[peregrine]

I think I'm starting to understand 37signals advertising strategy through DHH tweets, that admittedly only works because they have listeners.

  1) Tweet negative/positive questions about x.
  2) Tweet negative/positive observations about x.
  3) Tweet negative/positive observation backed by data about x.
  4) Tweet article about how positive/negative x is on blog.
  5) Take action about positive/negative x.

Usually over the span of a couple days. It feels like you are watching DHH come to the realization that something is good/bad which helps you come to the same realization.

There is nothing wrong with it, and I don't know if its intentional but its super effective.

[dhh]

I wish I could brand that as a fancy marketing scheme, but I think the answer is much simpler. It's simply transparent discovery and thinking. If it happens to work as advertising, that's a positive side-effect, but the main dish is coming to good conclusions.

I certainly grew more confident in the decision to dump OpenID after talking with lots and lots of people on Twitter about it. You get to test your ideas, see what the feedback is, tweak, and retry. All while making the decision process public.

[jdp23]

It's authenticity is what makes it so effective. You share your thoughts in process, and people accompany you on your intellectual journey -- and their feedback helps to shape the conclusion. So it functions as great brand marketing for 37signals: you're the kind of company who takes what people say seriously.

[peregrine]

Yea thats definitely it, just something I've noticed over time. Its a great strategy for getting people on your side, I think I see gruber doing the same thing from time to time, with less transparency though.

[axod]

"and I don't know if its intentional"

Surely you jest :) If there's one thing 37signals do extremely well it's getting people to talk/write about them.