Marketing Pilgrim

AOL fights very hard to remain outside of the conversation when it comes to being a content farm at its heart.

The recent purchases of The Huffington Post and TechCrunch are given as continued evidence of AOL’s desire to produce more than just keyword driven drivel that is designed to run vacant eyeballs past ads.

Well, the longest experiment of this kind is AOL’s Engadget blog which has been in the AOL family since 2005. To cut to the chase it appears as if there is something out there called ‘the AOL way’ that is making people who are interested in producing quality content seek something other than the fertilizer rich fields of a content farm.

We are excited to provide our Marketing Pilgrim readers and sponsors new opportunities.

For our readers we are going to create content channels that make stories about important subject areas easier to find. These channels will include: SEO (search engine optimization), paid search (PPC), social media, Google, Web Site Analytics, Social Media Analytics, Local Internet Marketing (SMB), Mobile and Internet Law. Of course, with a rapidly changing landscape like the Internet marketing world these could just be the start of the channels we start to track.

For our sponsors and advertisers this a great new opportunity to reach our audience of Internet marketing influencers and decision makers.

We are really excited about this new phase in Marketing Pilgrim’s evolution. If you would like to learn more about sponsor opportunities with Marketing Pilgrim Channels contact Frank Reed ( editor AT MarketingPilgrim dot com).

I had a little “episode” over the weekend.

You see, I finally got sick of seeing the types of tweets that have very little substance, yet seem to be the staple of many so-called “gurus.” Instead of complaining, I decided to have some fun.

In rapid succession, I tweeted what I consider to be the type of tweets that tend to get a lot of attention and elevate someone to guru status. I’m guilty of these now and then, and perhaps you are too, but hopefully you’ll recognize these from some of the people you follow:

Which ones did I miss?

Some of you know that I use an electric wheelchair to get around. In fact I have used a wheelchair my whole life. You can get the whole story elsewhere. For now I just want to talk about my wheelchairs. The first chair I had was red. It had a wooden seat assembly with an aluminum frame. The next chair I got was made of titanium and had custom axis that allowed me to reach the wheels better. When that chair was brand new I remember it moving like a boat through water, smooth and fast.

Wanted: High profile celebrity interested in breaking into the online video business. Imagine success on the ultimate small screen. No money required. No experience needed. Apply at YouTube where we make stars out of stars!

Yes, it’s true. At least according to Vulture it is. (They’re a sister site to New York Magazine, so don’t dismiss the story because of the publication name.) In an exclusive story, the online mag says that YouTube CEO Salar Kamangar is actively looking for a number of celebs around which they can brand a YouTube channel. They’d like to have the celeb star in weekly segments then fill in with other themed content and YouTube will foot the bill. They’re even generously agreeing to allow the celebs to keep the rights to their produced portions, which is pretty nice seeing as all they have to bring to the table is their name and their fame.

Since we already gave a comic’s view of last night’s dinner of tech heavyweights with President Obama we thought we might have some fun too. Remember that in attendance are Mark Zuckerberg, Steve Jobs, Eric Schmidt, Carol Bartz, Larry Ellison and more! (Collect’em all and trade with your friends!)

What we are asking our Pilgrim Readers to do is give us what you think is being said in this toast.

Tell us in the comments section and let’s see just where your Pilgrim imaginations can take us all!

We’ll even get it started:

“Here’s to finally getting Microsoft moved to the Internet kids table!”

Have a great weekend!