New trade-offs?

Link: Don Dodge on The Next Big Thing: The new way to launch your product or company.

Don Dodge writes an insightful article about how there's a new way to launch new products/services. He states:

Big money and influential VCs are no longer a requirement to launch a company or product. The price of software, hardware, and bandwidth has been reduced by a factor of ten, or more, since the late 90's. Open source software, free web services, and super cheap hardware have made it possible to start a business for pocket change. Many entrepreneurs are self funding all the way to cash flow, or even break even.

The web, and more specifically blogs, have made it simple and cheap to promote your product. And it can all happen in 24 hours...without ever leaving your computer screen. This is transformational. It has been happening gradually over the last 5 years so we haven't really noticed how dramatic the change has been. It is huge.

Yes, this is all very true - and marketing needs to take note. Hiring a PR firm to "flak" stories, or spending money on traditional advertising may not be required to get the word out.

However, anyone who has ever worked for a start-up will tell you that there's always a shortage of people, time and money. Everyone wears multiple hats, works 16-hour days and saves their pennies.

So, while pinging "A" list bloggers, routinely posting comments on targeted web sites and pursuing a WOM strategy is indeed "free", there is a big trade-off. It takes a lot of time and energy.

Marketers must decide: Is it more important from a marketing perspective to spend time blogging (to get the name out) or building a product with a better customer experience?

What is the right trade-off?

Technorati Tags Customer Experience Word of Mouth Brand Building