Thinking about Micro ISV Websites
Over the weekend, I’ve been thinking about the accepted wisdom
regarding micro ISV website design. A lot of the websites I’ve looked
at are well made, clean, easy to navigate and so on. In other words,
they tick all the boxes. And I think that’s the thing that’s bothering
me.
Software houses that use Agile Software Development techniques have
to negotiate contracts like all other companies. Wherever possible,
agile teams will try to steer clear of fixed cost, fixed scope, fixed
time contracts, preferring instead to opt for an optional scope, or
time and materials contract. There are a number of reasons for this,
but the one that sticks out in my mind is this: Fixed scope/cost/time
contracts are gladiatorial. They pit the interests of the customer
against the interests of the vendor. Optional scope contracts, on the
other hand, align the interests of the two, specifically because
optional scope contracts are typically short, 90 days or something, so
it is in the interests of the vendor to continually impress, rather
than to take the quickest dirtiest route to satisfy the contract.
When I think about issues of trust, specifically investing in trust,
I wonder whether traditional micro ISV website designs are the right
idea. After all, by their nature, they exist to sell ‘the product’. I
wonder if this too might be gladiatorial. I wonder if potential buyers
browse sales oriented sites with their guard up, as if they’re wary,
looking to see if they can trust you.
If I ask the question “what might a non-gladiatorial micro ISV web
site look like?” I find that the answer is “a blog”; a blog that sells
stuff, but a blog nonetheless.
So say if you write task management software, what would happen if
your site was a GTD blog, a GTD blog that sold task management
software. If you write <cough> some document management software
for home users, your site is a blog about decluttering and organising
your home documents. If you’re passionate about your domain, and write
passionately about it, I wonder what effect it would have on your
customer’s perception of your trustworthiness. Your interests are now
aligned with your customer’s interests, so would this breed trust? I’m
not sure. But it has to be worth a shot. I’m prepared to be wrong.
It opens up other interesting possibilities: Guest bloggers. If
you’re lucky enough to get prominent voices in your field, having them
guest blog on your site will further increase your credibility, and
make you even more aligned with your customer’s interests. I’ve seen an
increasing number of sites use a ‘magazine’ layout for their blogs, and
it’s one I think would be particularly suited to the task. It is
content rich, and it helps foster the notion that you sell a product
because you are passionate about solving a particular problem, not
because you think you can make a quick buck out of it.
I might be way off base. But like I said, I’m prepared to be wrong.
—–
EXTENDED
I think that’s a great component of a MicroISV site. You still need
pages about your product to give users static information about your
product vs. the stream of conciousness style of a blog. I’m doing just
that with my mISV blog (see link). I’m in the developer component
market, so I have entries useful for developers as well as company and
product news.
Tangentally, I also started a general FAQ for people in my target
market (ASP.NET file uploading), but who want to use Microsoft’s built
in stuff and aren’t ready to upgrade to a commercially enhanced and
robust system. — aspnetupload.com.
Some may think it competes with my product, but the purpose is to
contribute to the community, exactly as you were outlining above with
your blog ideas. It gets your name out there, and people remember it
when they’re ready for something more. That’s key as a mISV — building
trust and community around your products, and being active in the
community surrounding your target market. As you do that, you become
recognized in the community, and start to become a known authority,
stimulating more traffic to your resources.
Anyway, to sum up… great post — enough rambling for now:-)
gladiatorial?
I think that’s a bit much. A well structured microISV site should make
it easy for the right person to buy for the right reasons. It’s a
(excuse the pun) waterfall of information that step by step should
sweep the visitor toward your solution, or gently deposit them on the
shore if your solution is not a good fit.
A microISV blog is a bit more and a bit less than that: more,
because it’s where you – the expert {afterall you wrote that product!)
help others see the problem domain in new, useful ways. Less, because
you will starve to death waiting for sales if all you do to make your
case is have a single sidebar link, or still less if all you do is
attempt (you will fail) to market your product.
Combine the two, leverage between them, improve each in an agile manner, and you will go much farther faster.
@Chris – yeah that’s the kind of thing I’m thinking of. I guess my motivation is three-fold:
1) To communicate as effectively as possible that I care deeply about being part of the solution.
2) To convince potential customers that our interests are aligned.
3) To build trust, by exposing yourself (in the non web-cam using sense) as a human being, with thoughts, concerns and ideas.
@Bob – I think my viewing micro ISV sites as gladiatorial says more
about my ability to write good website copy than anything else.
47 Hats is a good example. SEOBook another. I know they’re selling
knowledge and technique, but they have a great feel about them.
For example, like most folks in our game, I trust you, and by
extension your site because your interests are clearly aligned with
mine. I want my micro ISV to succeed, you want to help micro ISVs to
succeed. You are thoroughly cemented as part of the solution. You have
a personal brand that is synonymous with the term micro ISV.
There’s definitely something to be tapped into there.
I know product and service sites are different, I just wonder if their vectors could be a little closer together.
In summary, you’re right of course. The site has to be sales
oriented to succeed. I’m just thinking about varying the way in which
the sales pitch is delivered.