I asked my local roastmaster AJ what he was drinking behind the counter, and he told me it was Kona coffee from the Greenwell coop in Hawaii. He’s not offering this coffee on the menu currently, because it’s so expensive. $35 a pound for green beans. AJ is a specialty roaster, so this coffee is great for small batch customers and those willing to pay more for a cup of coffee roasted to perfection.
But AJ gave me a cup and I’m drinking it–black, which isn’t how I normally drink coffee (I’m a cream and sugar kind of guy)–because you gotta drink Kona black. And it got me to thinking about content for the web.
Good web content is like good Kona coffee. The value that comes from powerful content packaged through a recognized and established site (or co-op) is valuable only to those who recognize the power of such information. Information well packaged and provided to discriminating users will always be profitable. One, they are customers who can afford to pay for top-notch content. Two, they recognize your leadership in providing that content, and thus are more likely to return for more. Three, they are looking for a return on that investment, which means that value-added content is expressly tailored to their needs.
This is what the web is moving toward–more niches, more small-growth, selective and paired with ideas that have the potential to revolutionize how people work, play, and interact online and off.
So when AJ offers me a private cup of Kona coffee, I appreciate the cup for its smooth, rich flavor, the aroma and bold approachability. And the beautiful thing is, I can browse content-rich sites as I drink, giving site owners my repeat business (in terms of patronage and interaction and potentially payment in exchange for services or deep content).