Two things have happened recently.
a) We bought some pages on the Millian Dollar Wiki (MDW)
b) We decided to give Click Cart Pro a serious try.
The first was a purely speculative purchase and was driven by the idea of “let us see what happens to this”. (and what a nice idea, why didn’t we think of this one – lol) The second was more about – “bespoke ecommerce sites take an awful lot of effort to get right and to deliver” – especially when the client has not fully appreciated all of the associated business rules….
Anyway, both Click Cart Pro and MDW have strong communities supporting them. And this is the key, the communities want their respective projects to succeed. So if you are a newbie, you can ask all the simple questions and you will be helped. Then there are those who will want the project to grow, expand and become more useful and so there is a steady stream of feedback to the business owners. The business owners then respond and will come up with solutions. The community will then help make these features work and will help others to get the most out of these features. All of the advice, support and encouragement is FREE! Does not cost a penny! But with everyone working together the general knowledge of the group improves, the products improve and everyone benefits – Remarkable.
I think the times are changing, closed and proprietory ways of working surely have their days numbered. How can a small “silo” possibly compete? – The answer is they can’t and therefore must open up. Big companies and organisations that are slow and lumbering had better watch out. The message is clear, “change and adapt or die” – the market is brutal, the costs are going down, customers expect self-service and innovation is the key to survival.
If you have a truly great idea, you must find a way to share it. Share it with a community and they will make you rich!