A business owner's best product won't sell itself. The wheel was invented 5,000 years ago for pottery, but nobody thought to use it for transportation for another 300 years. Marketing creates the category that makes people see what your product is actually for.
Chapters
It's common for business owners to boast about how they don't have to spend a single penny on marketing. Our product is so good, we don't need to do any marketing. Once people see how much better, faster, cheaper, smarter, sexier our product is, they tell everyone they know. Our customers do our marketing for us. Of course, the reality is very different. My favorite example here is the wheel, arguably the most impactful product ever invented. The wheel first appeared more than 5,000 years ago. It was originally used to make clay pots and bowls. But did you know it actually took another 300 years before people thought about turning the wheel on its side to use for transportation rather than just pottery? Why did it take so long? How come the wheel couldn't speak for itself? Because the category makes the product, not the other way around.