About a year ago I was looking at a number of different advertising opportunities for one of the companies I consult for from time to time. They received a letter labeled, Inc. 500, and learned of an opportunity to be included in a list of Inc. 5000's fastest growing companies. As someone who's always interested in free publicity, I agreed to fill out the paperwork.
I quickly realized that this wasn't for free publicity. Quite honestly, it was anything but. The whole concept of rating and ranking companies by Inc. is pretty much a scam. In addition to providing information about your company, you need to send a check. That's right, nothing comes without a price. In order to have your company considered for inclusion in the list, you have to pay a fee. Inc. may call this a "processing fee" or some other bogus name but you have to pay to be considered.
Fighting Back
It's right then and there that I decided to take action. It took me almost a year, but I recently launched 2 new websites: Rank Company | Rank Your Company and Rank Boss | Rank Your Boss. The goal of both of these sites is to have the people who know a company the best (employees, vendors, stakeholders, etc.) rate the company - not some magazine that charges a business or individual to be listed. I'm trying to bring some objectivity to the rankings game.
I've been in marketing and advertising a long time and have learned that sometimes, if you want objectivity, you need to stand up and take charge. That's the goal of both of these sites. Not only should you be sharing an experience about the company you work for or your boss, but you should also help to fight back against companies that are focused on only supporting organizations that can pay a fee.
Take the Next Step
I'd like to ask all of my blog readers and followers to support these sites. I'm most excited about Rank Your Boss as it will change the landscape of companies forever. I learned early on that people don't leave jobs, they leave bosses - and nothing could be more true.
Please go out to Rank your boss and Rank your company and start sharing your insights and opinions about the companies you work for today or have worked for in the past!
Thanks,
Michael H. Fleischner