I’ve been developing some content and marketing material for my site. I found myself thinking long and hard about what exactly I offer to my customers. It occurred to me that I’ve never really clarified what it is that I do.

This is a lot of reflection and brainstorming, but I figured I would share so that you could see my thought process.

I develop Web Applications. I’m a programmer. I’m a solution developer. I engineer software.Fundamentally, I develop practical software and IT solutions. What does that mean to my customers, though? I make their lives easier with the help of a computer. I harness the power of a tool that has limitless bounds. Still, how do I REALLY define it? It either gets too technical or too hokey right from the start.

I build intelligent software for organizations. Now we’re getting somewhere. This goes back to the very way I branded my company. I provide enlightenment to organizations and their people. I provide a mechanism for recording and obtaining useful information that allows for better decisions. I determine the need and fulfill it with a user-friendly interface that gets the job done. Again, this is beating down a path that is too technical and hokey.

How do I consolidate this into an attractive and coherent thought?

I build intelligent software that provides organizations with the information they need in order to make smart decisions. I study the need. I build the solution. I then evaluate the solution’s ability to fit the need.

Finally - this has value! My customer can understand it and it’s not marketing garbage. Does this define my services succinctly and appropriately? Does it intrigue my potential customers to find out more? Only time will tell I guess.

I recently attended BarCamp Manchester. It was my first BarCamp and it was an amazing experience. There were lots of interesting speakers and conversations. I presented a crash course on the Ruby on Rails Framework (my presentation can be downloaded here).

My favorite speaker was Ray Deck. He spoke about Startups and Marketing (his slides can be found here). One of his very profound points is that there are 3 things necessary for a successful business model: customers, their need, and a solution that satisfies the need. The cool part of this he helped us realize - your solution is only 1/3 of the equation. Often, I think having cool technology can fool us into thinking that a market is there when it’s not. You have to have the other two pieces of the pie. Without a customer and what Guy Kawasaki describes as “pain” (a need), you will not succeed in the business world. You have to have all three elements for a successful business model.

Thanks to Tom for pointing me to the event. Also, it was a great time and many thanks to Ian Muir and the rest for putting together an awesome event. I’m definitely looking forward to future BarCamps in both Manchester and Boston.

Other resources

• BarCamp
• BarCamp Manchester Flickr Group

Guy Kawasaki had some very profound pointers when it comes to technology marketing these days. Remember Geek is not Good Enough? This is exactly what Guy is talking about here (particularly in point #2). What sells technology is what it implies for business. If you want to successfully market your product, you have to speak the language of business before you speak geek.

Build a business case. Show the cost savings or the potential for profit increase when you’re talking to your customer. More often than not, the person that’s making the decision to buy isn’t going to care about what platform you build your technology on. Justify the expenditure in dollars and cents. Sales is not convincing your customer that you’re technically savvy (although it may help), it’s ultimately showing your customer how your product can improve the way they do business.