Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 19, 2015

We have made 5 online video investments in total – some we will talk about later this year. Content is a “hits driven business” and therefore you can only invest in platforms not media. You must invest in technology. But you don’t need to spend money on SEM. I think most arguments miss the mark.

SEM 150

SEM Content Platform Acquisition 150

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 21, 2010

One of the investment themes I’ve been focused on in the past 3 years has been Performance-Based Marketing. When I started investing the US advertising market was $300 billion with only 10% of it ($30 billion) of it being online and measurable. But of course Google eventually became the massive winner in this category.

Advertising 284

Advertising Invest RSS CPC 284

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 3, 2010

Probably every one of you who has a business and a website have been approached through email or personal contact, and asked to spend money on Search Engine Marketing (SEM). Search engine marketing is simply buying advertising for your business from Google or another search engine company. Cost per click (CPC).

SEM 90

SEM Marketing Startup Search Engine Optimization 90

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 26, 2016

= profitable and companies like Amazon who chose to focus on growth > profitability were not losing money on each book sale (ie they were gross margin positive). The reason one would accept losses is when they are investments in fueling faster growth. Of course this is an imprecise science which is why you measure both methods.

Metrics 150

Metrics Startup SaaS Course 150

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 4, 2011

How many through SEM? per click on an SEM basis this is NOT your cost to acquire a customer – you need to add conversion rate. of the people who click on Google paid links then your true cost to acquire is actually = $12 ($1.50 / 0.125). Revenue metrics are one of the first things I ask for from the startups in which I invest.

Metrics 346

Metrics Startup SEO Customer 346

InfoChachkie

DECEMBER 2, 2009

No one, including the engineers who work on Google’s constantly evolving search algorithms, fully understands how to reliably and consistently boost search results via artificial means. Thus, avoid link farms, mindless keyword content and similar techniques designed to make your site more Google friendly.

Customer 164

Customer Custom Advertising SEM 164

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 23, 2013

Paid search engine ranking (PPC) is buying advertising for your business from Google or another search engine company. SEO is not placing ads, but tuning your website so that it is more highly ranked by Google, and featured in the first page of results, not in an ad beside the results. Cost per click (CPC).

Paid Search 90

Paid Search PPC Organization SEO 90