They have options

In Silicon Valley, engineers, like hot chicks, are the ones who are being pursued. They have their pick of the litter (jobs) and are coveted by multiple suitors (companies).

No means no (except when it doesn’t)

When and engineer describes something as “impossible”, this is code for “leave me alone, i’m trying to play starcraft”. You are going to have to ask more than once. Similarly, when a hot chick says no to a date at first, it pays to be persistent.

They are the gatekeepers

To get anything done, you need to procure “engineering resources” for your pet project. For this you need to secure “buy in” from engineering. Hot chicks are a different kind of talent and also need to be “bought in”.

They get good benefits

Good engineers command top salaries and stock options. Hot chicks get benefits like cars and credit cards.

They are in short supply

Good engineers, like hot (and smart) chicks, are a rare breed. Once you find a good one, it pays to hold on.

“The conversion rate is similar to paid search,” he says of Criteo’s retargeted display ads. Retargeted ads are typically clicked on four times more than a traditional run-of-site banner ad, he estimates.

This is all well and good, but when I going to be able to re-target the visitors to my competition?

e.g If I am Target.com, I can re-target visitors across the web who have visited BestBuy.com and offer them a competing offer on a product they have viewed at BestBuy.com or a coupon for $$ off their order.

Best Buy will not be pleased that the data they are sharing to power their own re-targeting campaign is being used against them, but the end user benefits with a better price, and net sales are increased as a result, creating a win for both the merchant (who makes the sale, the user and the advertising network).

Case and point: Grilled Cheese Sandwiches have a whopping 212,686 fans who are willing to self-identify as Grilled Cheese Sandwich lovers on Facebook!

If most people are not willing to “self-identify” as being a fan or user of your product than you are not alone. It is the rare exception where a product is so fantastic or speaks to a certain demographic in such a way that the users feel compelled to broadcast their affinity to others in their social spheres.

A great example of a product that people self-identify with is the Apple iPod, not only is it an incredibly sexy product but it is made by a company with tremendous customer affinity and good will.

The iPod has 341,820 fans on Facebook.

By comparison Viagra has a flaccid (yes i said flaccid) 368 fans on Facebook.

While I picked an especially un-sexy (or sexy, depending on how you look at it) product to make the point, the same is true of countless other products and services. If people are not willing to self-identify as users of your product than you are going to have a tougher time promoting your product organically.

But don’t be dismayed if you are selling an unsexy product. The silver lining here of course is that there is usually a negative correlation between the propensity of people to self-identify with your product and the actual profitability or value being delivered. Products like the iPod, again, being the rare exception.

While few are willing to admit their affiliation with online dating sites like Match.com, 789 fans on Facebook.

A whopping 1,255,505 are fans of Mojitos!

I’m willing to guess that there is a strong correlation between people who have tried Match.com and are ALSO fans of Mojitos….but these numbers shed some light on the discrepancy in the willingness of people to self-identify with each product.

Start your mining with a nifty tip via Eric Ries.

Take out an Ad on Facebook/Adwords using the name of the market leader “This Company” and measure the clickthrough rate on the ad.

Ad Copy: “This Company” Sucks

Postlets is a web service to post your apartment/housing ad easily to many different marketplaces.

Quibblo provides numerous user-generated quizzes, polls and surveys that can be completed on the Quibblo homepage or through distributable widgets.

RepairPal offers a price estimator for car repairs, a directory of local mechanics, expert car advice, and an online service record.

Avvo is a website that rates and profiles every lawyer, so you can choose the right lawyer. Avvo delivers the information and guidance you need to help you make this important decision.

Since these sites all service un-sexy niches (classified fliers, user generated quizzes, car repair and legal advice) they don’t get much attention, but someone must be using them.

Cuil is a stealth search engine startup which claims that it can index web pages significantly faster and cheaper than Google.

Outcome: Fail

Wolfram Alpha is building a computational knowledge engine for the web to be launched in May 2009. The product will contain data in various fields including physical sciences, technology, geography, weather, cooking, business, music, etc. Outcome: Success?

Blekko is a search company founded by Rich Skrenta and his core team from previous company Topix and Netscape’s Open Directory. Blekko was founded halfway through 2007 and has already earned itself an angel….

Outcome: TBD

Lesson Learned: Even if your ambition is to take on Google, don’t position yourself as a “Google Killer”