A Smart Bear: Startups and Marketing for Geeks

MAY 3, 2010

Instead of "disruptive" say "72% of our customers say they'll never go back to a normal email client.". My favorite way to start a sales pitch is to make fun of typical sales pitches. Quick: Come up with a compelling new philosophy for human interaction and global communication, marketing, sales, and relationships!

Software Review 279

Software Review Technical Review Security Advertising 279

A Smart Bear: Startups and Marketing for Geeks

JANUARY 25, 2010

Examples: Make a sale on the tradeshow floor. I frequently get a few sales just from the presentation. The sales guy you see at the counter screws things up. Emails probably work. Because you can use the tradeshow's name in the subject of the email, people will probably read your email blast. Yes meetings!

Software Review 287

Software Review Sales Email Naming 287

A Smart Bear: Startups and Marketing for Geeks

DECEMBER 12, 2011

Remember, tech support is sales ! There’s enough crap you’re having to figure out without also having to decipher an email. Instead, prepare an email template that asks the applicant to write a few paragraphs on a few topics. Yes you can ask them by email but often being in-person brings out more information.

Hiring 282

Hiring Employee Ruby Java 282

A Smart Bear: Startups and Marketing for Geeks

NOVEMBER 25, 2016

form-factor and browser/email experience) than for it to shore up weaknesses (e.g. In the first example of whether to implement feature X or Y, I boiled it down to “both increase sales, but only one also increases differentiation.” This is true personally, professionally, and in Product.

Differentiation 120

Differentiation Framework Restful Software Review 120

A Smart Bear: Startups and Marketing for Geeks

JULY 2, 2013

You can’t just “decide” to avoid working on sales and marketing and still have a business that you can rightly claim is more stable than a job. But yes, in the words of Ben Horowitz , “Some employees make products, some make sales; the CEO makes decisions.” Does it mean you decide your working hours?

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Cofounder Startup Founder Engineer 312

A Smart Bear: Startups and Marketing for Geeks

OCTOBER 4, 2017

Marketing isn’t scheduling a launch and recruiting isn’t timing the start-dates of the next 50 hires in customer service and sales. We didn’t line up that press and have those sales materials and ensure code-quality high enough to scale on day one, without predictability. “Email” is not the answer.

Government 223

Government Startup Cofounder Technical Support 223

A Smart Bear: Startups and Marketing for Geeks

MARCH 1, 2010

What would a sales call look like, starting with your 30-second pitch, then dealing with skeptical questions, trying to earn this potential customer's interest, respect, and eventually money, all with only one advantage? You should go through this exercise because this skill is valuable in every sales call. Doesn't that sound nice?

Open Source 239

Open Source Dilution Software Developers Software Development 239

A Smart Bear: Startups and Marketing for Geeks

AUGUST 28, 2012

To get your question answered , email me at asmartbear -at- shortmail -dot- com. Here’s a sample email that I’d use myself. If you have any questions or concerns at all, please reply to this email or call ${phone}. This is part of an ongoing startup advice series where I answer (anonymized!)

Software Review 240

Software Review Technical Review Email Revenue 240

A Smart Bear: Startups and Marketing for Geeks

AUGUST 30, 2010

A VA can be domestic or international, as long as they have a computer and an email account. How about reminder emails? Could a human being run a report once a month and send emails or charge credit cards? Customers make it necessary to put processes in place for marketing, sales, support, and back-end admin tasks.

Software Review 284

Software Review Startup Technical Review Hosting 284

A Smart Bear: Startups and Marketing for Geeks

FEBRUARY 14, 2012

To get your question answered , email me at asmartbear -at- shortmail -dot- com. product that barely worked, no sales organization (except tech support, which often works better anyway ), and I just hoped they’d run a credit card. This is part of an ongoing startup advice series where I answer (anonymized!) I had a $39.95

Customer 231

Customer Software Review IP Technical Review 231

A Smart Bear: Startups and Marketing for Geeks

AUGUST 29, 2011

Mostly you get only peeks into how bad it really was, like a post-mortum private email to me personally, riddled with valid complaints and specific injustices that had been inflicted upon the hapless customer, exacerbated by our indifferent silence broken only by callous human contact. I know it happens. I’ve seen it at WP Engine.

Technical Review 236

Technical Review Software Review Reputation Sales Cycle 236

A Smart Bear: Startups and Marketing for Geeks

JULY 11, 2010

This post serves as a hyperlinked table of contents, so either bookmark this page or subscribe by email or RSS to get notified when new articles get posted. You have all sorts of shortcomings: First startup, inexperienced, ignorant about how "sales" works, buggy software, whatever. Pretending your faults don't exist.

Elevator Pitch 325

Elevator Pitch RSS Startup Software Review 325

A Smart Bear: Startups and Marketing for Geeks

OCTOBER 11, 2010

We'll have an email address so people can communicate with us without picking up the phone.". For example, here's what the founder's ( Josh Baer ) availability looks like: Instead of trading emails with lists of available time-slots, Josh just sends the link to this page and the other person uses the product to schedule a meeting.

Software Review 261

Software Review Technical Review Viral Software Developers 261

A Smart Bear: Startups and Marketing for Geeks

MAY 14, 2013

That implies it’s wise to optimize — there’s more sales for you there, and it’s easier and cheaper to optimize an existing campaign than to start up a new one. You might even experience some cost savings (per signup) as part of your optimization — bonus! We don’t have a lot of inventory left.

Affiliate 282

Affiliate Marketing Campaign Channel 282

A Smart Bear: Startups and Marketing for Geeks

AUGUST 23, 2010

Of course you're going to position your company with a unique offering: exclusive features, a distinctive culture, a refreshing pricing plan, an innovative sales strategy, etc. If they don't already know they have the pain, the sales process is going to be excruciating. "No one is doing it like we are.".

Software Review 275

Software Review Technical Review Software Advertising 275

A Smart Bear: Startups and Marketing for Geeks

AUGUST 29, 2011

The following week she sent me this email (my emphasis): Ever since accidentally stumbling upon lean startup 1+ years ago, I’ve struggled to implement the principles correctly. Use that rolodex to set up meetings and sales calls, but don’t assume you know what they’re going to say.

Lean 269

Lean Software Software Developers Software Development 269

A Smart Bear: Startups and Marketing for Geeks

APRIL 28, 2014

As the founder of WP Engine, I receive weekly emails from startups proposing a “win-win” deal. Large company should send a few emails to the customer base, generating easy sales at no cost, and the revenues are split. So far, approximately zero have resulted in an successful deal.

Startup 293

Startup Hosting Distribution Revenue 293

A Smart Bear: Startups and Marketing for Geeks

MARCH 11, 2014

We use email; we use Word; we use task manager; we use a file sharing tool. Meetings are definitely one of those places, but email is another primary way that that comes in. So that’s a very simple way of saying it’s task management, but it’s getting rid of emails that of course no one wants emails.

Technical Cofounder 220

Technical Cofounder Cofounder Software Review Management 220

A Smart Bear: Startups and Marketing for Geeks

NOVEMBER 21, 2011

You are coordinating customers by email. Those are the things that we have to do, and that’s what email for. There are things you can get for sales force if you use salesforce.com. So, for example, if you’re in a company with a thousand sales people, using salesforce, I also guarantee you they are not using Gmail.

Widget 204

Widget Cofounder Technical Review Software Review 204

A Smart Bear: Startups and Marketing for Geeks

APRIL 12, 2010

It's hard to explain" should not be a standard part of your sales pitch. We took a simple problem (when server rooms get hot, the gear fails) and provided a simple solution (thermometer with a web page that emails/pages you if it's too hot). You just need to try it" and "trust me" don't cut it.

Technical Review 243

Technical Review Software Review Engineer Search 243

A Smart Bear: Startups and Marketing for Geeks

JANUARY 11, 2010

And depending on your startup’s market, traditional marketing (paper spam, email spam, sales visits, shows, conferences, display ads, etc.) It happens to be a very happy circumstance that we can now translate time via social marketing (blogs, Twitter, Facebook and all the rest) into sales. may still have some residual value.

Entrepreneur 225

Entrepreneur Social Media Software Web 225

A Smart Bear: Startups and Marketing for Geeks

MAY 23, 2011

It took 6 months to get that deal and we just emailed 70,000 AppSumo.com customers and 6 whole buys two hours after the email went out. Okay, let me see the hate emails we got “this deal is a piece of shit and you guys are scammers” and some loyal customers emailing “really disappointed in you Noah, hope next deal is better.”.

Argentina 316

Argentina Email Web SEO 316

A Smart Bear: Startups and Marketing for Geeks

FEBRUARY 21, 2012

To get your question answered , email me at asmartbear -at- shortmail -dot- com. Probably technical with no sales or business experience, so they need someone for that role.) You don’t mind travel; what kind of biz dev or sales requires overseas travel that you can do cold but the founders would be bewildered?

Hiring 230

Hiring Washington Startup Matching 230

A Smart Bear: Startups and Marketing for Geeks

APRIL 8, 2010

Yeah, but unfortunately you do have to rely on others to respond to emails and phone calls. This is why it’s important to set natural follow-up points so you can get permission to call, email or meet. Awkwardness in asking for something: Asking for the sale or clarification produces a lot of anxiety. You Are Not Alone.

Harvest 227

Harvest Email Lean Customer 227

A Smart Bear: Startups and Marketing for Geeks

MAY 10, 2010

These companies typically make money either by charging sellers for listing (akin to the yellow pages) or by charging a sales commission (akin to a "finder's fee"). These are distinct operations — different clients, different technology, different sales process — almost like two separate companies. So what's the problem?

Business Model 310

Business Model Finder SEO Bootstrapping 310

A Smart Bear: Startups and Marketing for Geeks

FEBRUARY 28, 2011

Close the bank accounts, close the doors, turn off the website, bounce the email, and just stop. I was working on my first true “enterprise sale.&# (If you aren’t familiar with the professional mosh-pit that is enterprise sales, here’s a primer.). Sounds dramatic, but it’s no exaggeration.

Bootstrapping 312

Bootstrapping Sales Texas Salary 312

A Smart Bear: Startups and Marketing for Geeks

JUNE 5, 2012

To get your question answered , email me at asmartbear -at- shortmail -dot- com. Are any actually good at generating sales? This is part of an ongoing startup advice series where I answer (anonymized!) questions from readers, like a written version of Smart Bear Live. There’s lots of options and I don’t know where to start.

Advertising 229

Advertising Campaign Demand Audience 229

A Smart Bear: Startups and Marketing for Geeks

JANUARY 13, 2015

Maybe between higher MRR, more targeted marketing, and stronger sales, you can whittle down the required number of customers and impressions by 10x. Yet another answer might be developing a digital following through social media, email lists, blog posts, eBooks, and so on. So what can be shifted?

Business Model 120

Business Model Affiliate Startup Bootstrapping 120

A Smart Bear: Startups and Marketing for Geeks

APRIL 11, 2011

You need a sale today. For example, email newsletter systems like Constant Contact or MailChimp let you collect names and send email. Whether it’s blog posts, Twitters, Facebook updates, discussion forums, or that arcane so-last-millenium technology known as “email,&# we’re writing more now than ever.

Widget 268

Widget Social Media Software RSS 268

A Smart Bear: Startups and Marketing for Geeks

DECEMBER 5, 2010

Overt marketing messages (when is the last time you passed on a banner ad to friends or some kind of sales crap?). He also answers every single non-anonymous email sent to him. I do my very best to answer every email that comes to me, every @reply on Twitter, every note on Facebook. Shoot emails to people and introduce yourself.

Community 261

Community Audience Video Social Media 261

A Smart Bear: Startups and Marketing for Geeks

NOVEMBER 28, 2011

” 6) Businessperson giving presentation showing up trending sales says to workers – “Not only is honesty the best policy, it’s making us loads of cash!” After a final spellcheck, a double check of the dimensions, and one more good long look, the cartoon is emailed over and, hopefully, everyone is happy.

Customer 228

Customer Audience Web Hiring 228