Marketing Your Idea

So you got an idea and it’s a wonderful idea, or so you keep hearing from your colleagues and friends. How do you get everyone on board? How do you get everyone notice your idea/work or even use it?

I’ve been through numerous sites and all of them give great advice on how you can market your idea on the internet using social media but it’s TOUGH when you are not in the circle of influence. I don’t have friends who work at TechCrunch, GeekWire, Mashable, BoyGenius, etc nor do I date anyone who works there so getting my idea out in the masses is very tough!

Those who are in that circle because they created that one lucky iPhone application or project idea (e.g. airbnb, Facebook, twitter, twitpic, etc) get instantly put in it and they can watch their project take off fast after launch. But how about the rest of us who don’t know someone influential or not in that circle?

I am in the works of drafting an iPhone application. I’m just in the design stages and I’m going to see with my friends who have built iPhone applications on how I can go about it and try the following steps to hopefully to create some buzz on it…

a) Make sure the application is interesting – This is important. I need to make sure that the application is something good that people will actually take the time to search and download. The only questions is pay or no pay? If no payment, how do I incorporate advertising because hey…I’ll be commissioning this application and I need to pay off the bills!

b) Taking Lisa Bettany’s (designed Camera + and The Heist) advice, I’m going to make sure that the project is launched either on a weekend or a huge holiday.

c) Save the URL – create a portal where users can get more information on the iPhone Application

d) Create a Facebook Fan Page – Having a Facebook fan page is important when it comes to getting your idea across to your friends. I saw a family member create a Facebook fan page on their blog idea and in less than a month, they had +300 people ‘Like’ her page. Slow for some, but fast for me since I know she is outside of that circle of influence.

e) Create a Twitter Account dedicated for your iPhone Application – save up the name asap and use it as a platform to tell about your project, and respond to people who have downloaded or are interested in your application.

f) Tweet to my friends to re-tweet the launch

g) Check if any of my friends are in that circle of influence (or cusp) for assistance.

h) TBD

i) TBD

I’ll keep this blog updated to let you know of my progress on the iPhone design and creation end and as I go through the various stages of the SDLC with the developers.

In the meantime, I’m going to see if I can tap into that circle of influence that could potentially help me launch my iPhone application.  Something tells me I might be surprised with the folks I have following me on twitter or I just might surprise myself on how I can be brought in to that circle.  Stay Tuned and Wish me Luck!