Martin Leith has an extensive list of idea generation methods at www.ideagenerationmethods.com. Each method links to a page with additional information. Looks pretty interesting.

I think this site would benefit tremendously if it were in a Wiki format. Users could provide additional information on each of the methods such as examples of usage, case histories, and positive and negative feedback about each method. Additionally users would be able to add additional methods to the list.

I caught this snippet on Robert Scoble’s blog and it made me stop and think. Scoble: I’ve seen this behavior before…

As a web developer and marketer building web sites for clients one of the golden rules had always been “Make it sticky”. Content, functionality, and navigation were always designed to keep the user on the site for as long as possible.

This brings up a good point which is another golden rule that I’d forgotten - Sometimes the rules change! New technologies lead to new user mindsets which ultimately change the way users expect to interact with an online presence.

I think all of us web developers should put our “golden” rules up on the wall each time we develop a web site and ask ourselves if any of those rules have changed. I know I will for now on.

10 Steps to a Hugely Successful Web 2.0 Company is a nice reminder of some important points to keep in mind when developing and running a Web company.

#10 made me go back and revisit all the competition for my own soon to be released product. I fell prey to too easily dismissing many of the competitive sites as “no competition.”

I’ve been seeing a lot of posts lately about how some big name companies just don’t get blogging and bloggers. Companies such as Dell and Apple have had their share of grief at the hands of bloggers.

Yesterday I came across a company that does get it. I blogged about Google Talk and mentioned that I also was trying other messaging and communication software including SightSpeed. Within an hour, someone from SightSpeed had commented on my post and offered to set me up with an account to give it a try.

This is amazing. I was truly floored. This shows the power, immediacy, and viral capabilities of blogging from a marketing standpoint that most companies are missing out on.

If SightSpeed had just sent me an email saying, hey try out our new software, I would have instantly deleted it. I wouldn’t have seen it, and neither would anyone else.

But when someone blogs about a product, service or company, they are in some ways, extending an invitation to that company to respond. Now the company has been invited to talk to the user, and their discussion (and marketing message) takes place in front of everyone that reads that post.

I’ve been working with the marketing departments of companies for a long time and this is something that I will be using as an example of “what to do” with all my clients. So many companies don’t even monitor what is being said about them in the blogosphere. Here it is proactively being taken a step further.

I’m going to install the new version of SightSpeed today and I’ll post about my experiences with it here.