On Apr 24, 9:30 am, ehandb...@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
wrote:
> Anyway... they interviewed the head of FogCreek software
That would be Joel Spolsky of Joel on Software fame, I suppose?
> he talked about all these different marketing campaigns that he tried
> with all of them having quite dismal results. He said that the one and
> only factor that contributed positively to his sales was improving his
> product; nothing worked better than that.
Two caveats to that:
1. Fog Creek's products (CityDesk and especially Fog Bugz) are
marketed
to professionals. Their price range is such that professionals
who
evaluate them usually have the authority to authorize the
purchase.
These factors put Fog Creek into a distinct minority; the majority
of software developers sell either to the end user who is
vulnerable
to marketing hype or to the enterprise, where final purchasing
decisions are made by business managers vulnerable to wining,
dining,
and other forms of inducement unrelated to product quality.
2. If I remember correctly, Fog Creek never tried spending as much on
marketing as on development. Microsoft does, and seems to have no
problem peddling its wares.
> I subscribe to this principle; that if you work hard enough at your
> product (and customer service) then the cream will rise to the top
> and you will succeed.
Provided that the product has an audience at all, which is not always
a given... You may devise a great product, but if its sales
potential
is 10% of what you need to break even... well, I'm sure you get the
picture...
Cheers,
NC
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