I've seen one article draw 125,000 new users in two days. And a bikini in Sports Illustrated can mean the sale of 100,000+ bikinis within a week ;-)

Every day I receive almost 100 requests from writers with queries (a query describes the basis of their story) seeking subjects to interview. BTW, this includes PC World, Computerworld, etc. They may be laying off staff writers but the truth is that they're all hiring freelancers. Social media? Yes. But the world now depends upon a mix of social media and traditional PR -- online, TV, satellite, print, radio. Even if we wish it, Old Media wil never go away!

What you're talking about is not just service and quality, but perceived quality. You're also talking about the product that gets the most buzz gets the bigger piece of the (pizza) pie. That's public relations. [Transparency: I'm in tech PR.] Ironically, I'm writing a series of articles about food that touches on service, quality, and so on. [Forget about tech for a moment and check out MFK Fisher/] And I think I know which dreadful pizza place you're talking about. Yes, they're succeeding because of service and great WOM -- thanks to the PR machine that brought them their first crowd. Consistency? Absolutely. This is what makes for good relationships not just between companies and clients/users but between friends, husbands and wives, bosses and employees, people and their pets. Am looking forward to Project TD...