Tag Archives: word of mouth

Rupert Murdoch – Zero; John Nash – One

By Scott Sehlhorst | July 20th, 2010

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What happens when billionaire media magnate, Rupert Murdoch, pits his idea against a Nobel-prize winning idea from the beautiful mind of economist and mathematician John Nash?

When you act on what you hope your market will do, instead of what you predict your market will do – you’re in trouble.

This is a story about understanding your market, and an example of using game theory – specifically, the Nash Equilibrium in “non-cooperative game theory” to predict market responses to your products.

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Posted in Business Analysis, Product Management | Tagged freemium, game theory, john nash, murdoch, nash equilibrium, pay-wall, paywall, rupert murdoch, times of london, understanding your market, word of mouth | 34 Comments

Viral Product Management

By Scott Sehlhorst | March 2nd, 2009

Our previous article looked at the economics of a Freemium business model. One element that is key to making a strategy that involves “free” work financially is growing your user base. One way to get that growth is through a word-of-mouth marketing campaign. This article looks at different elements that characterize or affect the successfulness of a viral product – from a product management perspective.

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Posted in Marketing, Product Management | Tagged Kano analysis, tipping point, viral marketing, viral product management, viral products, word of mouth | 25 Comments

Freemium Business Model

By Scott Sehlhorst | February 24th, 2009

Ever scratch your head and wonder why you can use your favorite application for free? How can a business actually make money (and stay in business) when they offer their product for free? This article looks at the freemium business model, to see when it makes sense for a company to offer it. The freemium model is one where the company offers two (or more) versions of a product. The basic version is free to use. You have to pay for the premium version. The goal of this article is to answer the product management question, “Should you create a freemium business model?”

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Posted in Business Analysis, Interface Design, Marketing, Product Management | Tagged freemium, freemium business model, word of mouth, word of mouth marketing | 22 Comments

Maximize Your Word of Mouth Marketing

By Scott Sehlhorst | September 18th, 2007

It isn’t just about finding customers anymore. You have to build fans. Take a look at the dynamics of word of mouth marketing and how they can cause your product to succeed. This article includes tips and references for helping you move through each stage in the cycle of fans, maximizing opportunities for word of mouth marketing for your products.
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Posted in Marketing | Tagged brian clark, customer delight, customer service, david meerman scott, good design, idea virus, ideavirus, managing data, product design, seth godin, word of mouth, word of mouth marketing | 7 Comments

Usability Sells Software – Word of Mouth Marketing

By Scott Sehlhorst | January 10th, 2007

There are three main models for selling software. You can hire a direct sales force. You can spend a lot on marketing and advertising. You can let your users sell the software for you, a technique commonly known as viral marketing. There’s a catch with viral marketing – users have to like your software.