Linux Journal: Is Transparency the Killer Virtue?

“Last Friday I had lunch with my friend, Jim Sterne, one of
those rare marketing guys who deals in the concrete rather than the
abstract. Jim is about as BS-free a marketing guy as you can find.
Among other things, he has written a pile of practical books that
pull no punches about what doesn’t work, while providing plenty of
practical wisdom about what does.

“We spent much of the meal cowondering about why so many CEOs
talk about ‘accountability’ and say they value hard facts, yet show
limited interest in what their companies actually do on the Net.
Yes, it’s nice they finally recognize that having a web site is a
good thing, like having a lobby and adequate visitor parking. But
beyond that, they’re worse than clueless–they’re contented with
that state.

“In his new book, Web Metrics: Proven Methods for Measuring Web
Site Success, Jim makes the case for accountability, measurement,
ROI, best practices, economies of scale and so on. He also gives
practical advice not only for delivering those values but for
convincing the upper parts of the org chart there’s a need for
them–kind of like the infantry telling the brass there’s a war
going on…”

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