"If we build it, they will come." I heard it again yesterday from a technical entrepreneur who should know better than to believe the old "Field of Dreams" sports fantasy movie theme in today's Internet information overload environment. These days, building a new business is all about visibility and marketing, no matter how great or innovative a solution you bring to the table.
In fact, having one marketing guru on the team alone won't get you very far. You need to make sure that everyone on the team, from the clerical assistant to the chief financial officer, knows your vision and product, and doesn't hesitate to actively engage and be an effective proponent with anyone who might be of value to the business.
I just saw a good summary of how to motivate and train your team to accomplish this in a new book, "The Business of Creativity: How to Build the Right Team for Success," by Keith Granet. The author's focus is the world of architecture and design, but I'm convinced that the principles and strategy outlined are equally important to every new business or entrepreneurial effort:
This approach, with you leading the effort, and everyone empowered to advance the visibility and message of the business, also has the great advantage of minimizing the size of the dedicated internal team for marketing and public relations. A single marketing coordinator can accelerate your efforts by being the coach and mentoring key members of the team on soft marketing.
If you have a diverse team, the value is even greater, since each member can use their contacts and perspective to spread the word effectively, and attract the attention you need for success. The common focus on marketing across the varied interests of your team also has the potential of improving peer communication, comradery, and improving working relationships.
The most effective teams, through sharing and common interests, develop leaders at all levels. The most senior leaders then become coaches and mentors, rather than the source of all decisions. The emergent leaders are not hesitant to take charge when they see business growth opportunities, thus multiplying your visibility and impact.
Thus, even if the value of your solution is universally obvious in your field of dreams, don't count on customer initiatives to find it amongst the thousands of alternatives fighting for visibility on the Internet. Mobilize the total power of your team to not only build the product, but also build the market.