Marketing/Advertising approach - what worked best? What didn't work at all?

During our prototyping and trial, we experimented with several forms of marketing. Some worked well while others proved useless. Of course, this depends so much on the type of business.

Worked well:

- Writing articles to be published in reputable journals/magazines. This generated quite a bit of interest. Even today, articles are referenced in search results.

- Finding a group of people willing to try your service for free. These people really were angels. They persevered as we fixed problems, they gave us tons of useful advice, and they remain an important sounding board. They established a sense of community around our product, which was really encouraging to witness. We hope to build on this as we launch.

- Attending a major tradeshow. It's not that we really sold anything; it's that we learned so much. By listening carefully to those who drop by your booth you can discard ideas that are going nowhere and embrace ideas you hadn't thought of. It's really important to listen to the market and to challenge your preset assumptions.

Was useless:

- Direct mail. A complete bomb.

- Faceless communication, such as placement of flyers and brochures - even in places that seemed appropriate.

Maybe it's just the business we're in, but personal contact and personal references are extremely important.