{"id":18141,"date":"2015-12-09T09:47:40","date_gmt":"2015-12-09T14:47:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.wework.com\/creator\/?p=18141"},"modified":"2020-03-30T23:04:47","modified_gmt":"2020-03-31T03:04:47","slug":"stop-building-features-start-building-brands","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.wework.com\/ideas\/professional-development\/stop-building-features-start-building-brands","title":{"rendered":"Stop building features, start building brands"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Most of the entrepreneurs I meet are building a product, either with their team or co-founders (which I highly recommend) or with a development agency. (Ugh! See what I think about that&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/medium.com\/@davidamse\/entrepreneurs-stop-relying-on-development-agencies-to-build-your-startup-c723c02bd588#.lzj39gxqp\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">here<\/a>.) They tell me about their project with excitement (<a class=\"markup--anchor markup--p-anchor\" href=\"https:\/\/medium.com\/keep-learning-keep-growing\/why-nobody-will-steal-your-shitty-start-up-idea-795feaea5a6a#.u0m9o87nc\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" data-href=\"https:\/\/medium.com\/keep-learning-keep-growing\/why-nobody-will-steal-your-shitty-start-up-idea-795feaea5a6a#.u0m9o87nc\">when they\u2019re not afraid of sharing it<\/a>) and explain me why their product is going to be the next big thing in their industry. Everything goes smoothly until I ask them a very simple question: \u201cDo you have a social presence?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>As you can expect, the answer I receive is that they don\u2019t, and that most of them are waiting for their product to be \u201cready\u201d to start putting out content.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I really don\u2019t want this question to be a challenging one, but it\u2019s literally the first thing that I want to ask when people are telling me about their new projects. The answer to that question gives a lot of details about the level of connection they have with their target audience as well as the things they can potentially leverage in the future.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>Do they deeply know what their audience wants, or are they just making assumptions?<\/li><li>Are they already bringing value to some people who will be happy to do something for them in return?<\/li><li>How did they identify the need for their product?<\/li><li>Do they have a community of early adopters to collect feedback from?<\/li><li>Do they have a competitive advantage?<em>&nbsp;<\/em><\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2  id=\"start-building-brand-equity-first\"class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Start building brand equity first<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>The main reason why this question is important is because it\u2019s too hard to have visibility for a product without having a brand or at least an established social presence. We live in a very, very noisy social world where attention is so hard to get. If you don\u2019t do the work, chances are high for your product to be invisible at the launch and for you to completely miss your potential.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It has also become way too expensive to target an audience that has no attachment to your brand or to you. There is no way you can ask them to be loyal or to help your product to become a success.&nbsp;You did nothing for them so far.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2  id=\"bring-your-audience-real-actual-value\"class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Bring your audience real actual value<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>You are bringing the most value when you have nothing to sell or promote. That is why several months (or years) before launching a product is the best timing. Your content will be 100% authentic. It will have the right approach, and people will feel involved and will be happy to be part of your adventure. If you represent something they like, they will want to be in the movement. If you bring them enough value, they will be thankful and you\u2019ll be able to count on them in the future.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2  id=\"go-out-there-and-tell-your-story\"class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Go out there and tell your story<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Instead of focusing on that missing feature that will make your product \u201cready,\u201d focus on how to create a brand people will love, and how to create real relationships with your target audience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Your product will never be good enough. Instead of waiting for one more week for this bug to be fixed or a few more months for the V2 to be launched, go out there and build yourself or your company a strong brand people will want to be attached to.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I know we all want our growth to be exponential, and yes, building real relationships is not scalable. But by caring about your audience and by bringing them unique value, you will build the foundation of your business success. This crucial step might offer you the privilege to have other things to scale in the future.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Most of the entrepreneurs I meet are building a product, either with their team or co-founders (which I highly recommend) or with a development agency. (Ugh! See what I think about that&nbsp;here.) They tell me about their project with excitement (when they\u2019re not afraid of sharing it) and explain me why their product is going [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1573,"featured_media":18146,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[43902],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-18141","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-professional-development"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v22.4 (Yoast SEO v25.3.1) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Stop building features, start building brands<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"It\u2019s hard to win visibility for a product without having an established social media presence. Here&#039;s what to do first.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.wework.com\/ideas\/professional-development\/stop-building-features-start-building-brands\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Stop building features, start building brands\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"It\u2019s hard to win visibility for a product without having an established social media presence. Here&#039;s what to do first.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.wework.com\/ideas\/professional-development\/stop-building-features-start-building-brands\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Ideas\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2015-12-09T14:47:40+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2020-03-31T03:04:47+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.wework.com\/ideas\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2015\/12\/Stop-Building-Features-Start-Building-Brands.jpg?fit=3107%2C1837\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"3107\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1837\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"David Ams\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"David Ams\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.wework.com\/ideas\/professional-development\/stop-building-features-start-building-brands#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.wework.com\/ideas\/professional-development\/stop-building-features-start-building-brands\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"David Ams\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.wework.com\/ideas\/#\/schema\/person\/3a888bc7a893431e70e3a523cdb89dad\"},\"headline\":\"Stop building features, start building brands\",\"datePublished\":\"2015-12-09T14:47:40+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2020-03-31T03:04:47+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.wework.com\/ideas\/professional-development\/stop-building-features-start-building-brands\"},\"wordCount\":619,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.wework.com\/ideas\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.wework.com\/ideas\/professional-development\/stop-building-features-start-building-brands#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.wework.com\/ideas\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2015\/12\/Stop-Building-Features-Start-Building-Brands.jpg?fit=3107%2C1837\",\"articleSection\":[\"Professional Development\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.wework.com\/ideas\/professional-development\/stop-building-features-start-building-brands\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.wework.com\/ideas\/professional-development\/stop-building-features-start-building-brands\",\"name\":\"Stop building features, start building brands\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.wework.com\/ideas\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.wework.com\/ideas\/professional-development\/stop-building-features-start-building-brands#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.wework.com\/ideas\/professional-development\/stop-building-features-start-building-brands#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.wework.com\/ideas\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2015\/12\/Stop-Building-Features-Start-Building-Brands.jpg?fit=3107%2C1837\",\"datePublished\":\"2015-12-09T14:47:40+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2020-03-31T03:04:47+00:00\",\"description\":\"It\u2019s hard to win visibility for a product without having an established social media presence. Here's what to do first.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.wework.com\/ideas\/professional-development\/stop-building-features-start-building-brands#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.wework.com\/ideas\/professional-development\/stop-building-features-start-building-brands\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.wework.com\/ideas\/professional-development\/stop-building-features-start-building-brands#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.wework.com\/ideas\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2015\/12\/Stop-Building-Features-Start-Building-Brands.jpg?fit=3107%2C1837\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.wework.com\/ideas\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2015\/12\/Stop-Building-Features-Start-Building-Brands.jpg?fit=3107%2C1837\",\"width\":3107,\"height\":1837},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.wework.com\/ideas\/professional-development\/stop-building-features-start-building-brands#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"\/ideas\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Professional Development\",\"item\":\"\/ideas\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":3,\"name\":\"Stop building features, start building brands\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.wework.com\/ideas\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.wework.com\/ideas\/\",\"name\":\"Ideas\",\"description\":\"\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.wework.com\/ideas\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.wework.com\/ideas\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.wework.com\/ideas\/#organization\",\"name\":\"WeWork\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.wework.com\/ideas\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.wework.com\/ideas\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.wework.com\/ideas\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2019\/04\/welogo_black_55x55.jpg?fit=55%2C55\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.wework.com\/ideas\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2019\/04\/welogo_black_55x55.jpg?fit=55%2C55\",\"width\":55,\"height\":55,\"caption\":\"WeWork\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.wework.com\/ideas\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"}},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.wework.com\/ideas\/#\/schema\/person\/3a888bc7a893431e70e3a523cdb89dad\",\"name\":\"David Ams\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.wework.com\/ideas\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/52cc6ddee7ff380559ff499719cfdf33fa4b2d933c8a91fd4ccc494a5590fad6?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/52cc6ddee7ff380559ff499719cfdf33fa4b2d933c8a91fd4ccc494a5590fad6?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"David Ams\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.wework.com\/ideas\/author\/davidams\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Stop building features, start building brands","description":"It\u2019s hard to win visibility for a product without having an established social media presence. Here's what to do first.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.wework.com\/ideas\/professional-development\/stop-building-features-start-building-brands","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Stop building features, start building brands","og_description":"It\u2019s hard to win visibility for a product without having an established social media presence. Here's what to do first.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.wework.com\/ideas\/professional-development\/stop-building-features-start-building-brands","og_site_name":"Ideas","article_published_time":"2015-12-09T14:47:40+00:00","article_modified_time":"2020-03-31T03:04:47+00:00","og_image":[{"width":3107,"height":1837,"url":"https:\/\/www.wework.com\/ideas\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2015\/12\/Stop-Building-Features-Start-Building-Brands.jpg?fit=3107%2C1837","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"David Ams","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"David Ams","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.wework.com\/ideas\/professional-development\/stop-building-features-start-building-brands#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.wework.com\/ideas\/professional-development\/stop-building-features-start-building-brands"},"author":{"name":"David Ams","@id":"https:\/\/www.wework.com\/ideas\/#\/schema\/person\/3a888bc7a893431e70e3a523cdb89dad"},"headline":"Stop building features, start building brands","datePublished":"2015-12-09T14:47:40+00:00","dateModified":"2020-03-31T03:04:47+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.wework.com\/ideas\/professional-development\/stop-building-features-start-building-brands"},"wordCount":619,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.wework.com\/ideas\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.wework.com\/ideas\/professional-development\/stop-building-features-start-building-brands#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.wework.com\/ideas\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2015\/12\/Stop-Building-Features-Start-Building-Brands.jpg?fit=3107%2C1837","articleSection":["Professional Development"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.wework.com\/ideas\/professional-development\/stop-building-features-start-building-brands","url":"https:\/\/www.wework.com\/ideas\/professional-development\/stop-building-features-start-building-brands","name":"Stop building features, start building brands","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.wework.com\/ideas\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.wework.com\/ideas\/professional-development\/stop-building-features-start-building-brands#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.wework.com\/ideas\/professional-development\/stop-building-features-start-building-brands#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.wework.com\/ideas\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2015\/12\/Stop-Building-Features-Start-Building-Brands.jpg?fit=3107%2C1837","datePublished":"2015-12-09T14:47:40+00:00","dateModified":"2020-03-31T03:04:47+00:00","description":"It\u2019s hard to win visibility for a product without having an established social media presence. Here's what to do first.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.wework.com\/ideas\/professional-development\/stop-building-features-start-building-brands#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.wework.com\/ideas\/professional-development\/stop-building-features-start-building-brands"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.wework.com\/ideas\/professional-development\/stop-building-features-start-building-brands#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.wework.com\/ideas\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2015\/12\/Stop-Building-Features-Start-Building-Brands.jpg?fit=3107%2C1837","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.wework.com\/ideas\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2015\/12\/Stop-Building-Features-Start-Building-Brands.jpg?fit=3107%2C1837","width":3107,"height":1837},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.wework.com\/ideas\/professional-development\/stop-building-features-start-building-brands#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"\/ideas"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Professional Development","item":"\/ideas"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Stop building features, start building brands"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.wework.com\/ideas\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.wework.com\/ideas\/","name":"Ideas","description":"","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.wework.com\/ideas\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.wework.com\/ideas\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.wework.com\/ideas\/#organization","name":"WeWork","url":"https:\/\/www.wework.com\/ideas\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.wework.com\/ideas\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.wework.com\/ideas\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2019\/04\/welogo_black_55x55.jpg?fit=55%2C55","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.wework.com\/ideas\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2019\/04\/welogo_black_55x55.jpg?fit=55%2C55","width":55,"height":55,"caption":"WeWork"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.wework.com\/ideas\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.wework.com\/ideas\/#\/schema\/person\/3a888bc7a893431e70e3a523cdb89dad","name":"David Ams","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.wework.com\/ideas\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/52cc6ddee7ff380559ff499719cfdf33fa4b2d933c8a91fd4ccc494a5590fad6?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/52cc6ddee7ff380559ff499719cfdf33fa4b2d933c8a91fd4ccc494a5590fad6?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"David Ams"},"url":"https:\/\/www.wework.com\/ideas\/author\/davidams"}]}},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.wework.com\/ideas\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2015\/12\/Stop-Building-Features-Start-Building-Brands.jpg?fit=3107%2C1837","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wework.com\/ideas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18141","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wework.com\/ideas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wework.com\/ideas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wework.com\/ideas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1573"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wework.com\/ideas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18141"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.wework.com\/ideas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18141\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":66215,"href":"https:\/\/www.wework.com\/ideas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18141\/revisions\/66215"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wework.com\/ideas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/18146"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wework.com\/ideas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18141"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wework.com\/ideas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18141"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wework.com\/ideas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18141"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}