Startup Lessons Learned

SEPTEMBER 22, 2008

In this model, you take some fraction of the lifetime value of each customer and plow that back into paid acquisition through SEM, banner ads, PR, affiliates, etc. For example, its always nice to have someone constantly optimizing your SEM accounts, driving down your CPA. But its not really viral growth, even when its exponential.

San Francisco 167

San Francisco CPA SEM CTO Hire 167

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 19, 2015

Almost every online business I know (eCommerce, online software, mobile games) invests heavily in “customer acquisition” This includes investments often not properly measured (SEO, PR, Social) as well as costs that people measure more precisely (advertising, SEM, FB CPA/CPI ads). But you don’t need to spend money on SEM.

SEM 150

SEM Los Angeles Silicon Valley Acquisition 150

Startup Lessons Learned

NOVEMBER 7, 2008

Dont worry about selecting particularly good keywords, if youre new to SEM. SEM only gets at one segment of users, and for a brand new product, you presumably need some skill at marketing in general and adsense in particular to get any useful info. Just put in your credit card. I used to use $.05,

Demand 167

Demand San Francisco Lean Continuous Deployment 167

searchengineland.com

MAY 30, 2012

News & Features. Enterprise SEM. Overview: What Is SEM? SEM Columns. Our SEM Events. How To: SEM / Paid Search. This can also take the form of, “In the New York times article last week about Urbanspoon…”. EBook: Cross Channel Marketing. Internet Marketing News & Strategies.

SEO 54

SEO SEM Social Media Search 54

Startup Lessons Learned

SEPTEMBER 7, 2008

I dont see any reason why having the team offshore is any more of a liability in this area than, say, having to do this work while selling through a channel (and hence, not having direct access to customers). I do have faith that, whatever situation you find yourself in, you can always find ways to increase the speed of iteration.

Customer Development 131

Customer Development Engineer San Francisco Developer 131

Startup Lessons Learned

SEPTEMBER 18, 2008

There are other models, in other distribution channels. If you sell an online service that solves a defined problem, you can compete in SEO or SEM. If your site is consistently ranked #1 for a given search term, you can make it very hard for someone else to compete for new customers. Take a look and let me know what you think.

Distribution 74

Distribution San Francisco Lean Continuous Deployment 74

Startup Lessons Learned

MARCH 13, 2009

Again, its critical to focus your marketing launch on those publications, venues, and channels that your potential partners are paying attention to. New York Times, Wall Street Journal, CNN, the works. Dont chicken out and do a closed beta; get real customers in through real renewable channels. Dont scale. Great article.

San Francisco 168

San Francisco PR Lean Early Stage 168