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Marketting for developers, how to even begin.

3 points by ibudiallo 14y ago

I have been a software and web developer for a few years now. I get my fix just by writing code. When I work on my project I become a feature freak; therefore it takes me a ling time to ship any product. And when I ship my product I almost naturally move on to the next project just so I can write code again. But here is the deal, projects don't just survive in their own. Marketing is a very important phase and I know so because even with the little marketing I do It gives me more traffic and exposure. I want the marketing expert of hacker news to help me and my fellow programmers. How do you market, how do you plan, how. Please pretend you are talking to someone who has no experience.

JayNeely 14y ago
Marketing breaks down into: - identifying your target audience (who is this for) - determining your value proposition (why would they want it) - finding channels to get this message to them (where are they, how can I reach them) Ideally, you're looking not for individual promotional efforts you can make, but for repeatable systems you can automate, measure, and improve.
mindcrime 14y ago
Marketing is a HUGE field, there's so much one could say about it, that it's hard to know where to start. So don't expect anyone to be able (or willing) to give you a cookie-cutter, step-by-step instructional guide, or to write a book here. There are tons of marketing books out there already. To be completely honest, you should probably consider going on Amazon.com, or to a used bookstore, and look for a cheap used copy of a generic "marketing 101" textbook and read through that for starters. Beyond that, there are a ton of web based resources, and there are some HN regulars who have written quite a bit on the topic. Check out, for example, what swombat has to say: http://swombat.com/founders_library http://swombat.com/founders_library grep through that list for the marketing related ones. Likewise, patio11 has written a lot about marketing. http://www.kalzumeus.com/greatest-hits/ http://www.kalzumeus.com/greatest-hits/ You might want to look through some of the interviews and courses available on Mixergy.com as well. Even the stuff you have to pay for is well worth it. Personally, I recommend a Mixergy subscription. Also look into the marketing related courses on sites like Udemy or Coursera, or stuff from MIT's OCW. https://www.udemy.com/courses/search?q=marketing https://www.udemy.com/courses/search?q=marketing You could also do worse than reading the stuff Seth Godin puts out. http://sethgodin.typepad.com/ http://sethgodin.typepad.com/
- ibudiallo 14y ago
  Thank you for the resources. Yes I realize there won't be a step by step guide/quick fix for marketing. But most of the developers I know, including me are completely lost when it comes to this, even when we don't admit it. I read some post that suggest using adwors and such tools. Now I understand how non developers feel when they see code.

3 points by ibudiallo 14y ago

JayNeely 14y ago

Marketing breaks down into: - identifying your target audience (who is this for) - determining your value proposition (why would they want it) - finding channels to get this message to them (where are they, how can I reach them) Ideally, you're looking not for individual promotional efforts you can make, but for repeatable systems you can automate, measure, and improve.

mindcrime 14y ago

Marketing is a HUGE field, there's so much one could say about it, that it's hard to know where to start. So don't expect anyone to be able (or willing) to give you a cookie-cutter, step-by-step instructional guide, or to write a book here. There are tons of marketing books out there already. To be completely honest, you should probably consider going on Amazon.com, or to a used bookstore, and look for a cheap used copy of a generic "marketing 101" textbook and read through that for starters. Beyond that, there are a ton of web based resources, and there are some HN regulars who have written quite a bit on the topic. Check out, for example, what swombat has to say: http://swombat.com/founders_library http://swombat.com/founders_library grep through that list for the marketing related ones. Likewise, patio11 has written a lot about marketing. http://www.kalzumeus.com/greatest-hits/ http://www.kalzumeus.com/greatest-hits/ You might want to look through some of the interviews and courses available on Mixergy.com as well. Even the stuff you have to pay for is well worth it. Personally, I recommend a Mixergy subscription. Also look into the marketing related courses on sites like Udemy or Coursera, or stuff from MIT's OCW. https://www.udemy.com/courses/search?q=marketing https://www.udemy.com/courses/search?q=marketing You could also do worse than reading the stuff Seth Godin puts out. http://sethgodin.typepad.com/ http://sethgodin.typepad.com/

ibudiallo 14y ago
Thank you for the resources. Yes I realize there won't be a step by step guide/quick fix for marketing. But most of the developers I know, including me are completely lost when it comes to this, even when we don't admit it. I read some post that suggest using adwors and such tools. Now I understand how non developers feel when they see code.