Hi,

I think as you say Erich, the move today is towards creating and thus controlling content that is published. This is the base of what makes Google and Yahoo. What better way than to get everybody to help you do that.

This is what I feel Google did a very good job at with Gmail. They created buzz around the product, provided limited availability and then got people through invitation to beta test it for them. The last part was a pretty slick move and provided them with a great way to accomplish the goal of getting it tested and creating the (pre-)hype about it.

At the moment on the Internet the main sound and successful stories are search engines. Directories are having a harder time. Links is highly capable of providing quality content in a categorized manner to people. The content you need to get people interested in your site can be provided by your visitors in the same way that Google piggybacks of everybody’s content in order to provide their search engine service. By getting people to want to be part of your community and making sure that they want to come back and publish content for you, you are a winner. If on top of that you have a real passion for the subject/area your site deals in people feel it and it just adds to the interest people will have for your site.

I feel that this community or 'social media' is the key. Finding ways for people to share their experiences may well be the means...


John
Significant Media