How do we get our customers to help us do the things we’re here for? Kevin Ryan (@KevinSRyan), formerly of Barnes & Noble, shared how B&N enabled user-generated commerce as part of their community interaction.

Obviously, much of the discussions on B&N center around book recommendations. So…..B&N integrated a product widget into their message editor that allows users to search for a product/book while composing a message or recommendation. With a direct link to “Add This Book to My Cart” available in all messages, the company has been able to drive commerce through trusted community activity—and has done so without any backlash from the community.

You can also see how B&N is empowering regional employees to aid in customer support at their Blogging Booksellers Web site.