Offer Consumers a Meaningful Service†

Understand What Your Target Needs, Deliver It and Stick With It

Advertising Age, July 28, 2008 — It's just common sense that if you give a little, you'll usually get a little in return. But to paraphrase President Harry S. Truman, that (inadvertent) font of marketing wisdom, "If common sense were so common, more [marketers] would have it." Marketing is nothing more or less than an exchange of value. The better the value the marketer provides, the more time and attention they'll usually get back from their target. If the value delivered by the marketer is exceptional, then the consumer will pay back the marketer with loyalty and brand evangelism in good times and bad.

Building an Online Community of Loyal and Vocal Users†

Internet Marketplace Etsy Embraces Forums, Blogs, Social Sites to Get People to Spread the Word

Wall Street Journal, March 6, 2008 — Etsy Inc., an online marketplace for handmade goods, offers a host of ways for its customers to connect with the company and each other.

These include user profiles, forums, blogs and a rating-and-feedback system for the site's 800,000 registered users, including crafters and artisans who sell their wares on the site.

But Etsy also has embraced ways that its customers interact with one another outside of the company's domain — mainly a handful of social-networking sites created by Etsy.com fans.