Scrivener: Great Product, Abysmal Marketing

In the field of writing, Scrivener is an exceptional tool. There is nothing else quite like it. For writers, it is something of a miracle.

There is a problem. Its designer does his own marketing. Because the program is so good, it is getting exposure. Because it is cheap — under $50 — it is selling, but not well enough to let him hire an assistant, let alone a marketer.

He stands next to a gutter. Every few minutes, a $50 bill floats by. He refuses to look down.

His site, www.literatureandlatte.com, has perhaps the worst name in marketing history. I have never seen anything so distant from the product being offered. Yet it has an Alexa rating of 30,000. This is very high. For a site that offers no new information or updates, but merely offers a 4-year-old obsolete video, this is astonishing.

Yet he runs a one-man operation. This is a huge neon sign: “Marketing Rn’t Us.”

ONE OBSOLETE VIDEO

He has produced one YouTube video. That was in 2010. It is for the Mac version. It is for an obsolete edition of his program. This is his entire marketing program.

Only in 2013 did he introduce a Windows version. He has yet to produce a video for Windows users. Understand what this means. Windows has almost 90% of all operating systems for desktop computers. He regarded 90% of the market as an afterthought.

One thing is sure: he is not in it for the money.

Here is his 2010 video for an early Mac version, long out of date. It’s better than most software videos. But, compared to the value of the product, it misses the mark.

His marketing could be brought up to date in about four hours. But the designer is a techie. Marketing is not part of his outlook. “Four hours? On marketing? Why, that’s an hour a year. Inconceivable! I’m doing important work here! I don’t have that kind of spare time to waste on marketing!”

(For the rest of my article, plus a free lesson on video marketing click the link.)

Continue Reading on www.garynorth.com