Scoble is right, this list is a little flawed.
But while he sorta was kidding about the publicists, I think you’re going to see that more and more in this space.
While I don’t think our fabulous publicists (hi Yosi) got us on this list — we were on the fictional character list last year too — Hollywood-style jockeying is the future in the online video space.
Let’s look at some of the video peeps that are off the list, Ze Frank, Amanda Congdon, Jessica Rose Lee.
Lists like these serve to catalyze perceptions of how your career is going. And those perceptions are big factor in how much money people are willing to pay for your services.
Is that fair? Not really. But those video peeps are much more effected by dropping off this list than say Jimmy Wales or Merlin Mann.
And I know that a lot of bloggers hate publicists in general, but in terms of connecting with “traditional” media — and there’s still a ton of traditional media out there, they are the bomb.
Several times in the process of planning Ninja Day 2007, Yosi and his team would approach us with hipster magazines he got us placed in — magazines I’d never heard of.
And that’s the publicist’s job. To be your cool friend that introduces you to other cool people. And it’s all that they do. And it frees you to do whatever you do better.
And publicists become your advocate for silly lists.
Because it doesn’t matter if you’re on the list or off of it — but it’s always better to be on. 
UPDATE: Forbes did contact Yosi. See those publicists are always working.
5 Comments
December 20, 2007 at 1:57 pm
[...] to Kent Nichols for the [...]
December 20, 2007 at 5:41 pm
I’m off to find us a publicist!
December 20, 2007 at 6:04 pm
I’m not up to speed on all the dark arts of publicity but I know it’s a game of cat and mouse and that sometimes you are the cat and sometimes you are the mouse.
I wonder if like the way that we as video producers have changed how we produce videos for the web will not PR people change the way they do PR for the web?
I would like to learn more about publicists who travel both in new media and in the old with Ninja like abilities.
December 21, 2007 at 4:59 pm
Web celebs big deal? I work in a hospital with people that surf the web for shopping and email and I’m sure they wouldn’t know of anyone on the list. The web celeb community is way to clique-ish.
December 22, 2007 at 2:12 am
It is still the Wild West out there. As you learn to navigate anything, you find the right tools to complete the task at hand.
A publicist and a getting on silly lists are just some of those tools that are also evolving in the media internet landscape. Its just another of the growing areas of this niche.
Much like the tin foil hat maker who has increased his production in the past few years with the constant rise of the Bush led governments mind reading tools which blanket our cities airways.
Find your niche and work to get on that silly list.