He’s got a unique position: Switzerland. With a corporate marketing job, no agency allegiance, and a love for marketing, Todd Andrlik is the ideal man for the job. Todd And - The Power to Connect maintains a very important place in the marketing blogosphere, the home of the Power 150. This list ranks more than 300 of the top marketing and PR blogs out there (We’re 212 in large part due to a zero Bloglines subs rating. Hint, hint dear reader). The Todd And blog itself is funny, using a lot of great video to bring a little levity to this crazy business. Read on to learn what Todd And thinks of the marketing blogosphere.

BB: How do you base your rankings?

TA: The Power 150 is based on Google PageRank, Bloglines subscribers, Technorati rankings and my own score, which values frequent, relevant and creative content as well as the use of audio, video and graphics. Essentially, the Power 150 provides a stable, unbiased ranking foundation with a pinch of subjective measure for creativity.

BB: Given how you’ve monitored the industry, what’s changed over the past year?

TA: The marketing industry and its professionals are riding several major industry evolutions at once. In my humble opinion, the biggest trend we’re watching is the change in news consumption and distribution. It’s also clear to see technology and social media have smoothly woven themselves into the marketing fabric.

At the same time, I think there is still great value placed on the tried and true industry fundamentals. For example, while the new social media press release has been launched and slowly added to PR tool belts, professionals are finding that the traditional release format is still the preferred approach for old media. When you boil it down, I think the biggest change over the past year has been the expanding tool belt of marketing professionals.

BB: And where do you think the business is going?

TA: New niche agencies and boutiques are popping up like acne on a teenager, so I think everyone is rushing to stay current with all the changes. At the risk of losing a greater share of the corporate marketing department budget, PR and advertising agencies continue to expand their service offerings and add new specialties.

BB: Does your construction firm use new media (if so, how is it benefiting you. if not, why)?

TA: Construction is an industry that I think will be slower to adapt to new media tools and tactics. However, it’s important to me that I keep our company’s marketing on the cutting edge, so we’re currently utilizing video more and exploring RSS with our newsroom. We also monitor and pitch blogs on occasion.

BB: Your blog features more video than most (we like it). What do you like about video blogging versus traditional writing?

TA: When I first launched my blog, I did a lot of research and found the marketing blogosphere to be quite dense with several long-winded consulting-type bloggers. While there is certainly a market for that, I didn’t have the time to dedicate to such in-depth reporting. Plus, I think most marketing blogs are read by other marketing professionals, so I wanted to keep mine simple and fun.

Video is a great way for me to lighten up my visitors reading load and still be somewhat relevant to the industry. That’s why my slogan is “blogging at the very serious but often comical crossroads of marketing and media.�

BB: What was your personal favorite Todd And post of all time and why?

TA: I have many favorite posts, including several of my humorous exchanges with Leo Bottary of Client Service Insights (particularly the one about the importance of speaking pirate during presentations), but I’d say the post I’m most proud of is the announcement of the Power 150. I put a lot of effort into assembling the list and have been like a proud parent watching the list grow and serve as a tool for other marketing professionals and bloggers. Like I say, my professional life is extremely rewarding because I help companies and individuals grow and connect. The Power 150, which is now a global ranking of top marketing blogs, allowed me to do just that in a completely new arena.

BB: What advice would you give other bloggers?

TA: My advice to other bloggers is three-fold = be committed, read and leverage. Blogs are only worth the time and effort you put into them. I see many bloggers start and stop within three months.

The true benefit of blogging doesn’t come until several months down the road after you’ve established an ‘inner circle’ of other blog buddies and have a solid exchange of thoughts and ideas. Personally, I found the greatest benefit to blogging is that I’m almost forced to read other marketing blogs, which keeps me current on industry trends and issues. So, not only does that benefit me, but that knowledge also benefits my employer. Plus, I now have many new friends that I can bounce ideas off of and brainstorm with when I’m planning to implement new strategies or tactics with my own company.

Ultimately, the marketing blogosphere is a giant think tank. It provides oodles of research, resources and advice if bloggers know how to use and leverage it for their own good.