The point of your web site is, after all, to get your visitors to DO SOMETHING, to take action.

In the past I have reminded you your web site is not your newsletter. Newsletters are a passive form of media distribution - the message goes in one direction and doesn't require action from the recipient. Early web sites still followed the same model, they were just electronic versions of the same publications. Preparing a print publication required special equipment and a large number of resources to create, print, collate, fold, address and mail, which limited the ability of most people to distribute those publications. Initially, the web required much of the same, along with the technical know-how for creating web sites.

But, technology is an ever-growing, ever-changing vehicle and what was once reserved for a select group of users is now in the hands of the masses and they want to exercise their abilities, voice their opinions and impact millions of other web visitors. Passive consumption of web content is being replaced by active production. Look at some of the most active sites on the web - MySpace, Facebook, YouTube, Flickr and Google - and you will see a common trait. They all thrive on content posted by their users. It's not just a question of are people reading your site, but what can they do on your site?