A Smart Bear: Startups and Marketing for Geeks

OCTOBER 11, 2010

We're better than everyone else at SEO.". "A We're going to use an affiliate program so our customers sell it for us.". WhenBusy is a bootstrapped startup that lets people schedule meetings with you in currently-available time-slots without you having to share your calendar [disclosure: I'm an advisor]. Frightening honesty.

Software Review 261

Software Review Technical Review Viral Software Developers 261

ConversionXL

MARCH 31, 2021

Customer interviews allow you to uncover: Why they decided to do business with you; Why they love working with you; What other challenges they have in their business; Where they go for new information. Your customers can provide you with pain-points to write about, as well as success stories to attract new clients.

Audience 127

Audience Non-Compete Distribution Channel 127

A Smart Bear: Startups and Marketing for Geeks

NOVEMBER 14, 2011

SEO is extremely powerful, but it takes time. Those higher costs make learning to write ads, manage campaigns, A/B test, and design landing pages a very expensive activity for an early stage, bootstrapping startup. You can add surveys, but online text ads are just not a high-fidelity connection with a customer.

Campaign 272

Campaign Software Review Brazil Conversion 272

ReadWriteStart

SEPTEMBER 10, 2010

This company provides a crowdsourced customer service solution to enterprises. Gio pitched it to me as a crowdsourced BPO, but I think he will have more success if he simply focuses on customer service as his core value proposition. They already have several customers including some telcos, and are at about $350,000 in revenues.

Cloud 115

Cloud Silicon Valley Incubator Finance 115

The Next Web

DECEMBER 30, 2012

We create the best experience for creating personalized books, cards and calendars then our customers pay us for these products. We continually improve these experiences to build more value for our customers. In other words, advertisers pay to present special offers to our customers. – Ben Rubenstein , Yodle.

Business Model 133

Business Model Technical Review Advertising B2C 133

crowdSPRING Blog

APRIL 25, 2014

The Ultimate List of Customer Development Questions – crowdspring.co/1nHT6tS. The Ultimate List of Customer Development Questions – crowdspring.co/1nHT6tS. How to Build a Billion Dollar SEO Empire – crowdspring.co/1jrrtm7. 7 Reasons You Can’t Be Friends With Your Employees – crowdspring.co/1jrrWok.

Social Media 92

Social Media Small Business Design Media 92

Hearpreneur

MARCH 21, 2021

I took an opportunity selling food trucks and noticed the industry needed improved customer service. At 4Patriots we wanted to present our customers with an enhanced feeling of freedom and self-reliance. 17- To introduce custom software products. Thanks to Kaz Amor, VoCê Haircare ! #9- Photo Credit: Kamron Kunce.

Entrepreneur 139

Entrepreneur Technical Review Acquisition Software Review 139

ReadWriteStart

NOVEMBER 19, 2010

First is that there are, perhaps, a thousand people in the world of entrepreneurship who know what they are doing when it comes to dealing with issues like financing, positioning, market sizing, customer validation, customer acquisition and other seemingly obvious topics that all entrepreneurs need to deal with. Rangrut.com.

Silicon Valley 114

Silicon Valley Technical Review Startup Early Stage 114

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 20, 2012

One of the many things you become expert at when you launch your own company and have no money is SEO. Tracy studied SEOMoz and several other online sources of SEO tips. She not only became an expert in SEO, she began consulting in SEO to continue to make ends meet and she became a speaker on the topic.

Silicon Valley 363

Silicon Valley Cofounder Entrepreneur Startup 363

crowdSPRING Blog

DECEMBER 3, 2010

9 Step SEO Checkup Using Google Webmaster Tools – [link]. Being bad to your customers is bad for business – [link]. Bootstrapping is Bullshit – [link]. Being bad to your customers is bad for business – [link]. Groupon, Cinderella and Opportunity – [link]. Will Freemium Work for You?

Social Media 93

Social Media Small Business Design Media 93

ReadWriteStart

JANUARY 26, 2012

So, Eric will need to create a method with which to get to paying customers before any investor would invest. This is a compelling idea, because many restaurants that have experimented with Groupon-like services have often been overwhelmed with unprofitable customers showing up during peak hours. Investors rarely fund concepts.

Jacksonville 114

Jacksonville Florida PPC Programming 114

Duct Tape Marketing

JUNE 27, 2017

As a bootstrap company without investors we always have to use cash flow as our development and maintenance funds. We got to thousands of customers and millions in recurring revenue. We started seeing the writing on the wall, I’d say at least a year ago where, again, you’ve got to listen to your customers.

Community 39

Community SEO Technical Review Audience 39

Hunter Walker

JUNE 10, 2016

HW: All of the social platforms claim to help small businesses and brands amplify their voice, find their customers. SEO is crucial as well. We’re convinced all amazing images coming from the studio generate customers and impact to bottom line. We’ve bootstrapped since we launching.

Technical Review 50

Technical Review Equity SBA Software Review 50

Hunter Walker

JUNE 10, 2016

HW: All of the social platforms claim to help small businesses and brands amplify their voice, find their customers. SEO is crucial as well. We’re convinced all amazing images coming from the studio generate customers and impact to bottom line. We’ve bootstrapped since we launching.

Technical Review 48

Technical Review Equity SBA Software Review 48

ConversionXL

MAY 27, 2022

Bootstrapped startup Omnisend carved out a $19 million niche in an already saturated vertical. A demand generation manager’s responsibilities involve creating and distributing targeted content ( blog posts , podcasts, and thought leadership) that educates potential customers on solving common challenges relevant to their product or industry.

Lead Generation 107

Lead Generation Demand Audience eCommerce 107

Duct Tape Marketing

APRIL 6, 2022

Well, Steve Hoffman (02:34): First of all, I did three venture funded startups in Silicon valley and two bootstrap startups. Even when you have no money or very little money, get them committed to you, get investors committed, get customers committed. So I know what it's like. That is the role of the CEO in an early stage company.

San Francisco 97

San Francisco Technical Review Incubator Silicon Valley 97

Software By Rob

FEBRUARY 2, 2011

Long Half-life – SEO, email subscribers, RSS subscribers, Facebook fans (in some instances). Given the above we can gather some interesting realizations: Realization #1: If you’re bootstrapping, don’t plan to advertise. This means learning SEO, and building email and RSS (and potentially Facebook) subscriber lists.

Viral 55

Viral Software Review RSS Bootstrapping 55

A Smart Bear: Startups and Marketing for Geeks

JANUARY 13, 2015

and 5%” or “cost to acquire a customer between $50 and $500″ or “average monthly revenue per customer between $20 and $200.” Their product has a few usage tiers; on average a customer spends $50/mo. So they’ll need 1666 customers to achieve their revenue target. So what can be shifted?

Business Model 120

Business Model Affiliate Startup Bootstrapping 120

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 18, 2012

Do basic Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and Marketing (SEM) yourself. Now you can get a product built in China almost overnight with minimal up-front cost, with delayed payment based on first-customer order commitments. Skip the IT consultants and build an entry website yourself to save $50K. Sales and marketing costs.

Cost 255

Cost Burn Rate SEM Startup 255

YoungUpstarts

OCTOBER 24, 2018

To get the full scoop on all of the above, you may need to purchase some product demos or go through a trial to get a true 360-degree experience of your competitors and target customers alike. Unless you have some serious startup capital, chances are you’re going to want to bootstrap as much as you possibly can. Figure Out Your Budget.

Intellectual Property 124

Intellectual Property Due Diligence Startup Social Media 124

A Smart Bear: Startups and Marketing for Geeks

OCTOBER 23, 2012

But all that investment in growth and sales force didn’t have a long-term payback, and the actual value of the product to small businesses wasn’t as high as claimed, even though the simplest of customer development reveals this fact (ask any restauranteur).

IPO 240

IPO Flash Bootstrapping Private Equity 240

A Smart Bear: Startups and Marketing for Geeks

MAY 10, 2010

At the same time, they also run television ads (with celebrities), are expert at SEO and AdWords, built a user-friendly web site, and do tech support for consumers. To see this done right, consider Threadless , a bootstrapped marketplace matching people seeking unique T-shirts with people who invent them. Solve the seller side first.

Business Model 310

Business Model Finder SEO Bootstrapping 310

The Next Web

NOVEMBER 16, 2013

A few years ago, this is where you would sink all your hard earned bootstrap cash – but these days our friends at Amazon have given you a bunch of free hosting and space to get your next venture launched at no cost. So far we have ticked off the first two, but now we need to work out how to get smiles on our customers’ faces.

Cofounder 159

Cofounder Analytics Java PHP 159

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 15, 2011

Do basic Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and Marketing (SEM) yourself. Now you can get a product built in China almost overnight with minimal up-front cost, with delayed payment based on first-customer order commitments. Skip the IT consultants and build an entry website yourself to save $50K. Sales and marketing costs.

Entrepreneur 235

Entrepreneur Burn Rate SEM Social Network 235

Duct Tape Marketing

MAY 25, 2017

What’s the Difference Between Small Business and Large Enterprise SEO? It’s important to note that just because the approaches to SEO are different, this doesn’t mean that small- and large-sized businesses can’t compete in search rankings together. In Search of SEO Success. Basic rules for good SEO.

SEO 56

SEO Small Business Metadata Software Review 56

Gust

JUNE 10, 2012

Do basic Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and Marketing (SEM), like cohort analysis , yourself. Now you can get a product built in China almost overnight with minimal up-front cost, with delayed payment based on first-customer order commitments. Skip the IT consultants and build an entry website yourself to save $50K.

Cost 139

Cost Burn Rate SEM Startup 139

The Next Web

SEPTEMBER 1, 2013

Whether you’re bootstrapping or have just secured a round of funding – chances are you want to attract as many customers to sign up for your product/service. Blogging champions as the #1 method for increasing traffic, with SEO in second place ( HubSpot ). This post was originally published on Paymill’s blog.

eCommerce 147

eCommerce Startup B2B Audience 147

Hearpreneur

OCTOBER 20, 2017

Besides the general focus on customer and product development, an entrepreneur should foresee the next moves that will serve to guide him on the right path.When an entrepreneur can forecast his next moves, even his/her employees become part of the moves the business makes. 1- Converting more leads and offering more SEO packages.

Forecast 57

Forecast Artificial Inteligence Entrepreneur SEO 57

blog.traindom.com

NOVEMBER 29, 2010

Traindom Traindom Customer Login Sign Up Affiliates Support Information Marketing Conversations 36 places where you can submit your startup for some coverage October 4th, 2010 § 45 Photo used under Creative Commons from theparadigmshifter So you have a new startup company and want some coverage. Here are my lists.

Technical Review 63

Technical Review Startup Software Review PR 63

VC Cafe

OCTOBER 24, 2011

Here is a 60-second tour of IM Creator: IM Creator is bootstrapped with $250k from the founder Jonathan Saragossi, and a few unknown angel investors. Service includes integrated Google Analytics, SEO tools, and on-demand customer service. IM Creator also allows users to create customized Facebook pages. mo or $5.95/mo

Coder 87

Coder Angel Investor Web Bootstrapping 87

Hippoland

AUGUST 8, 2018

One thing I’ve noticed is that almost every repeat, previously-successful-founder focuses on the same thing for their respective startups: customer acquisition. Very simply, your cost to acquire a customer needs to be lower than the value of that customer (lifetime value). Forget about traction and hockey stick growth.

Founder 48

Founder Sales Cycle Affiliate Retention 48

Hippoland

AUGUST 8, 2018

One thing I’ve noticed is that almost every repeat, previously-successful-founder focuses on the same thing for their respective startups: customer acquisition. Very simply, your cost to acquire a customer needs to be lower than the value of that customer (lifetime value). Forget about traction and hockey stick growth.

Founder 48

Founder Sales Cycle Affiliate Retention 48

Software By Rob

MARCH 26, 2015

I decided it was time to put pen to paper and lay out what I see as a repeatable path with a higher-than-normal success rate, to bootstrapping yourself to the point of quitting your job. In my case, that meant getting good at SEO with my first project, instead of trying to learn SEO, Adwords, Facebook ads, etc. all at once.

Bootstrapping 41

Bootstrapping Technical Review SEO Revenue 41

ReadWriteStart

OCTOBER 14, 2010

I want to know how many customers exist out there who would be likely buyers of the O-Port products, at what price-point, and what does that add up to? David should use his credibility in capacity planning and convince a dozen customers to pay him consulting fees to solve their capacity planning problems. 30 million market?

Bootstrapping 114

Bootstrapping Marketing Angel Investor Silicon Valley 114

ReadWriteStart

NOVEMBER 12, 2010

He needs to target a customer who could use all of the related services offered. an advertising and mobile services company that has subscribers and vendors as customers. Last up, Adarsh Jain pitched Fippy, a Web-based interface offering consumers customized mobile phone numbers in India. He discussed Bongo Live! ,

Tanzania 128

Tanzania Africa Entrepreneur Startup 128

Up and Running

NOVEMBER 27, 2017

Certain questions can reveal whether your initial business concept fits into the nature of subscription businesses: Would your business make your customer’s life easier? Maybe they are providing affordable razor blades in a convenient manner that saves customers money, and also solves the pain point of forgetting to pick up blades.

Curation 68

Curation Business Model SEO Social Media 68

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 13, 2010

Do basic Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and Marketing (SEM) yourself. Now you can get a product built in China almost overnight with minimal up-front cost, with delayed payment based on first-customer order commitments. Skip the IT consultants and build an entry website yourself to save $50K. Sales and marketing costs.

Burn Rate 125

Burn Rate SEM Social Network Angel Investor 125