A Framework of Getting Traction

​Getting traction is hard.  In the Bullseye Framework, the outer ring is what's possible, the middle ring is what's probably, the inner ring is what's working. Getting traction is finding the inner ring.

There are 19 channels you can use to gain traction. According to Law of Shitty Clickthrough, all marketing strategies eventually result in shitty clickthrough rates. However, some may works well, others not so well. It's hard to predict which channel will work the best. Therefore, do not only consider those channels you're comfortable with.

Pick a few traction channels in the middle ring each time and experiment to find bright spots. At the same time, hold on to other traction channel ideas. After you deplete rotating through all traction channels, if still no bright spot is found, then it's the time to pivot.

Use traction tools to evaluation bright spots. Prioritize and quantify your marketing tests when looking for customers with set growth goals noted on calendar. For each traction channel, think about how many people can you get, at what cost, and the quality of the customers you acquired through a specific traction channel. Find suggestions from mentors who had done this before.

Be awesome to your customers, then good things will follow. Product development is cool and essential, but don't forget to put more than half of the efforts to get traction for the product.

Above is my take-away of reading 78 Takeaways from Traction Book by Gabriel Weinberg.