I think answering this question involves a lot of market research that I cannot afford both in terms of time and money. So I'll answer it from a very personal perspective. So let me rephrase the question.
Why do I write a blog before having a product to sell?
Well, here's how I convince myself to write entries into my blog:
1. It's good because you will have a 'mature' domain name. Search engines usually rank websites based on how 'mature' they are, among other things. That means ... how long they've been around for. Having something online, even if it's just your pre-shipping blah-blah-blah, it's good for enough for bots and search engines.
2. It's good to build up content that search engines can index and start ranking your website. Content takes time to build up. The sooner you start, the better.
3. It's good if you manage to grab attention or hype up your product before it is launched. Making your potential customers interested is great since that means potential sales from DAY 1. It also means you might be able to find beta testers more easily. But generating buzz is no easy thing to do. Blogs are no guaranteed recipes for success and if you don't know how to use they can have a dark side.
4. It's good to reinforce your vision and share your vision with the world, even if you only do it gradually.
It can be a tool to re-motivate yourself, primarily by getting back in touch with your vision behind the product, project and ultimately the main reason for writing the blog.
5. It's learning exercise.
The main reader of the blog is the writer herself. Writing can be a good tool to find out what you know and what you don't know, what you can and want to share with others and what you can't or don't want to share with others. It is a good exercise to force you to think about the dusty corners of your endeavour.
Friday, July 20, 2007 9:44:34 PM (GMT Daylight Time, UTC+01:00)
