Lately I’ve been creating new content over at the Aprigo blog. We were a very stealth mode startup, but since we’re getting ready to release a private beta soon, we’ve started to lift the veil of secrecy. I was talking with a co-worker a few moments ago and was asked the following question:
"So the people that are coming to our blog and reading our posts….are they a missed opportunity? Shouldn’t we wait until we have a product?"
Now that was an interesting question. I’d never really thought about it that way. My immediate, knee-jerk reaction was "we shouldn’t wait." Here’s why:
- Blogging early and creating content builds trust- When you’re a startup without any exposure, people are skeptical of your claims. So many startups make bold, aggressive claims like "our search engine makes google look like a dinosaur." It’s easy to make claims like that when you have no proof. But when you start off by addressing the problems you’re trying to solve and give examples of how you’re going to solve them, people respond to that. My favorite example of this was the blog from Powerset, a search engine startup focused on natural language search. (They were later acquired by Microsoft)
Rather than making claims that their search approach was the best, they gave examples of problems that exist in search as we know it. A favorite post is called "The Tyranny of the Common Name", in which the author addresses the problem of having a common name when it comes to search. These kinds of posts go a long way in demonstrating expertise and a fundamental understanding of the problems facing the market, thus establishing trust.
- Blogging early and creating content builds incoming links– If you wait until the day you have a product to sell to create content, who would know how to find it? Let’s play make-believe for a second….Let’s say I’ve been secretly working on an online store for dart players. The store has darts, accessories, and anything a serious dart player would be looking for. Today I’m ready to launch, and I haven’t done any kind of promotion until today.
I could go to twitter, but since I have no following and haven’t approached dart players on twitter, no one would see my tweets.
I could go to facebook, but since I haven’t friended anyone or joined any groups for dart players, no one would notice.
I could start posting blog posts every hour, but no one would know about them.What’s worse is that since I didn’t lay the groundwork earlier, even if people did notice the content, they’d probably label me as a spammer, carpet-bombing the internet with shameless plugs rather than taking the time to organically build interest.
- Blogging early gives your company exposure– Early on, when you don’t have a product to sell, you’re in an ideal position to create content. In this phase of your company’s existance, you are doing something awesome: you’re creating content purely because it is interesting and useful to the people you’ll eventually want as customers. You don’t have to worry about plugging your product. You don’t have to craft your posts around a product offer, and you don’t have to constantly focus on the ROI of each post. This is the fun part where you are really just trying to figure out how you can be a resource to the population you wish to later serve.
- Blogging early makes your company real– When you don’t have proof, people don’t think you’re real. A "stealth mode startup building x" doesn’t really exist in the eyes of the public. And since you can’t yet clearly demonstrate your product, blogging is a great way to share your philosophy and focus on solving a problem. Blogging gives you a chance to relate to your market, and a chance to interact with readers.
- Blogging early gives your company a chance to receive feedback– We repeat this over and over here at Aprigo, but we mean it when we say we’re a market-driven company. Why bother building a product with features people won’t use? Conversely, we don’t want to leave out functionality that people would really value. Blogging gives us the opportunity to give our opinions, but also to hear what others have to say, and that is incredibly valuable when looking at our roadmap.
- Blogging early builds anticipation– Combining all of the above points, when you’re able to share your philosophy, build trust and interact with people interested in what you have to say, it builds anticipation for what you have to offer. It makes people want to know when your product is ready for them to check out. It’s happened to me time and time again….I’ll hear about a product that isn’t publicly available yet, and I’ll follow their blog to hear updates and to see what will be coming soon.
In the end, I think the point is that you need to constantly produce interesting, relevant content that addresses issues facing those you wish to eventually have as customers. Customer acquisition online isn’t about a transaction, it’s about a relationship, and blogging is a great way to start your company’s relationship to the outside world.
