I remember the first days of my love of music. I can still feel the nascent rush of a new song, unknown notes and chords and ideas flowing into my brain. I remember my dad carefully tuning the dial on his Panasonic receiver, the matte-black set wiring patchy signals to wooden-boxy Yamaha speakers. I remember that vibe, man! To a child, this was indistinguishable from magic. As an adult, the feeling miraculously remains.
If you’ve ever spent any time reading marketing or business blogs, there’s a good chance that you’re familiar with the concept of the “funnel.” For the uninitiated, this is essentially a process for visualizing how people on the internet go from being complete strangers, to customers, to evangelizers of your product. Hardly the most stimulating idea, it does help businesses visualize their place in the market, their customer segments, and how well the sales process is moving along.