Wednesday, February 15th, 2006

Creating Relevance

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Dylan and I had an introductory meeting with Weber Shandwick, the public relations firm Jeremy Pepper is now working for. A point was brought up in the meeting that reminded me of one of the first problems we knew we would face when starting Box.net: Relevance. I was happy that the word was used in our conversation, now knowing that it was appropriate when we initially discussed storage with potential investors and advisors. An interesting note, which may help me prove my scattered point… here are consumer-focused technologies and services that currently are relevant:

- downloadable music: itunes
- dvds-by-mail: netflix
- storage/backup/retrieval: usb thumbdrives

Surprisingly, if you look at the functions some alternative (or additional) services provide, it is amazing that THEY are not the relevent ones. By somewhat exaggerated comparison:

- downloadable/streamable music: rhapsody, yahoo music engine, napster
- dvds-by-download: movielink, cinemanow
- storage/backup/sharing/retrieval: box.net

Do you see the point? The second set of services are generally far more efficient, cost effective, and reliable than the first set of services. But, none have discovered the best way to make their services relevent to consumers. I am sure that Yahoo and RealNetworks will find a way to make the subscription model work; I am sure that movies studios will eventually appreciate online movie downloading enough to make these services (or a microsoft attempt) successful; and, lastly, I am sure that Box.net will eventually be the relevent solution for storing important data.

The real problem here is public perception. It is likely a mix of missinformation, limited or ineffective marketing, and colossal competition. Starting in late march we will begin approaching the relevence issue surrounding online storage. We will make it very clear why online storage is the ideal solution for any individual or small business when it comes to sharing, storage, backup, or retrieval. In three years from now joking about thumbdrives will become commonplace. And we will be there to laugh.

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  • http://theory.isthereason.com Kevin

    I’m glad you’re sharing this insight about your company… it really helps personalize the experience of using Box.net and would do well to help people like me evangelize your efforts. I tried the early preview today and though I haven’t used it extensively enough, I am so far impressed. A tad slow on the loading of pages, but workable. You’re right that positioning is key for you, since online storage is getting to be quite a crowded web 2.0 space. So far no one has really dominated it, and most of the uses I’ve seen so far are to temporarily trade files online using rapidshare and so on.

    Well, good luck on your venture!

  • http://www.technotheory.com Jared Goralnick

    I don’t know that it’s just public perception–it’s more that the the first group of sites are extensions of people’s existing approaches to technology…whereas the second group of sites ask that people shift from their current modus operandi.

    People have grown comfortable with (a) ipods and purchaseable (ownable) music, (b) renting movies to watch on their TV, (c) storing data portably. However, (a) other music players don’t have the same cache (and ipods don’t work with other services) and subscription still hasn’t caught on in the same way that owning the music has (unless people view it like a radio…not that satellite radio is too profitable yet); (b) people don’t want their PC to be their media center yet but that’ll change; (c) online file storage is a burgeoning industry but there are still comfort levels to adjust for and privacy issues to contend with. Look at the reaction to Google Desktop, for instance. Few companies have been able to get people to move away from their traditional models–37signals is uniquely successful in this way.

    Fortunately you all are in a good place. You just need to catch a little of the overflow techie blogger audience at first…and then you’ll hopefully capture the mainstream. Right now your minimalist approach is working, and I think that’ll help you to make a splash. Best of luck…

  • http://www.learnedlawyer.com R Barrera

    Second Jared’s comment re privacy, with this annotation: “The privacy problem arises because the Electronic Communication Privacy Act of 1986, or ECPA, gives only limited privacy protection to emails and other files that are stored with online service providers—much less privacy than the legal protections for the same information when it’s on your computer at home.” That from the Electronic Frontier Foundation (eff.org). It is unfortunate that you guys may have to hire a lobbyist to go to Washington to get such pre-web laws changed.

  • Aaron

    Jared, good points. Regarding the music/movie issue, the problem that is plaguing services like rhapsody/napster/YME is definitely the “sexy” factor. Though napster had that going for it at one point, it seems they weren’t able to recapture that image with their relaunch. I own a creative Zen (because it works with YME) and I keep it out of sight simply because people wouldn’t ever guess why I use it. They would just think I’m out of touch :) How do we make online file storage sexy? Thumbdrives certainly aren’t very “cool,” yet everybody has one.

  • http://several Ginger

    I use Box.net for very important file storage and sharing. I know I had to search quite a bit to find the services Box.net provides and browsed countless before I found Box.net. I am thrilled with the services you provide… it’s exactly what I was looking for, and I know others are looking for it too, they just might not know how to find you. I agree advertising is a really important factor in your success and accessability. Scooting your listing to the top of search engines like Google might just make all the difference in the world and get the word out about just how great Box.net is. Thanks, guys, for all of your hard work!

  • http://www.technotheory.com Jared Goralnick

    Aaron, that is a good question: “how do we make online file storage sexy?”

    I don’t know if it’s sexy so much as trendy. Sexy is the aesthetics (and you’ve got that) but trendy is the actual grabbing hold by pop-culture.

    An example from the last couple days would be 37signals’ launch of a book on the development of web-software applications that myself and a heck of a lot of people purchased within the first few hours. Web development is not even innately sexy, and I’d venture to guess that many of the people who bought their book had no interest in web/product development. They bought it because 37signals themselves have succeeded in a rather unique way. They have become trendy, and people want to understand how that happened.

    Online file storage is, at present, a commodity for those who need it. Your challenge is twofold: showing people that it’s not just a commodity but a fun tool (is it?) and getting them excited enough to spread the word. The product itself is there, the question is just if/how the positioning could be different.

    Check out the book Purple Cow if you get bored…that may inspire you to some ideas.

  • Aaron

    Actually the question of commodity vs. premium product came up a bunch at the under the radar conference. It’s a tough sell for people focused only on the economics, but it’s fairly reasonable when you think of it like how apple is able to make anything feel special. We’re not impractical and thinking that online storage will someday be the “cool thing.” We are trying to build a clean and welcoming product to move towards a time when online storage is the OBVIOUS solution to everday problems currently being solved by USB, Email, etc.

    I will definitely check out 37signals’ new book.

  • http://www.solyak.com solyak1

    Array

  • http://privacymatter.wordpress.com/ Quinton Bouvier

    Hi, what blog platform is this? Can I download it for free or..? I would really love it if you could answer this question! Regards!