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I have too many domains registered and too many unfinished side projects on my "ideas" folder.

Sometimes it is because I have no time, sometimes it is because I lose interest. But many times, I don't know how to test if the idea has a good market fit. Where I find users for my app, how I create interest? Is this project worth my time, or is it an idea that nobody wants?.

I have spoken with many developers, and almost all of them have this problem.

Market fit, idea validation, promotion, target customer, and sales are part of the marketing strategy. People tend to associate marketing with infomercials and the 5 seconds ads in front of a Youtube video. But the reality is that marketing is much more than that.

Marketing gives you the tools to understand who your customers are, where they are and how to talk to them. And that is key if you want the success of your product, service, side project, and even yourself.

And that is why that every developer should learn more about digital marketing. Maybe you have an amazing idea that it's sitting on your desktop or maybe you want a better job and more opportunities.

I see marketing as an extra tool to achieve those goals. And for me as a developer, I see it as learning a new programming language or technology.

For that reason, I started the Digital Marketing Nanodegree on Udacity. I don't want to become a marketing guru or write articles on how to make your next million, but my goals are:

• How to validate ideas
• How to find potential customers
• How to communicate with those customers
• How to promote my products

I'm just starting, so far, I have learned how to create my ideal customer and to use social media effectively. And I have a lot of work to do, but like any new programming language that I learned. I'm experimenting with it and seeing what works and what doesn't works for me.

There are many resources on digital marketing out there. Many of them are free:

• Hubspot Academy
• Moz Learning

If you want to take it to the next level the Udacity Digital Marketing Degree has everything that you want to know.

So what are you waiting for?