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Diary of a programmer with no clue about marketing

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Re: Diary of a programmer with no clue about marketing

#121

Post by billmalarky »

WA wrote: post #107
zaidf wrote: post #90

Earlier quoted context omitted.

We operate with this mindset for each of the roles in our org: Sales: assume the product sucks and your job is to convince customers to buy a really shitty product Product: assume that there is no sales and your job is to create a product that people cannot stop raving about after using it for few minutes Client Services: assume the product sucks and your job is to still keep the customer satisfied

You working for Red Bull? Edit: To clarify: Red Bull is, for me, THE epitome of marketing. They sell a tremendously unhealthy product (bacon-smell car) as something that is healthy, basically by connecting themselves with extreme sports. Red Bull IS extreme sports and lifestyle. How insane if you think about it.

Curious, is Red Bull any more unhealthy than Coke?

Re: Diary of a programmer with no clue about marketing

#122

Post by annnnd »

jimbokun wrote: post #71
MichaelGG wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Perhaps you can clue me in: What was Sun's plan with Java? For a company that sold hardware, making a runtime that works everywhere, and has cross-platformness as a core feature seems sort of counterproductive. Did Sparc offer some sort of competitive advantage, hardware wise (like hardware assisted GC) or something? Edit: In Microsoft's case with the CLR, I can see the cross-platform goals being mainly technical, bu…

"For a company that sold hardware, making a runtime that works everywhere, and has cross-platformness as a core feature seems sort of counterproductive." This might possibly be connected to the fact Sun no longer exists as an independent corporation.

> ... no longer exists as an independent corporation

You can safely say just "no longer exists". Oracle made sure it erased any trace of Sun trademark from anywhere it could. Now it is Oracle Java, Oracle VirtualBox,... I always wondered why they chose to totally eradicate this trademark instead of keeping it. Does anyone know?

Re: Diary of a programmer with no clue about marketing

#123

Post by annnnd »

WA wrote: post #107
zaidf wrote: post #90

Earlier quoted context omitted.

We operate with this mindset for each of the roles in our org: Sales: assume the product sucks and your job is to convince customers to buy a really shitty product Product: assume that there is no sales and your job is to create a product that people cannot stop raving about after using it for few minutes Client Services: assume the product sucks and your job is to still keep the customer satisfied

You working for Red Bull? Edit: To clarify: Red Bull is, for me, THE epitome of marketing. They sell a tremendously unhealthy product (bacon-smell car) as something that is healthy, basically by connecting themselves with extreme sports. Red Bull IS extreme sports and lifestyle. How insane if you think about it.

Seriously, have you seen what they do in extreme sports? I think a bit of Red Bull won't kill those guys, but lack of concentration might. :)

I agree with you though.

Re: Diary of a programmer with no clue about marketing

#124

Post by WA »

billmalarky wrote: post #121
WA wrote: post #107

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You working for Red Bull? Edit: To clarify: Red Bull is, for me, THE epitome of marketing. They sell a tremendously unhealthy product (bacon-smell car) as something that is healthy, basically by connecting themselves with extreme sports. Red Bull IS extreme sports and lifestyle. How insane if you think about it.

Curious, is Red Bull any more unhealthy than Coke?

I don't know, probably not. But Coke's marketing is more towards lifestyle in general. Red Bull is explicitly associated with "being active", "sports", even "high endurance" and "extreme situations". But in these situations, you won't need a Red Bull. Red Bull establishes a fake image that, to some degree, is the exact opposite of the actual product.

Re: Diary of a programmer with no clue about marketing

#125

Post by pbnjay »

It looks like a great tool, but like others have mentioned, I just can't justify a $50 price point in my head. I don't really "need" a new app to update my issue tracker, I've already got the browser open which I'm using for other concurrent tasks (and a browser tab with a familiar HTML interface > learning a new tool and remembering to keep it open).

However, if you could pull out the "flight path" feature ONLY into a separate app at say a $10 price point, I would probably jump. Something unobtrusive in the menu bar that tracks my time on task AND automatically pulls up what I should work on next, quickly and easily, would be great.

Re: Diary of a programmer with no clue about marketing

#126

Post by oglo »

austenallred wrote: post #43

This is exactly why I've been writing "The Hacker's Guide to User Acquisition" (first chapter: http://www.austenallred.com/the-hackers-guide-to-the-first-1... , next chapter will be about getting press). I would point out a few things. 1. The notion that you "build a better mousetrap" and people will beat their way to your door is true maybe 1% of the time. Many more companies have had to fight a little to become suc…

That article was amazing and thanks for this line:

"If I had given up one day earlier I would have thought that no one cared, but really there was no one to care. There's a difference."

Most inspirational thing I've read after getting the 'we are sorry' mail from YC.

Re: Diary of a programmer with no clue about marketing

#127

Post by eric_cc »

WA wrote: post #124
billmalarky wrote: post #121

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Curious, is Red Bull any more unhealthy than Coke?

I don't know, probably not. But Coke's marketing is more towards lifestyle in general. Red Bull is explicitly associated with "being active", "sports", even "high endurance" and "extreme situations". But in these situations, you won't need a Red Bull. Red Bull establishes a fake image that, to some degree, is the exact opposite of the actual product.

> But in these situations, you won't need a Red Bull.

It's pretty easy to attack a product with the argument that "you won't need" it. There are only a handful of things that humans truly need.

Re: Diary of a programmer with no clue about marketing

#128

Post by tbomb »

eric_cc wrote: post #127
WA wrote: post #124

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't know, probably not. But Coke's marketing is more towards lifestyle in general. Red Bull is explicitly associated with "being active", "sports", even "high endurance" and "extreme situations". But in these situations, you won't need a Red Bull. Red Bull establishes a fake image that, to some degree, is the exact opposite of the actual product.

> But in these situations, you won't need a Red Bull. It's pretty easy to attack a product with the argument that "you won't need" it. There are only a handful of things that humans truly need.

I think what he means is this: When I'm tired from snowboarding, skateboarding, or really any of the extreme sports they sponsor; Do I feel like grabbing a Red Bull, or do I want water (and 5 minutes to catch my breath)?

Re: Diary of a programmer with no clue about marketing

#129

Post by joe_inferno »

pteredactyl wrote: post #60

For your web design, which is part of marketing - namely perception and eye-grabbery - there's too much white space. Too much white space, to me, equals yawn. I'd make the starfield extend further down the page, past the first screenshot. Then I would somehow frame the other sections of the page. Maybe by adding an interior border or some sort of texture. Marketing is a cousin of visual design.

I, for one, enjoy the liberal use of white space. No academic reasoning for it. I think it's a pleasing aesthetic in general.

Re: Diary of a programmer with no clue about marketing

#130

Post by joe_inferno »

basil wrote: post #13
danso wrote: post #10

What I would like to read is why the OP put his time into building a task app. Not because the world doesn't need another one (I'm not being sarcastic here...)...but if you don't have much talent or time for marketing, then something must have been guiding you, right? I would think that without any other external guidance, it's the programmer himself who finds the product useful and uses it everyday as he develops it…

Yes. I work on contract iOS jobs and I need to track my time to invoice my clients. It sucks using my web browser to start and stop the timer. I also wanted quick access to all my tasks, past and present without going through a slower web UI. Also the app comes in handy when I need to jot down a quick note or remember something. Maybe I should incorporate some of that ^ on the site.

That is what I do as well, I'm considering purchasing Bee based on my trial of it this morning. My only concern is in keeping enough clients around that I need to use it! But actually, for me, this is the kind of native client I didn't know I needed (I spend way too much time in Jira...) and that it hooks into GitHub as well is a big selling point, since that's pretty much how I divide my personal work from client work. The interface is slick, although there seems to be some stuttering when I move the window. I'll probably buy it when I get my next paycheck. And maybe if I write a blog post about my own app that has sold 12 copies, I'll sell a few more! ;)
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