“Doomed to fail” might be a bit strong (but it grabs attention right? *smile*)

I think it's more, “doomed to get steered in the wrong direction…”

Thanks for stopping by and commenting, hope we'll see you back here soon!

“Doomed to fail” might be a bit strong (but it grabs attention right? *smile*)

I think it’s more, “doomed to get steered in the wrong direction…”

Thanks for stopping by and commenting, hope we’ll see you back here soon!

In any marketing exercise, the first step is awareness. The Z-list achieved, and continues to achieve this (and actually I like the fact that it continues to evolve and spread – just at a slower rate – since the Squidoo listing). The next step is all to do with content — you have an audience, now you need to dazzle them — and that comes down to content. I am sure I am not telling you anything you dont know.

The Z-list was a nice burst of attention, and now the hard work of community building begins. And as you say, it is not the volume of the traffic, but its quality. Great discussion … and nice to find you

In any marketing exercise, the first step is awareness. The Z-list achieved, and continues to achieve this (and actually I like the fact that it continues to evolve and spread – just at a slower rate – since the Squidoo listing). The next step is all to do with content — you have an audience, now you need to dazzle them — and that comes down to content. I am sure I am not telling you anything you dont know.

The Z-list was a nice burst of attention, and now the hard work of community building begins. And as you say, it is not the volume of the traffic, but its quality. Great discussion … and nice to find you

Vernon – I like restaurant metaphor, very apropos.

Collin – thanks for commenting! Now I've found a new blog *grin* I buy into the concept too – after all, I did participate on this blog and Startup Spark. And I've participated in other memes too. The boost to my Technorati ranking is wonderful, and any good quality traffic that flows will be appreciated.

Christine – you're right, it was cool. And it's still cool to see it moving forward even with the occasional hiccup. Over-analyze? Isn't that what us bloggers do? *grin*

Charles – you're right too – trust is hard to scale, it's hard to earn and people will always try to game every system. Rules were made to be broken, right?

Happy New Year!

Vernon – I like restaurant metaphor, very apropos.

Collin – thanks for commenting! Now I’ve found a new blog *grin* I buy into the concept too – after all, I did participate on this blog and Startup Spark. And I’ve participated in other memes too. The boost to my Technorati ranking is wonderful, and any good quality traffic that flows will be appreciated.

Christine – you’re right, it was cool. And it’s still cool to see it moving forward even with the occasional hiccup. Over-analyze? Isn’t that what us bloggers do? *grin*

Charles – you’re right too – trust is hard to scale, it’s hard to earn and people will always try to game every system. Rules were made to be broken, right?

Happy New Year!

What's hot (or liked, or trusted, or popular) starts out as genuinely content-based–a new idea, a new look or feel. People then pile on–people who seek what's hot, or liked, or trusted, or popular–and add more ideas.

Then it changes. People who want to BE hot, or liked, or popular etc. start trying to work the system. Motives change. Sincerity starts to fall off. The emphasis changes from helping others to get cool stuff (or be cool, etc.), to getting others to buy the stuff. Sales and marketing moves from “check this out” to “buy my stuff.” Technology changes from “isn't this cool” to “how fast can I flip it?”

Rapleaf is a meta-example. Seeking to expand on the eBay and Amazon referral systems to establish trust in vendors, they've pulled out “trust” as a generic, and ask everyone to rate everyone. They even suggest you get your friend to rate your “trustworthiness”–not with respect to a transaction, or any particular context–just in general.

The simple truth is nobody trusts someone who says “trust me, my friends say they do and I'll say the same about them.” That's indistinguishable from a con.

The thing is, it's hard to scale trust. You do it by narrowing scope, or by increasing context.

What’s hot (or liked, or trusted, or popular) starts out as genuinely content-based–a new idea, a new look or feel. People then pile on–people who seek what’s hot, or liked, or trusted, or popular–and add more ideas.

Then it changes. People who want to BE hot, or liked, or popular etc. start trying to work the system. Motives change. Sincerity starts to fall off. The emphasis changes from helping others to get cool stuff (or be cool, etc.), to getting others to buy the stuff. Sales and marketing moves from “check this out” to “buy my stuff.” Technology changes from “isn’t this cool” to “how fast can I flip it?”

Rapleaf is a meta-example. Seeking to expand on the eBay and Amazon referral systems to establish trust in vendors, they’ve pulled out “trust” as a generic, and ask everyone to rate everyone. They even suggest you get your friend to rate your “trustworthiness”–not with respect to a transaction, or any particular context–just in general.

The simple truth is nobody trusts someone who says “trust me, my friends say they do and I’ll say the same about them.” That’s indistinguishable from a con.

The thing is, it’s hard to scale trust. You do it by narrowing scope, or by increasing context.