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Any ideas how to promote .NET WinForms control? Our Better ListView is designed to replace the inbuilt crappy regular ListView control, and it rocks - we just

Any ideas how to promote .NET WinForms control? Our Better ListView is designed to replace the inbuilt crappy regular ListView control, and it rocks - we just don't know how to promote it. Check it out: http://www.componentowl.com http://www.componentowl.com

mikegreenberg 15y ago
- I would start out grassroots-style. Attend .NET meetups to talk about your work and your project while you network. Offer promotions to these groups if they'll have them. - Sponsor .NET Hack-a-thons? - Help feverishly in .NET forums and community sites like Stackoverflow. (Put the service in your profile...people really look!) - Create programs that provide incentive for your customers to spread the word about a product they already love. Word of mouth is the best/cheapest/most-effective variety of advertising that I know of. I'm not much of a marketing guy, but this is where I would start at first thought. :) BTW, the control really does look quite nice. If I were a .NET developer I'd be interested in using it. Note: Tag line states "No Learning Needed", then in your advantages section you state "Minimum learning needed." Strive to be consistent.
- jirinovotny 15y ago
  Thanks for your advice Mike! We can't attend .NET meetings that much, because we are based in Czech Republic. Hack-a-thon sponsorship is an excellent idea. Any idea how to find these? Thanks for spotting the inconsistency, too!
  - mikegreenberg 15y ago
    You might not be able to find them, but you can always organize one yourself. It doesn't have to be huge, either. 20-30 people can be a lot of fun. I'd also check out Meetup. They offer ways for sponsorships. See if you can find any .NET groups on there and offer them sponsorships (as in free/discounted licenses). Even if you give away a few licenses, you'd likely get a lot of great word-of-mouth marketing. And consider also sponsoring and attending conferences. Especially Microsoft/.NET related ones. The travel will obviously be expensive, but it could be a viable way to spend your marketing budget.
tarekayna 15y ago
I was pretty excited about checking this out, then was disappointed there is no live demo. Screenshots are good, but nothing beats a live demo of your product on your website.
- jirinovotny 15y ago
  Hi, by live demo, do you mean video?
  - tarekayna 15y ago
    I meant live running code of the component you are selling. For example, here is a live demo of the jQuery Accordion UI plugin http://jqueryui.com/demos/accordion/ http://jqueryui.com/demos/accordion/. Hope this help.s

mikegreenberg 15y ago

- I would start out grassroots-style. Attend .NET meetups to talk about your work and your project while you network. Offer promotions to these groups if they'll have them. - Sponsor .NET Hack-a-thons? - Help feverishly in .NET forums and community sites like Stackoverflow. (Put the service in your profile...people really look!) - Create programs that provide incentive for your customers to spread the word about a product they already love. Word of mouth is the best/cheapest/most-effective variety of advertising that I know of. I'm not much of a marketing guy, but this is where I would start at first thought. :) BTW, the control really does look quite nice. If I were a .NET developer I'd be interested in using it. Note: Tag line states "No Learning Needed", then in your advantages section you state "Minimum learning needed." Strive to be consistent.

jirinovotny 15y ago
Thanks for your advice Mike! We can't attend .NET meetings that much, because we are based in Czech Republic. Hack-a-thon sponsorship is an excellent idea. Any idea how to find these? Thanks for spotting the inconsistency, too!
- mikegreenberg 15y ago
  You might not be able to find them, but you can always organize one yourself. It doesn't have to be huge, either. 20-30 people can be a lot of fun. I'd also check out Meetup. They offer ways for sponsorships. See if you can find any .NET groups on there and offer them sponsorships (as in free/discounted licenses). Even if you give away a few licenses, you'd likely get a lot of great word-of-mouth marketing. And consider also sponsoring and attending conferences. Especially Microsoft/.NET related ones. The travel will obviously be expensive, but it could be a viable way to spend your marketing budget.

tarekayna 15y ago

I was pretty excited about checking this out, then was disappointed there is no live demo. Screenshots are good, but nothing beats a live demo of your product on your website.

jirinovotny 15y ago
Hi, by live demo, do you mean video?
- tarekayna 15y ago
  I meant live running code of the component you are selling. For example, here is a live demo of the jQuery Accordion UI plugin http://jqueryui.com/demos/accordion/ http://jqueryui.com/demos/accordion/. Hope this help.s