Abstract: Methods for facilitating effective and efficient communication between businesses and customers. A business purchases a “widget package” from a widget service provider that includes a business widget for installation on the business's computer network and a customer widget for installation on a customer's electronic communication device. Once installed, the business widget and the customer widget communicate with one another directly over a network, such as the Internet, in real time and allow the business to compose and send targeted communications to the customer in accordance with a set of preferences specified by the customer in the customer widget. The customer thereby receives only those types of communications which he or she desires.