Ben's Blog

MAY 15, 2020

This episode explores how to think about growth in turbulent times, according two growth experts: a16z general partner Andrew Chen, who previously led the growth team at Uber, and Brian Balfour, formerly the VP of Growth at HubSpot, now the founder and CEO of Reforge, a masterclass in growth strategies. ” We have to watch our cash.

Founder 36

Founder Conversion Technical Review Cash Position 36

ConversionXL

JULY 10, 2014

Now, depending on your competitive landscape, and how “locked in” a customer might be, you might be better off partnering with a third party to collect the results. Another thing I like to do is get away from their branded channels and see what conversation is being had in “unmonitored” communities.

Software Review 72

Software Review Lead Generation Design Campaign 72

Feld Thoughts

JUNE 3, 2011

Once a quarter my partners ( Seth , Ryan , Jason ) and I spend 48 hours together. When we reflect on the 37 companies we’ve invested in since we raised our first Foundry Group fund in 2007 , we’re delighted with the mix of companies and entrepreneurs we are working with. Our conversation shifted to 2015.

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Syndicate Syndication Distribution Early Stage 129

Duct Tape Marketing

JUNE 3, 2011

Lead generation in this content driven social model is still a metered blend of advertising, public relations and referrals, but social is the mechanism driving the discovery and the conversation surrounding this powerful form of lead acquisition. The key to the effectiveness of this approach resides in building the organic side first.

Small Business 61

Small Business PPC Social Media Public Relations 61

Duct Tape Marketing

JUNE 13, 2011

Free Weekly Marketing eNewsletter Years Worth of Posts Here Select Month July 2011 June 2011 May 2011 April 2011 March 2011 February 2011 January 2011 December 2010 November 2010 October 2010 September 2010 August 2010 July 2010 June 2010 May 2010 April 2010 March 2010 February 2010 January 2010 December 2009 November 2009 October 2009 September 2009 (..)

Small Business 71

Small Business Customer Marketing New York 71

Duct Tape Marketing

MAY 23, 2011

Sure, people converse with their friends and fans, but the real power of understanding how to network lies in reaching out to people you don’t already know and finding common ground to expand your network. You can also simply put out a call to Like your page through this option.

Small Business 78

Small Business Social Media Networking Engineer 78

Duct Tape Marketing

JUNE 18, 2011

Keepstream – tool that allows you to organize and publish an archive of things on Twitter such as events streams, specific conversations or a product launch and then embed the conversation on your site. Also makes a great way to share a conversation about a client to help them understand the buzz.

Small Business 58

Small Business Marketing Social Media RSS 58

Duct Tape Marketing

JUNE 14, 2011

Use traditional broadcast and print advertising to drive prospects to a series of free online videos that educate, entertain and inform – oh, and build know, like and trust. Note: There have been some updates since I published th. 5 Practical Tips for Gett. : As the importance of Facebook as small business marketi. 5 Steps to Successful Fac.

Small Business 67

Small Business Lead Generation Social Media Advertising 67

Up and Running

NOVEMBER 5, 2014

Before 2007, when a handful of companies may have gone after the same piece of business, now scores of them are, meaning we all have to work longer and harder, and in some instances we do so for the same, or even a lesser, amount of revenue. End the conversation with, “It was so nice to have spoken with you. Keep up the conversation.

PR 138

PR Networking Social Media Differentiation 138

Duct Tape Marketing

JUNE 27, 2017

We had started that, and again you’re right, you and I had a conversation because of course you have this network of talented consultants and our friend Michael Port same thing. Every year since ’98 was the year of mobile and it didn’t really happen until the iPhone 2007. There’s some congruency here.

Community 39

Community SEO Technical Review Audience 39

Duct Tape Marketing

JUNE 27, 2011

The Picture Perfect Ideal Customer Filling the Gap Between Generation and Conversion Finding Your Ideal Client Posted by : John Jantsch on Jun 27, 2011 | 6:55 am Category : Marketing Strategy Tag : ideal client Popular Posts Adding the Facebook Like. Does this have some truth for you? Note: There have been some updates since I published th.

Social Media 70

Social Media RSS Engineer Public Relations 70

Duct Tape Marketing

APRIL 21, 2011

While most businesses use a marketing model that tends to lean heavy on the desire to go from know us to buy from us, any business that fills each of these seven touchpoints will be well on their way to finding and keeping customers that become part of the lead generation and conversion team.

Marketing 69

Marketing RSS Social Media Lead Generation 69

Duct Tape Marketing

JUNE 17, 2011

Bonus: Group Text Don’t forget about the wave of group text services that are cropping up as a great way to communicate with your staff, customers, partners and suppliers. The key feature these services offer is that the group text becomes a conversation for all and most allow you to go beyond to text and add images (MMS).

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SMS Marketing Mobile Social Media 72

Duct Tape Marketing

JUNE 30, 2011

I had a great conversation recently with Derek Sivers , founder of CDBaby and author of Anything You Want. jepoirrier via Flickr It’s not that the owner’s thinking is flawed, it’s that most of knowledge, mission, vision and basic how to do stuff stays locked up there.

Small Business 60

Small Business Marketing Social Media Programming 60

Duct Tape Marketing

MAY 13, 2011

The entire post in question can be read below) What I’m suggesting mostly is that it’s not that giving away free content or hosting free online seminars is a bad thing.

Community 64

Community Social Media RSS Engineer 64

Duct Tape Marketing

MAY 10, 2011

A word of caution is in order here: You can’t use this approach unless a) you really believe that partner is best of class and you would refer them to your best clients and b) you have something to offer that partner that is truly referral worthy.

Small Business 57

Small Business Marketing Engineer Social Media 57

Duct Tape Marketing

APRIL 25, 2011

You should also add a series of routine systems and tools to all of your campaigns, calls to action and Web pages as striking the right balance of elements, colors, words, and images can send your conversion rates soaring with very time and money invested. Below are some tools to consider adding to your arsenal. 5 Practical Tips for Gett. :

Small Business 65

Small Business Marketing Social Media Web 65

Duct Tape Marketing

MAY 20, 2011

He is currently a founding partner at Ninety Five 5 (Less Nonsense – More Sales). Michael Schultz Mike Schultz, author of Rainmaking Conversations , is President of RAIN Group, a sales training , assessment, and performance improvement company, and publisher of RainToday.com.

Small Business 52

Small Business Marketing North America Social Media 52

Duct Tape Marketing

APRIL 27, 2011

Shift the conversation to places where the competition can’t—or won’t—go. Some of my favorite strategic approaches from the book include: Win in the last three feet. Leverage someone else’s investment—just be there the moment the customer grabs their wallet. Create “thin ice” arguments. Fight unfairly.

Small Business 58

Small Business RSS Marketing Social Media 58

Duct Tape Marketing

MAY 20, 2011

They are not salespeople and find the whole conversion process a little daunting. I Hate Selling, So Now How Do I Convert Leads 1 Many business owners attract sales leads, but feel uncomfortable converting those leads into paying clients. If that sounds like you, fear not, (literally.)

Small Business 53

Small Business North America Social Media Matching 53

Duct Tape Marketing

APRIL 28, 2011

Start looking for ways to create and document a marketing system that you can teach others to run and remove yourself from the lead generation and conversion game. If a potential buyer can see how they too could operate your marketing system, even after you the owner is long gone, you’ll build value.

Marketing 65

Marketing Valuation Differentiation Lead Generation 65

Duct Tape Marketing

MAY 20, 2011

Michael Schultz Mike Schultz, author of Rainmaking Conversations , is President of RAIN Group, a sales training , assessment, and performance improvement company, and publisher of RainToday.com. Conversations make the difference in sales success. Mike can be reached at mschultz@raingroup.com or on Twitter @Mike_Schultz.

Small Business 33

Small Business Green Social Media Matching 33

Duct Tape Marketing

MAY 20, 2011

He is currently a founding partner at Ninety Five 5 (Less Nonsense – More Sales). Stop converting and start conversing about whether working together can produce the results and relationships you both value. If it is a good fit, then together you can do good things, have fun, and make some money. Is that so hard?

Small Business 44

Small Business Social Media Matching RSS 44

Duct Tape Marketing

MAY 6, 2011

Peer to Peer Lead Conversion What Becomes the Long Way Home 3 Simple Ways to Empower Your Customers to Sell For You New Facebook Groups Could Be Big for Business Posted by : John Jantsch on May 06, 2011 | 7:41 am Categories : Duct Tape Marketing , Vision Tag : mastermind groups Popular Posts Adding the Facebook Like.

Small Business 58

Small Business Marketing Social Media Engineer 58

Duct Tape Marketing

MAY 20, 2011

After sharing a bit about the business outcomes you’ve helped other customers achieve, see if it makes sense to continue the conversation. You may or may not be a good fit. Remember, it’s about their business, not your offering. Help them think about how to make the best decision for their organization.

Small Business 45

Small Business Social Media Matching RSS 45

Duct Tape Marketing

MAY 19, 2011

Be sure to include an item of interest from your meeting or conversation—a joke or a shared moment of humor. Let the original referrer know how the conversation went, and express your appreciation for their help. It’s about what you might be able to do for them. It’s about giving them a reason to want to follow up. Make it automatic.

Social Media 40

Social Media Programming Small Business RSS 40

Duct Tape Marketing

MAY 16, 2011

Look for numbers like sales, units, leads, presentations, page views, downloads, and conversion rates. Develop measurement to set your marketing goals so you can track and measure your progress. The management happens with the following up on the metrics. You track plan vs. actual results and look carefully at the difference.

Marketing 41

Marketing Matching Social Media Cofounder 41

Duct Tape Marketing

MAY 19, 2011

But what would happen if, instead of ending with the sales conversation; the new customer, you began with the customer purchase? You are addicted to acquisition as you cast out that wide net, which just happens to be full of holes. And you’re not alone.

Social Media 32

Social Media Retention Acquisition LLC 32

Duct Tape Marketing

MAY 19, 2011

Hope is not a marketing strategy. Instead, consider that leads come from many different methods.

Social Media 44

Social Media Small Business Matching Reputation 44

Hearpreneur

APRIL 24, 2016

I’ve been a dating and relationship coach for over 8 years and what I learned personally as I dated between my two marriages (and is the reason I met and married my husband in 2007) and what I continue to learn from my clients is ‘We attract the type of person we believe we deserve.’ It was at this point things hit me.

Naming 48

Naming Entrepreneur PR Spain 48

ConversionXL

SEPTEMBER 24, 2012

This was in 2007. It was several years later when I identified this as ‘driving conversions’ , which is what I specialize in today ). The job was building relationships with partners and advertisers and to sell advertising. Partnering for products. I called it The One Question. Time matters.

Panama 124

Panama Africa Internet Email 124

om.co

FEBRUARY 5, 2013

He is a venture partner at True Ventures. It is something I talk about often, but mostly with my team members and in one-on-one conversations. Conversations with some of my fellow bloggers (thanks Rafat and Mike) only convinced me that it was time to jump into the deep-end. Om Malik is the founder of GigaOM.

Founder 80

Founder Conversion Distribution Silicon Valley 80

maplebutter.com

JANUARY 8, 2013

What is the best advice you can give for finding a business partner? Don’t quickly choose any business partner. The key is to ask the right people what they think – not your friends, parents or partner. Create a strong brand, solid social community, sell advertising. Especially if you need to quickly choose someone.

Technical Review 44

Technical Review Startup Cofounder Software Review 44

Feld Thoughts

DECEMBER 9, 2015

There would be no generational planning, no transitions to younger partners, and no senior partner hold-outs who would hang onto economics well after they had stopped working. We also had a long conversation about our GP fund investing strategy. This was a bold move, as we only had one commitment at the time.

Later Stage 70

Later Stage Early Stage Advisory Board Deal Flow 70

Reid Hoffman

JUNE 8, 2021

You can listen to the conversation on the Greymatter podcast here. Greylock Partners · Brian Chesky | People-First Capitalism. And it was 2007. And I think one of the things that we’ve learned is, when I came to Silicon Valley in 2007, we were starting Airbnb in 2008, it was a marketplace. EPISODE TRANSCRIPT.

Silicon Valley 69

Silicon Valley Hosting Rhode Island Design 69

VC Adventure

DECEMBER 9, 2015

There would be no generational planning, no transitions to younger partners, and no senior partner hold-outs who would hang onto economics well after they had stopped working. We also had a long conversation about our GP fund investing strategy. This was a bold move, as we only had one commitment at the time.

Later Stage 48

Later Stage Early Stage Advisory Board Deal Flow 48

Reid Hoffman

JUNE 8, 2021

You can listen to the conversation on the Greymatter podcast here. Greylock Partners · Brian Chesky | People-First Capitalism. And it was 2007. And I think one of the things that we’ve learned is, when I came to Silicon Valley in 2007, we were starting Airbnb in 2008, it was a marketplace. EPISODE TRANSCRIPT.

Silicon Valley 36

Silicon Valley Hosting Rhode Island Design 36