Search Insights with Lee Odden
I had the honor of meeting Lee Odden yesterday at a local Wayzata restaurant for lunch. Lee is the CEO of TopRank Online Marketing and a thought leader in the spaces of search and social media. His blog, TopRankBlog, is highly regarded and considered one of the best in web-tech.
Lee and I talked about the true value of search. Its predictive qualities, and rich data flows. Lee’s using search in new ways to strengthen his business model and keep ahead of the competition. I’d like to learn more about search’s role in identifying knowledge gaps and how organizations can use search to strengthen collective intelligence.
I tapped Lee as a consumer/customer and asked his thoughts on the use of social media in the food industry. What would he like to see in the space? Lee’s response touched on crowdsourcing a la MyStarbucksIdea but really honed in on trusted on-line spaces for kids. Lee mentioned a need for parents to trust social sites for kids and that trusted brands could provide parents that needed comfort and security.
As a parent of two children who will soon engage in web 2.0, I couldn’t agree with Lee more.
Perspectives on Connected Innovation and Collaboration 
Great lunching with you Donald – a rich conversation indeed!
Cheers,
Lee
Lee Odden
February 12, 2009 at 8:51 pm
Wow, great find……I just added an RSS to his blog. I really can’t wait to talk with you……all the stuff you are doing is so exciting! I am reading a good book right now, What Would Google Do, and it is less about Google and more about changing thinking in corporations, etc.- very interesting. A challenge I am having lately with social media: how to you “cull” important events out of it? For example, how do you deal with the fact when your network gets large, to get the value/track what you need out of it……I think that is where analytics are needed…..maybe you can share things you know about this with me…..
Noelle Sorensen
February 15, 2009 at 6:47 pm
What would Google do is on my list, but I don’t have time just yet to dive in. How do you like Jarvis? We can talk about filters or screening too. I treat is more from an objective perspective. What information do I want to collect and why.
Donald Smith
February 16, 2009 at 6:39 pm
I can pull out the TOC from WWGD for you………the concepts alone are determinable through the chapter titles………it is really on spot. In fact, you may find some really catchy titles for yourself for blogs, or ideas to explore within your Sabbatical that you may haven’t thought of (I doubt it though, you are wayyyyyyyy ahead of me and I am so enjoying that!!) – regardless, I will bring it to our meeting!
Noelle Sorensen
February 17, 2009 at 7:45 pm
one other thing- you want me to set up an alert for you on social media? we can talk tomorrow about that too………I have access to a suite of databases with an entire subset on information…….
Noelle Sorensen
February 17, 2009 at 7:46 pm