5. Spandex Tights
(heh heh) The Catchphrase for this point is …
Wear Your Undies On The Outside.
Who doesn’t like spandex? I mean, seriously, what’s not to like?
How we present ourselves, our companies, our products, is most definately important.
But we know this, it’s an obvious aspect of Development, hard to do .. but still, we know.
Today, you need to start thinking about wearing your undies on the outside. Just like the Super Heroes.
Now, if you’d like, you can actually start wearing y-fronts or boxers outside your pants. That’s up to you.
Better however, would be to take a page out of the undies-on-the-outside book.
When we are making ourselves presentable, think outside the box. Make something different about your appearance. Perhaps it’s a website that’s totally text. Or part of the site. Perhaps a blog given over to some unknown aspect of your area of expertise. It could be giving out interviews, but only speaking in klingon. Ha, i’d like to see that.
Take time here, and you will be rewarded.
I’d like to focus in on one of those examples particularly.
The Interview.
Being interviewed can be daunting. Time consuming. Scary. Annoying.
But I can guarantee you that interviews are an effective and powerful method of showing your undies on the outside.
Getting an interview isn’t that hard. But getting one that is effective might take a little more planning. I mean, you could send free copies of your templates to PimpMyClarion to get free press, but it’s readership of 3 means that probably wouldn’t be a smart idea. Wait. No. There’s at least 10 readers .. per week .. COME ON BRUCE, I WANT OFFICE INSIDE SO I CAN GET SEND TO!!!
Heh heh.
Ahem. Anyway.
There are two areas we can focus on. The Clarion Community, and the Outside World.
I think that in the next year, you should aim to be interviewed at least once in both of the spheres.
The Community is a cinch. There are at least two blogs that will interview you. Ha ha. You can organise between yourselves to podcast each other in an audio (or even video) interview. Or just exchange emails with a bunch of questions. I’ve done a couple of both of those types .. and they’re not easy, but very rewarding.
The Outside World, now that seems harder. But in reality, it should be a lot simpler. There are almost infinitely possibilities. Magazines, Websites, Blogs, Radio, Podcasts, TV, Books .. the list goes on.
You could invite magazines to review your product. Or blogs, websites .. something. Contact the IT departments of newspapers, magazines, websites and arrange for them to have a demonstration of your product. It might not work the first twenty times, but that next time will make all the difference.
If you have a product that is built on Clarion .. and you take up the challenge to Wear Your Undies On The Outside .. then get yourself interviewed at least twice over the next year. You will bring benefit both to yourself, and to the Clarion community. Which in turn benefits you .. it’s the wonderful cycle of .. community. Can i say that word again.