DISQUS

The pleasure was mine. You're definitely doing great stuff, and I'm glad you're representing your organization with all your learning.

@joe - maybe you missed the part of my post where I say that plenty of blogs exist that don't want to make money and that's okay. That part can exist just nicely, but you deciding that all blogs must follow that same tack is like suggesting that you know the best and only way to communicate.

I sure didn't write about SEO or link spamming above, so I'm not sure how you equate this with sponsored content. In fact, Patel's strategy that you quote is an attempt to get free SEO benefits, so quite the opposite of paid.

Is it noise because someone pays? Do you read magazines? Wired, maybe? Can you read it without the ads? no.

If you think the only way for corporations to participate is in straight "earned" media, you might have to revisit how that kind of ink has been earned. It's not as lily-white as you seem to feel.

As for me? You didn't really just ask me if I was serious, right? I wasted about 600 words if I wasn't clear.

@thom - the point was that I am passionate about the direction the company seems to be going and that I liked the cars.

It's amazing how people seem to want to kick a company when it's down. Heaven forbid you ever find yourself in need. I, for one, want to do what I can to get a lynchpin company back on it's feet.

Not that a story saves the world, but then again, maybe they do.

@Thom - they didn't fly me anywhere. I flew out to attend a conference. This was not a paid experience.

I buy about 4 books a week, one way or another. It's a bit incurable at this point.

@lethality - the word "brand" appears once in the piece and is used appropriately to reference other product lines McD's purchased to bolster their earnings portfolio.

Then again, you might not have been referring to me in your comment.

I figure good Christians have it already figured out that we're all the same. : ) Glad to connect with you. You're a great guy and a shining lesson of what can be done.

That said, if you got the same effect for $77 , is that worth it?

You have to know, by the way, that I gave Lynne no prep. I turned on the camera and fired off a question without giving her time to answer.

Harder than you think, so I give her extra credit for that.

Glad it's resonating. You're all the reason why I write this.

I'm curious to know how you processed the leads, how you determined what was a lead versus just an interested commenter. I'm also interested to know what other kinds of metrics you collected besides pageviews and comments.

Great start to an interesting study.

The ideas you've all added are great and worth considering. I'm mulling some of them over and adjusting my own perspective accordingly.

You make this all worth it.

@Lane - I do, actually.

http://music.podshow.com
http://www.podsafeaudio.com

:)

@Susie - that's definitely a trait I should've mentioned, the we contact. That and using the other person's name. Thanks!

I give away most all the books I review. Meet me at a conference soon. I travel with an armload of books to give away. :)

That's my little guy with his pneumonia. I had to record it 4 times because he kept breaking in to moan a bit. Poor guy.

It's not just about where you are, but where you've been. That's the fun part. :)

Hey, I'm not grandfather-age yet. : ) My kids are only 6 and 3.

Dopey. Just dopey. But hey, if someone pays for it, have a ball. If that makes someone feel more put together, I'm excited. Keep thinking that way.

A post like this brings out the kind of thinking I need. Your thoughts are all very useful, so thanks.

Calling anything broken or dead just draws out the best perspectives.

I want to agree with Brian Clark that I used just one narrow definiion of content marketing in this post. As I was only thinking about the part that applies to a parity with ads, I didn't mean to imply that this was the only definition of content marketing.

@Agitationist - I'm going to presume you're new here. The comments are always better than the post. It's intentional. As to the quality of my writing, is it proper to end a sentence with GFY? I'll have to pull out my Strunk & White.

Contradictions are like free puzzles.

I'm on the de-icing pad of Denver's airport. Thank you all for your affirmations. The cynical will doubt me but I'll say it. I do this for you.

I agree that any way to engage people and include them is vital. It's amazing the difference. You've got a really good point that it probably made the difference to some.

Another analogy that comes to mind often involves bands. If I play my "old favorite" song that made #1 on the charts, then you're happy. If I experiment with new stuff, a small percentage of you are happy. It's a mix game, doing a bit of both, that keeps things growing. Right?

Look at Sting's LATEST effort, with the lute guy, etc.

@Steven - That's a great point. Thought leadership is in the same category as "thinking" piece. Here's the thing: traffic-wise, those pieces usually blow. Not sure why, but my posts where I think I've said something really meaningful are always the worst "performers" from any kind of audience point of view. People might like them, but if they do, they tell no one, say nothing, and run away.

That said, if you don't do things to maintain thought leadership, why should people bother going to your blog?

Thanks for that perspective.