I think a very important thing to consider with web 2.0 is the relationship between your 'long tail' niche(s) and the audience you are trying to engage.

Godaddy works because it lets you buy something you NEED (i.e. domain registration and web hosting) very cheaply – I feel it has less to do with the SuperBowl as I'm an Australian and Godaddy is still king for cheap domains/hosting here basically through word of mouth.

My point is in web 2.0 the product should be its own marketing. There is a good post about designing websites with this in mind here -

http://www.demonzmedia.com/DemonzBlog/?p=12

I particularly like the threadless t-shirts example. The whole thing works on the principle of letting users design t-shirts, having the other users vote on the designs and then having those voters buying the t-shirts. It is the pure embodiment of good web 2.0 / social network design for products.

I think a very important thing to consider with web 2.0 is the relationship between your 'long tail' niche(s) and the audience you are trying to engage.

Godaddy works because it lets you buy something you NEED (i.e. domain registration and web hosting) very cheaply – I feel it has less to do with the SuperBowl as I'm an Australian and Godaddy is still king for cheap domains/hosting here basically through word of mouth.

My point is in web 2.0 the product should be its own marketing. There is a good post about designing websites with this in mind here -

http://www.demonzmedia.com/DemonzBlog/?p=12

I particularly like the threadless t-shirts example. The whole thing works on the principle of letting users design t-shirts, having the other users vote on the designs and then having those voters buying the t-shirts. It is the pure embodiment of good web 2.0 / social network design for products.

This story comes from the perspective of the individual rather than “marketing”. Any sense of 'driving' is controlled by the individual. They're driving a “Discovery” vehicle wheeled on one side by “Need…Interest” (which has both “aware” and “unaware” elements) and on the other side by “Action…Interaction”. Each of the elements energy/movement fuels the others. The path traversed is the “Experience”. They can move forward, backward, go in circles (which may or may not be frustrating — it may be part of their own “decision dance”).

As an example, one thing I struggle with is on the relationship
end…I could write a blog post that would appeal strongly to a few
people and generate a great conversation in the comments. Strong
relationship appeal. However, I could also spend considerably less
time, and post a few Tweets that would would be read by hundreds. It's
sort of like online advertising…you can go after conversions or
awareness. I'm know what's best long-term but with limited resources
it's tough to know what's best

“Devoid of real relationships businesses will misinterpret their own
market signals and potential” – Great point and eloquently stated.

Devoid of real relationships businesses will misinterpret their own market signals and potential.

The strongest comment you made here is “go to where the audience is, don’t try to build from scratch.” That's an inherent part of 'follow the energy' , or 'energy for free' — the essence of emergence (a primal element of 2.0).

And true Web 2.0 leverages a LOT of non-online elements…