How to Sell an Idea

Entrepreneur Advice, Marketing, Mobile Apps, Nerdy Talk, Tech Trends

May 10, 2017

When you’re just starting a business or in the early phases of launching your app business, it’s critical to get it in front of real customers as quickly as possible. That means not just waiting until the product is done — you need to establish a user base early on.

Sometimes that even means getting users to download your app even in its first stages. So, there’s a dilemma here: users want to use your app when it’s perfect, but to get it to perfect, you need users to install it before it’s perfect when it’s still so-so. How do you sell an idea without a product?

What separates brands isn’t necessarily the quality of their app, although that plays an important role. What’s really distinctive about great brands is the clarity of their mission — the meaning behind the app. When launching your app business, you can use this truth to your advantage. The key is crafting a message that’s easy to understand, that’s deeply meaningful, and that resonates with potential users. You want people to buy into what you are offering before they even use the app. What story are you telling?

To create this kind of message, you need to start thinking about your app in a different way. For some people, this is easy, for others, it’s hard. The key is to stop thinking about features, user interface, and function, and to start thinking about meaning, purpose, and vision. Yes, your product has features. Those features are probably very useful. You’re probably very proud of those features. But the truth is, they’re not what really makes your product great.

The power of your application is the promise that it makes to customers. The problem you pledged to solve.

When launching a product, you need to engage with those dreams and values buried beneath you. Yes, the basic utility and function are important, but what really matters is telling a story about how your app embodies the same values, or meaning, or ideas that your users believe in.

That’s how you sell an idea without even having a product. Because the truth is, you were never actually selling the product in the first place. You were always selling an idea.