Advice From a Campaign Manager: Never. Stop. Campaigning.

I know, most developers hate to do this, but just take a chill pill and slip into business mode for a minute...

After over twenty years of running a campaign consultancy in Chicagoland, the best advice I can pass along to any candidate, elected official, non-profit advocate, fundraiser or business owner who wants long-term business success: Never. Stop. Campaigning. I'd have to add to that: Ever. The same advice I applied to all our political and fundraising campaigns applies to 3rd Party software developers too.

Does that mean 3PDs should print up bumper stickers and yard signs to promote their apps? Hmm, that may not be a bad idea if your market for your particular app is in your local area, but what I'm suggesting is, whether you like the thought or not, to be more successful, you'd be well-advised to put on a Campaign Manager's hat for a few hours a month (if not weekly, or daily) to consider your purpose, goals, specific and measurable objectives, research methods, timeline, budget, communication channels and more.

Plan. Then be prepared to change it in a nanosecond. "No battle plan ever survives contact with the enemy." General George Patton knew the best laid plans were obsolete as soon as they were formed. That said, he also knew the extreme value of planning a campaign. One learns from those successes and failures. Well-designed campaigns have a definite beginning (advance), middle (theater) and end (post), but that's just the beginning of the work. To be truly successful long-term, your campaign must be surrounded by numerous contingency plans, which will help you to better understand and interpret the landscape, climate, industry trends and more.

Planning and constant contingency planning will help you identify what constitutes "success," define your market, set your pricing, determine your most effective communication channels, form realistic marketing budgets, understand how to best test your results, understand when and where to pull back, and when to go in for the kill. The successes and failures of your campaign's tasks will make that once far-off, blurry horizon much clearer. Sure, it will take time and effort, but when you commit to a continuous campaign regimen, it pays off handsomely. Keeping in touch with your market, while tracking what works and what doesn't will help you be far more accurate at predicting future trends - and that'll help you not only in your own business, but it'll get you a few invites to keynote at important tech and business conferences too! ;)

But even when that success has been achieved, if your goal is long-term success, it's important early-on to start the planning process anew - before the initial campaign even ends. Do this in order to not only protect your flank from competition (not to mention protect your assets from internal revolt), but also map out future opportunities as soon as possible. Once you're on top, remember, it's human nature for for many - including some who helped you achieve success - to knock you off your pedestal. So, the campaign must never, ever end.

Whether you're a big shop, a boutique or you're moonlighting, you need a master business plan, constructed of a series of campaigns to help you achieve your business goals, then ensure you're able to continue hitting your targets once you've achieved initial success. After all, success is short-lived in business, and especially in the technology world. Oh, and if you're in the Open Source technology world? God love ya, you just shifted into "hyper-change mode," when it comes to an ever-changing battlefield - best to create about a dozen more campaign-lets to account for how you might have to shift your business to stay ahead of the curve, or at least ride the curve without getting bucked off too many times. ;)


John Coonen is Co-Host of the CMS Expo Learning & Business Conference | Website | Twitter