Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 17, 2018

Contrary to popular opinion, viral marketing has not eliminated the need for old-fashioned lead generation to bring customers to a startup. For new product startups, search engine marketing (SEM) is still one of the most cost-effective and scalable lead-generation approaches. Social-media advertising. Display advertising. Trade shows.

Social Media 55

Social Media SEM Startup Advertising 55

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). SEM is sometimes called “buying your way into search results.” For most, it sounds like a magical process or a scam, with the experts spewing so many acronyms.

SEM 90

SEM Marketing Startup Search Engine Optimization 90

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 16, 2014

Use social media and Search Engine Marketing (SEM) to start. Do something unique to get customer attention. This step requires thought because you need to identify what can set you apart from your competitors and how to retain customers. Promotions that appeal to the wrong customers won’t help you.

Marketing 102

Marketing Funding Social Media SEM 102

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 17, 2013

Use social media and Search Engine Marketing (SEM) to start. Do something unique to get customer attention. This step requires thought because you need to identify what can set you apart from your competitors and how to retain customers. Promotions that appeal to the wrong customers won’t help you.

Marketing 106

Marketing Startup Social Media SEM 106

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 25, 2016

So when Sam Rosen came to me with the idea of disrupting storage with a product that is priced cheaper than existing incumbents and he could build a product that is a better service I was intrigued. The top 5 players combined control less than 25% of the market. That is how great businesses are built.

Startup 150

Startup Marketing Study SEO 150

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 7, 2010

Use social media and Search Engine Marketing (SEM) to start. Do something unique to get customer attention. This step requires thought because you need to identify what can set you apart from your competitors and how to retain customers. Promotions that appeal to the wrong customers won’t help you.

Marketing 94

Marketing Startup Social Media SEM 94

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 11, 2011

Not because they didn’t want to do Pay-per-click (they are huge buyers of SEM) but because they didn’t want other people to know what they paid for clicks! He wanted to build direct customer relationships to get product feedback but only 2% of customers would ever return their registration cards.

Competition 350

Competition Idealab Product CitySearch 350

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 23, 2013

It pays only if a customer clicks through AND takes a further action (conversion), such as buying a product or filling out a web form. For sites displaying the ads, this is called pay per click (PPC). Cost per action (CPA). The display side is called pay per action (PPA) or pay per lead (PPL). Campaign setup and ad copy writing.

Paid Search 90

Paid Search PPC Organization SEO 90

socalTECH

SEPTEMBER 14, 2009

So, we created a site which not just aggregates, but also organizes activities by type, category--land, sea, air--and things like competition, family, culture, adrenaline--to really narrow down the possibilities for what you're looking for. The automated part, is a customer fills out a form and buys the product through their shopping cart.

Activity 164

Activity Startup Sites Web 164