

Getting Attention Is a Stupid Business Plan - qtask
http://chuckwestbrook.com/getting-attention-is-a-stupid-business-plan/

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webwright
Just to be a contrarian:

People buy stuff because of how it makes them feel. When you buy something
from someone you respect or idolize, you feel good. When you're part of a
cult-like following, you feel like you belong. When you recommend a doctor or
a mechanic, is it because they did a good job? Or is it because they are nice
and they listen to you?

You can absolutely follow the path of quietly creating value and reaping the
rewards. But does Jason Calcanis's antics add to the value/growth of Mahalo?
Absolutely. You might not like Jason so much, so I'll throw out another
example: 37Signals. They are masters of marketing, making noise, creating a
"club", etc. They've clearly created a solid collection of products, but I
surely hope that you don't think their product/value is their secret sauce.

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pedalpete
There was a great image in a slide-deck at Web 2.0 Expo where the announcing
cone was turned around. You need to listen to your customers more than you
shout at them. Webwright mentioned 37Signals shouts and markets like mad, but
I believe they (in contrast to Jason Calcanis) listen more or just as much as
they shout. Could be that is just their marketing spin though.

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jasoncalacanis
I've never really done link baiting... I've always just been brutally honest.
I call it like I see it and that creates some attention for me, sure.

however, that attention will do nothing for you if you don't have a great
product.

I got a lot of attention for Engadget, Autoblog and Joystiq at Weblogs, Inc.--
and it was a great product so people stuc around.

I got a lot of attention for TechCrunch50 the first year--and now we've got a
packed house in year two and a VERY strong start to year three.

I got a lot of attention for Silicon Alley Reporter by speaking my mind--but
people stuck around by the articles by other folks like Xeni Jardin and Clay
Shirky.

I've gotten a lot of attention for Mahalo by doing This Week in Tech and my
email newsletter--but people are sticking around because of the power of
Mahalo Answers.

so, the lesson I've learned is that you need to not only be able to get
attention for your product, but also have a killer product.

frankly, i'm not that far out there as you would think.... Valleywag has made
my reputation into 10x what it actually is. I'm not saying I'm not out
there.... I am, but not that out there. :-)

I'm just a normal guy and if you grab a beer with me sometime you'll realize
that the media/blogosphere has turned me into this larger than life guy that
i'm not.

.... ok, I am.... but don't hate. :-p

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tezza
There have been a few key data points lately:

* Snakes on a Plane - large blogosphere audience, no bumbs-on-seats

* Web-Cameron and other election focussed unicast - "preaching to the converted", or "shouting into the ether" it used to be called

* People selling real items on internet fare better than those selling blogging/tweating related items

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boundlessdreamz
A business plan should always include a plan to get attention. Without
attention even the best product wouldn't sell because nobody knows about it.
Getting attention is part of your marketing and PR

But getting attention cannot be your entire business plan.

~~~
bcl
Exactly. You can't have one without the other. Twitter, Facebook, etc. are
eventually going to realize this.

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rythie
You'll meet potential employees, business partners, bloggers and other people
who could help you out. Knowing lots of people isn't a business plan in it's
self, but when you do have one, knowing people will help execute it.

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Ardit20
Isn't that whole post about getting attention? He seems to be talking about
himself. Hmm is that what Freud called projection?

~~~
brandnewlow
It is, but I empathize with his overall point.

It's very easy to be noisy and draw attention to oneself. It's much harder to
create something that adds value to the world in a form that people will pay
for. Consequently, there seem to be a lot of people from column A at mixers
and on Twitter, and not enough from column B.

