Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 13, 2019

Ineffective and expensive marketing campaigns. We all know team members who work long hours, but are short on measurable output. Be sure to attach employee bonuses and even overtime opportunities to measurable business results.

Technical Review 306

Technical Review Metrics Social Media Channel 306

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 11, 2013

In a business plan these are called marketing campaigns, which continue to rise in cost. Here are three elements of most viral marketing campaigns: Hire brand evangelists. In general a well-executed viral marketing campaign can cost anywhere from $100K to many millions.

Viral 249

Viral Marketing Entrepreneur SEM 249

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 5, 2020

Anticipate the agenda of others, mobilize your resources, negotiate buy-in and support, and get things done to sustain momentum in your campaign. In all cases, the key words for countering criticism and moving things forward are anticipate , mobilize, negotiate , and sustain.

Technical Cofounder 315

Technical Cofounder Cofounder Mobile Leadership 315

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 13, 2012

In a business plan these are called marketing campaigns, which continue to rise in cost. Here are three elements of most viral marketing campaigns: Hire brand evangelists. In general a well-executed viral marketing campaign can cost anywhere from $100K to many millions.

Viral 238

Viral Cost Marketing SEM 238

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 12, 2017

If you are an entrepreneur these days, or trying to grow an existing business, everyone is telling you that you need to use social media. There are many ‘experts’ out there telling you how to do it, or even offering their services.

Social Media 174

Social Media Media Campaign Metrics 174

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 9, 2020

It takes a long immersion in the marketplace for someone to be a true insider, understand the subtleties of the competitive landscape, recognize the people who are true assets (independent of titles), and look through the propaganda of technical collateral and PR campaigns. These people also have the credibility to attract investors.

Technical Cofounder 308

Technical Cofounder Cofounder Advisory Board Stock Options 308

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 4, 2021

PPC experts charge you to research, analyze, and estimate hit ratios, to optimize your success and set a campaign spending budget for you. Campaign setup and ad copy writing. Other PPC experts will track your campaign from click to transaction, providing you with detailed reports on and return on investment (ROI).

Search 385

Search Engineer PPC Widget 385

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 21, 2022

The power and influence of paid media advertising, including print ads, TV commercials, radio, and even online digital campaigns is waning, in favor of unpaid earned and owned messaging from your website, social media, key market influencers, and existing customer word-of-mouth. Short-term wins.

Marketing 319

Marketing Framework Social Media Metrics 319

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 21, 2011

In a business plan these are called marketing campaigns, which continue to rise in cost. Here are three elements of most viral marketing campaigns: Hire brand evangelists. In general a well-executed viral marketing campaign can cost anywhere from $100K to many millions.

Viral 225

Viral Marketing SEM Startup 225

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 16, 2023

You can start an SEM campaign with as little as $50 today and get results very quickly. In all cases, it is crucial to set specific goals for each lead-generation campaign, keep track of the overall costs and measure the return on your marketing investment in terms of cost-per-action and cost-per-sale. Social-media advertising.

Lead Generation 285

Lead Generation SEM Viral Marketing 285

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 6, 2023

Worldwide, more than fifty campaigns since then have exceeded the $10 million dollar mark, despite targets as low as $20K. Increasingly I’m seeing startups in talks with bigger investors after a successful crowdfunding campaign, as fund managers scout platforms for interesting ideas and teams.

Angel Groups 201

Angel Groups Accredited Investor Due Diligence Equity 201

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 29, 2021

The days of big-bang long-term campaigns that never change are over. The message here is that big blockbuster campaigns, and big marketing budgets, are no longer the key to results in new customer environment, where participation and relationships are key. Scale quickly on good feedback, and move on if you get little engagement.

Customer 420

Customer Marketing Social Media Campaign 420

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 21, 2023

Start a crowdfunding campaign online. Here people make online pledges to your startup during a campaign, to pre-buy the product for later delivery, give donations, or qualify for a reward, such as a tee-shirt. Use online platforms like Gust to find them, and local networking to find ones that relate to your industry and passion.

Equity 266

Equity Startup Small Business Administration SBA 266

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 25, 2020

Worldwide, almost fifty campaigns since then have exceeded the $10 million dollar mark, despite targets as low as $20K. Increasingly I’m seeing startups in talks with bigger investors after a successful crowdfunding campaign, as fund managers scout platforms for interesting ideas and teams.

Equity 411

Equity Angel Groups Accredited Investor Due Diligence 411

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 9, 2019

Yet overall more than two-thirds of crowdfunding campaigns do not meet their monetary goal and have to return anything they do collect. In most cases, a crowdfunding campaign can be rolled out more quickly, and earlier in the development cycle than a campaign to find professional investors.

Non-disclosure Agreement 299

Non-disclosure Agreement Angel Investor Bootstrapping Startup 299

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 16, 2018

Opportunities include anyone bringing in a new customer, sharing the load in a social media campaign, or representing the company for a good social cause. Team members who see others outside the marketing staff rewarded for their efforts will be motivated to participate.

Technical Review 178

Technical Review Marketing Due Diligence Social Media 178

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 1, 2012

Done right, it’s not a one-off campaign by a handful of staff; it’s a long-term commitment. Find the right people to staff your campaign and curate its content and evolution. Gone are the days when companies could put up a website that sat on the screen like an electronic business card.

Social Media 233

Social Media Media Lead Generation Startup 233

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 27, 2016

Don’t forget to account for the time and cost of crowdfunding campaigns. They forget about the platform fee -- typically 5 percent -- taxes on pledges, preparation and social media commitment to prepare and execute the campaign, and the give-back required if you don’t meet your goal.

Non-disclosure Agreement 120

Non-disclosure Agreement Intellectual Property Technical Review Vesting 120

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 29, 2020

Start a crowdfunding campaign online. Here people make online pledges to your startup during a campaign, to pre-buy the product for later delivery, give donations, or qualify for a reward, such as a tee-shirt. Use online platforms like Gust to find them, and local networking to find ones that relate to your industry and passion.

Equity 436

Equity SBA Small Business Administration Syndication 436

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 4, 2023

Constraints are the best motivators for finding new approaches to solving a problem, building a product, or crafting an effective marketing campaign. Rethink or reframe the challenge. Perhaps success itself needs to be redefined or reframed. Every entrepreneur needs to avoid locked-in ways of thinking. Let your constraints drive innovation.

Campaign 282

Campaign Business Model Entrepreneur Technology 282

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 26, 2010

In a business plan these are called marketing campaigns, which continue to rise in cost. Here are three elements of most viral marketing campaigns: Hire brand evangelists. In general a well-executed viral marketing campaign can cost anywhere from $100K to many millions.

Viral 141

Viral Cost Marketing SEM 141

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 20, 2020

You can start an SEM campaign with as little as $50 today and get results very quickly. In all cases, it is crucial to set specific goals for each lead-generation campaign, keep track of the overall costs and measure the return on your marketing investment in terms of cost-per-action and cost-per-sale. Social-media advertising.

Lead Generation 365

Lead Generation SEM Customer Marketing 365

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 19, 2018

Anticipate the agenda of others, mobilize your resources, negotiate buy-in and support, and get things done to sustain momentum in your campaign. In all cases, the key words for countering criticism and moving things forward are anticipate , mobilize, negotiate , and sustain.

Technical Cofounder 168

Technical Cofounder Founder Cofounder Mobile 168

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 24, 2014

For a startup, it’s impossible to run an effective Facebook, Twitter, content marketing, and Google AdWords online campaign all at the same time. Claiming you have no competition also implies lack of focus, or you don’t have a business. Prioritize marketing channels. Focus on one channel at a time, measure results, and then move to the next.

Entrepreneur 257

Entrepreneur Technical Review Angel Investor China 257

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 4, 2010

Done right, it’s not a one-off campaign by a handful of staff; it’s a long-term commitment. Find the right people to staff your campaign and curate its content and evolution. Gone are the days when companies could put up a website that sat on the screen like an electronic business card.

Social Media 212

Social Media Media Startup Curation 212

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 12, 2023

Viral marketing campaigns to lure new customers will cost you big money. It's far less expensive to nail down repeat business from your existing customers than it is to land new ones. Now is the time to reap the benefits of those good customer relationships that you've been cultivating. Focus on your core competency.

Viral 232

Viral Revenue Distribution Campaign 232

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 10, 2023

Everybody wants to do the fun stuff: shuck and jive with the beautiful people, and create fun marketing campaigns. Innovation is a hard, messy process with no shortcuts. The reality of marketing. More accurately, marketing is the process of convincing people that they need your product. That’s not so easy or fun. The reality of communicating.

Entrepreneur 247

Entrepreneur Non-Compete Startup Cloud 247

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 7, 2020

You can invest small amounts in someone else’s “can’t-fail” crowdfunding campaign, or support a friend, without jeopardizing your financial future. Perhaps you will decide that the world still isn’t ready for your vision of the future. You may also calibrate your own level of commitment.

Silicon Valley 315

Silicon Valley Entrepreneur Stock Options Flash 315

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 23, 2013

Here people make online pledges with their credit cards during a campaign, to pre-buy the product for later delivery, if it is ever built. No financial return should be anticipated, but contributors should enjoy the feeling of doing good. Pre-order crowd funding. Kickstarter is the big player in this space.

Intellectual Property 247

Intellectual Property SEC Venture Capital Equity 247

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 14, 2021

Any one of these can be the key to an amazing advocacy, or the beginning of an aggressive visible campaign against you. Both are part of the relationship that you build with your customers through a compendium of all the interactions you have with them. The world today is small, and there is no room to hide. Marty Zwilling.

Customer 427

Customer Social Media Public Relations Internet 427

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 27, 2013

For a startup, it’s impossible to run an effective Facebook, Twitter, content marketing, and Google AdWords online campaign all at the same time. Claiming you have no competition also implies lack of focus, or you don’t have a business. Prioritize marketing channels. Focus on one channel at a time, measure results, and then move to the next.

Startup 257

Startup Technical Review Angel Investor China 257

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 24, 2019

The power and influence of paid media advertising, including print ads, TV commercials, radio, and even online digital campaigns is waning, in favor of unpaid earned and owned messaging from your website, social media, key market influencers, and existing customer word-of-mouth. Short-term wins.

Media 238

Media Cost Framework Social Media 238

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 18, 2018

It takes a long immersion in the marketplace for someone to be a true insider, understand the subtleties of the competitive landscape, recognize the people who are true assets (independent of titles), and look through the propaganda of technical collateral and PR campaigns. These people also have the credibility to attract investors.

Technical Cofounder 144

Technical Cofounder Cofounder Advisory Board Startup 144

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 19, 2020

Everybody wants to do the fun stuff: shuck and jive with the beautiful people, and create fun marketing campaigns. Innovation is a hard, messy process with no shortcuts. The reality of marketing. More accurately, marketing is the process of convincing people that they need your product. That’s not so easy or fun. The reality of communicating.

Entrepreneur 435

Entrepreneur Non-Compete Cloud Campaign 435

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 21, 2020

Viral marketing campaigns to lure new customers will cost you big money. It's far less expensive to nail down repeat business from your existing customers than it is to land new ones. Now is the time to reap the benefits of those good customer relationships that you've been cultivating. Focus on your core competency.

Viral 430

Viral Revenue Cloud Distribution 430

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 23, 2021

Constraints are the best motivators for finding new approaches to solving a problem, building a product, or crafting an effective marketing campaign. Rethink or reframe the challenge. Perhaps success itself needs to be redefined or reframed. Every entrepreneur needs to avoid locked-in ways of thinking. Let your constraints drive innovation.

Startup 410

Startup Campaign Business Model Entrepreneur 410

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 11, 2014

It takes a long immersion in the marketplace for someone to be a true insider, understand the subtleties of the competitive landscape, recognize the people who are true assets (independent of titles), and look through the propaganda of technical collateral and PR campaigns. These people also have the credibility to attract investors.

Technical Cofounder 245

Technical Cofounder Cofounder Advisory Board Startup 245