Now that I’ve had a chance to get a few initial posts up on this blog it’s time to get down to business. I want to start by stripping the web down to its most essential level so that we can all see what is really going on , and why. Here is a an extremely simple idea that should be the basis for every single web-based application, campaign or website, but that seems very difficult for many people to grasp, and even more so to apply. The most fundamental principle of the Internet is:

What Works is Enabling Exchange

What this means is that successful web applications are almost always about helping people connect to one another. They enable exchange. After all, that is the end and purpose of networks. They are for sharing and connecting. And there are a zillion examples of this. Off the top of my head I can think of

• email
• hyperlinks
• web browsers
• search engines (Yahoo, Google, etc.)
• chat apps like MSN Messenger
• message boards/forums
• listservs
• World of Warcraft
• Runescape
• Skype
• YouTube
• MySpace
• Flickr
• del.icio.us
• eBay
• Napster
• Torrents
• Blogs

And the list goes on and on…In other words, most of the basic elements of the Internet as we know it today are tools that were developed to enable people to connect and exchange information.

Seems obvious, right? Well, it is and it isn’t. What’s obvious to most people is that if they invent the next YouTube they have a chance to become billionaires. But for the average CEO whose business is selling stuff - real stuff, not virtual stuff - it is less obvious just how to make use of this principle to increase sales and generate profits.

Well, here’s the answer:

1) identify communities that you engage with (supplier communities, client communities, geographic communities, demographic communities, etc.)

2) build and lightly brand a user-friendly online website themed around your industry that enable members of one or more of your communities to easily connect and exchange information and stories using words, pictures, audio and even video

3) actively promote your site among your target communities in the physical world to build critical mass and to offer people as much as possible a living human bridge to your online space

That’s it. That is the key to successful online marketing. Or at least one way to achieve it. It’s simple. And it’s real. And it works.

For example, if you build sailboats, develop a website that lets people who love sailing exchange sailing pictures, swap information about pleasant harbours and scary shoals, find crew members and learn about boatbuilding. Promote your site at boat shows and major marinas by setting up a video kiosk and asking people “What is the most beautiful (or strangest) thing you’ve ever seen from your deck?” Post their videos on the site and get them to spread the word virally to their friends via email. Invite comments and other stories. Then sit back and watch as your brand becomes more and important, meaningful and far-reaching at very little cost. Watch customers and potential customers become members of your community. And the same applies whether you make boats, clothes (just check out the extraordinary success of www.threadless.com) or anything else that some people somewhere care about.

Of course, you do have to get the design of your online community right. Fortunately that’s where we come in. Drop me a line if you want to make it happen. sobol@76design.com