blogs and marketin(g)

Alex suggested at Gapingvoid here that I might have...

"questionable marketing. Even if you have created a new platform that is capable of doing everything, it's usually better to market to one specific niche"

"Marketing to" struck a chord - in particular the "to". So I replied...

"Alex, agree that it is better to "market to" a niche, only thing I'm not marketing "to" as in pushing in the classic marketing think.
I'm trying to open up for people to look in; doing demos, talking to people, discussing, blogging... kind of "market in" - let the market be in the driver's seat.

I'm no expert in everything, thus I'd rather let the "market" decide where - what niche - with the best early stage fit - easiest, most bang for the buck, etc.

At that point I might focus more in that direction (albeit not pushing) and even add some specific features to ease the process. I'm not to decide, the potential user will decide - I'm merely here to accommodate their needs, listen not tell etc. ;)"

And that for me is the core of the blog as a commercial "marketin(g)" tool: It allows me much bandwidth for my person-to-person interactions, like opening the door to your office letting all into the conversation and activities.

And I would add the concept of "Extreme Business Modelling": Frequent releases, maximum bandwidth in the conversation, solicit feedback, listen in, adjust, tweak, learn and follow.

Pull instead of push. "Market in" instead of "market to".

Loose the "g" in "marketin(g)" :)

Comments

[Ric]

So far I think you're doing a great job letting us do your "marketing" - I see different things in Thingamy than Dennis, and I suspect that anyone who 'looks in' will see something different again - their own niche (I certainly wasn't thinking of a time/billing system, but to Dennis it was an obvious use-case).
This is also the nature of a tool - you can build many things with a single tool, and imagination is the only limitation. Let the market pick the niches - you'll never be able to second-guess them anyway!

[james governor]

someone suggesting you ignore the cluetrain?

RedMonk is an industry analyst firm, but don't hold that against us. I would be interested to get a briefing/and or have a chat about tagging and the future of how people live.

i have a concept called Declarative Living and another Tag Gardening that both, it would seem to me-fit into your view of the world.

hat-tips to Hugh and Dennis Howlett for pointing me at thingamy