My Top Sites No comments yet

I came across the Time’s top 50 sites list yesterday and to my surprise, most sites were new to me. I was expecting the typical technoratis - Facebook, Google, YouTube and them. Then I started thinking about my favorite sites and I drew a blank. How could this be? I go through thousands of sites a month. I realized that the only way to objectively answer this question was to dig through my blog for sites I’ve written about or linked to since the creation of socialmediaguy. This is what I found:

theshortestblogintheworld.blogspot.com - The Tina Fey of copy
I just made your day. Amy Flanagan is a brilliant copy writer from Boston who will have you peeing in your pants with her daily one liners.

Facebook - my home
I was one of the first 50k members on Facebook (yea that’s right) back when I was a freshman at BU and Zucky was across the pond hacking away in his Harvard dorm room.

Vimeo - the upscale YouTube
They have one of the sexiest players out there, HD, a beautiful layout, awesome customization options and apps for their channels, and they cater to a more high end, artistic crowd.

Undercurrent
Every Friday we live stream a dance party at 3:45pm. How can I not add that?

barackobama.com
Do you know how much money this guy is making off this site?

TED
Free videos of the world’s smartest visionaries talking about their work with unbelievable passion (see Majora Carter’s Greening the Ghetto, Isabella Alledes’ Tales of Passion and J.J. Abrams’ Mystery Box). I watch these videos on my ipod when I need a boost of inspiration.

noonebelongsheremorethanyou.com
The simplicity of this site is pure genius

utterz.com
Although I never use it, it is everything Twitter should be. Why don’t I use it?

goodurlbadurl.com
Proof that there are very dumb people with decision power in online marketing

marryourdaughter.com
This sent millions of WTFs across the web

technomarketer & Chris Brogan
I love these guys. Matt Dickman’s (Technomarketer) how-to videos and Chris Brogan’s grasp of technology and community have been an invaluable resource. They’ve been my mentors since my first days as the socialmediaguy.

themostamazingthingever.com
Just click it

The Best Pitch :) No comments yet

Yianni,

It’s a shame we haven’t connected yet, given we’re both Facebook addicts, bloggers, NYC new media geeks, and full-time Puerto Ricans (okay, everything but the last one… not sure how many Berkowitzes there are in PR).

I wanted to give you a heads up about something Time.com’s doing if you think it’s worth blogging.

For the launch today of Time’s 50 Best Websites for 2008 (including some personal favorites like Mint, Kiva, and Geni), they set up a Tumblr feed where they’ll link to any blogger who mentions A) their favorite among the 50, or B) any site that they think should be there.

It makes the experience even more interactive, and the link love from Time is a cool bonus (they’ll be posting the Tumblr link on their site shortly). If you do post your thoughts, I’ll make sure your blog’s on the Tumblr feed. Either way, you’ll probably enjoy making sure you’re on top of all 50 picks since you follow the space, and I thought you’d find it interesting how Time is incorporating microblogging into its overall media offerings. Let me know if you need any more info.

Here are the links:
* Time 50 Best Websites: http://www.time.com/time/specials/2007/article/0,28804,1809858_1809957,00.html
* Time’s Tumblr feed: http://time50bestwebsites.tumblr.com/

Best,

<Mr. Berkowitz’s first name has been omitted for his protection but lets just say it rhymes with hey-vid>

Why I love this pitch:

He did his homework - it’s apparent that he read my bio and took the time to personalize the introduction. He sent me something that he honestly thought I would be interested in, which I am and I WILL blog about it.

Pitching with a worthy value proposition for me - Using Tumblr to posts links of the people who post is an AWESOME idea for getting bloggers to actually listen and post (I haven’t even thought about that). Link love goes a long way. If you send me something incredibly interesting, chances are I have already seen it. But, if you send me something interesting and then tell me that you will link my post elsewhere, I am much more likely to listen.

I was going through a blogging slump this month. Thanks for motivating me to post.