I like the idea behind this from Doc Searls

The Intention Economy is about markets, not marketing. You don’t need marketing to make Intention Markets.

The Intention Economy is built around truly open markets, not a collection of silos. In The Intention Economy, customers don’t have to fly from silo to silo, like a bees from flower to flower, collecting deal info (and unavoidable hype) like so much pollen. In The Intention Economy, the buyer notifies the market of the intent to buy, and sellers compete for the buyer’s purchase. Simple as that.

The Intention Economy is built around more than transactions. Conversations matter. So do relationships. So do reputation, authority and respect. Those virtues, however, are earned by sellers (as well as buyers) and not just “branded” by sellers on the minds of buyers like the symbols of ranchers burned on the hides of cattle.

The Intention Economy is about buyers finding sellers, not sellers finding (or “capturing”) buyers.

Thanks to Hugh Nicoll for the link.

It’s one of those “should be” ideas that Amazon approximates. Let’s say I’m in the market for a miter saw, which I am, and I want to engage the intention. In almost all cases I don’t need to be sought out for stuff–because there are some items that I want to purchase for specific things and I typically don’t want or need anything else. I’d type my complicated request into an engine and I’d receive offers from Dewalt, Porter-Cable, and Hitachi.

Those things that I don’t want or need need not be addressed.