A friend of mine told me about this fascinating article http://www.nytimes.com/2007/02/05/technology/05ecom.html?ex=1328331600&en=d00c3868ce032643&ei=5090&partner=rssuserland&emc=rss
in the Sunday New York Times. It's a story about how online retailers are increasingly using video blogs on the web to enage customers in meaningful conversations.
In particlar, i abolutely love this quote from one small business owner, "The irony is that we're using technology to be much more personal with our customers, and recreate the relationship I had 30 years ago, where I knew all the customers that came into my shop on First Avenue,"
It a simple, powerful, and timely example of what the Conversational Web is all about. The bottomline is that anyone (and especially small businesses) are increasingly drawn to easy-to-use social media tools that enable them to have conversations with their online prodpects and customers.
BT Tradespace www.bttradespace.com is another excellent example of how web conversations are coming to life for small businesses. Whether it's publishing a professional web site, optimizing for paid and or natural search, blogging, pod casting, or video blogging -- the fact is that these conversational tools are becoming easier to use and are facilitating a whole new range of easy and natural interactions between small businesses and their customers.
The web is becoming more conversational for all types of people -- even those with limited IT skills. End of story.