Beyond Search: Saying Again – Marketing Blog
April 14, 2009
One of my three or four readers sent me a link to a Tweet that reveals–gasp–the shocking truth that this Web log is a marketing vehicle. Oh, my what an insightful comment. I explain what the purpose of Beyond Search is in my editorial policy which you may read here if you wish.I haven’t changed it much since I started this blog in January 2008. I started the Web log to recycle information. I learned quickly that I am not a news goose and I don’t want to be one. If a company wants to hire me to describe their products and services, I will talk. I also promote aggressively my reports and studies. The reason is that this Web log now reaches more than 35,000 readers per month, so it has become a better marketing vehicle that some of my four publishers possess. I don’t include the for fee content in this Web log. I rather shamelessly point you to Information World Review, KMWorld, and the Smart Business Network where my published columns appear. I even cover search engine optimization. If you read this Web log you know that I am critical of those who are self appointed SEO experts. I am no expert, but I can describe functions that the GOOG explains are important to appearing at a reasonable point in a results list.
Summing up:
- I am not a journalist. I sell my opinion, and I pay people to write articles about companies and products. Some of these outfits pay for my writers’ time. Others dazzle us with their scintillating personalities. Don’t confuse what appears in Beyond Search with “journalism”, which seems to be in a bit of a pickle in my opinion. Whining, going out of business, and losing jobs I think applies in some cases.
- I write about my interests in an often futile attempt to generate inquiries about my patent analysis, expert witness, and management consulting business. The Web log “sort of” works, but it is a marketing vehicle. Let me repeat: marketing vehicle. Do you think? Doh?
- I write about my son’s business even though he is closely aligned with the GOOG, an outfit that wishes my goose were cooked. I take umbrage if someone criticizes my son, so if you get frisky with my progeny, expect to see some sparks from the senior Arnold in the clan.
- I am not interested in whether some of the companies and products survive, are wonderful, or are just me too products in a lousy financial climate.
- I tell PR people that I am not a journalist. I don’t respect their “leaks”. I don’t want to be briefed unless someone pays for my time. One jejune lass almost cried when I told her I wanted money to sit through a Webinar. Sensitive plant, she is.
I think that there are some folks who confuse Web logs (free) with confidential, for fee work. I opine that there are quite a few consulting firms trying to sell advice without having solid technical foundations and trying to create the impression that their Web logs are the equivalent of the Harvard Business Review or the output of second and third tier consulting firms.
Let me set the record straight. There are a handful of blue chip consulting firms and advisory services in the world. I worked for many years at Halliburton Nuclear (get it right or literally die), Booz Allen & Hamilton (before the disastrous break up), and a number of high profile outfits from intelligence agencies to the government of England. I been involved in successes and failures. I have learned from the best (Dr. William P. Sommers) and from the worst (a gambler in LA).
Working at blue chip firms where information is the key to success and writing a Web log are at different ends of the content spectrum. I don’t get confused. Some folks can’t figure out that Beyond Search is a marketing vehicle. Others can’t get the drift that when I argue against SEO, I am generating buzz.
I hope that’s clear. I am 65 years old and getting pretty tired of callow youth who find this Web log somehow offensive to their gentle spirits. Suck it up. Life gets worse and it will for the foreseeable future. When the chips are down, clients don’t want those who learn on the job. Clients want results. An MBA or a bit of work at a third tier firm won’t do the job in my opinion.
Stephen Arnold. April 14, 2009
Comments
4 Responses to “Beyond Search: Saying Again – Marketing Blog”
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My guess is that the enititled youth of today miss the meaning of the word “ArnoldIT”. It’s his company stupid!!
Bob,
Most people call me stupid. I think Web logs are useful as marketing tools. I am baffled when people confuse my for fee work like the monographs and the columns with the musings of the “addled goose.” I quite like the logo. Notice how angry the goose is. I may not be Godzilla, but I can honk as well as most 65 year olds. Carpetbaggers, parvenus, azure chipped consultants, SEO mavens–let’s get it on. Remember what geese may do to a freshly washed and waxed automobile.
Stephen Arnold, April 14, 2009
Out of curiosity – where did you get the number of subscribers? For example, Google Reader shows 194.
Otis Gospodnetic,
Good catch. I have three or four readers.
Stephen Arnold, April 16, 2009