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Something I’ve noticed in many of these threads showcasing successful products is that they all focus on marketing. Advertising software, analytics software, et

by vsnf 5y ago

Something I’ve noticed in many of these threads showcasing successful products is that they all focus on marketing. Advertising software, analytics software, etc. I rarely (never?) see any one post about their successful non marketing solution.

godmode2019 5y ago
Maybe people who think about marketing problems, tend to have more marketing knowledge and are better at marketing their own products and are people more likely to post on websites like this promoting their products. I know I have folders and folders of unmarketed products.
- jcims 5y ago
  That's why it's easy for banks to make money, it's just sitting there.
  - quickthrower2 5y ago
    Banks need to do marketing. I get to choose who I bank with!
jameshush 5y ago
Selling more sales (aka marketing) is the ultimate value proposition. Google and FB print money because they call up business and say “Pay us $$ and we’ll give you $$$”.
- Gigachad 5y ago
  I wonder how much of it is a zero sum game. Some amount of advertising would induce impulse purchase but surely some of it like marketing for a plumber just causes sales to be redirected to the one who spent the most on marketing rather than actually creating new sales.
  - jcims 5y ago
    If your plumber's marketing is 'hey I'm plumber mcplungerface, call me' then yes. If your marketing is 'Hey <local high school football team mascot>s, protect your family from black mold! For $249 we'll inspect and treat your sump pump and water conditioning system and guarantee the work for ten years' you'll generate demand.
    - quickthrower2 5y ago
      Plumbers are a bad example: Its hard to find one thats even available around here. Some just say “sorry booked for 3 months”
      - jcims 5y ago
        There’s one not far from me that has taken a more modern approach and now has 20 employees.
        quickthrower2 5y ago
        Good for them. But thats 20 people who are not working elsewhere and the macro supply/demand ratios are the same.
  - antisthenes 5y ago
    Google's business model for the last decade has been to pitch people who want advertising against each other, bidding ever higher for top placements. It's up to you to decide whether that's a zero-sum game (personally I don't think it is by a strict definition), but Google is certainly responsible for more and more companies allocating an ever growing part of their budget to advertising. It isn't immediately obvious whether that results in more business. Some of these companies may be spending more and more just to keep the same amount of sales due to bid prices increasing. This effect is somewhat masked in a vibrant and growing economy, so it's not that easy to distill.
    - tonyedgecombe 5y ago
LudwigNagasena 5y ago
During a gold rush, sell shovels.
- quickthrower2 5y ago
  Sell services to shovel sellers.
  - anyfactor 5y ago
    So you are saying I should build a no-code platform?
    - sgt 5y ago
      A no-code platform with a shovel as the only icon.
  - halilduygulu 5y ago
    Sell a NFT shovel, it is 2022!
trungdq88 5y ago
My other product is a developer app, which I also considered successful :) (see my previous Show HN posts)
mrtksn 5y ago
I don't think it's about marketing. I think it's because it solves an immediate problem or gives people something that they want and as it happens, the opportunities for the folks at HN or Producthunt are in that area because it's not a solved problem unlike things like developer tools, messaging or e-mail. Think about it, what makes you funny inside? Knowing more about people or sending messages through slightly different UI?
dillondoyle 5y ago
He also makes devutils.app which is very 'HN-er' and from his blog looks like it's a good chunk of his ncome!
marban 5y ago
Vanity (metrics) is a great sales driver.
vcool07 5y ago
Maybe a wild guess, but anything thats not related to ads/marketing/analytics etc., are too difficult to monetize by a solo founder ? Or maybe the other areas too difficult to get into not just in terms of software complexity, but in terms of support requirement , availability SLAs etc ?

by vsnf 5y ago

godmode2019 5y ago

Maybe people who think about marketing problems, tend to have more marketing knowledge and are better at marketing their own products and are people more likely to post on websites like this promoting their products. I know I have folders and folders of unmarketed products.

jcims 5y ago
That's why it's easy for banks to make money, it's just sitting there.
- quickthrower2 5y ago
  Banks need to do marketing. I get to choose who I bank with!

jameshush 5y ago

Selling more sales (aka marketing) is the ultimate value proposition. Google and FB print money because they call up business and say “Pay us $$ and we’ll give you $$$”.

Gigachad 5y ago
I wonder how much of it is a zero sum game. Some amount of advertising would induce impulse purchase but surely some of it like marketing for a plumber just causes sales to be redirected to the one who spent the most on marketing rather than actually creating new sales.
- jcims 5y ago
  If your plumber's marketing is 'hey I'm plumber mcplungerface, call me' then yes. If your marketing is 'Hey <local high school football team mascot>s, protect your family from black mold! For $249 we'll inspect and treat your sump pump and water conditioning system and guarantee the work for ten years' you'll generate demand.
  - quickthrower2 5y ago
    Plumbers are a bad example: Its hard to find one thats even available around here. Some just say “sorry booked for 3 months”
    - jcims 5y ago
      There’s one not far from me that has taken a more modern approach and now has 20 employees.
      - quickthrower2 5y ago
        Good for them. But thats 20 people who are not working elsewhere and the macro supply/demand ratios are the same.
- antisthenes 5y ago
  Google's business model for the last decade has been to pitch people who want advertising against each other, bidding ever higher for top placements. It's up to you to decide whether that's a zero-sum game (personally I don't think it is by a strict definition), but Google is certainly responsible for more and more companies allocating an ever growing part of their budget to advertising. It isn't immediately obvious whether that results in more business. Some of these companies may be spending more and more just to keep the same amount of sales due to bid prices increasing. This effect is somewhat masked in a vibrant and growing economy, so it's not that easy to distill.
  - tonyedgecombe 5y ago

LudwigNagasena 5y ago

During a gold rush, sell shovels.

quickthrower2 5y ago
Sell services to shovel sellers.
- anyfactor 5y ago
  So you are saying I should build a no-code platform?
  - sgt 5y ago
    A no-code platform with a shovel as the only icon.
- halilduygulu 5y ago
  Sell a NFT shovel, it is 2022!

trungdq88 5y ago

My other product is a developer app, which I also considered successful :) (see my previous Show HN posts)

mrtksn 5y ago

I don't think it's about marketing. I think it's because it solves an immediate problem or gives people something that they want and as it happens, the opportunities for the folks at HN or Producthunt are in that area because it's not a solved problem unlike things like developer tools, messaging or e-mail. Think about it, what makes you funny inside? Knowing more about people or sending messages through slightly different UI?

dillondoyle 5y ago

He also makes devutils.app which is very 'HN-er' and from his blog looks like it's a good chunk of his ncome!

marban 5y ago

Vanity (metrics) is a great sales driver.

vcool07 5y ago

Maybe a wild guess, but anything thats not related to ads/marketing/analytics etc., are too difficult to monetize by a solo founder ? Or maybe the other areas too difficult to get into not just in terms of software complexity, but in terms of support requirement , availability SLAs etc ?