The other day I read an interesting blog post about the evolution of 37signals – a company committed to building the best web-based software products possible with the least number of features necessary. Their products do less than the competition — intentionally.
In the beginning they had the same approach we often tell our clients who are in their early stages to follow: no advertisement. They relied solely on word of mouth, and as such they had to create a buzz and build an audience fast. That’s not exactly an easy task, but having an audience, having your followers makes for an invaluable asset. How do you build an audience? Well, put on your thinking caps and get creative! 37signals had an interesting approach, they built satellite projects that helped them build an audience before they even launched their biggest/intentional project, so that when they did launch it it would have a huge following.
How are you building your flock? What are you doing to have followers? Are you doing something? Just being one more service provider out there in the crowd with no recognition is dull. Think about it… it’ll make getting the word out for your business a lot easier!