Archive for the ‘Strategy’ Category

I have a reversible belt that lets me flip it so that it’s either black or brown. Recently, it started squeaking whenever I walk while wearing it. This squeaking is starting to annoy me so much that I wish I would have bought 2 separate belts instead.

This is the kind of trade-off that you need to make when designing a product or service. Do you really focus on a single problem and be the best at it, or do you provide more utility at the cost of adding more complexity?

Ask yourself this. Are you a well-design SUV? Or are you the Homer Simpson car? What kinds of trade-offs can you make to provide a more delightful experience? Is answering every feature request that comes your way destroying your focus?

There’s a balance.

One of the biggest opportunities any company has on the Web is to own a conversation. There are small tribes of passionate people forming all around the world. They need a place to talk about their very specific interests, problems, and triumphs. This happens in what we call web communities, or “social media” sites.

I’ve worked with a lot of people that believe that if you build, they will come. Putting up a forum or a blog is only the first step. (Or maybe the second step.) Anyone can do that. If you think that’s all that it takes, then you’re not the unique flower that you think you are.

Practicing what I preach

A few months ago, I adopted and revived a community called ColdFusion on Wheels. It’s been a great experience. The community is a group of people that wants to see something special happen. Most importantly, they want to be a part of something special.

How did the community form? Did someone put up a forum about an existing product? No. A few guys have worked hard on building a piece of free software, and that’s what everyone talks about.

It’s also been a very challenging experience for me. There is no visible benefit to volunteering my time, so it’s hard to stay motivated and to contribute myself.

The takeaway

Any successful web community needs to be based on an asset, and the conversation needs to be interesting. Be it about a book, a church, or a music group, some work needs to happen first. And in most cases, your product is not going to be worth talking about on its own.

Remember, if it was easy, then everyone would be running a successful community.

In the 20th century, the success metric for marketing was eyeballs. But that’s just not enough for the 21st century. Relevance is the name of the game. Read the rest of this entry »

If you think about the way certain people within your company work, you’ll realize that it’s easy for employees to be removed from customers and even their companies’ own products and services. In a lot of cases, I think the most removed people are in marketing, IT, and senior management.

While it’s not realistic to close the entire gap on this problem, I envision a new work environment where as many people as possible will be forced to eat their own dog food. What if you set up your business to make it a customer of its own products and services? Let’s think about it a little.

Read the rest of this entry »

Here’s a serious question to ask yourself. How much do I rely on Google for my business’s success? If Google banned your site from their search results today, what would happen to your business? You probably have a serious problem if Google rankings determine whether you live or die.

You hear stock analysts preach about “diversifying” your stock portfolio to minimize risk. Following that same sound logic, you should ask yourself, just how diverse are my marketing activities?

Here are some alternatives to Google that you should consider. Read the rest of this entry »

I’m working on building an elaborate marketing and e-commerce system. I just don’t feel like anyone has done it right, so I’m taking a stab at it.

Here’s why I think the other software vendors have done such a poor job: lack of design in their process. I intend to make a system that’s pleasant and easy to use, that “gets out of the way” of users’ tasks. And I’m not going to get there without design. Read the rest of this entry »