The Web as a popular place to visit and to do business is barely a decade old (see Web history). Yet it has become a part of our lives and our way of doing business. The dot-com boom of the 1990s had all the earmarks of a classic land rush.
Then, as suddenly as it blossomed, the dot-com world went bust. How could so many people be so wrong, and what can we take away from that experience?
The Cluetrain Manifesto
Survivors of the dot-com bust are folks who had sound business models. People who profited also had an understanding of the Web as a marketplace – whether it be a marketplace of ideas or a place of contracting for goods, services and intelligence.
So what is the secret of the Web? Locke, Searls and Weinberger, of Cluetrain Manifesto fame, describe it as a “conversation” and as a signal of the “end of business as usual.” Others describe it as the ultimate niche marketing tool, a device for building communities of interest free from geopolitical boundaries.
The key to putting the Web to work for your organization revolves around the conversations you conduct online and around the communities you build and engender through your Web presence. A short note to NetPresence could have you on the road to advancing your mission into new frontiers.