The Z-Listers Shall Rule the Earth

Last week was a busy week for eSoup--in addition to being tagged, we were also Z-Listed by the wonderfully talented Gavin Heaton of Servant of Chaos fame.

Z-listing and tagging--sounds kind of like virtual hazing, doesn't it? But really it's an honor to be z-listed.

The Z-listing thing was the mastermind invention of Mack Collier who did it as a way to bring attention to great new blogs who otherwise might get overlooked. Mack came up with the meme, and Gavin, who writes one of my favorite blogs (really, if you enjoy good storytelling, check out Servant of Chaos)  was kind enough to give eSoup a nod. Thank you, Mr. Chaos!

So, now it's my job to share the link love. I'll put my five picks, then Mack's freakishly long list, which includes the other 4 blogs that Gavin Z-listed. The idea behind this movement is that the blogosphere's best blogs are not necessarily sitting at the tippy top of Technorati. [You know, when I originally did my additions, I didn't realize that the Z-List was only for marketing blogs. But, what the heck--these are great blogs, so I'm keeping them here. I don't think they made it onto the actual Z-List though, since they're not marketing blogs, except for possible Excess Voice.]

Here's my Z-List:

Out of the Cube--Verna's is an amazingly talented writer. Sometimes when I want to take a break, I go to her blog and get lost in the stories of her life. She makes me laugh, ponder, and sometimes cry. There's no need to go to the library to get a great book--just visit Verna's blog and wander through the stories of her life.

Excess Voice--I'm drawn to folks who are good writers. I just enjoy reading their stuff--doesn't really matter what they write. Nick writes about web copywriting, and he's good at it.

Andymatic--Another very talented writer, Andy's a playwrite, director, author, completely open, authentic, unabashedly real, liberal, idealistic political and justice-minded man. My secret--I don't watch the news, so often I rely on Andymatic to let me know what's going on in the world. I trust him more than Brokaw, Couric and whoever the other news anchors are.

Lisa Wilder--Lisa's is an amazing business coach, which means she's part business advisor and part therapist. Well, not an "official" therapist, but part of the wonderful work she does involves helping small biz owners venture out of their comfort zones. Her blog is called "The Wilder Zone" and it's a must read.

Coachamatic--Very interesting stuff. I always learn something when I visit Coachamatic.

Brace yourself--here's Mack's gargantuan updated list of Z-listers:

Creative Think
Soloride
Movie Marketing Madness
Blog Till You Drop!
Get Shouty!
One Reader at a Time
Critical Fluff
The New PR
Own Your Brand!
OTOInsights
bizandbuzz
Work, in Plain English
Buzz Canuck
New Millenium PR
Pardon My French
Troy Worman's Blog
The Instigator Blog
AENDirect
Diva Marketing
Marketing Hipster
The Marketing Minute
Funny Business
The Frager Factor
Mindblob
Open The Dialogue
Word Sell
Note to CMO:
That's Great Marketing!
Shotgun Marketing Blog
BrandSizzle
bizsolutionsplus
Customers Rock!
Being Peter Kim
Pow! Right Between The Eyes! Andy Nulman’s Blog About Surprise
Billions With Zero Knowledge
Working at Home on the Internet
MapleLeaf 2.0
darrenbarefoot.com
Two Hat Marketing
The Engaging Brand
The Branding Blog
CrapHammer
Drew's Marketing Minute
Golden Practices
Viaspire
Tell Ten Friends
Flooring the Consumer
Kinetic Ideas
Unconventional Thinking
Buzzoodle
Conversation Agent
The Copywriting Maven
Hee-Haw Marketing
Scott Burkett's Pothole on the Infobahn
Multi-Cult Classics
Logic + Emotion
Branding & Marketing
Popcorn n Roses
On Influence & Automation
Bullshitobserver
Servant of Chaos
converstations
eSoup
Presentation Zen
Dmitry Linkov
aialone
John Wagner
Nick Rice
CKs Blog
Design Sojourn
Frozen Puck
The Sartorialist
Small Surfaces
Africa Unchained
Perspective
gDiapers
Marketing Nirvana
Bob Sutton
¡Hola! Oi! Hi!
Shut Up and Drink the Kool-Aid!
Women, Art, Life: Weaving It All Together
Community Guy
Social Media on the fly
Jeremy Latham’s Blog
SMogger Social Media Blog
Masey.com

Message from Mack: "If you're late to the game and want to play, simply cut and paste the long list above into a blog post, then add whatever [marketing] blogs you want of your own, and that's it! Then whoever reads your post can repost your list, and add any blogs they want, and it continues to snowball from there! You're doing your part to bring attention to blogs that deserve it, and turning Technorati's 'authority' rankings on its ear ;) And you'll more than likely get a whole slew of new links and a nice traffic bump too. Everyone wins!"

Comments

[Mack Collier]

Thanks for spreading the virus Sharon!

[Doug Karr]

Thanks for the reference!!!

Regards,
Doug

[C.B. Whittemore]

Thank you for mentioning Flooring The Consumer. I also really like the detail you've included to your additions to the Z list!

[Chris Kieff]

Thank you so much for "paying it forward"

This reminds me of the Margaret Mead quote;
"Never underestimate the power of a small group of committed people to change the world. In fact, it is the only thing that ever has."

Chris Kieff, Dir. Internet Marketing
MSCO
www.MSCO.com

**********
I know--this is amazing. Consider this: On 12/13, the day before Gavin Z-Listed me, my blog was ranked at 223,201 in Technorati. Now, on 12/21, eSoup has jumped to 104,493. That is a leap of 118,708 in Technorati in 8 days! It's simply astounding what a group of people working together can accomplish!