Apparently, on the authority continuum, my blog lies somewhere between "Some Authority" and "A Lot of Authority," judging by the fact that the previous post appears on Technorati searches until I select "A Lot of Authority" from the drop-down. Wow.
Looks like Amanda Congdon is off Rocketboom. Some sort of dispute with her partner. I wonder how that values the ad inventory they auctioned off on eBay. If I were the advertiser, I'd be pretty pissed.
Rob Burke wonders whether or not he'll have a fight on his hands with Wayne Township. I mentioned Rob's car wash in a prior post, and how he's now blogging about his business and the environment. Rob wants to put a windmill on the car wash property that will decrease his dependence on the local power grid for electricity. Right now, he has an array of solar panels on his roof that have generated almost 5,000 kwh for the car wash. That's nice, but what if his need is more than that?
Township zoning ordinances will allow the windmill to be 50 feet high, but it needs to be 100 feet high (with 20' blades). Rob's not sure whether or not the township will fight him on putting the windmill in, but he's not optimistic.
Personally, I think they should let him, and not just because he's a friend. New Jersey has quite a few programs that help home and business owners afford things like solar panels. NJ really pushes clean energy, and there are all sorts of incentives and rebates available for forward-thinking business owners if they invest in equipment that harnesses renewable, clean energy sources. I don't think the township stepping in to block Rob's windmill idea would be very productive.
I think it would probably be a good thing if customers and passersby saw Rob's business making its own energy. It might make other business owners ask whether clean energy makes sense for their business, and prompt some consideration of the programs NJ is pushing so hard.
Rob's asking for input on his blog. If you have a few minutes, stop by and give him some words of encouragement if you feel so inclined.
Just so I'm on record, the next bubble is Internet video. There will be a bunch of people who make a lot of money in the short term, selling online video, selling the technology to serve and track it, and capitalizing on the "Where do we put our money?" problem many advertisers seem to have right now. And then the bubble is going to burst. Again. It will be the second time major advertisers get burned by people in the Internet business. One wonders how long it will take us to recover once that bubble pops, or whether we ever will gain the trust of major marketers again.
We'll keep repeating this rapid expansion/rapid contraction process until either we get it right or major advertisers run out of trust.
I don't claim to have all the answers, but I do know that getting it right involves recognizing that the value of the Internet is not in pushing content, but cultivating conversation. Until the Internet marketing business understands that and stands behind it, we're doomed to repeat history.
Right now it seems like my conversations with reps have taken a big turn toward online video, with everybody promising to get our clients' 30-second spots in front of X number of eyeballs. Then there are the smart colleagues I've come to respect who have managed to land on the wrong side of the net neutrality issue, mainly because they view the Internet as a series of pipes over which "messages" should be "broadcast." Tiered access means those with the means will have bigger online video pipes, right? Ugh...
Yes, people are going to make a shitload of money on online video. No, it won't be sustainable.
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