Evangelism NOW

(With thanks to the EvangeList, a Macintosh advocacy group who kept the plaform alive when the rest of the world assumed it was going to be killed by microsoft (sound familiar?)) Okay, troops. We have a product rollout. We have the critical mass. Let's make some noise! How? By putting PHP in front of the media, in as many ways as possible, on as many sites as possible. 1. Rather than hiding your php code in parsed .html files, consider the following extensions in your web server's config: .php .php3 .php4 .zend .phpeatsaspforbreakfast 2. Bugs, tags, visual awareness: There are downloadable graphics to stick all over your website available from php.net and zend.com. http://www.php.net/download-logos.php has some outdated ones, but they new ones are sprinkled throughout the site. 3. Whitepapers and memos. This is simple. Just mention that there is a new PHP release in your normal correspondance. Let *them* ask the why and how... just give 'em enough to be curious. 4. The lost-client promo. You know that rediculous bid, the one you'll never win? Bid it for way too much, but emphasize that you will _only_ use PHP, for stability and security reasons. You won't get the customer this time around, but if they go with ASP, in six months they may be back, _and_ willing to pay more to get more stability and security. Much more. :-) If not, you've made them think in terms of using PHP for the higher-end sites, relegating other software to being "unprofessional" tools. 5. Never underestimate the power of a signature. Some folks are so desparate for a new link to click on that they'll be happy to follow your sig. Stick php4 in there, eh? 6. Documents, documents, documents. There is now a small web of pro-php journalism, keep the URL's bookmarked. Send them out often to those who have never heard of PHP. Do _not_ send them to http://www.php.net/news.php As it's "obviously going to be biased". So insulate them from that fear, by *not* sending them there. :-) 7. Invisible "slashdotting" (a big EvangeList technique). Every time there's a survey on web technology, take it, and vote pro-php. It's a few minutes that may double your earnings potential if PHP becomes the next "killer app" (ok, for some, it already is. :-) ). Every time you find a PHP reference in a forum, post to it. Even a me too post gets counted as "activity". If there's a survey, a media link from a pro-PHP site, _visit it_. It increases the hit counters, which makes those who pay for the media (the advertisers) happy. So more articles are written, more advertisers ask to be on PHP website stories. It's a happy circle fueled by a click in a window you can even _ignore_, as long as you *take that first click*. 8. Advertise your _own_ pro-php sites. Submit them to yahoo, to metacrawler, to all of the serch engines you can imagine. Make sure you submit a chunk of *HTML*, non-dynamic, pages, so the robots and spiders can index them. 9. Make you media outlets proud. If there's a local news show or website which mentions php, let the list know, so _we_ can all visit it. If there's a misinformed media piece, let the list know, so we can all give them a piece of our minds. 10. Grumble quietly, proclaim loudly! Any tidbit of disagreement is easily picked up by the magazine managers, the list lurkers, who are trying to decide between php and C-CGI/Perl-CGI/ASP. So _think_ before you post. Ask youself if you are phrasing your questions, your problems, your gripes, in such a way that clients of *yours* would be willing to use PHP after seeing your problem/gripe/complaint. Is your tone harsh? Is your criticism constructive? If your boss walked in the next day, with _your_ post in hand, and asked you to get rid of PHP and use ASP, would you be willing to do it? -Ronabop PHP4 is out! http://www.php.net/