Justin Palmer poses an interesting question on his blog, Palmer Web Marketing, in a post titled “What if Your Products Disappeared?”
Imagine that all your products disappeared from your website. Would anything of value remain? Would your customers still come back?
The point Justin goes on to make is that if people are only coming for the product, then you are just a commodity. Instead, you should try to build things like community on your website. In fact, that may make a good rallying cry – Community, not Commodity.
It is a little bit of an idealogical way to look at websites, but what if you really could add something valuable to your world using your site? Big companies like Intuit and AmEx are doing it with tools and articles for business owners. Even your small business can accomplish it. Add value. Seek to contribute. In the end, is your business all about sales or do you want to stand out and accomplish something special?
Bradford Shimp is the President of Broad River Creative, a blogger and blog designer. He designs blogs and websites for small businesses, and teaches small business owners how to use the web to grow their business.
Thanks for mentioning the post Brad.
“Community, not Commodity” – I love it!
Glad to, it was a great post. We need to be thinking in terms of adding value.