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PackLog23rd
not the first to market, competitor has traction? You're screwed.
You’d better have a hell of a marketing budget, because more features isn’t going to cut it.
That’s the problem with most web 2.0 apps today. A different take on the same problem. Some are free. Some add more features. Some use less features. None of them were first, and hardly any have the marketing talent, or budget, necessary to compete against the established players.
We’ve already determined that the attention economy is real. Right now there is simply too much noise, and to rise above the fray you’ve either got to be really hot or again, have some money behind you. Gaining traction in a market like this is incredibly difficult, simply because of the paradox of choices.
There is probably more than 100 free blog hosts. How many have any kind of traction at all? Wordpress, Blogger, … can you name anyone else?
Let’s use Tumblr as an example. Tumblr is hot. It wasn’t the first “blog” provider, but it was probably the first tumblelog host. It has traction.
How would you compete against that now? You can’t. Really. Stop trying, right now. I hate to piss in your bowl of cheerios, but what are you going to do — add more features? Make it easier to use?
Please do note that I’m not talking about an application that is truly innovative. I’m talking about applications that are just slightly-different-but-really-not going up against someone that has traction.
You’re wasting your time, and everyones attention.