How I came to love Ryanair
The Web customer is increasingly immune to marketing hype and advertising dream-making.
Ryanair sells cheap flights. Over 40 million people bought cheap flights from them in 2007. But Ryanair is a company that many love to hate.
It’s partly an Irish thing. Ryanair was this tiny Irish company and now they’re hugely successful. They’ve become too big […]
Is the organization the enemy of the customer?
What is good for the organization and what is good for the customer are not always the same thing.
Organizations are used to saying to customers: “Here’s what we have. If you like it, you’re going to have to adapt to how we do business.” But on the Web, the customer has much more control. The […]
Web professional: Are you ready to serve?
Those who enjoy serving customers will be the ones who create successful web careers.
A website is self-service. Customers do things on websites that they would otherwise have needed help doing. Self-service is attractive to organizations because it reduces staff costs. It is attractive to customers because it is convenient, fast and generally discounted.
Self-service is […]
When search words are misleading
The words people use when searching are not always a true reflection of what they’re really looking for.
Millions of people search for cheap hotels but are they really looking for a cheap hotel? Or are many of them in search of a five star hotel at a cheap price? And even if they are looking […]
Great websites do, not say
Never tell people what you’re going to do for them on the Web. Just let them do what they came to do as quickly and simply as possible.
“Welcome to our website.” What? I’m in a hurry. I don’t want to pass meaningless pleasantries with your website. I don’t want to shake its hand. Or talk […]
The first corporation was built on content
Sears Roebuck was one of the very first large corporations. It was in the mail-order business. It used content to make the sale.
In 1906, Sears Roebuck opened a mail-order plant in Chicago. It was the largest business building in the world. The Sears catalogue stated that the plant was using “every known mechanical appliance for […]
Web history: middle of the beginning
The Web has only just begun to make its mark. As we approach 2008, we are only in the middle of the beginning of a revolution that is transforming humanity.
I often meet web professionals who are frustrated with their websites. This is quite understandable. Change can seem quite slow at times. I have even […]
The collaborative Web
The essence of the Web is about linking, sharing and collaboration. Productivity and value creation is driven by cooperation.
Humans love the myth of the great individual overcoming overwhelming odds to achieve incredible goals. We seem to need to know that someone is in charge; that someone is leading, directing, managing.
There is no one person in […]
Every website is NOT different
Every time I hear someone say that “every website is different” I want to rush outside, grab an ancient oak, rip it up by its roots, swing it wildly and lop the top off the nearest mountain.
Every time I hear someone say that “everybody is different” I want to rush outside, race up the nearest […]
Thinking Web, not website
The Web is the network. The Web is the organization. Your website is not important. Reaching your customers is.
A website has substance. You can count the number of webpages and the number of visitors. It is something you can show to your manager. It is something you can talk about in a way that others […]
