Ask HN: How to learn sales and online marketing | Hacker News Reader

Ask HN: How to learn sales and online marketing

11 pointssiscia13 comments

Hi HN,

I am a full stack developer and I feel pretty confident that I can build pretty much any MVP.

Now I want to learn how to sell my ideas, how to market them and how to get people using what I code...

My main problem I is that people simply don't visit the page I build, how to fix that ?

I bet that the best teacher would be experience, but I am also looking for some resource to read...

I am also definitely open to work part time wherever I could learn those skills...

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Why learn and not hire someone? Sure, you want some basic knowledge but wouldn't your time be best spent focusing on turning out products rather than trying to learn something you may or may not be good at?

Also be careful with marketing. Many people mistake ability for confidence as often the view on marketing is its an opinion and anyone can do it with common sense. There is real science mixed with art. Ive seen exec's hurt a companies advertising simply because they have the power to push their opinion and believe in them-self, beyond their skills.

I mod over at the reddit marketing sub. Here is a wiki we have compiled on useful reading: http://www.reddit.com/r/marketing/wiki/index

I am young enough that I am confident that I can learn anything, right now I don't have any kind of pressure, so, why not learn new skills ?

I've done marketing for startups for many years. Growth Hacking (mentioned in previous comments) is a pretty decent framework. Also, if you had to read only one book, I'd recommend 'Lean Analytics'. It'll help you structure your thoughts and prioritise. (Note: I am not related to the authors or publishers) Other than that, take the businesses you like most, and check out their social pages, their blog, etc. Sign up for their newsletter. Figure out what they communicate, how, when, etc. Last but not least, marketing involves a lot of common sense. Good luck with the journey!

Start with Ryan Holiday's book Growth Hacker marketing. Honestly it's an evolving art and to understand the various ins and outs, you need to get your hands dirty. Make a random general interest site. Play with SEO best practice. Build a social presence and throw a few bucks at facebook ads. etc.

For the 'growth' aspect of business, here's a great site - similar in look and feel to HN: https://growthhackers.com/

But best online resources come from Hubspot, Growth Hackers, Google Analytics, etc.

But just as programming is a profession, so is marketing, so it's important that you get professional marketing in ASAP.

Check out resources online like this and WarriorForum (warriorforum.com) - you can teach yourself online marketing (and sales) in your own time.

The best book on marketing that i've ever ready: http://brainaudit.com/

Including the address to your page would help ;)

Do more research. Read more books,online marketing guide sites. Know your target customers well and find the channel that can reach your target customers.

Why was this downvoted? I have read at least three articles here today on HN that expound the key idea of focusing on the target customer.

Get an MBA :-)

How to Promote Your Business on the Internet: http://www.warplife.com/tips/webmaster/website-promotion.htm...

White Hat Search Engine Optimization: http://www.warplife.com/tips/webmaster/search-engine-optimiz...

Painless Search Engine Site Submission: http://www.warplife.com/tips/webmaster/site-submission.html

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