Introducing The C.H.I.E.F. formula. This is the formula that you should follow while building something online: Business, community, or personal.
Care – Care is the foundation of everything. If you don’t care, don’t even bother. And I don’t mean to care for others; I know you are selfish, everybody is. Care for yourself. Care about the legacy you will build and leave on the Web. Two things to keep in mind: 1) the Web doesn’t forget and 2) it takes just as much effort to build something remarkable as it does to build something average. The only difference? Care.
Help – How do you feel when someone go out of their way to help you for no particular reason, and don’t ask for anything in return? …Exactly, which is precisely the reason why you should do it.
Inform – People like to know stuff. They’d like to know when the next full solar eclipse is going to be, when Apple is going to release their tablet netbook, or maybe even something interesting about your company. Don’t be afraid to share the information you have on hand, sometimes even if it’s marked “confidential”. By the way, “i” could also stand for interesting.
Educate – If people have a hard time telling the difference between a browser and Google, don’t assume that they will understand what DotA is. Teach them.
Fun – “Fun and a little weird” is what Zappos is all about, and it worked out pretty well for them. Oh also, have you ever read the label on a Vitamin Water bottle?
Chances are, every successful website has some or all of these elements. The more you have, the better off you are.
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