"You are a media company."

ATLANTA, GA -- Typically, I'm not what you'd call a proud person.  I've accomplished some interesting things with the life that's on loan to me from God (all of our lives are on loan).  But when you get right down to it, I have accomplished only a fraction of what I could have, given my natural talents, opportunities, and life circumstances.

I think this can be said of pretty much everyone.  What lies before us and what lies behind us are small matters compared to what lies within us.

Nevertheless, as a blogger I have been proud to be included on Mack Collier's "Viral Garden Top 25 Marketing Blogs" list.  This is gonna sound strange, but to be included with Seth and Hugh and Ben & Jackie and CK and others is humbling -- yet it also makes me wanna puff out my chest.  What can I say?  At least once a week when Mack's poll comes out, I embrace my vanity rather than struggle against it.  Go tell Dr. Phil.

Now, a good while back a new weekly tally of marketing blogs was developed by Todd Andrlik.  Called the Power 150, this comprehensive multi-variant ranking combines all of the most popular Marketing, Advertising, and PR blogs in one very convenient, RSS-friendly place.

I confess, for the first 90-or-so days of the Power 150's existence, I was pissed that I wasn't on it.  Then I was added at # 55 and my miserable little ego stopped keeping me up at night.  Maybe I'm just competitive -- although I'm not sure when blogging became a contest, like college football.

But here's the point of this post:  Todd's Power 150 has entered into an arrangement with Advertising Age -- one of the world's most important marketing publications.  You can see the story below.

What's AMAZING to me is how effing GREAT some of these 150 blogs are.  I mean, these blogs are like mini-magazines or something.  Take a look at Adrants ... or Duct Tape Marketing ... or Marketing Pilgrim ... and you'll see just how much LOVE these incredibly talented, visionary, and business-oriented people put into their blogs.  Most of these blogs started with nothing -- no money, no readers, no advertisers, no business plan, and no overhead.  Just a helluva lotta moxie and a Typepad account.  No wonder these media titans visiting Harvard can be seen wringing their hands.

Frankly, I'd be happy just to peak in the Top 50, because any more than that would require me to invest major effort into my "publication."  And as Jay-Dee reminds me -- I make money when I place executives, not when I blog during the money hours.  He's right, of course, but the impulse to crank out the best stuff doesn't always strike at night.  Regardless, ...

If you are a blogger from outside the marketing space, check out the blogs on the Power 150.  They will force you to re-think what's possible with a blog.  And and understand that in the future, if you have a company with a website, then you are a media company (watch the 90 second video clip in this link!!).

For the record, I will always be partial to the Viral Garden's list, and as long as I'm on the list I will proudly / vainly display the Top 25 badge on the side of my blog.  Thanks to Mack for helping my blog get on the map.

clipped from toddand.com Today, the Power 150’s multimetric algorithm ranks almost 350 marketing blogs - 150 plus honorable mentions. Several hundred hours have already gone into creating, establishing and maintaining the Power 150, and this is an opportunity for Ad Age to take it to the next level, immediately creating value for readers as well as listed bloggers (considering the potential for a ton of traffic). According to the media kit, adage.com gets over 354,000 monthly unique visitors. Across online and print, Ad Age has a a total reach of more than 800,000 people including many senior agency, marketing and media executives every month.  Read more ...