4th Jun, 2008

Reject Social Networking At Your Peril

Categories: Online Business     Posted by: CVOS

Feature article in Hot Boat Magazine by Publisher/Editor in Chief Darrin Davidson

We have lowered the amount of communication in our website and are not a social networking website (emphasis his)
we want to create a site that has a positive environment for boat manufacturers, dealers, owners and enthusiasts.

I paraphrased the above quote, but the idea of trying to stifle your online community is the antithesis of the internet. Businesses that try to exert full control over their users and discourage online collaboration are doomed.

HotBoat has a very active forum, with over 1.5 million posts in over 100,000 threads. This is an online social network that should be nurtured at all costs. You have the full attention of boat enthusiasts ready to purchase your recommended products - this is a gold mine sitting dormant.

Interesting, they said the HotBoat.com site was just redesigned. It opens with cheesy audio, overpowering colors, incessant animation and a screensaver like background. I hope their users like to be heavily sold, and prefer to purchase a hard copy of the magazine instead of reading and engaging on the HotBoat.com boating website.

Responses

In my humble opinion, It is foolish to ignore the power of your web site In the age where the W3 is putting the retail giants such as Walmart, Robinson May and Sears and many others, in financial trouble. It is hard to undermine the power of marketing on the W3, since it has better positioning and longer reach.
The competition is not between big business and small business in the retail level anymore, it is about big business and small business on the W3.
If ones web site has a better position on the web than others, more people will see the product which extends the reach. A higher reach means more sales and ultimately revenue regardless of the size of the business.
Thanks to the W3 small businesses no longer only market to their local community, but their services can influence The whole world.

By: solmog on June 4th, 2008
at 10:47 am

Well said. Companies that open up and let consumers help dictate their future will succeed.

By: CVOS on June 6th, 2008
at 3:09 pm

Leave a response






Your response:

Categories