Unleashing the Ideavirus

Unleashing the Ideavirus
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 www.ideavirus.com
Products like Shockwave and various forms of wallets have shown us that it can cost as much
as $100 in direct to consumer marketing expenditures to get someone to download a piece of
software. In the case of enfish, this is way, way too much.
Solution: Get rid of the download if possible. If not, make it swift and painless.
Problem #2: This is a private experience. Unlike ICQ or Hotmail, which are both based on
communications and are thus pretty viral, enfish saves you time by organizing your life and
your data, and so you’re not naturally inclined to spread the idea. In other words, it doesn’t
do its own sneezing, nor does it reward you for sneezing on its behalf.
Solution: Make it public. Let people post their bookmarks and layouts for their co-workers.
Figure out how to turn it into a communications tool because communications tools are the
most likely to go viral.
Problem #3: It’s not very smooth. It’s awfully difficult to describe what enfish does, because
it’s not simple. It’s biggest strength—that it solves a problem you didn’t know you had—is
also a huge hassle when it comes to marketing the thing. “Free Email” is smooth indeed.
“Automated organizer for always-on Internet knowledge workers that saves you three hours a
day” is not.
Solution: This is the hardest one. Breakthroughs frequently have this problem. Figure out
how to teach the sneezers what to say… even if it means giving them a pre-written email to
forward to friends.
Problem #4: There’s no existing amplifier. There are plenty of sites where people talk about
cars or hobbies or restaurants. Find a hive and you can talk to them. There are magazines
about gardening and starting Internet companies. There are TV shows about cooking and
the weather. But there’s no natural way to amplify a message about the problem that enfish
solves. There are few easily identifiable hives that are just sitting there, waiting to hear from
enfish.
Solution: Use advertising to feature your most satisfied users.

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