on the site that you love? Print it 3×5, 4×6 or full page. You can also save it to your favorites or email it to a friend with one click. Once you have enough saved to “my recipe box,” go ahead and have a custom cook book (hard cover or soft) printed for you and friends. My favorite feature? You can tell each recipe how many servings you want and it automatically scales the ingredient measurements for you!

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Posted by toddand | Filed Under Educational, Social Media, Technology

Washington, DC on $85 a Day

November 18, 2007 | 2 Comments

Here is a cool flickr image (by Musely). The US $5, $10, $20 and $50 notes feature the Lincoln Memorial, US Treasury, White House and Capitol respectively.

Source: Neatorama

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Posted by toddand | Filed Under Politics, Random

Perfect Gift Ideas for That Special Marketing Professional in Your Life

November 14, 2007 | 12 Comments

I recently received an advance copy of Now is Gone (a primer on new media for executives and entrepreneurs), by Geoff Livingston (with Brian Solis). You can buy it here. Geoff was kind enough to reference me and the Power 150 in the book. Thanks, Geoff. I look forward to reading it soon. It seems like Now is Gone and The New Rules of Marketing and PR, by David Meerman Scott, are the best books on the shelves for marketing professionals looking to catch up on today’s industry trends and new media tactics. I smell a Christmas or Hanukkah gift idea! David Meerman Scott acknowledged me and this blog in his book too. Thanks, David. UPDATE: Another great book that is not quite on the shelves and only available online is Age of Conversation, co-authored by 100 bloggers who explain how to make an impact in the new web world. As one of the co-authors, I just learned that the book may be available via Amazon and book sellers around the world… by Christmas! Stay tuned. Feels great to have made a large enough ripple in the marketing blogosphere to get mentioned in and co-author gigs for books that I can actually buy at a book store. (I wonder if Geoff got the idea for his book title from this classic Space Balls clip? What happened to then? And if then is now and “Now is Gone,” when will then be now? Geoff?)