Lots of coders ... How to use coding as tool for marketing

I reckon I would keep them coding. With that down time from coding your projects you might benefit by allowing them to code an idea of theirs in which they can have a 'stake' in a shared ownership of the software.

One downside would be some coders would quickly decide to strike out on their own becoming a sort of competition. However a few coders, like any skilled employee, will strike out own their own regardless.

Upside is allowing coders to keep coding improves their skills. Another benefit, with a shared interest project they also take more ownership in the company, even if this is perceived, it builds loyalty.

I realize you are seeking a marketing angle in answers, I'm thinking coders, well, they write code. Consider, programmers often make lousy marketers. Getting them to think more like marketers might prove frustrating for you, and them.

Anyway, just thought.

Ask them to work on some projects that they are truly interested in their free-time. This is how Google launched some of their products like Orkut which is now defunct.

What kind of coding are you talking about? PHP, css? html? or C++ and others... you can do a lot, depending on your goals and what you want to achieve

but it sounds to me like you don't have any clear, specific, measurable goals...

Since I'm not sure what your other product are, it's going to be hard to identify marketing channels that would be closely aligned with the stuff you're selling.

You could go that route if you release free themes and plugins that can be placed in the Wordpress repository. There's a built-in source of traffic and people are always looking. You can also get some free publicity from blogs if they list your plugin as a resource to do XYZ.

The downside to releasing anything free is the issue of support. This can be a huge time-suck especially as it relates to a free Wordpress/theme plugin in the repository.

Lot's of freebie seekers and newbies having questions. The plugin can conflict with other plugins on their site, they could have hosting issues, etc.

Hot Scripts - The net's largest PHP, CGI, Perl, JavaScript and ASP script collection and resource web portal. is another option for any type of free or even paid script since once again, they have their own traffic.

Another option would be going the Envato route and utilizing on of their sites to sell various templates, themes, scripts, or plugins: Envato - Our Sites and Services. They have traffic and do most of the heavy lifting for you in regards to marketing. They have a ton of affiliates already in place which makes for go exposure.

With all three of these sites/options they will allow you to place the demos somewhere on your domain. This will lead to traffic and some backend sales of your other products if you play it right.

But again, just make sure you take into account support time and don't be afraid to "fire" people who download the free stuff but demand a ton of hand-on support or endless back and forth. You can do it in a nice way, but it's all about ROI even if it's free.

Do some Wordpress plugins targeting the IM niche and sell them on Clickbank or as a WSO

Cheers,

C.G.

I think you could create some nice Wordpress templates and sell them on themeforrest. Take a look at the current popular ones there.

They have a lot of functionalities, but if your team is good, you can probably beat them since those themes from themeforrest are done by just one person, not a whole team.

Doug has good advice, let them build free tools which they want to but keep them align with your company goal. For example, if you are a php development company, why not build some command line utility for php frameworks ? this way, you will contribute to open source, will get credibility in market and you will be surprised how many new clients you will get through this (see lullabot as example)