It’s been a long time belief in business that “the customer is king” because they are the lifeblood of the company.  If that’s the case, than it can be said that in this Web 2.0 world, the User is the Monarch.  Whatever the nature of your website, whether it’s a blog, a company site, a niche portal, users should be taken care of, listened to and engaged.  After all, you weren’t Person of the Year 2006 for nothing.

However, not many really believe in this.  A lot of website owners, especially big companies, still insist to control everything, not providing a venue for users to contribute and be heard.  Why?  Because dealing with users is tough.  Users reject marketing pitches, they have high expectations, they can make harsh comments, they can be fickle, and more often than not they tell the truth.

If you have a website, you should learn to deal with your users.  Remember, users provide the ideas for new products and services.  They can also warn you if your products and services still needs fine tuning to meet your market’s needs.  Users talk to other users and you certainly want them to talk about you.  And never forget that your users know your competitors.  To know your user is to know your future.