Bill

"Stats are cool and all but only when they don’t break the experience for your users." - AGREED! - Bill

"Wow! Where I grew up, everyone pretty much knew everyone too (the norm way back then), but leaving the house - or anything - unlocked was never even considered." - Bill

""[I value them] Because they are my readers"  You can't really go wrong with that attitude. Sure, it might be possible to give away the farm, as it were, but valuing all of your readers can't be a bad thing. More importantly (in my opinion) is that they know you value them. Who knows exactly why that woman sends you edits every day, but my guess is that she wants you to read them. You didn't really tell us if you read them or not, but I'm guessing you do and she knows it." - Bill

"We were in the restaurant business for years. When all we cared about was the profit margin, business suffered. It had to be about giving people what they really wanted - good food, and *personal* service. The customers we recognized were hooked - even when the food wasn't always up to par." - Bill

"Know them, listen to them, and make them feel important. That's exactly it, but we can only fake it some of the time. In the majority of cases, we really need to want to listen, so we can know them, so we can give them what they want." - Bill

"I like the analogy of the conductor bringing all the different parts in line. Everybody has something to say - we need to let them say it. Each of our readers/viewers/members/partners may have a different motivation. It's our job to figure out what they are "in it for." If we can figure that out, and then help them get "it," they will be part of what we do as long as we give them that." - Bill