

Build around your discovery mechanism - maxklein
http://blog.cubeofm.com/build-around-your-discovery-mechanism

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kordless
As they say, location, location, location. I started an ISP in Oklahoma back
in the mid 90s. Instead of running a ton of advertising to drive traffic to
the phones or website, I opened a store front in an 800 sqft unit attached to
the front of the local Best Buy. I did my selling in person, and used some
unique branding to help people remember us. This worked because a) dialup ISPs
sold to a localized area, and b) the newness of the Internet scared people. I
lost count of how many computers passed through our doors getting configured
correctly for access.

In a pure online play, I think the equivalent of location is channel strategy.
Find partners who are a close fit to your offering, and work hard to form a
good relationship with them early on. If you can provide a service to their
customers that adds value, it's a win for both sides.

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yungchin
The busy-shopping-street analogy is something I've been thinking about before;
what is an online shopping street? It seems to me Max couldn't really find the
online equivalent either: both Apple's App Store and Facebook have plenty
quiet streets I'm sure, so building a business on those platforms does not
equal building on a busy street.

Is there really a way of building my business next-door to yours - in the
sense that I'll catch customers walking out your door?

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thecoffeeman
It's keywords and the first page in the SERP.

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yungchin
I think that's different.

On a shopping street, I don't have to be looking for a book store to run into
one. I might not buy anything the first time, but now I know it's there. And
every time I walk out the clothing store, I'm reminded the book store is next
door.

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Vivtek
I'm not sure building the delivery first, and then the product is a good idea.
Analogously, it's like buying a lot on a busy street, and taking out ads for a
shoe store, then only building a store, and buying inventory, _after_ people
are coming to buy shoes.

This does not seem to me like a good way to encourage repeat business.

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maxklein
To me, it's more akin to first finding a location for your business before you
decide on the type of business. For example, if I want to start a bar, I don't
first purchase all the equipment for the bar, and then find an available
location - rather, I first ensure there is a good location at a good price,
and then I rent the place and then build the bar.

A bar at a bad location is very difficult to keep profitable.

