My stunt with Marqui on the current contract is not up until March 15th, I am came into the program 2 weeks in. But the majority of the Marqui bloggers are on their last 10 days of posting. I will be around a few more weeks.
Their is rumor of a round two but details are not forthcoming as of yet. I tried to dig into the product as much as I could and give you the insights as to what I thought. To me the most provoking conversation has been talking about how real companies are using the product.
I think we were the very first to have a interview with the CEO that was podcast to the thousands of you that listen to our program. That show to date has been downloaded over 35,000 times. So I am not sure what exposure to 35,000 people is worth, but I think that was probably one of the better 30 minutes the CEO has spent on the phone. After all they had already paid me to write about Marqui nothing said I was supposed to do a Podcast for them. If you have not listened to the interview here is the link Geek News Central Podcast Interview with Marqui CEO Stephen King.
As a side note it is the most downloaded podcast we have ever had on a multiple of about 3.4, so people really did listen to it. Incidentally I did get over 100 private e-mails on the said podcast so it made a impression.
If a website like that kind or traffic on a solitary interview with a relatively unknown company. Just think of the traffic we would get with a Interview with a fortune 1000 company. I shudder to think about the bandwidth bill.
If I do another interview with a major company, That will have to be part of the deal, I’ll do the no holds bared interview but if you blow my bandwidth out then you pay the additional hosting cost I incur. After all I am geek with a wife and kids gotta make sure we don’t have to tap the college fund to pay a bandwidth bill. Now just think If I had added a advertisement to a competitors product in that podcast. Think of the traffic the competitor would have gotten. Believe me I would have done it if I was a direct competitor to Marqui. But most of Marqui’s competitors are too stupid to realize whats going on here. Heck they could buy an advertisement on the site now and think of the controversy that would create along with the traffic the other compant would get.
I’ll say it again though, Marqui was smart and they will continue to be smart in their next phase. If other companies had half a clue they would call some bloggers tomorrow and say this:
If we give you open access to our company and our product, and you can say anything you want to, with no restrictions or repercussions will you take a look at what were doing and write about it. I will say sign me up and show me the money.
Whats the difference I consult and give advice freely and for pay every day of the week. So what is so different about paying me to analyze your company and your product and write about it. This would force companies to fix stuff that is broken. Example: I could dig around for some dirt that your customer service department is hiding from management that is buried deep in the Google index.
Think of the positive things that could come out of a negative post. Companies need to be brave and quit hiring marketing consulting firms that have their noses all the way up your ass giving you positive feedback to make you feel warm and fuzzy.
Some of us out here are willing to tell you how the average consumer really feels. If you want to know how I am taking companies to task on stuff your pulling with your customers you need to start listening to my podcast because we are getting the word out.
As always I am paid to talk about Marqui and the Marqui Content / Communications Management System. I am allowed to say what I want to say positive or negative.