How to Successfully Market an API
How to Successfully Market an API
Fine-Tuning Developer Relations & Platform Advocacy
About the Book
In the widening API sphere, marketing an API business involves knowing your customer intimately, and fine-tuning your developer support channels to help users excell. From evangelism, advocacy, to community building - the job of promoting a developer-centric program (and doing it tastefully), now needs its own strategy.
This eBook is structured into four parts. We first we walk through a Planning stage with tips on starting your program, understanding your target consumer, market research, and more using the API canvas model to position your agile API business. Next, we discuss Developer Relations with tips on onboarding and quality developer experience when it comes to overall API design as well as documentation and developer portal resources. Next, we cover tips on Promotion, outlining API discovery techniques and relevant press resources that will help spread awareness of your product, as well as ideas for creating evergreen content for blog publishing that informs and engages API users. Our last section on Advocacy defines the roles of program evangelists, tips on holding your own developer conferences, as well as case studies into failures and successes companies have had with public API programs in recent years.
If you are a project manager assigned to marketing an API, here is your bible.
About the Author
About the Contributors
Editor in Chief @ Nordic APIs
Bill Doerrfeld is a technologist and writer interested in disruptive software and projecting technology of the future. He is especially devoted to tracking the API economy, and is the Editor in Chief for Nordic APIs, a blog and knowledge base devoted to helping API (Application Programming Interface) providers refine their platforms. Follow him on Twitter, Linkedin, or reach out via email. Visit doerrfeld.io for more.
API Specialist
Chris Wood is an API specialist from the UK. His main interests are API management, Python and working on cool and interesting stuff. Connect with Chris on Twitter.
Jarkko Moilanen is a long term open source community activist, creator of the APIOps concept and founder of the API-Suomi community. Jarkko is one of the leading API economy evangelists (APItalist) in Finland. Nowadays designing and leading strategy implementation in education and cloud services at Ministry of Education and Culture. Also acting as one of the X-Road Ambassadors in Finland and Joint X-Road community midwife.
Blogger @ Nordic APIs
Kristopher Sandoval is a web developer, author, and artist based out of Northern California with over six years of experience in Information Technology and Network Administration. He writes for Nordic APIs and blogs on his site, A New Sincerity.
Host and Producer of the public speaking podcast Time to Shine. Oscar has spent more than three years as a Product Manager in the software industry. Either onstage or on blogs he advocates making technical presentations and product demos that engage and inspire.
Chief Architect, Oxygis
Vassili van der Mersch is a technology entrepreneur and freelance programmer from Belgium. He is the founder of Sevendays, the Chief Architect at an Internet of Things company called Oxygis and formerly a manager at Accenture, where he worked as a technology consultant for 10 years. Throughout his career in consulting, he has worked on a variety of API backends for large organizations in government and financial services.
Table of Contents
-
- Preface
-
Part One: Planning
-
Building from the Ground Up: Tips for Starting Your API Program
- Clarify Your Needs
- Get Buy In (From Everyone)
- Aim for a Public MVP
- Act on Feedback
- Build your Practice
- Final Thoughts
-
Define Your Target Developer Audience
- Why Create a Developer “Persona”?
- The Developer Brain
- But Plenty of Other People Are Interested in APIs, Too!
- Expanding our Portal: Developer End User Evangelism
- Varying Industry Backgrounds
- Location & Demographics
- API Use Cases
- Technology Preferences
- Lessen The Corporate Branding
- Developer Experience
- Build it And They Will _____
- Understand Your Audience
-
Developer Experience is a Key Ingredient of Quality APIs
- API Model Canvas – offspring of Lean Canvas
- Developers are the Rockstars of the API Economy
- Addressing the Entire API Model Canvas
- Case Study: National Library of Finland
- MVP for next step
- Gain speed and make it fun
- Final Thoughts
-
Building from the Ground Up: Tips for Starting Your API Program
-
Part Two: Developer Relations
-
Ingredients That Make Up a Superb Developer Center
- Getting Started Guide
- Authentication Guide
- API Documentation
- Testing Environment
- Developer Resources
- Support Channels
- Platform Policy
- Cater Your Home Presence to Non-Developers Too
- Final Thoughts
-
Crafting Excellent API Code Tutorials that Decrease On-boarding Time
- Setting the Context
- Exploring the Details
- Creating an Application
- Final Thoughts
-
What is the Difference Between an API and an SDK?
- Define: API
- Define: SDK
- Squares and Rectangles
- Examples
- Apples and Oranges
-
Developer Resources: SDKs, Libraries, Auto Generation Tools
- What Are Helper Libraries?
- Why Not Just Let Them REST?
- Data Problem
- Programming Language Trends
- Discover What Languages Your Consumers are Using
- Who Should we Model?
- HTTP is Language Agnostic
- 5 Tips for Helper Library Design
- Last Line of API Code: Your API is Never Really Finished
-
A Human’s Guide to Drafting API Platform Policy
- Key Themes
- Defining Responsibilities
- Setting Expectations
- Describing Good Behaviors
- Final Thoughts
-
Creating A Brand Guide for Your API Program
- Platform Strategy Dictates Brand Requirements
- Brand Guide Components
- Formatting Your Design Guide
- The Effect of Zero or Poor Branding Guidelines
- Final Thoughts
- Examples of API Branding Guides in the Wild:
-
Ingredients That Make Up a Superb Developer Center
-
Part Three: Promotion
-
Perfecting Your API Release
- What do I release?
- Time Your Release
- Widen Your Potential Audience
- Have the Right Monetization plan
- Have a Demo
- Have Awesome Branding
-
Tips to Make Your API More Discoverable
- SEO Approach: Optimization of API Homepages
- Service Discovery Automation
- Cheat Sheet of 10+ API Directories to Submit Your API to
-
Important Press Networks and Developer Channels in the API Space
- Press Release Distribution
- API-Specific Blogs, Thought Leaders, and Digests
- General Tech & Developer News
- Nordic Tech Press/News
- Social Bookmarking
- API Events
- The Everpresent Commentator
-
Utilizing Product Hunt to Launch Your API
- Alpha, Closed Beta, Open Beta, or Full Release?
- Preparing for a Release
- Offering Exclusive Deals: The Gold Star
- Actually Submitting a Profile on Product Hunt
- The Launch: Introduce Yourself, Play Nice, Get the Word Out
- The Unanticipated Launch
- The Return on Investment
- The Internet’s Watercooler is Product Hunt
- Resources
-
Perfecting Your API Release
-
Part Four: Advocacy
-
Day in the Life of an API Developer Evangelist
- 8 Important Job Roles of a Software Evangelist
- What does an Evangelist do each day?
- Evangelism vs Advocacy
- Q&A Section
- Conclusion
- Interviewees:
-
How to Offer Unparalleled Developer Support
- The Importance of Developer Outreach
- Email and Social Media
- Event Hosting and Attendance
- Documentation and Knowledge Bases
- Conclusion
-
Accumulating Feedback: 4 Questions API Providers Need to Ask Their Users
- Why Feedback is Important
- What Do You Expect From This API?
- What Is Your Greatest Frustration with the API?
- Why Did You Choose Our API?
- If You Could Change Our API, How Would You?
- Methods to Use for Accumulating Feedback
- Think As a User
-
How to Hold a Killer First Hackathon or Developer Conference
- Types of Get-Togethers
- What is a Hackathon?
- What is a Developer Conference?
- What’s the Difference?
- How to Host an Event
-
What Makes an API Demo Unforgettable?
- 1: Describe the API, in a few words.
- 2: Convince we all share the same values of the API
- 3: Impress with how great and easy your API is
- 4: Interact with the audience
- 5: Live coding mastery
- 6: A theater-like script
- Preparation for potential technical flaws
- Conclusion
-
Case Study: Twitter’s 10 Year Struggle with Developer Relations
- 2006 - 2010: The early days
- 2010 - 2012: OAuthcalypse, competing with third party apps and other perceived betrayals
- 2012 - 2013: Token limits and open war on traditional clients
- 2013 - Present: Post-IPO controversies
- Wooing back developers
- New releases and optimism going forward
- Other social networks
-
Day in the Life of an API Developer Evangelist
-
Review
- TL;DR Checklist
- Endnotes
Authors have earned$10,261,184writing, publishing and selling on Leanpub, earning 80% royalties while saving up to 25 million pounds of CO2 and up to 46,000 trees.
Learn more about writing on Leanpub
The Leanpub 45-day 100% Happiness Guarantee
Within 45 days of purchase you can get a 100% refund on any Leanpub purchase, in two clicks.
See full terms
Free Updates. DRM Free.
If you buy a Leanpub book, you get free updates for as long as the author updates the book! Many authors use Leanpub to publish their books in-progress, while they are writing them. All readers get free updates, regardless of when they bought the book or how much they paid (including free).
Most Leanpub books are available in PDF (for computers), EPUB (for phones and tablets) and MOBI (for Kindle). The formats that a book includes are shown at the top right corner of this page.
Finally, Leanpub books don't have any DRM copy-protection nonsense, so you can easily read them on any supported device.
Learn more about Leanpub's ebook formats and where to read them
Top Books
- #1
C++20
Rainer GrimmC++20 is the next big C++ standard after C++11. As C++11 did it, C++20 changes the way we program modern C++. This change is, in particular, due to the big four of C++20: ranges, coroutines, concepts, and modules.
- #2
500 QUIZ MMG COMMENTATI
ALS Medicina Generale500 Quiz degli ULTIMI Concorsi di Medicina Generale (2014/2016/2017/2018/2019)
Riassunti e suddivisi per area con Griglia risposte vuota e Griglia risposte esatte Ministeriale
Commentati con link alla fonte per approfondimento e ausilio allo studio
- #3
R Programming for Data Science
Roger D. PengThis book brings the fundamentals of R programming to you, using the same material developed as part of the industry-leading Johns Hopkins Data Science Specialization. The skills taught in this book will lay the foundation for you to begin your journey learning data science. Printed copies of this book are available through Lulu.
- #4
Ansible for DevOps
Jeff GeerlingAnsible is a simple, but powerful, server and configuration management tool. Learn to use Ansible effectively, whether you manage one server—or thousands.
- #5
Atomic Kotlin
Bruce Eckel and Svetlana IsakovaFor both beginning and experienced programmers! From the author of the multi-award-winning Thinking in C++ and Thinking in Java together with a member of the Kotlin language team comes a book that breaks the concepts into small, easy-to-digest "atoms," along with exercises supported by hints and solutions directly inside IntelliJ IDEA!
- #6
Continuous Delivery Pipelines
Dave FarleyThis practical handbook provides a step-by-step guide for you to get the best continuous delivery pipeline for your software.
- #7
C++ Best Practices
Jason TurnerLevel up your C++, get the tools working for you, eliminate common problems, and move on to more exciting things!
- #8
Visualise, document and explore your software architecture
Simon BrownA short guide to visualising, documenting and exploring your software architecture.
- #9
Discrete Mathematics for Computer Science
Alexander Shen, Alexander S. Kulikov, Vladimir Podolskii, and Aleksandr GolovnevThis book supplements the DM for CS Specialization at Coursera and contains many interactive puzzles, autograded quizzes, and code snippets. They are intended to help you to discover important ideas in discrete mathematics on your own. By purchasing the book, you will get all updates of the book free of charge when they are released.
- #10
Functional Design and Architecture
Alexander GraninSoftware Design in Functional Programming, Design Patterns and Practices, Methodologies and Application Architectures. How to build real software in Haskell with less efforts and low risks. The first complete source of knowledge.
Top Bundles
- #1
Software Architecture for Developers: Volumes 1 & 2 - Technical leadership and communication
2 Books
"Software Architecture for Developers" is a practical and pragmatic guide to modern, lightweight software architecture, specifically aimed at developers. You'll learn:The essence of software architecture.Why the software architecture role should include coding, coaching and collaboration.The things that you really need to think about before... - #2
Software Architecture and Design Practice Reference
2 Books
Dive deeper in Software Architecture with the Design Practice Reference. Learn all about software architecture and design from the books in this bundle:Software Architecture covers topics from quality attributes to designing and modeling components, interfaces, connectors, and containers, all the way to services and microservices. The Design... - #6
Linux Administration Complet
4 Books
Ce lot comprend les quatre volumes du Guide Linux Administration :Linux Administration, Volume 1, Administration fondamentale : Guide pratique de préparation aux examens de certification LPIC 1, Linux Essentials, RHCSA et LFCS. Administration fondamentale. Introduction à Linux. Le Shell. Traitement du texte. Arborescence de fichiers. Sécurité... - #7
The Python Craftsman
3 Books
The Python Craftsman series comprises The Python Apprentice, The Python Journeyman, and The Python Master. The first book is primarily suitable for for programmers with some experience of programming in another language. If you don't have any experience with programming this book may be a bit daunting. You'll be learning not just a programming... - #8
All the Books of The Medical Futurist
6 Books
We put together the most popular books from The Medical Futurist to provide a clear picture about the major trends shaping the future of medicine and healthcare. Digital health technologies, artificial intelligence, the future of 20 medical specialties, big pharma, data privacy, digital health investments and how technology giants such as Amazon... - #10
Mastering Containers
2 Books
Docker and Kubernetes are taking the world by storm! These books will get you up-to-speed fast! Docker Deep Dive is over 400 pages long, and covers all objectives on the Docker Certified Associate exam.The Kubernetes Book includes everything you need to get up and running with Kubernetes!
