SoCal CTO

AUGUST 4, 2011

Almost every day I'm talking to early stage startup founders (see Free Startup CTO Consulting Sessions ) about what they plan to do. Many of these founders have talked with several developers or development firms about their plans. Think of these as the big upfront questions: Who are the customers? Tell me about the business.

Develop 396

Develop Development Startup SEO 396

SoCal CTO

AUGUST 4, 2011

Almost every day I'm talking to early stage startup founders (see Free Startup CTO Consulting Sessions ) about what they plan to do. Many of these founders have talked with several developers or development firms about their plans. Think of these as the big upfront questions: Who are the customers? Tell me about the business.

Develop 384

Develop Development Startup SEO 384

Tech Zulu Event

NOVEMBER 18, 2011

Having paying “Customers” is what makes the cash register roar. An entrepreneur having low self worth is the number one deterrent for a potential customer not buying into what you are selling. Rather than how much you charge, it’s about how the purchase will impact your buyer’s life. What have they written about?

Customer 85

Customer Custom Marketing SEO 85

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 4, 2011

I was recently talking with a startup company who wanted me to try their product. I’m a big believer in product stability & performance before adding too many features. I’m a big believer in product stability & performance before adding too many features. Here are some measurements I think about. Is it 4/1,000?

Metrics 346

Metrics Startup SEO Customer 346

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 9, 2022

Most startups, and many big businesses, still don’t have a clue on how to use social media productively for marketing their business. Think about how you can project the voice you want, and make sure it is consistently used by all team members across all platforms used. Measuring is all about return-on-investment (ROI).

Social Media 135

Social Media Framework Media Metrics 135

SoCal CTO

NOVEMBER 10, 2009

He has a really interesting background as a product manager and now an entrepreneur. Tell me a bit about your background. Like many product managers, my background is fairly eclectic. That's where I learned I enjoyed interacting with customers and working with development teams to build and launch products.

Product 150

Product Entrepreneur Social Media Google 150

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 21, 2013

The biggest excuse most startup founders mention is too much to do building a product, mapping strategy, investors, etc. Feedback from your blog will tell you quickly whether anyone agrees with your assessment, and whether you have a customer base waiting. Cultivate early customers. Find potential partners.

Blogging 104

Blogging Product Startup Writing 104

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 29, 2019

Equally important, if someone does find your site, your content must stand out above all similar sites, to keep visitors engaged, close a sale, and get customers to return. One of these is blogging, to let people know about your brand, provide links to supportive articles, and generate back-links to your content from other sites.

Blogging 85

Blogging Search Engine Optimization Writing SEO 85

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 12, 2014

Yesterday I wrote a post about “ growth hacking ” and why I thought it was wrong that people were hating on the term unnecessarily. If you’re a technology startup you need to excel at product, of course. It’s worth a quick read. My argument is pretty simple. But it wasn’t to be.

Marketing 379

Marketing Startup SEM SEO 379

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 18, 2013

Most startups, and many big businesses, still don’t have a clue on how to use social media productively for marketing their business. Think about how you can project the voice you want, and make sure it is consistently used by all team members across all platforms used. Measuring is all about return-on-investment (ROI).

Social Media 102

Social Media Media Product Metrics 102

Tech.Co

MAY 31, 2023

Business tools — from customer relationship management ( CRM ) platforms to accounting software — help to save startups time and money by automating key processes and maximizing efficiency. Best Marketing Tools for Startups Getting the word out about your business is essential, especially if you're early on in your journey.

Tool 128

Tool Startup Software Review Technical Review 128

InfoChachkie

DECEMBER 2, 2009

As noted in Pour and Stir Part I , the key to the successful execution of this strategy is managing the following equation: The cost to acquire a customer < lifetime value of a customer. Decreasing Your Customer Acquisition Costs. This is equivalent to being handed a free customer for every ten customers you acquire.

Customer 164

Customer Custom Advertising SEM 164

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 20, 2017

It’s easy to find yourself caught in the trap of just GSD (getting s**t done) and not stepping back to be thoughtful about whether you’d benefit from doing fewer things but doing those things truly well. Here’s how it goes: You have a business development group with two people. You get a lot of traffic — not always results.

Activity 164

Activity Conference Press Case Study 164

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 14, 2013

Creating awareness for your brand and products is one of the lifebloods of technology startups yet in a world where so many companies are being created it becomes difficult to rise above the noise. Ever notice how some companies tend to be in the press all the time and your big new product launch struggled for inches? I am a VC.

Marketing 389

Marketing Press Blogging Startup 389

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 27, 2011

The following are some lessons I learned about early-stage startup marketing. Because market is such a broad topic, I’m restricting these lessons to PR marketing (as opposed SEO, SEM, product marketing, etc.). It means avoiding drinking too much at cocktail parties with other tech people and bragging about your plans.

Marketing 380

Marketing Startup Press Technical Advisors 380

SoCal CTO

DECEMBER 9, 2009

The mess really comes from a developer who was willing to get started on a product that was not fully thought out. And most often I only know enough about their business to be dangerous. Tell me a bit about yourself and why you are doing this. Who are the customers? Tell me about the business. SEO for Startups )?

Software Development 292

Software Development Develop Development Startup 292

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. If you’re not even spending any time thinking about what your market could be you’re simply being lazy and unprepared.

Startup 150

Startup Marketing Study SEO 150

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 23, 2013

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 paid search results (appear on the first page of search results, right hand column, despite low SEO rank). This is NOT the same as Search Engine Optimization (SEO). Marty Zwilling.

Paid Search 90

Paid Search PPC Organization SEO 90

socalTECH

MARCH 21, 2011

Gordon Gould , the co-founder of SmartPants, talks about the company and how it's applying what he learned founding ThisNext and from a long experience in the social media market to the consumer products goods area--what he describes as Brands 2.0. First, talk about what SmartPants Vitamins are?

Web 225

Web Social Media SEO Media 225

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 3, 2019

Image via Pixabay Most startups, and many big businesses, still don’t have a clue on how to use social media productively for marketing their business. Think about how you can project the voice you want, and make sure it is consistently used by all team members across all platforms used. Incorporate brand personality and voice.

Social Media 96

Social Media Media Marketing Metrics 96

socalTECH

FEBRUARY 15, 2019

We caught up with Skyler to hear about HeyTutor, which already has 25 employees and is growing rapidly. HeyTutor is about connecting people hyper-locally. Now we're in over 100 cities and have over 10,000 clients, 10,000 tutors, and a platform which is working very efficiently, and gives the customer what they want.

Startup 113

Startup Venture Capital Beverly Hills Acquisition 113

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 14, 2010

Yesterday I wrote a post about top-down versus bottom-up thinking. They are tasked with “getting deals done&# so they race around talking to tons of potential partners inking anything from channel sale deals , product integration, international distribution agreements, co-marketing arrangements, M&A discussions, etc.

Startup 323

Startup Press Development Team Review SEM 323

Eric Greenspan

JANUARY 15, 2014

I read Les Miserables in French and I’ve seen the theater production over 20 times. I’ve learned much about French history as a result. I now make a living knowing WordPress, CSS, HTML and of course search engine optimization (SEO) and marketing. Creator of mind blowing customer experiences. Marketing maniac.

HTML 139

HTML Search Engine Optimization Santa Barbara Education 139

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 24, 2015

Blogging is one of the best ways to do this and build a brand, even before you have a product or service. Thus I recommend that every entrepreneur start blogging in parallel with solution development for the following benefits: Get customer idea feedback before you commit resources. Start building your customer community early.

Blogging 110

Blogging Startup Search Engine Optimization Social Media 110

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 9, 2018

It’s hard to be successful in any business when your customers can’t find you, or they find you and still can’t figure out whether your solution works for them. In fact, very few website owners even track their website activity, or use Search Engine (SEO) or Conversion Rate Optimization (CRO) tools now available. Skip the hyperbole.

SEO 53

SEO Tips Newsletter Statistics 53

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 13, 2015

Every business should look at its cost of customer acquisition (COCA) and return on investment (ROI) twice a year and after each campaign. These give good customer connection and SEO. million in savings in less than five months while spending about $50,000. Integrate your social media content with some traditional media.

Social Media 108

Social Media Media Marketing Resource 108

socalTECH

OCTOBER 30, 2013

Those services work on volume, and the designs you can send--and which you receive--are from a limited selection, not at all personalized to the recipient, and for the florist delivering the flowers, provides slim margins and no opportunity to build a customer base. However, for us, it''s more about empowering the local florist.

Beverly Hills 157

Beverly Hills Technical Review Design Startup 157

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 30, 2014

The biggest excuse most startup founders mention is too much to do building a product, mapping strategy, investors, etc. Feedback from your blog will tell you quickly whether anyone agrees with your assessment, and whether you have a customer base waiting. Cultivate early customers. Find potential partners.

Startup 101

Startup Blogging Writing Google 101

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 1, 2013

Every business should look at its cost of customer acquisition (COCA) and return on investment (ROI) twice a year and after each campaign. These give good customer connection and SEO. million in savings in less than five months while spending about $50,000. Integrate your social media content with some traditional media.

Social Media 103

Social Media Media Marketing Startup 103

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 22, 2014

So I thought I’d write about out with what I would look for in a VC knowing what I know now and why. I’ve seen too many companies go off track by a VC hell bent on the team pursuing the VCs strategy which at times is about chasing the next shiny object. SEO marketing vs. social marketing. Most VCs are book smart.

Venture Capital 364

Venture Capital Coach Writing SaaS 364

Tech Zulu Event

AUGUST 15, 2011

Tony is currently Founder/CEO for Eventify, an LA-based startup creating a venue marketplace, and Visible Factors, an SEO consulting company. and most recently Myspace, where he ran an online marketing team focused on SEO, social media, and paid traffic acquisition. Tony has previously worked for organizations like PayPal, Yahoo!

SEO 85

SEO CTO Coach Conference Social Media 85

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 23, 2017

Every business should look at its cost of customer acquisition (COCA) and return on investment (ROI) twice a year and after each campaign. These give good customer connection and SEO. million in savings in less than five months while spending about $50,000. Integrate your social media content with some traditional media.

Media 59

Media Marketing Social Media Resource 59

SoCal CTO

DECEMBER 7, 2009

SEO for Startups and Negative Customer Acquisition Costs ) and, of course, the product itself. Normally the product is defined as a web site. Most founders are fairly passionate about the features and functions of the web site, iPhone application, Facebook application, or whatever web application represents the product.

Web 150

Web Sites Email HTML 150

socalTECH

OCTOBER 25, 2012

That's because there isn't a product tailored to them. Tracy DiNunzio: If you're like the average woman, you only wear about 20 percent of your wardrobe. I've really gotten an in-depth education about what women want when buying and selling online. That's what Tradesy is. How do women use the website?

Startup 236

Startup Education Acquisition Funding 236

Tech Zulu Event

MAY 15, 2015

You’ll keep in touch with your customers quickly and easily. The customers will continue returning to your business due to the personal connections you make with them. Your productive employees should be working more, and meetings interrupt them from accomplishing everything their talents allow. Tap into SEO.

SEO 40

SEO Search Engine Optimization Tips Software Review 40

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 1, 2017

Most startups, and many big businesses, still don’t have a clue on how to use social media productively for marketing their business. Think about how you can project the voice you want, and make sure it is consistently used by all team members across all platforms used. Measuring is all about return-on-investment (ROI).

Social Media 62

Social Media Media Metrics SEO 62

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 23, 2011

Mike built a white label product that let large publishers leverage text based ads by building their own marketplace rather than using Ad Words. ESPN, Forbes, AOL were customers. Tell us more about Highland Capital (14:30 – 16:30). Tell us more about MetaCafe? (37:00-40:30). The company later sold for around $300 million.

Capital 265

Capital Venture Capital Veoh Startup 265