Six Software Products in One Year

Marketing is simultaneously my weakest point and one of the most important things for me to get right.

No-one is going to pay for anything if they don’t know it’s there. You could have a cure for cancer, but if no-one knew it existed, it wouldn’t mean anything. (Obviously, once the first person found out they’d likely tell others, but this is an extreme case of ‘product good but marketing bad’).

Conversely, you can have an average or even mediocre product with strong marketing and end up doing very well. Apple zealots get ready: I believe that a lot of Apple’s products fit into this category. They spend great amounts of money and have very effective marketing, but I must say: I find their products lacking. There are always better alternatives. The problem is finding them. And given that people are likely to go with social proof (see Influence by Cialdini) and the fact that Apple’s products are quite good, Apple do very well overall. But there are better products out there.

I’m a software engineer, not a marketeer (Musketeer? What do you call a ‘marketing person’?) I’m going to need to learn some marketing. My first little blog - mouldy.org - taught me an awful lot about online marketing, what works and what doesn’t. But this is going to need a long-term, concerted effort, not just spreading a few links around.