|
|
| Line 5: |
Line 5: |
| <td width=600> | | <td width=600> |
|
| |
|
| === What is marketing and what it is good for ===
| |
|
| |
|
| Marketing is an activity directed toward '''understanding''' and maybe
| |
| conquering the '''market'''. But which market? What is there to understand? Of
| |
| course, there is a need to understand '''demand''' and '''supply'''. To
| |
| understand demand, you may inquire about what the users or people want and what
| |
| is most critical to them. Or better, you may try to understand who your
| |
| potential users are. What kind of people are they? What are their roles? To
| |
| understand supply means basically to understand your '''competitors'''.
| |
|
| |
| Understanding your competitors is beneficial for several reasons. Firstly,
| |
| when you understand your competitors, you are able to say what it is that you do
| |
| better than they do. If there's nothing you do better then they do, drop the
| |
| project. You may then concentrate on that which you do really well, rather than
| |
| trying to do something which somebody else already does pretty well. Secondly,
| |
| you are able to explain your users what your added value really is, because the
| |
| added value of your solution for a particular purpose is the basic value of your
| |
| solution, minus the basic value of the best alternative. You should be able to
| |
| tell what the best alternatives to your solution are, otherwise you're in a
| |
| project not really knowing why. Maybe you're just having fun, but that's not
| |
| what users are really interested in.
| |
|
| |
| To conquer your market means to provide the added value of your solution to
| |
| people who can '''really''' make use of it. You can consider your solution as a
| |
| resource. A resource which cannot be found is often practically equivalent to a
| |
| resource which you do not have. That means that you have to make it as easy as
| |
| possible for people to find your resource, and to decide if the resource does
| |
| what they really want. Unfortunately, this question cannot be ultimately
| |
| resolved until you really try the solution out. This is also one of the reasons
| |
| why easy installation is of crucial importance. If the users already knew your
| |
| product is what they want, they would take the pain to install your product even
| |
| if the installation is difficult.
| |
|
| |
|
| ===How you can help - add a FreeMind button to your site=== | | ===How you can help - add a FreeMind button to your site=== |
