From the category archives:

Tips

Coming up with a microISV product idea.

August 31, 2007

This final 47hats.com tip for microISVs for the month of August has to do with a question that gets asked often at the Business of Software Forum: How do I come up with an idea for my microISV?
It’s damn hard, no doubt about it.
In some ways, the answer to the question “What product should I [...]

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Be bold when you blog!

August 16, 2007

[A 47Hats Tip.]
Andy Brice did it today in the U.K. Collis Ta’eed did it today in Australia. Maybe it’s time you did it in your microISV’s blog. Today’s 47hats.com tip is be bold when your blog.
Take a stand. Make some noise. Kick up a ruckus. Muckrake. Kick some ass. Lead.
Blogging is no place for watered-down [...]

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Get x-ray vision to see your microISV customers

August 15, 2007

[This is a 47hats Tip.]
Wouldn’t it be nice to have X-ray vision and be able to see your customers where ever they are hiding? Today’s 47hats tip is how to get the next best thing: Get a free CrazyEgg account and see where your prospective customers are clicking on your web site.
Yes, you may be [...]

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Ask your readers and customers what they want!

August 13, 2007

[This is a 47hats Tip.]
Today’s microISV tip is use an online survey to find out what your customers and readers want. It used to be in the bad old days P.I. (pre-Interent) that even small companies would spend thousands of dollars trying to find out what their customers wanted.
Now, you can simply ask them.
Taking my [...]

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What’s on your microISV Not-To-Do List?

August 13, 2007

[This is a 47hats Tip.]
Tim Ferriss continues to amaze me. For those of you who’ve not heard of Ferriss, definitely put his bestselling book, “The 4-Hour Workweek: Escape 9-5, Live Anywhere, and Join the New Rich” on your summer reading list.
Ferriss challenges a lot of the established truths and conventional wisdoms people in (or escaped [...]

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Another Friday Tip – Drain your Disk Swamp

August 10, 2007

[This is a 47hats Tip.]
It’s another Friday, another slow day, another piece of advice I hope I need to take more than you do: Turn your Disk Swamp into a trusted and trustable system.
You may have noticed there was no tip yesterday – that’s because I spent nearly the entire fracking day trying to find [...]

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6 reasons your microISV is ready for YouTube

August 8, 2007

[This is a 47hats Tip.]
Today’s tip is for all those older (like me) microISVs out there who may not be keeping up with the times: it’s time for you to put your microISV product or service up on YouTube for all the world to see.
For example, take this YouTube vid, “7 minutes of Ajax [Video] [...]

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Clear your desk – it’s a ritual that works.

August 7, 2007

[This is a 47hats Tip.]
At the end of every day, I have a little ritual I perform I’d like to commend to you: Clear your work area of absolutely everything that shouldn’t be there.
Rituals are as old and varied as humankind – or put another way, they are proven design patterns with predictable, repeatable results. [...]

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So how will your week go?

August 6, 2007

[This is a 47hats Tip.]
As the CEO, VP for Development, Marketing and Tech Support and a few dozen other hats at your microISV, how today, this week, and for that matter the rest of this year is going to go is largely up to you. Today’s 47hats tip is simple: take control of your week.
Now, [...]

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No way to live

August 4, 2007

[This is a 47hats Tip.]
Want to improve your productivity, attitude and sales? Don’t work. At least, don’t work on a regular basis on weekends. For most of us, running a microISV is more like a nonstop marathon than a life of luxury and ease. We are, therefore we work – morning, noon and night, day [...]

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What are Friday afternoons good for?

August 3, 2007

[This is a 47hats Tip.]
Not much when it comes to selling your microISVs wares: business sales slacken as worker drones try to clear their desks and/or slip out the door; consumer products will do better on the weekend; your telephone forgets how to ring.
What’s an enterprising microISV to do with Friday afternoons? I’d recommend the [...]

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Want more customers? Join a online community.

August 2, 2007

[This is a 47hats Tip.]
Want to find more customers for your microISV? Go join and contribute to an online community where your customers hang out. Notice I didn’t say “forum”? Today, the range of ways people can share their interests has expanded way past what forums used to be. Wikis, social networking sites and group [...]

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Put on your Newbie hat

August 1, 2007

[This is a 47hats Tip.]
How many times have you seen your microISV web site? More times than you can – or care – to count, I’d bet. But you need to do it one more time, this time, put your Newbie hat on.
You know what a Newbie is, right?
“Newbie is a slang term for a [...]

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Email one customer a day.

July 31, 2007

[This is a 47hats Tip.]
Want a simple way to add to your army of evangelists, identify usability problems and build market attention? Try emailing one customer a day. Pick a customer who bought your product or who signed up for your Web 2.0 service some time back and send them a friendly, short email:
Dear Bill,
Just [...]

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