Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 20, 2020

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.

Customer 146

Customer Custom Marketing Startup 146

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 16, 2023

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.

Marketing 114

Marketing Invest Social Media SEM 114

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). Take for example, an eCommerce company.

SEM 150

SEM Content Platform Acquisition 150

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 6, 2016

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.

Customer 60

Customer Custom Marketing Social Media 60

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

APRIL 4, 2015

Social media is now one of the key marketing tools, but not the only one, so the challenge is to manage the resource tradeoffs effectively by constantly assessing payback versus cost. Startups should begin by selecting just a few of the vast array of social media offerings out there, and customize based on results.

Social Media 108

Social Media Media Startup Tips 108

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 12, 2014

It’s building a product that is substantially differentiated, and, as Bill Gross, one of the most prolific tech entrepreneurs of our era says, “ It needs to be 10x better than the competition ” (because if you shoot for that then in competitive markets you might achieve 3x. Rebelling is simply a form of snobbery.

Marketing 379

Marketing Startup SEM SEO 379