[ed]

If you seriously want to launch this service you'll need to be ruthless about who you target. You're not going to get anywhere by playing nice and focusing on a handful of sites.

Target everyone and anyone. Then go back and do it again. Marketers typically try to make 3 impressions on a person for any given product or service.

And as others are mentioning press releases are pretty ineffective. I find it's always best to write a personalized email even if you're just changing some boiler-plate text. Personalized emails create a sense of obligation to respond.

[iamwil]

While I'm not a marketer, targeting anyone and everyone isn't the way to go, imo. Despite all the greatness we think that we built, most people simply won't care. And spam is the evil that doesn't think it's evil because it thinks it's doing everyone else a service.

"And I'm not saying that television is vulgar and dumb because the people who compose the Audience are vulgar and dumb. Television is the way it is simply because people tend to be extremely similar in their vulgar and prurient and dumb interests and wildly different in their refined and aesthetic and noble interests." X David Foster Wallace

While the guy is a novelist, and not in television, he's done work in observing the effects of television on fiction. But, I think it makes sense.

Given that, unless your service is pretty basic, like water and sun of the internet, or pretty vulgar, like porn (also appeal to basic affinity towards sex), it will probably only first appeal to those that are interested in that particular niche.

This is why finding those people that are fans or first movers in that particular field/industry is important, and especially if they're obsessed enough to keep a blog on it, due to a need they have to tell other people. For a new market however, you'll need to find a cross-section that cuts across other groups--this, I have no idea how to do.

Anyway, that's why it's usually considered a good idea to pick problems that are your problems to work on for a startup, because in addition to scratching your own itch, you'll know where to find other complaining fools (besides yourself) that have the same problem. If you can do it well, they'll tell others.

[ed]

Those are all great points so maybe I just misunderstood your service. Is this a general marketplace or does it only appeal to a niche market?

Either way, the social component makes it sound like you'll need to get over the cold-start "hump."

One more thing -- another poster suggested trying to generate a little bit of pre-launch hype. I've never, ever ever ever, seen this work out in a positive way. Once the floodgates open, users are almost invariably disappointed by what's available. The result is that you lose the (critical) attention of early adopters.

[JoeEntrepreneur]

Thanks lot ed. Point very well taken. Same thing happened to me. There was a company called www.riya.com who hyped lot before launch. They were building some image comparison and search technology. I saw there demo on demo.com and signed up for beta. I was following their blog everyday and waiting for release. When release actually happened, the product was POS (Piece of Sh..) I never visited riya.com again ever.

[ed]

I know riya well (they are in my competitive space) and agree completely. Best of luck and keep us posted on your progress!