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Chicken or the Egg : User generated content websites

Everybody dreams of a perfect go-to-market strategy for their new product or service. We all salivate when we see success stories heralded in the media. But what do these successes have in common? The ancient argument of what comes first, the egg or the chicken?

Do they sell because we talk about them or do we talk about them because they sell ?

Until sometime back, i was of the belief that 'Good products always sell well'. Apparently not the case. One look at Friendster and Orkut would suggest otherwise. Google had the largest captive users of it's products and yet Buzz came in and went out with a trail of smoke behind.

While trying to market http://www.beamto.us , I encountered the age old situation of Who comes first ? The users want a zillion tracks on beamto.us while the artists want just as many users before they even consider uploading. And why not ? Would i not do the same ?

I see that what I really need more than an infusion of VC capital is you, “the follower.” I need you to Facebook-me, Twitter-me, You Tube-me. I need you to become my evangelist. I need your friends talking about me.

What is a pastor without a flock? What is a product without users that evangelize the company and the concept?

* Without you, the Twitter user, I am a product sitting on a shelf collecting dust.
* Without you the Facebook addict I am a restaurant, empty inside and lonely and sad.
* Without you, the proponent of P.L.U.R, I am a flower child left alone on the desert of Burning Man

I make no mistake in realizing the power of YOU. Only YOU can make me drive all the way to a restaurant to devour a meal because YOU almost brought it to my palette with your salivating description.

Fish where the Fish are.

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