I was very impressed when Blake Rhodes from IceRocket responded to my original (and subsequent) post about IcreRocket and Blogscour on this blog. It was a short personal note; he had read the post, mentioned something specific about it, commented, but in spirit and in fact, he simply said “thanks.”

Thanks.

I wondered briefly how many other people had similar experiences. Based on what I read today at Rick Segal’s blog, I think a lot of people have enjoyed similar communications.

I realized today that his first note was more than I have received from all other senior search engine representatives in 5 years in response to any article, commentary, or blog posting that I have made. (!)

I get lots of feedback on my articles, see them reprinted all over the place. That’s rewarding. I’ve been getting lots of email from people who have visited this blog. I don’t expect to hear from anyone, but I do, and I really appreciate it. But until today, I never really even thought much about the fact that I speak with search engine representatives fairly frequently, but can’t recall ever having one of them mention any particular article. It just never mattered to me. I don’t write for them.

But subconsciously, because Blake took 2 minutes to say “thanks,” I have a favorable opinion of IceRocket.

It doesn’t mean that I will not criticize IceRocket if I see poor results, or that I will write false praise in favor of what they are doing. It does mean I will pay attention though.

Blake’s attention to detail and actions mean that lots of people will pay attention, with a positive interest and perspective on IceRocket’s activities.