Turkey on the Fourth?

Mike shared with me today that Manager Tools was ranked #18 on Yahoo's Most Highly Rated Podcasts, and #42 in Most Popular. That's of ALL podcasts of all types.

Mike and I are thrilled! He and I tend to talk more about ITunes and Podcast Alley, so this was a nice surprise.

We - and this includes you, our members - achieved this without advertising, without a concerted effort at marketing. Surely marketing would have helped, but the question always is, was the hour spent doing "something else" MORE or LESS valuable than an hour spent on marketing?

Our take is that it was MORE valuable, because our growth is largely due to the depth and relevance of our content and the quality of our delivery. Those things were the "something else" we spent our time on.

It appears to be working.

There's a case to be made here that YOU were doing the advertising, remarking to others about Manager Tools.

THAT is remarkable. We're humbled by your support and your interest in sharing with other managers, who are of course struggling with the same stuff we all are.

I read a WSJ article this past weekend about an immigrant who was getting ready to celebrate the Fourth of July, but asked his friends the difference between the Fourth and our Thanksgiving (celebrated in November). I thought that striking - they seem so different to me. Well his point was that both holidays are about giving thanks... and he was right.

So, on this Fourth of July, even if Mike and I aren't eating Turkey (traditional on Thanksgiving here), we're giving thanks.

To you.

Thank you.