Which aspects of our marketing do you think we could improve?
Hi Norm, it’s a tough slog for such a small business, but I think that Blocs is such a great product and so few people seem to know about it compared to RealMac.
Your After Effects videos are amazing, but don’t seem to get the traction they deserve.
One thing Realmac did well was create an eco system, with a number of developers acting as ambassadors for the platform, with Stacks Devs. I know we have some people creating Brics, but we don’t seem to have anyone with as loud a voice as Joe Workman did, for example.
One issue with that could be that Blocsapp is just a bit too good out of the box lol. I think the only ‘must have’ is maybe VOLT CMS, but that’s arguable if people want to explore the Wordpress integration?
I can see you’re making an effort with social media, but there doesn’t seem to be a defined strategy, or set days for posting.
There does seem to be a growing community here, so maybe that could be leveraged - spotlight some power users, showcase some great websites created in Blocs with a bit about the process from start to finish (showcase pages with a list of links just seem a bit lame - I know RealMac did this).
Some faces could be great, though I know not everyone is comfortable. Podcast appearances - people are crying out for guests.
Leverage the made in the UK angle or better still, made in the North East! I got quite excited to know that the app I use is made about 40 minutes drive from my house. How many local agencies could be using Blocs?
I don’t know if you get to any local networking events or things like that, but it just seems as though you could maybe make some connections so that you have people screaming your message for you.
I hope I’m not teaching you to suck eggs or that you think I’m being negative. I just want your business to carry on and prosper so I can carry on using it.
3 Likes
Hi @Bazza720
GREAT post and you are right - Blocs needs to be out there more……how etc is all down to marketing and the biggest way I can see is paid marketing or more full time marketing for Blocs.
I know @Eldar had a made in Blocs website but I do think a page on the home page showcasing websites built in Blocs would be good.\
The videos @Norm showcasing in Blocs are videos are of the highest quality I have ever seen and yes they do truly deserve a lot of traction.
Like all business its a hard market out there and it can take a lot of money to get you to the top more………I do my best by telling and sharing Blocs to friends, and people I know who develop.
I think a great target is Blocs for iPad - even though I use my Mac, I think traveler’s, students, Bloggers can pull an iPad out and BLOG and do all things easy on the fly - I would love to see more Videos on this area as this could be the key to huge sales/subscriptions…I know @Eldar is working on more iPad videos in the future and they are brilliant courses.
Looking forward to seeing what is going to happen in 2026 !!!
3 Likes
I am a hard core RW user for years. All my website have been build with it. Blocs grabbed my attention with the ease of use. Right now I am developing my latest client project with it. I think for basic sites is ok, but RW has way way more variety of stacks that blocks does not. Just compare how many different menu styles you can have from various developers. This is the big difference - while blocks is great out of other box and RW sucks, the add-ons and stack makes RW way more robust. Also it seems for a lot of styling Blocs rely on classes and those are not very intuitive.
Both Blocs and RW are great, it depends on the case use which one is best.
1 Like
We need more third party Bric developers.
Period.
Rich the Weather Guy
Agreed… perhaps Norm could send a friendly message to some of the dissatisfied RW/Stacks Devs out there, & invite them on board? With Stacks Pro also seemingly no closer to fruition, seems like Blocs is one of the few comparable alternatives to RW for Devs & users alike.
With every hosting platform now providing AI website builders, Blocs really needs to step up in order to compete with the hosters… (not Elements)!
1 Like
The example of the RW+stacks community is significant because it’s been around for many years.
This has also allowed us to understand the different types of users, and if the target isn’t defined, comparisons risk being misleading.
RW alone ( with themes)
RW with stack plugins ( with themes)
RW with stack plugins + framework
RW with stack plugins + framework + project made by a designer (not a dev)
If you look for similarities with current apps, including Elements, you’ll likely find those using frameworks on stacks.
I think long-term success depends on how the native app evolves, providing native tools and taking care of the design and web designers, which is the only feature missing from all the apps mentioned and which doesn’t come at a cost.
Statistically, there are many more programmers than designers, and work like this is the ideal ambassador to promote the app to an audience of designers who will in turn contribute.
obviously this is just my opinion 
3 Likes
I agree with that. I used RW/Stacks/Framework (and additional addons) for many years, it allowed the creation of websites with a significant design advantage over what became the de facto standard for design.
I used to use Flash, a lot. Websites that used Flash pushed the interactive and design standard for aesthetics. Flash became defunt, and Wordpress became hugely popular quickly for its ease of use to the average person. That is something that I feel made design aesthetics stall or even go backwards and we beacme stuck for what is now twenty years of a website being text, picture, text, picture… Because of its ease and more or less anybody could create a website with Wordpress, that became standard and has dictated design with the toolset it offered.
Bit like how in the 90s, if you wanted a small business, small run brochure or leaflet creating you went to a small design shop found in every town run by somebody with some design experience. Then Microsoft Word got in the hands of everyone, these small design and print shops closed as folk created their own with Word Art and centred paragraph text like a menu leaflets or newsletters. I do feel Wordpress in a simiar way created a design defacto with what it offered as its toolset.
RW/Stacks/Framework/Additional Addons enabled a breakout from this, by putting many high end interactive and design tools in the hand of the designer and provided the option of either something quite unique or text, picture, text, picture the choice was there. But that is the key point RW/Stacks/Framework/Additional Addons provided this. I really like Blocs as it stands now and where it is always evolving. You can create a simple website easily or you can integrate full blown external content created in specialist web tools and bring them in (relatiuvely) easily oruse some exquisite internal features that have been added, Interactions opened so much scope. The more that Blocs integrates natively for high end and complex features that enable interactivity and wider design scope, whilst remaining loyal to people that just want to create a simple website with ease for their own purposes, the stronger it will be going up side by side to the de facto and more widely established website builders. Having that edge is a strong and stealthy software on the market.
Phew! That was a brain dump, sorry, I’ve had two cups of coffee
1 Like
Hi Norm, loving seeing your face on the recent videos. You don’t seem to be automatically posting to Instagram (just followed you). If you haven’t connected your accounts in Meta, it’s definitely worth doing - you can also set up your Instagram account to automatically post to Pinterest - so from one post, you can get on to three platforms.
As fear as the vids are concerned, I’d keep them under 60 seconds, do vertical and get a ring light and a lav mic.
Try to tag other people so you can tap into their audience as well (@Eldar not sure about your social presence, but there could be some potential to benefit you both?).
Also Linkedin could be worth looking at for local connections and TikTok is great for outreach if you do go vertical.
All of these can be scheduled. Be consistent (couple of times a week or whatever’s manageable) and you’ll see growth in the views.
I hope this is useful rather than critical. Keep up the good work.
5 Likes
Some great suggestions in there. Might start applying a few of them myself 
Thanks for sharing.
3 Likes
Hi Barrie,
Great recommendations! 
As for myself, I am not much on social media, but I do post quite often on my Blocs Master YouTube channel. Many years ago, I was also posting to my personal channel, but now it’s not about web design (it’s about iPad, but I do showcase Blocs almost in all of my videos these days 
). I put all of the Blocs related videos into Web Design playlist here. I think over the years I have brought many thousands of potential users to Blocs, and I have talked to many 100s of them in private.
Excited times ahead for Blocs, and I am feeling super positive about where this year will take it! 
Cheers,
Eldar
7 Likes
I think the videos are absolutely brilliant and we need to keep them coming in.
I’m not sure I’m keeping them under 60 seconds as I do like the information as it’s a bit of an instructional video too maybe videos can be chopped up as a short in portrait for shorter socials like Instagram with a link to the bigger video on YouTube.
I’m not too fussed on the lighting or the sound to be 100% perfect at this current moment, it looks and sounds great - I’m more happy on getting these delivered and showcase but yes moving on possibly a small clip on Rode mic or I’ve even heard some of the basic ones on Amazon have great quality too…IF you want to deliver more perfect. But sounds good as it is to me.
I would personally create a one second rotating blocs logo or something at the start and finish - let’s get the name of blocs out there.
Can’t wait to see what else will be delivered!
Oh one little request @Norm -@helen can we see a few random Nintendo figures making cameo appearances on the background!!! or the odd game case making an appearance behind you! 
Poor Toad looks a little lonely and running away from Gizmo! - I’m probably the only person looking at these!!! - as I get older the inner child is making me smile!
2 Likes
We have a few other types of videos planned for shorter form content.
I’m already using a RØDE Lavalier II clip-on (its just off screen) with a portable Tascam recorder. If I uploaded the original Studio Display audio you would hear the difference instantly.
Of course, our office building is filled with lots more, so you can be sure to see more toys in future videos! 
3 Likes
Oh no you’re not. Instant happiness when I saw Gizmo 
4 Likes
I have been waiting for Gizmo to get a shout out!
1 Like
Nice kit ! - yeah, the sound quality is good - nothing needs to change there at all.
Love todays update on forms - great work
3 Likes
After spending over 20 hours in Blocs for my new project, I’ve noticed one significant thing: Blocs has never crashed. This is a testament to the software’s robust construction and design. Good job!
8 Likes