2 builders who never spoke to each other
Find out who is already paying your competitor
Study the back catalogue of businesses serving your market to see who actually spends money there, and take product feedback from people currently paying a rival rather than from anyone willing to talk.
The method
- 01
Buy and study your competitors' back catalogue to work out who is actually paying them, instead of guessing at your target list.
- 02
With no customers yet, interview the people currently paying your competitor instead of surveying anyone available.
What it returned
Holmes back-ordered hundreds of issues of rival magazines to analyse who advertised
Justin passes on this advice from Jason Fried.
Sources
- When you're building a product, whose opinion should you listen to?Justin Jackson · justinjackson.ca · 2. Only take product feedback from people paying for your product · undated
- “The Dream 100”Harry Dry · Marketing Examples · “The Dream 100” · undated
the second source
Three plays a week, for the phase you are in
No roundup of links, no news. Three tactics more than one builder arrived at separately, with the numbers each one returned and the disagreements left in.
More in sales
- Charge for it before it exists6 unconnected
- Book the buyer calls before you write any code6 unconnected
- Package more of what you own into sellable slots6 unconnected
- Interview customers when sales stall, not buy traffic5 unconnected
- Borrow credibility from the customers you have5 unconnected
- Keep a named list of dream accounts and work it5 unconnected