I love the back and forth in the SEO sphere, and this example from last week fits the bill perfectly. Todd Malicoat (who impresses me even more every time he posts) wrote a list of the 11 Rising Barriers to Entry for Small Businesses on the Web. Although I agree with Todd that the online world is certainly getting more competitive and making it harder for small companies to achieve visibility, I love Matt McGee's response - Barriers to Entry... or Opportunities?

 8. Just like the “real world” $$$$$$ will again = trust

As quickly as the Big Boys can buy trust, they can and do lose it right back with pitiful customer service. I work for a small ISP / webdev shop. On the ISP side of our company, our competitors are: AOL, MSN, the phone company (DSL), and the cable company (cable Internet). You may start with one of them because they’ve bought your trust, but many of you will end up with us because you need to be able to speak to a human and get help. Have you ever heard anyone rave about the phone company’s customer support? Or the cable company’s?

Hmmm. On the other hand, if Todd is referring to the Big Boys being able to spend a lot of money to build a high-quality web site that people trust … I don’t buy that, either. We just redesigned a client’s web site — a retired mom and pop home business — for very low 4-figures, and since the redevelopment, they’ve had orders from 15 different countries in the past 3-4 months. That’s trust.

I think Matt's oversimplifying a bit, but the angle is a good one and both posts are worth a read. Nice work, gentlemen.