Using your web site as a marketing tool

David Meerman Scott has an excellent piece on how to use your corporate web site to shorten a sales cycle. I especially like this suggestion:

The job of Web content in the early stages of the sales consideration process is just to get a prospect interested in your organization. The best way is to provide valuable content that addresses their problems. You want to build empathy.

At this early stage, avoid forcing people to register their name and contact details. The best thing at that point is for your prospect to think: "These guys are smart. They understand my problems. I want to learn more."