Decisions, Decisions, Decisions… Decisions can make or break a career, depending on the costs and possible outcomes, but risks are mitigated for developers if the responsibility for a decision is spread amongst the project team. And while the team leader is fundamentally the decision-maker, they will generally gather input from all team members, and may involve stakeholders outside the development team who have a vested interest in the project. Those stakeholders could include business leaders, financial staff, or sales and marketing. Businesses understand that their success is a matter of producing results, so the critical part of the decision [...]

Introduction Let us consider for a moment the software developer. Many people use the terms software engineer and software developer interchangeably, but there is a distinction. Software engineers design software solutions, while software developers build those solutions to ready them for consumers. Designing and building are how things get done — for everything from houses, to cars, to reactors, to spaceships. In the 21st century, our lives run on software, and without it, the world would grind to a halt. In ancient times, a developer might have been considered royalty. Developers wield tremendous power, because according to OwlGuru, software [...]

Trust in Advertising One of the fundamental truths in any civilization is that trust is hard to build and easy to destroy. If you research the elements of trust, you will find sources covering a range of elements (approximately 3–9) that are mostly focused on building trust between individuals. But what about commercial trust—say between a solution provider and a developer? For this relationship, we propose the elements of reputation and longevity for consideration. The first element, reputation, means that products or people are inherently trusted because they have a reputation which reduces our anxiety and mitigates our fear. [...]

Social Media — All In? “Social media” has become an accepted term to describe a variety of communication forms over social networks. Initially, it had a positive connotation. But as the medium has evolved, so have its negative aspects. Social media will continue to evolve over time, but as of today, people tend to view certain categories of postings with a measure of skepticism, thanks to exaggerated claims and links to false information. The bottom line is that though social media is an effective form of communication, its associated pitfalls mean that care must be taken when selecting a [...]

Be Selective, Be Effective Both eblasts and newsletters are effective means of communicating with your developer community. Each of these tactics has positive and negative attributes which will impact your decision as to when to use them. Eblasts and newsletters are not mutually exclusive; both eblasts and newsletters can be integrated into your strategy and campaign plans. Before we compare the two, let’s review the definition of each: Eblasts Eblasts are dedicated advertising emails delivered directly to your subscribers’ inbox. Eblasts are often used to promote things like a specific time-sensitive offer, event, product launch, service, or campaign. They’re [...]

As marketers, we have to communicate to our audience in the most effective and efficient manner. Our communications ultimately have to create demand for our products or services.  Just as you don’t use exactly the same message every time, you don’t use the same method every time. Humans in general — and developers in particular — like variety. They like to be surprised, engaged, and amused. Of course, as marketers, we have a variety of communications tools at our disposal, including social media outlets, but some are more effective than others. According to data published by HubSpot, a CRM [...]

Besieged by IWA — Irritating Website Annoyances Companies love to solicit feedback. Whether it’s used to simply check a box to comply with their Net Promoter Score audit, or it’s actually used to improve the customer experience depends on the company’s culture. Feedback can be brutal, but in reality, it’s one of the few things that lead to change. It’s been said many times, but websites really are the storefront of your company.  They are the most visible manifestation of your purpose in business. Your website should be perfect. But most aren’t. The Devil is in Reveling in the [...]