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42,719 | mk | 2007-08-15T17:41:35 | Dan's MIX Simulator and MIXAL Compiler | Simulator of Knuth's MIX computer in js. | http://www.recreationalmath.com/mixal/ | 3 | 0 | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | train |
42,720 | rami | 2007-08-15T17:41:49 | FrankenGoogle - How to mash together the ultimate search engine. | http://www.slate.com/id/2172222/nav/tap1/ | 2 | 0 | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | train |
|
42,727 | jcwentz | 2007-08-15T17:56:31 | A Dot-Org Stresses That It's No Dot-Com | http://www.nytimes.com/2007/08/15/technology/15adco.html?ex=1344830400&en=bd6b8dd87e0846cc&ei=5090&partner=rssuserland&emc=rss | 2 | 0 | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | train |
|
42,729 | jcwentz | 2007-08-15T17:58:09 | Google and Microsoft Look to Change Health Care | null | http://www.nytimes.com/2007/08/14/technology/14healthnet.html?ex=1344744000&en=3117f81f6565f45b&ei=5090&partner=rssuserland&emc=rss | 9 | 3 | [
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42,730 | comatose_kid | 2007-08-15T18:00:16 | Can't get to Siggraph? $199 gives you video access to the lectures | I'm not associated with Siggraph, I just think it's a really cool conference. | http://encore.siggraph.org/ | 1 | 1 | [
42772
] | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | train |
42,731 | mk | 2007-08-15T18:00:56 | Ultrafast quantum computer uses optically controlled electrons | http://physorg.com/news106395871.html | 9 | 1 | [
42755
] | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | train |
|
42,736 | horatio05 | 2007-08-15T18:09:07 | 20+ Dating Sites For Geeks and Freaks | Maybe could help out some of our struggling hackers out there ;-) | http://mashable.com/2007/08/15/dating-sites/ | 8 | 2 | [
42824
] | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | train |
42,737 | horatio05 | 2007-08-15T18:11:33 | Widget/Apps Firm SocialMedia Raises $1 Million Funding | null | http://www.paidcontent.org/entry/419-widget-apps-firm-socialmedia-raises-1-million-funding/ | 1 | 0 | null | null | null | no_article | null | null | null | null | 2024-11-08T02:03:21 | null | train |
42,739 | horatio05 | 2007-08-15T18:12:30 | New eMarketer Report Projects Rise in Online Video Viewers | null | http://www.blogzinger.com/2007/08/14/making-content-pay-new-emarketer-report-projects-rise-in-online-video-viewers/ | 1 | 0 | null | null | null | fetch failed | null | null | null | null | 2024-11-08T05:47:24 | null | train |
42,740 | jamiequint | 2007-08-15T18:14:25 | Kegbot kegerator | http://kegbot.org/project/ | 1 | 0 | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | train |
|
42,747 | transburgh | 2007-08-15T18:31:01 | Mark Zuckerberg demotes his No. 2 exec | null | http://valleywag.com/tech/facebook/mark-zuckerberg-demotes-his-no-2-exec-289802.php | 5 | 4 | [
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42,752 | horatio05 | 2007-08-15T18:38:41 | Ebay Launching Another Free Classifieds Site in U.S.; Paypal IPO? | null | http://www.paidcontent.org/entry/419-ebay-launching-another-free-classifieds-site-in-us-paypal-ipo/ | 2 | 0 | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | train |
42,754 | horatio05 | 2007-08-15T18:41:12 | Green Living Toolbox: 80+ Green Sites | http://mashable.com/2007/08/14/green-toolbox/ | 1 | 0 | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | train |
|
42,762 | augy | 2007-08-15T19:02:09 | Gates, Jobs, & the Zen aesthetic | http://www.presentationzen.com/presentationzen/2005/11/the_zen_estheti.html | 2 | 0 | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | train |
|
42,764 | ivankirigin | 2007-08-15T19:12:32 | New Keepon. Fun from legit research into rhythm of human speech patterns. | null | http://beatbots.org/ | 1 | 0 | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | train |
42,773 | bosky101 | 2007-08-15T19:38:25 | ExcelKoder : [hack] spreadsheets to wiki / html | struggling with all kinds of ascii art to get a decent display in a barcamp wiki,hacked a utility one evening to do just that. ports to html(with preview) as well ! | http://bhaskervk.com/js/excelkoder/demo.html | 1 | 0 | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | train |
42,775 | andrewcooke | 2007-08-15T19:39:17 | Getting Started with Gambit and Snow (an alternative to R6RS?) | http://www.acooke.org/cute/GettingSta0.html | 2 | 0 | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | train |
|
42,777 | drm237 | 2007-08-15T19:50:08 | Google-funded startup to offer free Wi-Fi in San Francisco | Now, a Google-funded startup is announcing an alternate plan to bathe the 49-square-mile city in Wi-Fi. It comes at a fraction of the cost, doesn't require the city to commit to anything, and employs hardware that's likely to outperform anything Earthlink can provide. It may prove to be a fatal blow to Mayor Gavin Newsom's already struggling plan to bridge the digital divide. | http://www.theregister.com/2007/08/15/meraki_expands_in_sanfrancisco/ | 2 | 0 | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | train |
42,778 | hhm | 2007-08-15T19:52:11 | Srinivasa Ramanujan: the genius mathematician | http://www.usna.edu/Users/math/meh/ramanujan.html | 5 | 0 | null | null | null | timeout | null | null | null | null | 2024-11-08T07:07:34 | null | train |
|
42,779 | dawie | 2007-08-15T19:57:21 | RedHerring Returns: New Website, Videos, Social Network | null | http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/redherring_returns_new_website.php | 1 | 0 | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | train |
42,784 | transburgh | 2007-08-15T20:06:54 | What Are Google's Browser Plans? | null | http://www.techcrunch.com/2007/08/15/what-are-googles-browser-plans/ | 3 | 0 | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | train |
42,786 | jkush | 2007-08-15T20:08:11 | Music Mash - Remix your favorite songs. Share them with the world. | Is anyone interested in developing this idea? | http://micropledge.com/projects/music-mash | 1 | 0 | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | train |
42,789 | keitholberman | 2007-08-15T20:18:17 | 25 Most Popular Business Websites July 2007 | In today's competitive financial environment you need to be armed with the best information possible in order to succeed in business. To that end, we at eBizMBA here provide you with the Top 25 Business Websites ranked by a combination of Inbound Links, Google Page Rank, Alexa Rank, and U.S. traffic data from Compete and Quantcast. For entries where a wide range exists between the two data sets the highest numbers were used for ranking purposes. Although no traffic metrics are completely accurate we do believe the data below to be useful for gauging relative audience size. [Banks and financial service sites have been excluded from our list.] | http://www.ebizmeme.com/articles/business.html | 1 | 0 | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | train |
42,791 | luccastera | 2007-08-15T20:23:23 | PlentyOfFish Architecture | http://highscalability.com/plentyoffish-architecture | 12 | 0 | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | train |
|
42,792 | danw | 2007-08-15T20:26:53 | What makes a good social object | null | http://www.zengestrom.com/blog/2007/08/what-makes-a-go.html | 2 | 0 | null | null | null | no_error | What makes a good social object | 2007-08-13T09:45:55+00:00 | null |
August 13th, 2007
10 Comments
I woke up this morning and felt like blogging. It’s been a long time :)
We’ve had Reboot, FOO Camp, and a bunch of other opportunities for rewarding conversations and so it feels like I could write posts for a week about all the new or further developed thoughts and ideas that are crowding my head. I’ve touched on some of those in recent talks (here’s video&slides from one), but I haven’t gotten around to blogging about them yet.
I’ll start by jotting down a few notes on questions that might be useful to ask when evaluating the potential of something to be turned into an online social object. As a disclaimer I guess I should say this may not make much sense unless you’re familiar with the previous posts on the subject (a number of people have suggested I revamp this blog to make it easier to navigate the material – I’ll eventually get around to doing that).
How well does the potential object yield itself to breaking it down to structured data? For instance trips can be pretty easily structured, as on Dopplr. Dopplr trips have only three key data points: a start date, end date, and a destination. Each one is expressed as a discrete. It got too complex with free text entry for destinations, so they decided to use cities with over 80,000 inhabitants as a proxy (so when I travel to San Sebastian in spain, I need to pick Bilbao on dopplr).
What data points to pick? You want to pick the data points that are sensible definitions of the object and give you the most interesting handles for generating sociographs. This is tricky because the more data points you introduce, the more fine-grained sociographs you can generate, but the more complext the system becomes. Events (as on Upcoming) are already more complicated than trips because you want a title, start and end date & time, location, and some kind of invitation policy. It’s a bigger usability hurdle but the tradeoff is reasonable if the assumption is it appeals to a broader population of users. Like on Upcoming vs. Dopplr, more of us go to events even if we don’t travel that much; events are more interesting than just who’s traveling where.
How often do people generate new instances of the object? This question should replace the "who’s your target customer?" question because your main target are probably the same people who generate lots of instances of the object. If a lot of people generate new objects often, ads+subscriptions probably make sense. If they don’t use it that often but the social networking adds a lot of value (as when looking for a book, car, real estate), then you need higher-value ads and/or transactions. If it’s the sort of object that few people create, but those who do do it lots, you’re probably talking about a hobbyist or professional audience (e.g. Dogster for petlovers) and might be able to tap into its special channels to figure out a business model
How much social gravitational pull does the object have? Complex social objects offer a lot of handles for discussion. A movie, for instance, has a cast, a plot, special effects, and plenty of other conversation points that people can talk about. Simple social objects like microblog posts don’t have as many such handles. On microblogs like Jaiku it’s typically someone just asserting something, to which you might or might not be inclined to reply. Big social objects have more social gravity. Movies attract viewers and conversation like stars and big planets attract matter from space. Tiny social objects are more like a meteor shower; each one has very little gravitational pull as such, but when you add up all the tiny particles in space, they embody more total matter than the big constellations.
Posted August 13th, 2007
| 2024-11-08T08:20:43 | en | train |
42,795 | luccastera | 2007-08-15T20:31:02 | Interactive Map of the Linux Kernel | null | http://www.linuxdriver.co.il/kernel_map_plain | 1 | 0 | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | train |
42,798 | damien | 2007-08-15T20:43:37 | AMD to extend x86 instruction set to ease multicore programming | http://www.eetimes.com/news/latest/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=201500201 | 1 | 0 | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | train |
|
42,804 | transburgh | 2007-08-15T20:56:31 | When cheap marketing is just a 'cheap trick' (And why Found|READ isn't the place for it) | null | http://www.foundread.com/view/when-cheap-marketing | 1 | 0 | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | train |
42,808 | epi0Bauqu | 2007-08-15T21:08:38 | Scientists find reason for contagious yawning | http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/20279354/from/RSS/ | 3 | 0 | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | train |
|
42,811 | andreyf | 2007-08-15T21:25:06 | Scott Adams' startup idea: Hole Digger | http://dilbertblog.typepad.com/the_dilbert_blog/2007/08/holes.html | 12 | 5 | [
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42,812 | amichail | 2007-08-15T21:26:49 | Resubmission of old links now that the scope of this forum has expanded | How should we resubmit old links that were not so relevant before but are more so now?<p> | 2 | 2 | [
42918,
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] | null | null | invalid_url | null | null | null | null | 2024-11-08T16:37:59 | null | train |
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42,813 | szczupak | 2007-08-15T21:26:59 | Social news sites such as Digg, Nestscape, Fark, etc. are said to be losing momentum | null | http://www.businesshackers.com/2007/08/15/social-news-sites-such-as-digg-nestscape-fark-etc-are-said-to-be-losing-momentum/ | 2 | 2 | [
42905
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42,814 | dawie | 2007-08-15T21:37:26 | A collection of details | null | http://www.37signals.com/svn/posts/570-a-collection-of-details | 2 | 0 | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | train |
42,816 | david | 2007-08-15T21:54:17 | Uses of "* is the new *" in 2005 represented graphically | http://thediagram.com/6_3/leisurearts.html | 13 | 3 | [
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42,821 | null | 2007-08-15T22:28:16 | null | null | null | null | null | null | [
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42,822 | palish | 2007-08-15T22:31:29 | Fighting Spam for a New Startup | Heya! For my site launch I'm pretty sure I need to be ready to fight spam, but I'm not sure how ready. At the very least I'll set up a basic spam filter, but I'm unsure if I should train it myself beforehand (by copy and pasting the 1000 Gmail spam emails I have in my inbox) or wait until site launch.<p>People will write text that other people see, so it's probable that some of it will be spam.<p>What do you all do? Is there a big database of spam to preconfigure spam filters? | 2 | 3 | [
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42,825 | farmer | 2007-08-15T22:40:52 | CIA, Vatican busted for Wikipedia edits | http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/6947532.stm | 5 | 2 | [
42927,
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42,828 | horatio05 | 2007-08-15T22:52:38 | Bullpoo - World of Warcraft Meets Wall Street | null | http://mashable.com/2006/07/07/bullpoo-world-of-warcraft-meets-wall-street/ | 1 | 0 | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | train |
42,834 | mk | 2007-08-15T23:21:47 | A whole lotta Emacs Lisp files | http://sachachua.com/notebook/emacs/ | 10 | 1 | [
43099
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42,835 | david | 2007-08-15T23:35:47 | Why do most social networks make it so hard to move from viewing one friend to the next? | http://www.subtraction.com/archives/2006/0502_going_back_o.php | 10 | 2 | [
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42,838 | david | 2007-08-15T23:44:01 | "Don't use web standards because Jeffrey Zeldman told you to," Blueprint's class names are OK | null | http://www2.jeffcroft.com/blog/2007/aug/09/myth-content-and-presentation-separation/ | 8 | 1 | [
47327
] | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | train |
42,839 | menloparkbum | 2007-08-15T23:52:43 | This could be your fate if you don't do a startup | welcome to the crushing grind of mediocrity, yahoo! style. | http://valleywag.com/tech/cubicle-culture/yahoos-recruitin-rapper-289869.php | 11 | 7 | [
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42,840 | novak | 2007-08-15T23:52:59 | Greetings from Idiot America | null | http://www.esquire.com/features/ESQ0207GREETINGS | 1 | 1 | [
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42,844 | benhoyt | 2007-08-15T23:59:05 | PayPal fees for dummies | http://blog.micropledge.com/2007/08/paypal-fees-for-dummies/ | 9 | 0 | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | train |
|
42,852 | null | 2007-08-16T00:43:00 | null | null | null | null | null | null | [
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42,854 | bokonist | 2007-08-16T01:05:09 | news.ycombinator meetup - Cambridge, MA | We did a news.ycombinator.com meetup this past June and the turnout was great. Let's do another. It would be great to have a mix of summer ycombinator startups and people thinking of applying this October.<p>For a time/place, how about:
Sunday, August 19th at 7 PM
1369 Coffee House in Central Square
757 Massachusetts Ave.
Cambridge, MA 02139<p>Leave a comment if you are interested.<p><p> | 20 | 30 | [
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42,860 | dfranke | 2007-08-16T01:29:56 | Anyone acquainted with the MIT Enterprise Forum? | The Cambridge chapter labels all of its networking events as "members only" and membership starts at $75/year. Expecting people to pay for the privilege of meeting each other seems like a yellow flag, but if the forum actually attracts smart people then it's worth the price. Has anyone here been to any of their meetings? What's your opinion of them? | 1 | 2 | [
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42,868 | albertcardona | 2007-08-16T01:52:32 | Chess match unveils underlying widespread belief in a soul | http://www.technologyreview.com/printer_friendly_article.aspx?id=19179 | 2 | 1 | [
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] | null | null | http_404 | 404 - Page not found | null | null | The latest iteration of a legacyFounded at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1899, MIT Technology Review is a world-renowned, independent media company whose insight, analysis, reviews, interviews and live events explain the newest technologies and their commercial, social and political impact.Advertise with MIT Technology ReviewElevate your brand to the forefront of conversation around emerging technologies that are radically transforming business. From event sponsorships to custom content to visually arresting video storytelling, advertising with MIT Technology Review creates opportunities for your brand to resonate with an unmatched audience of technology and business elite. | 2024-11-08T21:33:50 | null | train |
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42,872 | null | 2007-08-16T02:07:42 | null | null | null | null | null | null | [
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42,873 | joshwa | 2007-08-16T02:10:07 | Social design for social media companies | null | http://lsvp.wordpress.com/2007/08/15/user-focused-design-for-social-media-companies/ | 2 | 0 | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | train |
42,881 | brett | 2007-08-16T02:35:35 | How JavaScript is Slowing Down the Web (And What To Do About It) | http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/how_javascript_is_slowing_down_the_web.php | 18 | 3 | [
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42,883 | Goladus | 2007-08-16T02:38:07 | iJustine (from justin.tv) on front page of Yahoo | http://www.yahoo.com/s/652565 | 2 | 0 | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | train |
|
42,884 | david | 2007-08-16T02:43:29 | Why the iPhone doesn't have copy+paste | http://daringfireball.net/2007/08/clipboard_and_arrows | 27 | 12 | [
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42,887 | thomasswift | 2007-08-16T02:51:09 | Javascript or Flash Widgets debate. Help me choose what to use. | What are your thoughts, tips, and/or best practices for either? | 8 | 12 | [
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42,892 | cellis | 2007-08-16T03:06:27 | An idea | ok, so yeah I have this idea. And I don't mind telling people about it. If you want to do it, go ahead, but first let me know what you think.<p>I'm sure everyone has heard of this, and I'm pretty sure this has already been thought of (what hasn't, right?) but I haven't seen it in my feed pop up in the myriad facebook apps my friends have added. The pitch: facebook app/six degrees of separation game (find out how many steps to a random person (if possible)). Just had this idea like two minutes ago. Any thoughts?? | 6 | 17 | [
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42,895 | jey | 2007-08-16T03:20:55 | TED Talks: Richard Dawkins: The universe is queerer than we can suppose | http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/view/id/98 | 2 | 0 | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | train |
|
42,897 | jamiequint | 2007-08-16T03:21:35 | Google Deletes Facebook Secrets Blog | null | http://mashable.com/2007/08/15/facebook-secrets/ | 3 | 4 | [
42898
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42,933 | ahsonwardak | 2007-08-16T05:48:41 | Why is it hard to startup a company outside of Silicon Valley? | This may sound like a dumb question to some, but I need to be edified. I'm in DC, and it seems more and more that you're probably working in something government or defense related. In other cities, like Dallas, it used to be telecom related (The Telecom Corrdior). How do these clusters start, thrive, and/or die? How does it continue to thrive in Silicon Valley after some 20 to 30 years of startup success stories? | 26 | 63 | [
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42,940 | nickb | 2007-08-16T06:21:35 | Here's one way to save your server AND your customer's website when digg/reddit effect hits | http://codingview.blogspot.com/2007/08/web-hosting-how-to-save-your-server-and.html | 6 | 0 | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | train |
|
42,946 | henning | 2007-08-16T07:02:01 | Think Lisp machines/J2EE/etc have too many manuals? Look at this | This is a picture of a fighter jet and its accompanying technical documentation. | http://www.aiai.ed.ac.uk/~johnl/ghostwriter/problem.html | 7 | 0 | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | train |
42,950 | aquarin | 2007-08-16T07:12:01 | Feature Creep | http://embedded.com/columns/embeddedpulse/198000134 | 1 | 0 | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | train |
|
42,955 | brett | 2007-08-16T08:10:15 | Prototype 1.6.0 release candidate | null | http://prototypejs.org/2007/8/15/prototype-1-6-0-release-candidate | 3 | 0 | null | null | null | http_404 | Prototype JavaScript Framework | null | null |
404 - File not found.
| 2024-11-08T02:19:33 | null | train |
42,960 | danw | 2007-08-16T08:33:15 | Lazy JS Function Definition Pattern | null | http://peter.michaux.ca/article/3556 | 1 | 1 | [
43032
] | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | train |
42,963 | staunch | 2007-08-16T08:47:36 | A Nifty Hack: Bluetooth People Presence Detector | null | http://perlmonks.org/?node_id=582882 | 6 | 0 | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | train |
42,964 | staunch | 2007-08-16T08:55:22 | A Portrait of J. Random Hacker | null | http://catb.org/jargon/html/appendixb.html | 2 | 1 | [
43030
] | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | train |
42,965 | staunch | 2007-08-16T08:57:14 | Higher-Order Perl -- Free Online Version | null | http://hop.perl.plover.com/ | 3 | 1 | [
42998
] | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | train |
42,968 | Tichy | 2007-08-16T09:34:51 | Wolfram 2,3 Turing Machine Research Prize | http://www.wolframscience.com/prizes/tm23/ | 1 | 0 | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | train |
|
42,976 | alfiejohn | 2007-08-16T10:53:57 | Profitable with $0 seed funding? | null | http://www.share-house.com.au/ramblings/by-the-numbers.html | 4 | 4 | [
43081,
43029
] | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | train |
42,977 | alfiejohn | 2007-08-16T10:55:13 | Google WTF!?! | "...With all those smart PhDs in-house you would think they would be able to prevent the following from happening..." | http://www.share-house.com.au/ramblings/google-wtf.html | 2 | 0 | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | train |
42,979 | danw | 2007-08-16T10:59:56 | Functional unit testing for web applications: Selenium Remote Control | null | http://www.bluetwanger.de/blog/2006/09/14/functional-unit-testing-for-web-applications-selenium-remote-control/ | 1 | 0 | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | train |
42,994 | drm237 | 2007-08-16T12:19:35 | Viral Marketing and Community Building: The Basics | You don't build a product and try to viral market it. Your product has to be built from the core on a problem that is viral and hence the solution will prove to be viral in being used. | http://vijaysblog.wordpress.com/2007/08/16/viral-marketing-and-community-building-the-basics/ | 2 | 0 | null | null | null | no_error | Viral Marketing and Community Building: The Basics | 2007-08-16T07:19:32+00:00 | by: Vijay |
Startups bet their money – quite literally – on economical and cost-saving means of operations. Atleast thats the straight forward and in many cases, the right way of doing it.
Raising capital to market makes sense when you are in the growth curve, the opportunity is clearly identified and you want to capitalize on the market that you have been preparing, but otherwise it could be a little too early to make that move and you could end up hurting yourself, than benefitting. The worst case scenario is when a company moves in too early, burns out loads of cash in preparing a market and failing to monetize it, and the second mover uses it to its advantage and plays it economically and reaps all the benefit.
So, in coming back to the topic, Viral Marketing is still the best way to go when it comes to launching a startup product, in creating that buzz, and in getting filtered and quality feedback before making the big bang of unleashing your product/service into the world.
There are a few things you want to keep in mind to evaluate if Viral Marketing is even a scope for you to consider, or you might have to look at alternatives. Here goes the list:
THE BASIC: You can’t create a viral marketing strategy, or a community without a way for people to contribute. Pepsi can never have a viral marketing campaign, simply because it is a direct consumer product and that is that. They can take feedbacks, but whether they get incorporated or not, is simply not guaranteed and such a stance can extinguish any spark of community or viral initiatives among its consumers.
You don’t build a product and try to viral market it. Your product has to be built from the core on a problem that is viral and hence the solution will prove to be viral in being used.
1. Build a product that people can tell stories about.
The best case scenario is when a user or a blogger picks up your product, understands what all it can do and then starts coming up with scenarios as to where all your product would be relevant and would make sense. When they start coming up with stories, or even can relate to their own travails of life and how your product is a life saver, you are all ready for a viral marketing campaign to begin.
Rule #1: There is no viral marketing without everyone who picks up your product also becomes ambassadors for your product.
2. Manage the supply. Keep the Demand.
This is also a crucial thing when building a product and going through the feedback process. One of the things you come across when building a web service is that you will quickly realize that most of your beta invite applications will be from people who possibly are from a certain genre of people – either hardcore developers looking for extension APIs, people scouting for new applications, or people who are bloggers. In all cases they are extremes, and the feedback you receive will also have that flavor in them. It is very important to ensure that your reviewers don’t run the roadmap of your product, but are mere guidelines and a voice in your head. It should be your vision that should drive the development and releases.
That said, you also need to listen and incorporate some of the needs of these first adopters. So, I would strongly suggest to pick who your first reviewers are going to be, ensure that they can represent whom your primary customers would be, and incorporate most of their reviews and requests. Be picky about who gets to see your product first, and be serious about their feedback.
The second point is that, limited supply also lets them know that they are not reviewing a product that has already gone mainstream, but they feel part of the process.
Rule #2: Involve those who are crucial.
3. Build the Brand. Make it easy to identify.
You can cite this as a direct applied example from the blogging world – blog badges. People are willing to stand for something that they lend their names towards. Make it easy for people to announce their stance.
Rule #3: Make it simple.
4. Build a community. Let people vocalize. Make it Transparent.
There are users, developers and there are folks from the media… and then the pyramid rises merging with it the higher users that you can eventually target, mostly formed of conglomerates of the primary users. People like to know what others are saying.
In many cases, a community is very much a fibonacci series. The third step doesnt come unless one adds the other two numbers in front of it, and so on – and that cant happen unless everything is out there in the open.
Rule #4: Promote, push, and encourage transparent community. This is the premise upon which Facebook survives today – they were not afraid of making an open apology, which stole the hearts of many and propelled them to a bigger arena
5. Count your lucky Stars. Credit them.
Within every community there is a volunteer who is quite active. They say the general rule is that the community is divided by the 80 – 19 – 1 proportion. The 1% are those who are actively contributing and make it a cult to be part of what you are doing. The 19% are those who occassionally contribute and the 80% are those who are mere consumers. You need the 80% and cant expect much. But how effectively you translate the 19% to add to the 1% and grow them will make a difference.
Let me give you an example. The entire wikipedia work is a result of 1% of its community. We all know the size and quality that they keep up within that community. Imagine 19% more adding to that. You can expect an exponential of 19x in return. That speaks for itself.
Rule #5: blur the lines between your core team and the 1% of active contributors.
Truth be told, there are very few products that can truly benefit from this marketing strategy. There are a fair bit of Forced Viral Strategies that companies lately have adapted, which focuses on luring one with a bait and forcing the next one to adapt to benefit from the service. Most facebook applications seem to follow that trend. I will write about that more in the days to come.
| 2024-11-08T17:12:06 | en | train |
42,997 | drm237 | 2007-08-16T12:29:22 | Los Angeles Venture Association VC panel presentation summary | LAVA isn't what you think it is. It's not boiling hot magma from a volcano bursting in LA threatening to destroy the city. Nope - LAVA is Los Angeles Venture Association and it's doing anything but destructive. I joined their yearly VC panel presentation at 7AM!!! yesterday (Tuesday the 14th) to get the scoop. | http://www.heathervescent.com/heathervescent/2007/08/lava---its-hot.html | 2 | 0 | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | train |
43,000 | transburgh | 2007-08-16T12:49:56 | Unconventional Wisdom: Quitting is good for you | null | http://www.foundread.com/view/unconventional | 11 | 2 | [
43087,
43025
] | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | train |
43,001 | transburgh | 2007-08-16T12:50:47 | Three Ways Startups Are Providing VOIP | null | http://www.techcrunch.com/2007/08/15/three-ways-startups-are-harnessing-voip/ | 1 | 0 | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | train |
43,007 | terpua | 2007-08-16T13:47:01 | USAToday's Social Network Experiment May Not Be Paying Off | http://www.techcrunch.com/2007/08/16/usatoday-relaunch-as-social-network-may-not-be-paying-off/ | 3 | 1 | [
43065
] | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | train |
|
43,008 | terpua | 2007-08-16T13:47:44 | 'Facebook Secrets' blog gets the DMCA takedown treatment | null | http://news.com.com/8301-10784_3-9760858-7.html?part=rss&tag=feed&subj=NewsBlog | 7 | 0 | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | train |
43,012 | transburgh | 2007-08-16T13:55:20 | Widgets for Tracking Internet Trends | null | http://www.marketingpilgrim.com/2007/08/widgets-for-tracking-internet-trends.html | 1 | 0 | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | train |
43,013 | amichail | 2007-08-16T13:58:30 | Help test my Facebook game in private beta and I will help test your Facebook app | It's the sort of game where you guess how other people think. It's a twist on something that people already do in discussion groups. <p>My goal is to release the game in two weeks.<p>If you might want to participate in private testing, please email me @ [email protected].
| 2 | 0 | null | null | null | invalid_url | null | null | null | null | 2024-11-08T16:37:59 | null | train |
|
43,016 | omouse | 2007-08-16T14:09:05 | How to write a book - the short honest truth | http://www.scottberkun.com/blog/2007/how-to-write-a-book-the-short-honest-truth/ | 31 | 2 | [
43334,
43064
] | null | null | no_error | How to write a book – the short honest truth | 2007-08-16T01:04:45+00:00 | Marina Nemat |
Every author I know gets asked the same question: How do you write a book?
It’s a simple question, but it causes problems. On the one hand, it’s nice to have people interested in something I do. If I told people I fixed toasters for a living, I doubt I’d get many inquires. People are curious about writing and that’s cool and flattering. Rock on.
But on the other hand, the hand involving people who ask because they have an inkling to do it themselves, is that writing books is a topic so old and so well trod by so many famous people that anyone who asks hoping to discover secret advice is hard to take seriously.
Here’s the short honest truth: 20% of the people who ask me are hoping to hear this – Anyone can write a book. They want permission. The truth is you don’t need any. There is no license required. No test to take. Your book idea is worth writing if you think it is. Writing, as opposed to publishing, requires almost no financial or physical resources. A pen, paper and effort are all that has been required for hundreds of years. If Voltaire, Marquis de Sade and could write in prison, then you can do it in suburbia, at lunch, at work, or after your kids go to sleep. You will always find excuses if you want them and most people do. Why? Writing is work. No matter how smart you are or how great your idea is, you will have to put in the time and no one else can do it for you.
It helps to kill the magic: a book is just a bunch of writing. Anyone can write a book. It might be bad or be incomprehensible, but so what: it’s still a book and many published authors haven’t done any better.
Nothing is stopping you right now from collecting all of your elementary school book reports, a years worth of emails you wrote, or drunken napkin scribbles, binding them together at Kinkos for $20, slapping a title on the cover, and qualifying as an author. Want to write a good book? Ok, but get in line since most pro authors are still trying to figure that out too.
Writing a good book, compared to a bad one, involves one thing. More work. No one wants to hear this, but if you take two books off any shelf, I’ll bet my pants the author of the better book worked harder than the author of the other one. Call it effort, study, practice, or whatever you like. Sure there are tricks here and there, but really writing is a kind of work. I like this though: it means anyone who puts in enough time can actually write well. Some of our best writing comes from ordinary people from all walks of life.
Getting published. 30% of the time the real thing people are asking is how do you find a publisher. As if there wasn’t a phone book or, say, an Internet-thingy where you can look this stuff up (start with Jane Friedman’s website). Writers-market is literally begging to help writers find publishers. Many publishers, being positive on the whole idea of communication, put information on how to submit material on their website. And so do agents. The grand comedy of this is how few writers follow the instructions. That’s what pisses off all the editors: few writers do their homework.
The sticking point for most people who want to be authors is, again, the work. They want to hear a secret that skips over the work part. Publishers are rightfully picky and they get pitched a zillion books a day. It takes effort to learn the ropes, send out smart queries, and do the research required to both craft the idea for a book, and then to propose it effectively. So while writing is a rejection prone occupation, even for the rock-stars, finding a publisher is not a mystery. In fact the whole game is self-selective: people who aren’t willing to do the work of getting published are unlikely to be capable of the work required to finish a decent manuscript.
But that said – it’s easier today to self-publish than ever. People look down on self-publishing, but I don’t see why. When people buy books it’s not like they care who published them (“Oh, I don’t read Random House books, sorry”): they only care who recommended or reviewed the book. But again, our tragically unpopular companion, work, is required to self-publish so many prefer to keep asking writers how they got published instead of just doing it themselves. You can read what I learned from self-publishing the first time here (although the technology and options have improved since then).
Being famous and wealthy: Now this is the kicker. About 50% of the time the real thing people want to know is how to become a famous millionaire rock-star author person. As if a) I qualified, b) I could explain how it happened, or c) I’d be willing to tell.
First, this assumes writing is a good way to get rich. I’m not sure how this lie started but writing, like most creative pursuits, has always been a less than lucrative lifestyle. Even if a book sells well, the $$$ to hour ratio will be well below your average corporate job, without the health benefits, sick days, nor the months where you can coast by without your boss noticing. These days people write books after they’re famous, not before. A book can help you gain professional credibility, but then it’s more of a marketing project than a writing project, isn’t it?
And if the only books you read are bestsellers, well, you have a myopic view of the publishing world. Over 100k books are published in the US annually, and few sell more than a few thousand copies. What causes books to sell may have little to do with how good a book is, as we’ve all been mystified by the abysmal bestsellers and surprised by amazing books few seem to know about. Either way, to justify the effort you’ll need reasons other than cash.
Discouraged yet? Here is the upside: I love writing books. I love reading books. Books have profound powers and they’ve changed my life so many times. Maybe the bittersweet challenge of chasing words into sentences suits you. If you want to do this you have my support. GO YOU. Sincerely. I am behind you. But thinking about writing isn’t writing. Talking about it isn’t either. Commit to 10 hours of effort (basically a weekend or two). Write an outline or even just a few pages of a chapter. Take a course that focuses on actual writing and getting feedback. If it feels hard but rewarding, keep going. If it doesn’t, well I think you know.
Here are some practical next steps:
The single best website to learn more about writing and publishing books – Jane Friedman
How To Start a Book Project – specific advice for tackling a book sized effort.
Is Your Book Idea Good? I’ll tell you here
28 Things No One Tells You About Publishing
How To Get From An Idea To a Book – a bit harsh, and focused on publishing, but explains the steps and the time you’ll need
Writing Hacks: Part 1 – Starting – What to do when the page is blank.
Part 2 of ‘How To Write a Book’ is here, where I answer the best comments.
Time-lapsed video of a writer writing an essay – amazing and revealing
Confessions of a Self Published author – here’s what I learned from self publishing my last book.
Writer’s Market. How to find a publisher for your written work (more good advice here).
National Novel Writing Month – You must check this out.
Or leave a comment below. I am, despite the curmudgeonly vibe, happy to answer thoughtful questions.
Austin Kleon’s book writing flowchart
Preview image credit
[Light editing: 10/7/2019, 2/4/2021]
| 2024-11-07T23:09:00 | en | train |
|
43,017 | transburgh | 2007-08-16T14:17:59 | Skype down? | null | http://www.centernetworks.com/skype-down | 2 | 1 | [
43018
] | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | train |
43,031 | krumel | 2007-08-16T14:48:16 | Most recognized pain relief over 100 years | Statues express the ancient of pain itself on humans. Since then, pain was relieved by this ointment. | http://www.10ad.org/most-recognized-pain-relief-over-100-years/ | 2 | 0 | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | train |
43,036 | transburgh | 2007-08-16T15:06:59 | If You're Not Authentic, You Will Probably Fail | null | http://www.gobignetwork.com/wil/2007/8/16/if-youre-not-authentic-you-will-probably-fail/10185/view.aspx | 9 | 2 | [
43208,
43653
] | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | train |
43,037 | drubio | 2007-08-16T15:17:11 | Choosing an AJAX framework | null | http://www.webforefront.com/archives/2007/08/choosing_an_aja.html | 1 | 0 | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | train |
43,038 | drm237 | 2007-08-16T15:23:12 | Local search startup Grayboxx goes after search giants | "How exactly is Grayboxx going to improve local search? Well, their algorithm is in the stealth stage...so they aren't revealing details yet. But it looks like a guerilla tactic approach to ranking local results...to create a local community rolodex of favorable votes without imposing review-writing chores." | http://blogs.business2.com/startups/2007/08/for-all-the-are.html | 2 | 0 | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | train |
43,039 | davidw | 2007-08-16T15:23:55 | Finance geeks: what's behind this odd chart? | This is strange looking:<p><a href="http://finance.yahoo.com/q/bc?s=EURUSD=X&t=5d" rel="nofollow">http://finance.yahoo.com/q/bc?s=EURUSD=X&t=5d</a><p>Not the fact that it's trending downward, but the very regular looking stairstep each day. Any idea what that is? | 6 | 21 | [
43069,
43090,
43046,
43244,
43076,
43044,
43061,
43072
] | null | null | invalid_url | null | null | null | null | 2024-11-08T16:37:59 | null | train |
|
43,040 | prakash | 2007-08-16T15:35:36 | Netflix customer service -- bucking the trend | http://www.nytimes.com/2007/08/16/business/16netflix.html?_r=1&oref=slogin&ref=technology&pagewanted=all | 10 | 0 | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | train |
|
43,049 | ACSparks | 2007-08-16T15:53:42 | Amazon S3 and offline development | Let's say I want to use S3 to serve all of the images for my site; I also do alot of my developing offline on a local setup.<p>Do I just have to bite the bullet and have the page layout broken when I am not online? | 1 | 1 | [
43063
] | null | null | invalid_url | null | null | null | null | 2024-11-08T16:37:59 | null | train |
|
43,054 | gizmoojo | 2007-08-16T16:02:41 | Seeking Co-Founders for the upcoming YCombi | null | http://programmermeetdesigner.com/listing/view/1704 | 3 | 0 | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | train |
43,074 | byrneseyeview | 2007-08-16T16:34:55 | What's Wrong with CS Research | null | http://unqualified-reservations.blogspot.com/2007/08/whats-wrong-with-cs-research.html | 32 | 39 | [
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] | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | train |
43,080 | samb | 2007-08-16T16:48:31 | Chicago Hackers & Entrepreneurs | Wanna get together sometime? I saw a few "we're from Chicago" refs in another thread. | 3 | 7 | [
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43190,
57470
] | null | null | invalid_url | null | null | null | null | 2024-11-08T16:37:59 | null | train |
|
43,093 | dpatru | 2007-08-16T17:08:33 | How to stop pollution and destruction of natural resources | Murray Rothbard brilliantly analyzes the issues in conservation, ecology, and growth and presents realistic solutions. This is material you won't hear from either political party. | http://www.mises.org/resources/ab1ba643-dc19-462f-82ff-2d34f46bb7f6#p242 | 1 | 1 | [
43097
] | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | train |
43,098 | horatio05 | 2007-08-16T17:14:21 | Flash Games Community Kongregate Gets $5 Million To Bankroll Key Developers | null | http://www.paidcontent.org/entry/419-flash-games-community-kongregate-gets-5-million-from-greylock/ | 8 | 2 | [
43212,
43145
] | null | null | no_article | null | null | null | null | 2024-11-08T10:04:28 | null | train |
43,100 | horatio05 | 2007-08-16T17:17:35 | iPhocal Uses Yelp API for Local Search on the iPhone | null | http://mashable.com/2007/08/15/iphocal/ | 2 | 0 | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | train |
43,101 | transburgh | 2007-08-16T17:17:45 | Skype's Outage Another Example of Why Current Mahalo is Doomed | null | http://www.centernetworks.com/another-example-of-why-mahalo-is-doomed | 4 | 0 | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | train |
43,104 | horatio05 | 2007-08-16T17:19:55 | PingMe Annoys the Hell Out of You To Make Sure You Get Things Done | null | http://mashable.com/2007/08/15/pingme/ | 9 | 0 | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | train |
43,107 | terpua | 2007-08-16T17:23:21 | Truveo: AOL Takes a Swipe at Google and YouTube | null | http://mashable.com/2007/08/16/truveo-aol-takes-a-swipe-at-google-and-youtube/ | 1 | 0 | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | train |
43,114 | KeshRivya | 2007-08-16T17:36:36 | Startup Funding from Family? | null | http://smartstartup.typepad.com/my_weblog/2007/08/whats-the-worst.html | 2 | 0 | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | train |
43,117 | jkush | 2007-08-16T17:37:40 | The making of criticat | http://www.shwetagupta.com/blog/2007/08/16/the-making-of-criticat-my-first-venture/ | 2 | 0 | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | train |
|
43,118 | Tichy | 2007-08-16T17:38:47 | The Worst Mistake in the History of the Human Race (by Jared Diamond) | null | http://www.agron.iastate.edu/courses/agron342/diamondmistake.html | 29 | 43 | [
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] | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | train |
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