Stop trying to reach people.

Please. Seriously, I am begging you. Just stop.

The information age means never having to blast people with a million messages to get them to know who you are. The information age means never having to spend millions to develop a 30-second television spot and countless print layouts. It means never having to build a brand one million people at a time.

"But it works," you say.

Meh. Not really.

In a digital world, the power of your brand comes in two areas: your URL (how people find you) and what you do (functionality of your product). You get to determine both of those, but the conversation online determines the success -- and ultimately the stickiness -- of your brand.

So stop tracking people down one million at a time. If you do and you fail, you've started quite a conversation. It goes something like this: "You suck."

I wrote yesterday about Nike's marketing strategy, promoting its brands through community. There is a more fundamental element to that outside of social networks: software widgets.

Widgets are pieces of code that your comm