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Here's a link to my website. It should clear things up http://fast-reaches-9399.herokuapp.com/ http://fast-reaches-9399.herokuapp.com/. I've still got some wo

Here's a link to my website. It should clear things up http://fast-reaches-9399.herokuapp.com/ http://fast-reaches-9399.herokuapp.com/. I've still got some work to do before I launch. I'm completely on board with "make things people want" rather than "make people want things". What I'm really getting at is the question of once you make something people want, how to promote it and spread the word. For my website, the two questions are 1) How do I get people to answer questions? 2) Once there are a bunch of answers, how do I spread the word? And please fell very free to but in! Any help I can get is much appreciated! I made it an Ask PG question because I read a lot of his essays and I don't remember him really addressing the issue of how to promote products other than by saying to start off by making something people want. note: I do have a bunch of ideas on how to answer these questions. Just looking for other ones. My biggest idea is to get "interns/representatives" at each school. The intern would be responsible for spreading the word at his college and getting people to answer questions, and then later on for spreading the word to high school students. I can't offer any money or equity, but I think it's a great opportunity for students to apply their skills to a real world company. That's hard to find. Most internships don't provide that sort of autonomy and freedom. So for this reason, I think there's sufficient demand to fill that internship position. Regarding effectiveness, a motivated college student shouldn't have too much trouble getting his friends and fellow students to answer questions.

lifeisstillgood 13y ago
Well there's a lot to cover here, but it turns out pg did answer the question - http://paulgraham.com/ds.html http://paulgraham.com/ds.html In the end these are the answers you have - but I would strongly urge you to consider putting your time into another industry.
- adamzerner 13y ago
  Why do you say I should consider putting my time into another industry?
  - lifeisstillgood 13y ago
    Sorry - I meant that to be part of a longer post. Basically colleges have a defined rapid turnover - so you could spend time developing relationships only to have them vanish instantly. Add to this there is not a lot of money amount students, and post-Facebook there is a lot of interest in bootstrapping through colleges. I would look to find a small niche in a B2B world - but then I am a middle aged man - and probably one of the most important things you can learn here is make your own mistakes. You seem like you will fight to build a business - so fight in something you believe in yourself. No-one has a crystal ball - just statistics
    - adamzerner 13y ago
      I'm not sure if you're understanding what my websites business model is. College applicants want information about schools to help them choose where to go. Student reviews is one of the best ways to provide this information. Right now student reviews leave out a lot of information because the questions being asked of them are too general. I think that my questions will prompt students to talk about things and provide information that you can't find elsewhere. That, coupled with the fact that I think my site is more well designed and more comprehensive than the competition, is why I think it'll be successful. Regarding how much money is in this market, I see companies like Princeton Review, Unigo, College Prowler etc. seem to be rather large companies, so there must be some money in this business. Enough money where I'd be rich if I displaced the big players (or at least became a big player).
      - lifeisstillgood 13y ago
        Ok. The secret to business success is to start a business, and keep improving till it succeeds. I could very well be wrong - enjoy finding out :-)

lifeisstillgood 13y ago

Well there's a lot to cover here, but it turns out pg did answer the question - http://paulgraham.com/ds.html http://paulgraham.com/ds.html In the end these are the answers you have - but I would strongly urge you to consider putting your time into another industry.

adamzerner 13y ago
Why do you say I should consider putting my time into another industry?
- lifeisstillgood 13y ago
  Sorry - I meant that to be part of a longer post. Basically colleges have a defined rapid turnover - so you could spend time developing relationships only to have them vanish instantly. Add to this there is not a lot of money amount students, and post-Facebook there is a lot of interest in bootstrapping through colleges. I would look to find a small niche in a B2B world - but then I am a middle aged man - and probably one of the most important things you can learn here is make your own mistakes. You seem like you will fight to build a business - so fight in something you believe in yourself. No-one has a crystal ball - just statistics
  - adamzerner 13y ago
    I'm not sure if you're understanding what my websites business model is. College applicants want information about schools to help them choose where to go. Student reviews is one of the best ways to provide this information. Right now student reviews leave out a lot of information because the questions being asked of them are too general. I think that my questions will prompt students to talk about things and provide information that you can't find elsewhere. That, coupled with the fact that I think my site is more well designed and more comprehensive than the competition, is why I think it'll be successful. Regarding how much money is in this market, I see companies like Princeton Review, Unigo, College Prowler etc. seem to be rather large companies, so there must be some money in this business. Enough money where I'd be rich if I displaced the big players (or at least became a big player).
    - lifeisstillgood 13y ago
      Ok. The secret to business success is to start a business, and keep improving till it succeeds. I could very well be wrong - enjoy finding out :-)