John Battelle Article John Battelle has an insightful article on AdAge.com about how marketers should be thinking in the age of search: ARE YOU BECOMING IRRELEVANT TO YOUR CUSTOMERS?

"The traditional model for marketing used to be that content companies made content, then advertisers attached themselves to that content in various ways. Content was a proxy for the audience, and the audience was what marketers were after.

But in the age of search, consumers are declaring their intent first through the mechanism of the search box. They are stating what they want. This is proving an irresistible attachment point for marketers, and hence we have the rise of paid search, with Google/Yahoo as its leaders. Content is what is found after intent is declared, and a new middleman -- the search box -- has created value by creating an attachment point where every marketer wants to be -- at the point of intent. This doesn’t mean content is dead; far from it. Content is often what consumers want. But if your content is not found when the consumer’s intent is declared, well, you lose."

He also makes a good point about how writers don't necessarily need a publisher to find an audience or to get paid. I found his points very well stated.  ¶ 1:09 a.m.