280 Insider Newsletter
December, 2004
- The 280 Insider
- SVPMA & AIPMM Members: Special Offer
- Google AdWords Strategies Part 3
- The Gold Feature MRD Technique
- Hot Companies: JotSpot
- 280 Group Product Management Training
The 280 Insider
This issue of the 280 Insider includes
the third part of our series about how to run an effective Google AdWords
campaign, an article on how to use the "Golden Feature" technique
to focus your product releases and a writeup of a hot new company named
JotSpot.
Hope you all have a GREAT holiday season!
Product Manager's Toolkit
SVPMA & AIPMM Members: Special Offer
Purchase the 280 Group Product Manager's
Toolkit at a substantial discount!
We've partnered with the Silicon Valley Product Manager's Association (SVPMA) and the Association of International Product Marketing & Management (AIPMM) to offer their members a special discount for the 280 Group Product Manager's Toolkit.
Any member of the SVPMA or AIPMM can purchase the toolkit for only $59 (a $40 savings).
These are both great organizations to belong to, so if you have been thinking about signing up do it now and take advantage of the discount on the Product Manager's Toolkit.
BY THE WAY: If you haven't become a Certified Product
Manager (CPM) or Certified Product Marketing Manager (CPMM) through the
AIPMM yet you can attend one of their last two certification workshops
for
2004 on December 13-14th in Seattle, WA or on December 27-28th in Burlingame,
CA. This is a great way to build your resume, enhance your skillset and
move your career forward.
AND ALSO BY THE WAY: The SVPMA is offering a year end membership discount (only $75 if you sign up now).
Google AdWords Strategies Part 3
In the last 2 issues we covered the basics
of Google AdWords and also provided some suggestions for how to pick effective
and inexpensive keywords. This month we'll cover a few other things to
keep in mind when setting up and maximizing your Google AdWords campaign.
NOTE: the entire 4 part series on Google AdWords Strategies is now available in a book from the 280 Group titled "Google AdWords Strategies & Tips: Powerful ideas to help minimize costs and maximize web trafffic." Click here for full details on how to optimize your AdWords campaign!
The Gold Feature MRD Technique
In a previous issue of the 280 Insider (June
2004) we discussed how to use themes as a technique for writing MRDs
(Market Requirements Documents) and keeping your team and product releases
focused. Another powerful and useful approach is called the Gold Feature
technique.
The idea behind the Gold Feature technique is that you choose a single feature that is the absolute most important priority for the release, and then you get the entire team to rally around it as the focus. This single feature provides enough customer value to hang the entire release on. It is compelling enough that all of your customers will want to upgrade (and some potential new customers will be further convinced to purchase). And it is simple enough to communicate from a marketing and competitive point of view that it gives your product a noticeable boost.
Ideally you should be able to describe the Gold Feature in one to five words. Some examples might include: 1.) 30% Faster Performance 2.) Import MS Word files or 3.) Double your battery life. It has to be simple and very compelling - if your release has a long list of features, but you can't find a one to five word value message to communicate, it's going to be very hard to build a marketing campaign and keep your product focus.
The Gold Feature technique is particularly effective if you are on short release cycles or are doing a point release (1.1, 1.2, etc). Many of your team members may want to include all kinds of other features that can be of varying interest and value to your customers. If you can get them focused on the one Gold Feature for the release (and in agreement that everything else is a "nice to have" priority but that you won't hold up the release for it), you'll have a much better chance of success. You'll also have a higher likelihood of meeting a tight schedule, as you can plan the release with more certainty if the Gold Feature is the only critical path item.
I've used this technique successfully several times when working with clients. One of the releases had a client-side piece of software that was downloaded from the web, and the Gold Feature was "60% smaller download," resulting in more rapid adoption by new customers. Another was "Easier signup process", which led to 30% more customers completing the signup process to try out the product.
Using the Gold Feature technique is an easy and powerful way to keep your products and your team focused and on track. The result will be a great product delivered on schedule that provides value to your customers and a compelling marketing message.
Hot Companies: JotSpot
One of the hot new companies that caught our eye recently was JotSpot. Founded by Joe Kraus and Graham Spencer (founders of Excite), JotSpot recently received Series A funding from Redpoint and Mayfield, and just released a beta version of their first product a few weeks ago.
JotSpot is entering the WIKI market. For those of you who don't know what a WIKI is, it is a website or intranet that allows a user to add content but also allows that content to be edited by any other user. Think of it as a free form bulletin board that teams and groups can quickly set up and use for projects and to collaborate.
JotSpot is trying to take this to the next level by providing capabilities that make is simple to build full Web applications in a WIKI environment. If they succeed perhaps they will be to WIKIs what FileMaker was to databases years ago - an elegant tool that allowed novices to build very useful and powerful applications.
We wrote about another WIKI company named Socialtext around this time last year. As the market matures and more competitors enter it will be interesting to see if users catch on to the WIKI concept and usage becomes widespread. Who knows, maybe you'll be using one with your team before you know it.
280 Group Product Management Training
The 280 Group is now offering Product Management Training:
“Strategic Product Marketing and Management™”
This course is an intensive two-day educational workshop that explores
the world of high-tech product management and product marketing. The course
is based on the PMTK™ (Product Manager's Toolkit) Action Model which
is a reference framework that outlines the process and stages of performing
and correlating product marketing tasks with product management tasks.
“Procedural Requirements Management™”
Ambiguous market requirements lead to flawed products and dissatisfied
customers. Well-defined requirements are the basis for a smooth development
process and marketplace success. This one-day course presents effective
practices that clearly identify and articulate market requirements. The
outcome is a whole Market Requirements Document that represents an intelligent
commitment to the customers.
We've partnered with Blackblot to provide these courses. Customized courses are also available as well as individual coaching for Product Managers and Marketing Managers.
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