Tell me more ×
Answers OnStartups is a question and answer site for entrepreneurs looking to start or run a new business. It's 100% free, no registration required.
up vote 2 down vote favorite

Greetings, Recently, I decided to delve into the world of internet marketing and advertising with a little experiment. It started when I wrote a spreadsheet to prototype stock market screening methods for a C++ project. In the process the spreadsheet became a useful tool - maybe other people will find it useful too. So I thought: what the heck, I'll put it up on a blog, and add some adsense adds. If it generates enough revenue to buy a domain name I'll be happy.

I've also written a few silly little articles about subjects that I've been playing around with lately. These articles are really for my own entertainment; it's the spreadsheet that I think people will find useful.

I've done the usual social bookmarking and directory submission stuff, but so far those efforts have been fruitless.

The spreadsheet performs simple stock valuation and analysis. It's located in the Google cloud, and free to use with a Google account.

share|improve this question
This question is similar and may be helpful. – user6603 Apr 21 '11 at 18:40
@Joseph: Why did you delete Joey's link? – user6603 Apr 21 '11 at 21:03
3  
I think that it is a fantastic question. I think asking the community about how to market simple free tools is great. And I was looking forward to seeing the answers. I considered the inclusion of the link to the free tool to be marketing the tool on our board under the guise of asking a question. Like questions that solicit feedback on a specific start-up -- this is off topic. Rather than vote to close the "off-topic" question, I simply removed the link, maintaining the integrity of the question. Joey lists his blog on his profile, and the links to the free tools are there for anyone to find. – Joseph Barisonzi Apr 21 '11 at 21:36
2  
I think Joseph's action was very appropriate. This site is not an advertising platform for startups. It's a Q&A site for startup enthusiasts to ask and answer questions. The community in general does not look favorably on self-promotion from new users, because it can come off looking like spam (even if it's not). In fact, our faq explicitly states that the use of signatures is inappropriate answers.onstartups.com/faq. Any sites a user would like to promote should be placed in their profile, which is visible to the rest of the community. Those interested in learning more will go there. – Zuly Gonzalez♦ Apr 22 '11 at 1:34
Joey, your question is valid, and one that I am sure others here can benefit from. Instead of voting to eliminate the question from the site, and as a result, prevent you from obtaining the help you need, Joseph chose to clean up the question by removing the link. In the end this benefits you more than anyone else here. This is a general question that can be answered without ever looking at your site, so adding a link actually adds very little value to the question. But, if someone would like to look at your tool before answering, they should be able to get to it from your user profile. – Zuly Gonzalez♦ Apr 22 '11 at 1:46
show 1 more comment

3 Answers

up vote 2 down vote

To answer you question: To become a popular some tool first have to be useful. To be useful it have to be complete product:

  • easy to install
  • full functionality
  • comprehensive documentation
  • support
  • continuing development reflecting the users requirement.

Have you received some feedback from users?

Have you tied to include you program in a sites that collect a list of useful tools for analyzing investments? I have seen a plenty of them promoting different type of simple and more complex calculations. Have you considered registering separate domain name specifically for you product with well written landing page and appropriate screenshots etc.

Advertising free product does not mean it have to use different methods then advertising non free one.

share|improve this answer
up vote 1 down vote

The previous answers are alluding to something deeper: that is, how committed are you actually pursuing this as a business? Taking the steps and "changing the mindset" as Ross and Ron suggest would demonstrate your commitment. It isn't easy to get something worthwhile going. It's hard work and may take a long time before you get traction.

Here is dharmesh's advice on initial marketing steps for a startup. One thing that he notes in his thoughts about Linkedin is that you have to be part of the community. Your disposition is not to sell something but to make yourself more useful to others. Over time, this will help bring awareness to you and your product.

It sounds like your idea would be useful to seekingalpha.com users. I am sure you have already thought of this but that is probably the best community of users for your tool.

share|improve this answer
up vote 0 down vote

Mindset change required. Have you noticed you spoke about your free tool, but no link, no real lead for me to find it or use it. You have to think like a marketing guy too, not just a programmer.

share|improve this answer
Sorry, I included a link but it was deleted by Joseph Barisonzi. – user9874 Apr 21 '11 at 19:44

Your Answer

 
discard

By posting your answer, you agree to the privacy policy and terms of service.