I am working on a software product that would be marketed to municipalities and community groups such as a chamber of commerce. Is this a hard market?

I make a point of introducing myself to people online who are unlikely to become clients. You for instance. That's not altruism. It's curiosity. Learning about other people's business models, industries, unique challenges and goals -- even absorbing their phrases, vocabulary, and style -- prepares me for some other branding client later on. Being attuned to other people is the starting point of real life interactions, isn't it? Business networking is no different from wandering around from the car mechanic's to the coffee shop and striking up conversations with people along the way.

When I built my first company, I targeted a niche and was able to corner it. Is attribute the success of the company to a few key factors: helpfulness, consistently excellent service, and high relevance. The best way to get the support of a niche is to be truly useful to that niche. Where do they hang out online? Be there, and help everyone you can with no expectations. When it makes sense, link back to relevant resources to give them the option to research more deeply. Keep a blog full of helpful information — this helps the resources you link to when helping more useful to you, because they're yours. And — most importantly — make damn sure the product or service is filling a gap in the niche. All your efforts are for nothing if what your selling isn't wanted or needed. Then you simply have to make sure you're treating every customer like a celebrity endorser. Their word will make or break you, so make sure every client is your most important client and that they finish the project ready to tell everyone how great you are. "Pretty good" won't corner a niche; "fucking awesome" will. If you'd like to talk strategy and/or marketing, hit me up. I'd really enjoy working with you on a project like this. :) Good luck!

After looking at your site, I definitely belive that you have something that is extremely valuable and can definitely be popular in tech communities. Yes, your copy needs to be more focused. What is it? I would have a landing page (or a cover page) that makes it really simple for a visitor to understand what it is and why this will help them. Include an email field and offer a free eBook. I would highly suggest that you use Optimizely or Unbounce to A/B test your copy and call to actions. (Side Note: Keep in mind how much traffic you have when calculating test significance) Since you are focusing on a developers/engineers, I would reach out to 10 of your most passionate fans that have contributed or have shared your GitHub repo. Ask them if they would be willing to contribute to the site sharing their thoughts. The more influential these people are the better. Instead of assuming they have a login ask them to create an account right on that page. Also, include Twitter login. One point I would make regarding SEO: Include the name of the articles in the URL of the comment pages. This helps with sharing and rankings on SEO. Use Twitter as a growth engine and tweet out all the latest posts that you are curating to your sites Twitter account. Then if you have an active twitter following start engaging fellow engineers asking them questions about these posts. This heightens engagement and starts getting your audience engaged (some of which will convert). To take this one step further find the author of the posts you are sharing and mention them in the post saying that their article has been curated on your site (better yet you could say their article is being discussed on your site). The author will be inclined to retweet and share their post with their following. Have some variability in using this tactic, variability makes it more valuable. Use SumoMe as a really simple way to add email capture popups on the site. In regards to strategy, you may find it more sustainable to use the closed/invite only model for commenting like Product Hunt used. This creates a higher perceived value for those that access to commenting which in turn increases engagement. This strategy would go nicely with the initial outreach I mentioned above. I hope this helps. I would love to chat further here is my Clarity VIP link for a free call. https://clarity.fm/lipmanb/vip/t

The best way to build an engaging audience is to lead with value. You want to provide others with more value by sharing relevant content and information. A great way to do this is through social media platforms such as Facebook. Going live is a great way to connect with your audience and give valuable content. I suggest going Live at least 3 times a week. Another tip is to make sure that you are providing good, valuable content when you do so. Don't just go live, just to go live. You want to keep them engaged and interested on your topic!

To build an online community you need to show your expertise and leadership in the subject. You can start by blogging content in the subject and start attracting interested people in the subject. It is a rule that the number of people that reads is 3 to 5 times the number of people that collaborate in the site. You break this rule by having more and more people involved in the discussions and when you have great quality producers of content sharing ideas and answering questions you are on track to grow the community. From the investment side, it is a very complex issue because this subject the people needs a higher level of trust of the people they are taking. I foresight a great challenge in sharing information about deals, then I will find how the share the learning of the subject as a way to gain trust.