Earlier this week I spoke to a bunch of entrepreneurs at MassChallenge.
One of the things I suggested to the group is to get out from behind the desk and meet and talk to people about your company and your product.
It’s very easy to be seduced into thinking that all of your attention should be on developing and perfecting your product. The list is long and there isn’t ever enough time in the day. Also for many founders, they aren’t comfortable talking to people directly. They would rather build then talk.
But getting out and spreading the word personally and meeting and touching people that use or might use your product is critical. Its worth noting that Twitter and Foursquare were essentially born at SXSW (in different years). The founders and their early community of users plus some brilliant marketing launched both products.
There are many ways to get out there. Some companies organize meetups in various cities. Some founders speak often on panels. Other founders are active on twitter or on blogs – that’s another way of virtually getting out of the office.
Online products need offline efforts. They go together nicely.