A few days ago, in commemoration of BASIC’s 60th birthday, we switched to the classic Hello, world! to show the simplicity of this programming language. Hello world (with or without a comma, with admiration or without) is a classic exercise in making contact when starting to learn a new language, and although the interpretation of its meaning may vary depending on each person’s worldview, in all cases apparently it represents the voice, the message, with which we make ourselves known to the rest of the world.

This may seem like a small detail, but it is not at all. Exactly opposite, it implicitly implies the intention that what we do and what we will do will reach more people, to as many as possible, ideally to everyone (well, everyone who is a potential beneficiary of what we do, of course). Which of course leads me to say that after singing the first Hello, world! in many cases we forget this assumption and focus 100% of our skills and resources on creating a good product that shines above its competition. Whether it’s an app, a cookbook, a professional office, or a fruit tree consulting service, we focus on our “child” and forget that by default only we know of its existence.

Why do many projects fail? It’s not the only reason, of course, but I’ve known many cases where Hello, world! In addition, I myself have been involved in a project in the past in which this part was missing. On one occasion it was with other people and on another project individually. In both cases, as I mentioned before, we focused on making what we were going to do very good, and we believed that potential users would seek us out and find us. Spoiler: That will never happen.

So I’m assuming that yours is a good project, that you’ve done your best to differentiate it from your main competitors, that it brings something new, and that this newness obviously increases its value. Although there are different criteria in this sense, the average says that you have already done 50% of the work. The other 50%, as you’ve probably already guessed, goes through communication, is part of Hello, world! These are the tools you have and should be using very actively:

• Social networks: In recent years, social media has become a formidable dissemination channel that, if used well, can give us spectacular reach. Of course, we need to define some key aspects before we go into it, otherwise we expose ourselves to more risks. We need to define the type of profile that best suits our project (professional, informal, humorous, provocative, etc.), we need to ensure that we have the necessary resources to maintain a reasonable update frequency and interaction rate, and of course we also need to look for our potential users/buyers. I repeat what I already indicated, they will not find us, especially in the beginning.

• Email marketing: This is another very important aspect, but it is neglected in many cases. Direct contact with the potential client-user in which we find a balance (not too often, not too little, the type of content that provides something, the language adapted to the context but careful, etc.) can provide a level commitment exceptional. At this point, yes, we should never make the mistake of trying to manage this communication with a regular email client. Instead, it is best to use email marketing services. At this point, and from personal experience, I can recommend MailRelay, which in addition to having all the tools you can imagine (and even some you didn’t know existed), offers free accounts that allow up to 80,000 monthly sends to up to 20,000 users.

• Website (with blog): Of course, the website is a more passive means of dissemination than the profiles on social networks, but it still plays a key role in the image, because once we generate curiosity, there will be many people who will want to know more, and this is where the website plays a very important role. And why with a blog, which of course has to be updated often? Because it provides the active part that it lacks, by itself, a normal website. Of course, frequency plays a key role, because the only thing worse (for image and potentially commercial purposes) than a site without a blog is a site with a blog whose latest publication already contains cobwebs.

And what should I say?

This is another important point, very important. Since we are talking about the visibility of our project, it is likely that the first thing that comes to mind is to choose the strategy “product, product, product, buy, buy, buy” and devote yourself exclusively to promoting this thing in the wildly direct way that we have planned . This is the most common and unfortunately also the least effectivebecause the speed with which we can end up boring our potential client-users would make Formula 1 racers pale with envy.

Communication must be active and frequentyes, but it also has to be, and I put it in all caps and bold to emphasize its importance, INTERESTING. There is certainly plenty of content, more or less related to what you do, that can attract interest. Here are some ideas for that:

• Development journal: Is your project still in development? Great, I’m sure there are a lot of people who might be interested in a development log where you track your progress, problems you’ve faced, possible changes to the criteria that come from development itself… Whether it’s a game, online a service, book, etc. can generate a lot of engagement from users who are interested in them after the project is developed.

• Request for feedback: You know what generates even more engagement than experiencing the development of a project you’re interested in? An opportunity to contribute your opinion on it. It is obvious that you are clear about the key points of the project, but during its development, a thousand small doubts will probably arise. And what is better than asking the very people to whom it is intended?

• Why are you implementing the project? In a business environment, we usually talk about mission, vision and values, which are very important elements in defining any project. Chances are, even if in an informal way, you’ve already done this, even if you’ve verbalized it. Shape it and then use your communication channels to, as the Anglo-Saxons say, Spread the word.

These are just some ideas that sure You can complete it based on your project and the communication profile you have defined.. Therefore, remember that you should always start with your Hello, world!, but that it must be followed by all the communication that will be expected of you from that point on.