Rank and File

So Canadian PR blogger Ed Lee and I exchanged a few emails on the subject of that Toddand ranking of top marketing blogs.

Ed was complimentary about this blogger’s daily content, but he also (correctly) observed the disconnect between my (reasonably entertaining and I think informative) content and my metrics on that questionable barometer (to which too many of our brethren are beholden).

He cited my 110 ranking (of 150), small number of Bloglines subscribers (27), and a “paltry” ranking on Technorati of just 26, 491. (Hey, Ed, 26, 491 divided by 57,000,000 puts The Flack in the top .05 percent of all bloggers.) Even so, one of the top 50 bloggers on that chart (who shall remain linkless) , barely spits out two posts per month, while another PR blogger who hadn’t posted since February, recently “earned” a ranking in the 80 range.

Ed’s right. It’s simply not enough to produce good copy and catchy images. If you build it…they may not necessarily come. Ed admitted that blog readers, for better or worse, like their “candy” short and sweet. (It reminded me of the fledgling USA Today’s one-time “Mcpaper” designation.) Could it be my posts are cumbersomely indigestible?

My Aussie pal Paull, who’ll soon land permanently on the island of Manhattan, went further: he believes that good rankings are “more a measure of online networking/link baiting/back scratching.” But he also astutely observed that perhaps a high ranking is not the holy grail here. Maybe, he mused, the blogger has other reasons for posting — like a passion for the subject matter. Hmmm.

OK. Enough said. Here’s a tidbit that’s short and sweet: AOL retains PR agency-of-record in India, and the release announcing the news has two grammatical errors. To quote the agency head:

“Time Warner, owner of AOL [sic] is the world’s leading media company and we are delighted that AOL has chosen us as their [sic] Media and PR partner…”

An inauspicious beginning, I’d say.