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Lesson #4: “Treat People Like You Want to Be Treated”

Craig Newmark Articles
Lesson #4: “Treat People Like You Want to Be Treated”

With little fanfare and almost no advertising budget to help spin and sell the service, Craigslist has become a global force online due in large part to one factor: the website actually helps people.

Newmark considers himself a "rabid civil libertarian," an ideology he diligently applies to management of his site. "There are different flavours of libertarianism, but my take is that its core values are ‘treat people like you want to be treated' and ‘live and let live,' which works for most humans," he says. "We provide a useful service, helping people with everyday stuff like jobs and housing and we do it in this culture of trust that seems to relate to a value system where the core values are treating people like you want to be treated."

Craigslist makes it easier for everyday people to get everyday stuff done, stuff like selling things and finding apartments. On top of that, "it has helped people who have a hard time meeting other people," says Newmark. "They're using the site and becoming friends, lovers, and every possible twist on those two situations."

It is all about giving people a break, as the Craigslist company motto touts. "A break from how difficult our lives are, " says Newmark. "It's like, if you're walking out of your apartment building and somebody is coming the other way with an armful of groceries, you hold the door. It feels good - it's the neighbourly thing to do."

Newmark has taken that neighbourhood online. And, in his role as neighbourhood watch, so to speak, Newmark has made it his top priority to make sure that user cooperation continues as smoothly as possible. "I remember hearing at IBM that if you focus on your customers, then treat them as you want to be treated, that's more effective and profitable," he says. "That's works, though people often forget it."

People often forget that Newmark spent years in the traditional corporate world before venturing off onto his own as an entrepreneur - years that taught him many lessons. He learned that "large organizations are usually dysfunctional," he says. "In hierarchies people tell their boss what their boss wants to hear; that business process for engineering is a great idea and usually not done; that line workers in a company want to do things right but they get beaten down by the prevailing corporate culture; and that customer service is extremely important but not taken seriously."

To that end, Newmark says he has learned to "obsess about customer service." Of all his endeavours, his greatest sense of satisfaction comes from "a sense that we're helping out lots of people." Three of his employees work with him full-time on customer service as well. "We have our lapses," he says, "but I think we do this as well as anyone I've ever heard of."

It is by providing a service that is free and that actually helps people, and by ensuring first-class responses to their demands that Newmark has been able to secure the loyalty and trust of his users.





Lesson 4 Treat People Like You Want to Be Treated

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Anne Barr
Anne Barr has over 26 years experience in sales and marketing, six years as a franchisee. She has assisted over 367 business owners and purchasers to achieve their goals in career change, transition and exit strategy. She holds the designation of Certified Franchise Executive from the International Franchise Association, Certified Business Intermediary from the International Business Brokers Association and Board Certified Broker from the Texas Association of Business Brokers. Anne is active in professional organizations, networking groups and volunteers for non-profit entities. As owner/operator of four successful businesses, Anne has proven people skills and enjoys helping clients find the right "fit" in business ownership. Visit www.FranchiseOpportunitySpecialist.com for more information about me and my company. - Visit Anne Barr's Website

Jeff Foster
WebBizIdeas.com is a Minneapolis website design company founded to help people start an internet business by providing them with website, business, and internet resources that help foster the growth of successful online businesses and develop innovative Internet business ideas.  We specialize in internet consulting & internet marketing
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John Brennan
John Brennan Ed.D. Dr. Brennan is President of Interpersonal Development, LLC, a training and development firm. Interpersonal Development has provided sales training and coaching to more than 3,000 sales reps from over 100 companies. A native of Australia, Dr. Brennan received his doctorate from the University of Rochester. His dissertation researched the effectiveness of Behavioral Modeling Technology in training people in interpersonal skills. While he has spent most of his career designing or delivering training, he was also a Vice-President of Sales of a training and development franchise with operations in 25 markets. Dr. Brennan has designed and delivered sales training in North America, Asia, Europe, Australia and the Middle East. He has been a guest speaker at numerous national and regional professional conferences. When Microsoft wanted Best Practices articles on sales for their web site, they called Dr. Brennan. The results are at http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/FX011387391033.aspx His firm’s clients have included Volvo, The Prudential, Merrill Lynch, Eastman Kodak, Gannett, Equifax Europe, the Economist Group and countless small businesses. - Visit John Brennan's Website

Stephanie Robey
Stephanie Robey is President and CoFounder of Pivot Positive, LLC - an Internet marketing business focused on helping people start work at home ventures. Previously, she was employed at The Search Agency with over 20 years experience in graphic design and 10 years experience in online marketing. She was responsible for launching the Conversion Path Optimization (CPO) unit where she and her team have conducted hundreds of optimization tests for online companies across multiple verticals.

She is a successful entrepreneur having started and sold 2 companies and remains on the board of directors of the third, PhotoSpin.com   Stephanie began her career in the direct marketing realm creating and producing direct mail for many of the major cable television companies and directly attributes her understanding of Internet marketing to those early offline experiences.  Stephanie is a graduate of San Diego State University with a BFA in Graphic Arts and also holds an Executive MBA from the Graziadio School of Business and Management at Pepperdine University.

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