Can I kiss you?

Amazing!

Good job!

For more affirmation that you are spot on, read “What’s a Friend Worth” in this week’s issue of BUSINESS WEEK(one of the last print periodicals I still read.) Corporations are paying huge money to social science/marketing companies that track interconnected relationships, to learn which networks and blogs connect like-minded people. Why, then, would they financially ignore the value of the bloggers who write the content that draws the readers?

Writing is the tool that moves information and makes connections. It’s hugely valuable.

You rock. Stand up for your value.

Speaking as someone who’s on the corporate/marketing side of the equation, I think you’ve really encapsulated the changing mood of everyone involved in “blogger outreach” for companies like General Mills.

I think there will always be a need for case studies that quote traffic stats and such, otherwise a large chunk of old-schoolers will simply never give us the resources we need to make these projects more rewarding for both sides.

But I think the onus is also on us in marketing/PR/whatever to explain to corporations that this isn’t about exploiting popular bloggers for free coverage. It’s about finally proving that brands actually care as much for their customers as their ads say they do.

I’ve got a lot more to say, but I won’t clutter up your comments. You’ve given me (and a whole lot of other people) a ton to think about. Thanks for your candid writeup and for prodding a conversation that needed to happen.