Because they said it best, we borrow liberally from The Cluetrain Manifesto:

1. Markets are conversations.
2. Markets consist of human beings, not demographic sectors.
3. Conversations among human beings sound human. They are conducted in a human voice.
4. People recognize each other as such from the sound of this voice.
5. The Internet is enabling conversations among human beings that were simply not possible in the era of mass media.
6. These networked conversations are enabling powerful new forms of social organization and knowledge exchange to emerge.
7. As a result, markets are getting smarter, more informed, more organized. Participation in a networked market changes people fundamentally.
8. People in networked markets have figured out that they get far better information and support from one another than from vendors. So much for corporate rhetoric about adding value to commoditized products.
9. There are no secrets. The networked market knows more than companies do about their own products. And whether the news is good or bad, they tell everyone.
10. Companies that assume online markets are the same markets that used to watch their ads on television are kidding themselves.
11. Companies that don’t realize their markets are now networked person-to-person, getting smarter as a result and deeply joined in conversation are missing their best opportunity.
12. Companies can now communicate with their markets directly. If they blow it, it could be their last chance.
13. Companies need to realize their markets are often laughing. At them.
14. Companies need to lighten up and take themselves less seriously. They need to get a sense of humor.
15. Getting a sense of humor does not mean putting some jokes on the corporate web site. Rather, it requires big values, a little humility, straight talk, and a genuine point of view.
16. Most marketing programs are based on the fear that the market might see what's really going on inside the company.
17. Elvis said it best: "We can't go on together with suspicious minds."
18. Learning to speak with a human voice is not a parlor trick. It can't be "picked up" at some tony conference.
19. To speak with a human voice, companies must share the concerns of their communities.
20. But first, they must belong to a community.