At lunch today I was talking with Craig and Rick and we decided that it’s not the technology that matters; it’s the marketing. Take, for example, the recent rumors that Yahoo is going to buy the Facebook web site for around a billion dollars (yes, that’s a “B”). Looking at Facebook, you don’t see anything particularly exciting or innovative. In fact, as far as the so-called “social networking” sites go, it’s pretty humdrum. It’s not the most popular, it doesn’t have the most features, and honestly I’m just not sure what makes it worth nine zeroes.
I’ve got technology. It’s coming out of my ears. I’m fast, capable, and innovative when it comes to building web sites. I haven’t yet met a customer who presented me with an impossible challenge in web technology. In fact, given a few weeks of dedicated time, I could probably build Facebook. And yet no one is offering to buy my web sites for a billion dollars.
Why? Because I don’t have any marketing juju. I’m a terrible marketeer, I’m a terrible sales guy, and in general I haven’t got the foggiest clue how to go out there and sell my goodies. All of my business is via referral– which is great, don’t get me wrong– and I’ve never once landed a job by simply calling someone or sending an unasked-for proposal.
So I guess if I want to make a bil, I need to find a marketing genius to help me.
