So it's been 12 days since I launched brand tags and it's been an amazing ride to say the least. As I write this I'm at 600,000 tags (whizzed right by 500k yesterday), a number so large I'm having trouble comprehending it. As I mentioned in my last entry it's been keeping me incredibly busy. I've been trying to answer all the emails sent through the site (now in the thousands), which has led to a few very late nights.
Anyway, I just wanted to continue highlighting a few lessons I've learned so far and also some of the more interesting commentary I've read about the site (at some point I plan on compiling all this into a proper entry/article). Also, an apology to all of you for ignoring this site for the last week and a half. I'll be back, I promise.
So, without any further ado, some thoughts in no specific order:
- I mentioned this last time and I wanted to highlight it again. Iteration has been the key to keeping the momentum going. I've answered hundreds of emails, made around 50 tweaks based on feedback and commented on 30 or 40 blog posts. I don't know what kind of difference this has made in the end, but I've got to assume it's helped. Keeping a site like this going takes a lot of work (I've been adding logos a few times a day). As marketers, I think sometimes we forget how much work it can be when it's out of sight (someone else is working on it). Anyway, it's not easy.
- It's been really interesting to see where traffic is coming from. Here are my top 5 referrers in order: Google (mostly traffic from Google Reader), AutoBlog (they just wrote about it yesterday and already passed every other referrer, just goes to show you where real traffic is), The Future Buzz (Adam's entry almost made it to the top of the Digg World & Business section), Seth Godin (he was one of the first big links) and WSJ.com. What I find interesting about that list is that it's fairly non-geeky all things considered (number 6, for the record, is Consumerist). Anyway, the audience certainly leans towards tech, but it hasn't been exclusively uber geeks.
- Yesterday I added an orderly view which was actually the recommendation of Kevin Kelly. Getting to email back and forth with him was one of the thrills of this project. (I'm a geek, I've admitted this before ... and just for reference, here's the Wired Magazine cloud.)
- Here's some of my favorite commentary about the results: Gems Sty, View from the Bottom, Matt Griswold [dot] com, Hubspot, Coilhouse and BlogLESS (whose design I also find quite striking. I haven't had much time to sort through and think about the results myself, so reading other people's commentary has been great.
- With that said, here are a few interesting things I've noticed: Some people confuse Audi's rings with the Olympics, people remember Hitler created Volkswagen, Hanes should try and hold on to Michael Jordan, EA Sports is Madden, people don't like their phone companies.
I think that's it for now. Like I said, I will return to regular blogging at some point soon. Thanks so much to everyone for all their support, comments, blog posts, twitters, links and general good will. It's been awesome.