Skip to Content.
Sympa Menu

sm-discuss - Re: [SM-Discuss] Marketing SMGL: Bringing in the crowds

sm-discuss AT lists.ibiblio.org

Subject: Public SourceMage Discussion List

List archive

Chronological Thread  
  • From: "Ricardo Izquierdo" <odracir_redwolf AT linuxmail.org>
  • To: "SourceMage GNU/Linux Discuss" <sm-discuss AT lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: Re: [SM-Discuss] Marketing SMGL: Bringing in the crowds
  • Date: Sun, 25 Apr 2004 01:14:43 +0800


----- Original Message -----
From: Cory Schmidt <sourcemage AT schmidtsite.us>
Date: Fri, 23 Apr 2004 07:08:53 -0600
To: sm-discuss AT lists.ibiblio.org
Subject: Re: [SM-Discuss] Marketing SMGL: Bringing in the crowds

> On Friday 23 April 2004 05:33 am, Jaanus Heeringson wrote:
>
> I realize I may be putting the cart before the horse at this point since we
> don't even have a plan yet, but I thought I'd submit some ideas that came
> immediately to mind:
>
> > Eric Sandall wrote:
> > >>This is a very rough outline of how these things usually work:
> > >>
> > >>1. Before I/we start working on some kind of marketing proposal we need
> > >>to decide where we want to head. That means we/you need to clarify and
> > >>decide on the general goals and visions of the project. What are we
> > >>working against?
> > >
> > >Would our Social Contract[0] help in that?
> >
> > Yes it helps, but all it actually says is "We are another open source
> > distro, and we play nice & have ethics". We might want to be a bit more
> > specific. Who is SMGL suitable for? What differentiates us from other
> > distros? As a user i would probably like to know what the intentions of
> > the project are. Debian[0] states this well.
> >
> One of the huge selling points of Sourcemage as a source-based distro for
> me
> was that it was much more intuitive than that other big source-based distro
> that shall remain nameless. I tried Gentoo (oops!) but came back to
> Sourcemage. Maybe we could have some testimonials to that effect. Consider
> me
> an official vounteer :-).
>
> > >>2. When the above is settled we can move on to goals and visions for the
> > >>marketing effort. Basically, what outcome would you like? Do we want
> > >>more users, developers or just piece of mind? We need to set up some
> > >>targets for the future. Another important thing: goals are measurable
> > >>(there are specific conditions for success), while visions are not.
> > >
> > >I'd say that our primary goal is enough developers to fill every Lead
> > > position, every guru position, and have extras for the "general"
> > > positions (list of positions is available on our wiki[1], after that
> > > more
> > > users are icing on the cake.
> >
> > Sounds totally resonable.
> >
>
> Another selling point for Sourcemage (right now at least) is that it's
> small
> enough that someone who knows what they're doing can contribute right away.
> I
> think it's harder to do that in other larger projects.
>
> > >>3. When we have the goals and visions in place we can start defining our
> > >>target audiences.
> > >
> > >Developers! Developes! Developers!
> > >/me does a monkey dance
> >
> > Wouldn't users also be part of the priority since they also contribute
> > to the project by reporting bugs etc?
> > Do we wish to bring in experienced developers and put them to work
> > directly, or do we need users who we can "educate"?
> >
> > >>4. Figure out what attracts the target audience and adjust our
> > >>communication accordingly (redesign of visuals and information etc.)
> > >
> > >Hmmm....easy one: women. However, that probably won't work out as we
> > >want,
> > > so perhaps a cool-sounding project? One with lots of prospects? Able to
> > > put your name on the web?
> >
> > My experience is that most OS people are motivated by needs, ego and
> > cash. Since we can roule out cash in the short term, that leaves us with
> > needs and ego.
> > 1. What needs do SMGL fulfill with end users and developers? Control?
> > Speed? Who might use it commercially?
> > 2. The larger and more well-known the project, the better for the
> > ego-related attraction.
> >
>
> I think with any source-based distro users are attracted by the manly surge
> of
> adrenaline that comes with compiling your own stuff. So if we market to
> regular Linux users we should play on that. If we market to "competing"
> source-base distro users we should probably focus on Sourcemage's
> intuitiveness (if that's a word) and ease of use.

More than the surge of Adrenalin is the pursit of knowledge. Any people,
developer
or user with a pursuit of knowledge will prefer a source-based distro over
one that
makes him/her using any other OS.

> > >>5. Find the best places to come in contact with the target audience.
> > >
> > >Slashdot, OSNews, Penny-Arcade, Newsforge, others?

Also in our local LUG's web pages. I see that most of the developers are still
in University, if here is a LUG a copy of source mage cloud be distributed
for free.

> > Mainstream tch-press is also good, but a very illusive target.
> >
> > >>6. Bring'em in!.
> > >
> > >Areed!
> > >
> > >>7. Follow up on progress and goals. Adjust accordingly.
> > >
> > >Gotta get #1 going first. ;)
> >
> > This is actually one of the most important points :) If jou don't do
> > this you might end up putting effort into something that simply does not
> > work.
> >
> > >>Now would also be a good time for those of you who wish to be involved
> > >>in the creation of the marketing plan to sound of.
> > >
> > >Hrmmm...I'm not much of a marketing person myself... ;) I'll help where I
> > > can.
> >
> > If you wouldn't I'd be really worried ;)
> >
> > [0] http://www.debian.org/intro/about#what
> _______________________________________________
> SM-Discuss mailing list
> SM-Discuss AT lists.ibiblio.org
> http://lists.ibiblio.org/mailman/listinfo/sm-discuss

--
______________________________________________
Check out the latest SMS services @ http://www.linuxmail.org
This allows you to send and receive SMS through your mailbox.


Powered by Outblaze




Archive powered by MHonArc 2.6.24.

Top of Page