We marvelled at the ability for Mark Twain's cunning character, Tom Sawyer, to sucker the neighborhood kids into painting the fence to which he had been assigned. It is still possible, however, with a bit of coaching, to convince members of a community that they would actually enjoy doing what you consider a chore.

Consider, for example, the creation, continued development, and maintenance of a community web site. (Bear with me; it's not as great a mental jump as it might initially seem.)

Provided they are given the proper functionality and administrative rights, electronic community members can and will grow a seed of a web site into nothing short of a highly-productive garden, and you, the seed-sewer, can reap one heck of a harvest.

Imagine this. You start a web site that enables lay users to add pages or sections, start and participate in threaded message boards, create and fill out online surveys, post events and generate interest-based calendars for themselves and others, and, oh yes, buy your product.

Not only will your e-community members create valuable functionality and content on your site, they'll also spearhead your marketing efforts by inviting their acquaintances and friends who share their interests.

What sort of seed do you plant? Well, that all depends on your product or service, I suppose. If you broker antique cars, I'd seed a car-lovers' garden. If you're a window manufacturer, foster a community of home improvements enthusiasts. If you own a health club—a site for fitness nuts. You get the idea.

One set of Internet software tools, TownSmith, is designed to enable the lay user to contribute to just such an online community—Tom Sawyer style. Not only that, it also enables you to build and maintain your own online store within your new community of customers.

—Wade Nichols

Wade Nichols is Chief Operations Officer of Seine Systems, Incorporated, the Internet software development firm that developed the TownSmith software mentioned in the article. He also acts as the Director of Marketing and Sales for the TownSmith product.