
Here’s a recommendation for my fellow founders: Constant, regular release of content to support building your brand and community is as important as building the product itself. It’s true.
Some developers work on their product for months, or even years, and finally post a link on a website, or release it in the app stores. This is commendable, as it takes a lot of courage to put your work out in the public.
However, often is what happens is nothing. The launch never scales. The creator has not spent any time devising a brand point of view or a community. Many may not see the point of creating video content, blogs, or social media stories. They don’t know where their users are, or how to win them over.
We do, and we’ve been creating content for years building up to this point, to the release of our products. Even when work on the product was stalled, iterating and we were rebuilding, members of our team were always still creating new supporting content and releasing it into our community.
Encourage email signups (ours has grown to five figures over the last decade), SALES, and yes, aim to be an influencer in your domain of expertise. Some of the content I share is where I’m working from, remotely or coworking in SF or NY, what inspires me, and other book and lifestyle material that my audience likes. And I’m a big fan of #latergrams! You can schedule content six months in advance and enlist your team in helping manage it. We are grateful that our interns often work on our social media. Publicize your personality. You have to—it’s basic marketing—and part of being a leader.—MEZ