So you’ve finished it. Your web app is finally ready to send out into the world – your UI is beautiful and simple, your platform is powerful and flexible and you’ve already nailed down how you’re going to scale the thing when the users begin to overrun your current server setup. You throw the switch, the site is live and … no one is paying attention. So you post links on your Facebook page, your mySpace page and on your blog, you tweet about it repeatedly; and over the first month or so a few people sign up, but not that many, certainly not the server crushing tsunami you had envisioned. You’re faced with a tough question, How do you grow your customer base? How are you, the single developer or small company, with very limited marketing dollars going to raise awareness and build a following? Turns out, the answer to that question is a little more old fashioned than you might think, and it doesn’t cost a dime.

A Brief History of the Salesmen
Just before the turn of the last century in America, in the early days of the industrial revolution; many, now monstrously large, companies got their humble beginnings. Coca-Cola, Eastman Kodak and General Electric, for example, were each started in those days as small businesses with a single product: Coca-cola with their signature drink, Eastman Kodak with the first point-and-shoot camera and General Electric with the incandescent light bulb.

Though it’s almost impossible to fathom now, these companies faced the same daunting task that you face now: Convincing consumers that their product was necessary and desirable. Even thought we think of each of these companies’ products as impossible to live without, the early sales of each was hard – just imagine how frightening an electric light bulb would be if you had never seen one before.

So each company turned to a vast force of salesmen that they sent out on the road; their purpose was to make face-to-face contact with potential customers, to explain benefits, answer questions and dispel myths. These salesmen were so numerous and so ubiquitous that they became an identifying characteristic of the American culture. While these new corporations relied on this army of salesmen to make sales and bring in new business they also relied on them to act as the human face of the company. Remember, the radio had just been conceived and the invention of the television was still two and a half decades off. Yes, the salesmen were there to make sales; but, in the long-run they served a much more important function. They were to embed the name and the story and the brand in the minds of everyone they met. They weren’t just out there to sell light bulbs or cameras, they were there to sell the story of convenient light at any time and the preservation of memories on paper. The really good salesmen were the ones that perfectly aligned the story of their company to the story of the person sitting in front of them.

The story
To effectively communicate your message, you have to have a story. And not only that, but your story has be genuine. Meaning that your story is the truth: Who you are, why you are doing what you’re doing. Each of these companies told their own story using a genuine voice. They slowly built up a following of people through the face-to-face contact afforded them by their salesmen.

At the beginning, no one else knows what your web app is because they’ve never come into contact with it before. But you know what it is and what it does ( or, at least you should) and you know what went into bringing it to life. This is your story. You can spout features and you can tell people that it will change XYZ about how they work or play or live but without a context most people will just gloss over and move on. Your story and the genuine telling of that story is the context that will help to create a following.

Thankfully, we’re now blessed with the internet. You aren’t required to employ a small army of salesmen to take your story out into the world anymore. All you need is some self-honesty and a willingness to participate in the discussion, with people on both sides of the issue. Remember, your product and your story will not strike a chord with everyone out there and that is ok. Address the nay-sayers politely and then move on, focusing on the people that are listening.

The Promise
Ok, you’ve got your story down pat. You’ve begun to attract a conversation about what it is that you do. Congratulations, you’ve now begun to build a brand. Ahh, a brand – that is a word you’re familiar with, but what does it mean? No really, what is a brand? If you’re like most people out there the concept of a brand is ephemeral and abstract. Oh sure, you know what branding is, that’s logos and stuff right? But defining whats behind that logo is what I’m aiming for here.

A brand is nothing more than a promise. It is the implicit promise from the company to provide something to the consumer. Coca-cola’s brand is all about refreshment. They promise to provide refreshment if you buy Coke products. The brand is built as a direct result of your story – once people understand where you came from and what you’re offering, they slowly build a sense of what it is that you are promising to deliver.

Nurturing
Marketing a web app isn’t about getting the big tech blogs to write you up, and it isn’t about posting to your blog repeatedly and tweeting constantly. Those are tactical decisions that come and go. Marketing your web app, in the long-run, is about building a story people can identify with and discuss. You brand builds slowly over time and is fundamentally based on constant communication back and forth. Keep the faith and keep the lines of communication open, whatever they may be: Your blog, Twitter or whatever the next big service out there is. Genuine marketing that makes a lasting impression isn’t based on PR and quick hit advertising, it’s based on you and the consumer forming a lasting relationship.

It’s ok, that scaling plan will still be there on the shelf when you need it.