Top 3 marketing techniques for TW companies & freelancers?

["Hart, Geoff" <Geoff-H -at- MTL -dot- FERIC -dot- CA>]

Sean Kennedy is <<... writing a biz plan for a TW company... Excluding
word-of-mouth, what are the TOP 3 Marketing Techniques you or the
documentation company you've worked with have used to gain new customers?>>

<Fe> The three classics, of course: FUD (fear, uncertainty, and doubt). In
no particular order:
- fear: Without our product, you'll be a technological also ran, not even
fit to appear on "The Weakest Link"
- uncertainty: You could use our competitor's product, but aren't they
currently the subject of a DOJ investigation? Don't worry about them being a
dotcom; I'm sure they'll escape the day of reckoning that's laid low all the
other dotcoms.
- doubt: You know you really don't understand what you're doing, but if you
just trust us and buy our product, all will be taken care of for you.</Fe>

Okay, so that's just a tad facetious; it's nonetheless one well-accepted
school of marketing. Me, I tend to opt for the Mr. Rogers side of The Force
and accentuate the positive. First off, no one marketing technique works for
all audiences, so whatever "top three" list you do compile, recognize that
you'll have to do some serioius reality checking to be sure it really
reflects your audience. Second, you can't market effectively if you don't
understand that audience. You must know:
- what their _actual_ needs are (even if they don't recognize these needs
yet), so you can explain how you can meet those needs
- what their _perceived_ needs are, so you can identify barriers to
understanding your message (see previous point) and frame your persuasion in
terms they understand
- barriers to acquiring your product (e.g., "FUD"), so that you can show
them either that the barriers aren't real, or how to work around the
barriers (e.g., "low, low purchase financing and affordable monthly
payments").
- factors that might persuade them to buy (e.g., free trial versions,
money-back guarantees)
- an appropriate choice of language: humorous vs. serious, formal vs.
informal, jargony vs. simple English, etc.

There are many other things to consider; have a look at Janice King's
"Writing high-tech copy that sells" and other textbooks. I also recently
reviewed Peter Kent and Tara Calishain's book on Internet marketing
(available online at www.topfloor.com), and found it an excellent primer on
marketing, with specific reference to the 'net and building "mind share" for
your product. The fact that entire textbooks (and many of them) have been
written on this subject tells you that this isn't a simple subject and has
no simple solutions, but these references should give you a good start.

--Geoff Hart, FERIC, Pointe-Claire, Quebec
geoff-h -at- mtl -dot- feric -dot- ca
"User's advocate" online monthly at
www.raycomm.com/techwhirl/usersadvocate.html

"In seeking wisdom, the first step is silence, the second listening, the
third remembering, the fourth practicing, the fifth -- teaching
others."--Ibn Gabirol, poet and philosopher (c. 1022-1058)

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