"Being a complete product nerd..." describes your dilemma. IMHO the barrier countless many people face is psychological - creating a product is the cool and geeky (read: intelligent) thing to do; marketing is for the less talented people. Well, I'm here to tell you this: the moment you decide to derive gain (and not necessarily financial gain alone) you switch hats from being simply a geek to being a businessman(woman).

Marketing is not an option - it is a NECESSITY.

Great marketing can propel a mediocre or second rate product to dominance over a demonstrably superior rival(s)- (microsoft, coke , kardashian kids, Im looking at you)... Alternatively, it can serve to unlock the potential of a truly valuable offering (Dyson,google,Star wars, I pad)

I would take your idea one step further: once you have your product up and running, ALL your time not spent on critical maintenance tasks should be spent on marketing until the product is entrenched.