I'm not sure that anyone answered your question.
But yeah, marketing questions so long as they're about marketing your software and you are the prime marketer of your software are on topic since they're about 'business concerns' and even moreso when they're about freelancing. My question is probably off topic since it was asked purely as a reaction against Embarcadero not sending us any T-Shirts and questions like that are better off on the edn forums than here.
Here's some guiding principles:
- Don't ask a question for your marketing department.
- The question should be more about how to make your software more palatable to the markets.
- Questions about logos, design, demos etc.. belong on graphic design / UX StackExchanges
However, I can't see how a question like
"Who should I give the good swag to at trade shows" wouldn't be on topic, there's probably some facts about it as well as some psychology, the only problem is the "Swap out car with software" issue, which is a fallacy if you take it to an extreme.
and in a tangential way, my question might be on topic, if it had to do with a practical question I faced, like whether or not I should give out swag. What I really want to know is, should I feel ripped off that I didn't get a t-shirt for my company buying Delphi. The answer is, no one can tell me whether or not I should feel ripped off. But in reality, I only ought to feel ripped off if it doesn't actually make worthwhile iPhone/Mac/64bit apps - which I have yet to find out.
But it's annoying when people answer a request for facts with, you shouldn't feel that way, I really want to know if something changed in the last 2-3 years with the distribution of swag and if it is something I, as a programmer for a small business who has some (albeit limited) input in the distribution of swag, should know about for the betterment of my company.