The problem of legitimising
November 23rd, 2008With a start up how do you legitimise?
What makes this concept real? how can we communicate that? how do we convince people that in all likelihood we will never meet but conduct business with?
Quotes, press releases, buzz, real physical address, photos via flickr, blogging, techcrunch mention..
All different routes.
How about a standard, a brand, voted for by the industry, like the Intel Inside brand.
A brand that reinforces legitimacy and rewards action.
Certain actions provide points, and start ups are only admitted once they have met criteria set by the community.
A brand that says we are a real business and are here for the long haul.
Now I’ll be the first to say, this isn’t for everyone, and if you are facing legimacy problems maybe there’s something bigger wrong.
However there is a real market need.
I don’t think this is quite the answer, but it’s less wrong than no answer…..
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Tags: authenticity, branding, community, community brand, credibility, intel inside, legitimising, legitmacy, monday ideas post
This entry was posted on Sunday, November 23rd, 2008 at 9:41 pm. 
November 24th, 2008 at 7:11 pm
In today’s internet/biz world having your top 1000 customers support you is crucial. It seems that you arrive at this number with a combination of word of mouth and traffic driven to you without any effort (residual word of mouth, maybe?)
Keeping these customers happy seems to be a combo of doing what you say you are going to do and keeping them constantly updated in the way they choose to be (email blasts with unsubscribe; surveys; special offers).
Getting past your 1000 might require more official marketing and maybe even some physical space? Might be the line where internet meets “Brick and Mortar”.