Startup Marketing

Jun 30, 2009 in Marketing

0

Over in my Skribit widget "startup marketing" seems to be a quite popular subject.  I have written several posts on the subject.  Below is a roundup.

Creep Don't Leap. Your startup marketing effort should be scaled slowly.

The Best PR.  Make sure your employees are happy and empower them to do the right thing for the customer.

Marketing Is Not A Department.  To do successful startup marketing every employee needs to make decisions from the beginning with the potential customer in mind.

Positioning.  A quite powerful marketing concept that every startup should proactively manage.

Markets Are Conversations.  Listen. Talk.

Your Brand Promise.  Just a fancy way of saying what unique value that you are delivering to the market.

Brand Identity.  The unique set of associations that you aspire to create for your startup.

Yes Master (The Only Brand Strategy For Startups).  Early stage technology companies should only implement a master brand strategy. 

How I Created Secret Sig

Jun 08, 2009 in Fun, Internet, Marketing, Personal

14

Like the Secret Sig blog itself this article is written in a manner that attempts to imitate the skewering parody voice Dan Lyons created for Fake Steve Jobs.  I have the utmost respect for all the individuals and organizations mentioned below.  It is my hope that they all view their inclusion as a sign of great respect in the same manner that Sig views Secret Sig. With the exception of the dudes from Despair.  They really are weenies. 

It all started innocently enough.  In January or February of 2008.  Maybe March.  I was a little bored.  Had a little time on my hands.  And I was inspired.

Inspired by the then anonymous Fake Steve Jobs. Before he become Real Dan.  Fake Steve was brilliant.  Literally.  Perhaps the best non-marketing marketing campaign in the history of man.  Or at least for a book about a technology icon. 

And Fake Steve was big.  Maybe even bigger then real Steve.  I wanted one of my own. 

The target was easy to pick if you were sitting at the epicenter of the Atlanta technology community.  Sig.  Sig Mosley.  Sig Mosley the unwitting godfather of Atlanta angel investing.  Sig Mosley without the "e" of Noro-Moseley (lots of people make that mistake).  Sig had no Web site.  His company, Imlay Investments, had no Web site.  So I decided to make one. 

I started by privately registering a few domain names.  Sigmosley.com was available.  I grabbed it.  Thought about it a bit.  Started to feel a little creepy.  Almost stalker like.  Ditched that.  Registered secretsig.com.  Felt more like fun.  Fun was the goal.

I don't really code.  It's not that it's hard.  It's just typing.  I don't have time to code.  I needed some help.  And help I found with my trusty confidant Blake Perdue.  Blake has some mad web design skills (among others), and he put up with my insistence on using all things Typepad when creating PeachSeedz.  Like he had a choice.  He works for me.  He does what I say.  Like he had a choice in my evil plan.  So he did it.

Blake designed and coded up the first version of the SecretSig Web site.  I wrote the content.  It was a thing of beauty.  Custom templates.  It even had SigWear, inspired by Andrew Hyde's VCWear.  Shirts that had cool writings like "I've Been Sigged", "What Would Sig Say?", and "If You Need The Internet To Find Me You Don't Deserve Funding."  This was before those weenies at StartupLounge came up with their lame Sig Said No shirt and then ceased production because the even bigger weenies at Despair (no link love for them) sent a cease and desist for the use of the :-( emoticon that some idiot at the USPTO granted a trademark  (Exhibit A the trademark and patent processes are broken). 

So we had the site.  SecretSig was up and running.  I needed a launch strategy.  And if there is one thing I know how to do in the world it is launch Internet stuff.  Unless it really is crappy product from some entrepreneur that has no clue.  No clue that you actually need to think of your marketing strategy before you start building.  That marketing is not some tag on that makes people buy bad things that they don't want or need.  They are losers.  I know how to tell them to get lost.  Or get them to pay me a bunch of money.  But I digress.  I created a launch strategy.  It was brilliant.  Really.  More brilliant then Dan Lyons.  Perhaps the most brilliant simple plan in history.  Even better then the Grinch.

I decided to launch via Twitter. 

Twitter before everybody was getting on and being all spammy.  Twitter before that jerk Tony LaRussa, whom I used to respect, decided to sue Twitter because someone was using his name and they came out with the stupid idea of non-anonymous accounts only for important people (what are they going to do, use Wikipedia to decide who is important?).  Twitter before anyone in the Atlanta technology investment community was on it.  But they are all on there now.  And it is because of me.  I was the first person to semi impersonate a member of the Atlanta technology investment community on Twitter (and as far as I know the last, nobody else has the kahonas).  I set up a twitter account using the handle secretsig.  Set the more info URL to www.secretsig.com.  And then I had secretsig follow Sanjay Parekh.

You may have heard of Sanjay.  He founded Digital Envoy, created Startup Riot, and is a founder of Shotput Ventures.  Has this big hangup like Tony Dorsett about how people should pronounce his name.  Gets into arguments with important people about things that don't matter.  And he has doesn't have enough to do so he sits around all day long, stares at Tweetdeck and spews meaningless drivel at the rate of about a zillion messages a day.  I figured follow Sanjay and it would generate about 50 tweets and somebody that was actually important like the weenies at StartupLounge would find out and spread the word.  Sanjay is going to get all pissy with me for saying all this but it is true.

But Blake screwed it up.  Dolt.  He failed to mask the domain of www.secretsig.com about page.  It looked something like forceofgood.typepad.com/secretsig_about.html.  Sanjay called me on it.  Sent me a DM (that's direct message for all you twittertards).  I denied it.  Sanjay sent me the domain evidence. Mea culpa.  But Sanjay was cool.  He volunteered to keep SecretSig secret. 

So I took down www.secretsig.com.  Then recreated it on Blogger (the application that Google paid millions of dollars to Evan Williams for and then just let it languish like every other thing they buy with the possible exception of Urchin).  I did it myself and just let it sit there.  Waiting for the opportune moment to tell the world. Cooking up an alternative launch strategy.  But like the ring of power, Secret Sig had a will of its own...

The story about how Sig found out that I created Secret Sig is a story for another day.

Namaste.

Putting A Face On Your Brand

Apr 08, 2009 in Marketing

0

I am spending the week on spring break with my family being analog.  FoG is being populated for the most part by a series of guest posts.  The first is from Ron Huey of Huey Partners, a full-service advertising agency.

Entrepreneurs are inventors by nature.  They, most often, have a clear, concise vision of the product or service they want to create.  Where that vision can become a bit fuzzy is in defining the overall brand their product or service must live under.

Your brand is a living, breathing entity with its own personality and style. That brand persona is the critical entry point to your product or service.  In fact, potential customers will form ideas and perceptions about your brand before they ever experience your product.  I like to use the analogy of meeting someone at a cocktail party.  Is your brand someone people are attracted to?  Do they enjoy conversing with you?  Do they walk away feeling that you’re smart, engaging, considerate and empathetic?  Do they become an advocate, or better yet, an evangelist for your brand? 

Conversely, we’ve all met the guy at the cocktail party who, while smart, can’t seem to talk about anyone but himself and his accomplishments.  And while he may have very valuable information to impart, we’re not really in the mood to listen and walk away seeing him as an off-putting, self-centered, know-it-all.  No sale there.

My firm was fortunate to work with MindSpring when they were moving from a regional ISP to a national provider.  At the time, their advertising consisted of a cartoonish drawing of a man whose spring-loaded head was popping off his shoulders.  It was an arresting visual, but the wackiness and crude, haphazard approach of the ad seemed to undermine the credibility and trust MindSpring hoped to instill.

We needed to create a brand persona for MindSpring that captured their quirky, non-corporate culture, but also positioned them as credible, reliable and sympathetic to the plight and needs of the internet user. The brand needed to come off as a friend who was there to help.

Another key to creating a successful brand image for MindSpring was the concept of simplicity. Simplicity can’t be stressed enough and its value has been covered in this blog in relation to the brand identity and brand promise.  We used MindSpring’s iconic blue and yellow colors, but kept our thoughts and graphics incredibly simple.

Regardless of how amazing your product or service may be, remember that your brand image is the crucial entry point. If prospects are intrigued and attracted to your brand, you have a  much greater chance of inducing trial and ultimately selling them on your product or service. 

Calacanis' Customer Acquisition Cost Math

Mar 24, 2009 in Business, Entrepreneurship, Internet, Marketing, Startups

1

You may have heard that Jason Calacanis, the CEO of Mahalo, publicly offered $250,000 for two years for one of the top twenty slots of suggested users that Twitter is now offering up as part of its service.  Jason's offer was a publicity stunt.  A game.  He intended to attract media coverage.  He is extremely skilled at getting attention.  The king of linkbait.  It is one of the things that makes him a good entrepreneur.  And once again it worked.

But with an interchange with TechCrunch he said he was serious about the offer.  And I believe he is.

Jason outlined his thought process for the $250k offer in his most recent list mailing (He stopped blogging in 2007.  Blogs are so last, last year, though he really did not stop.)  Jason did some math on his offer and this is what it looked like.

My plan was to post the Top Five most absolutely fascinating questions from Mahalo Answers to our @questions account every day. Everyone loves a timely or fascinating question and, in my estimation, I would get a one percent clickthrough rate on each question. If I was able to reach three million followers, and kept half of them (1.5m), that means every tweet would get 15,000 visits. Five a day means 75,000 daily visits, and over two million visits a month--or close to 50m visits of two or three years. Some percentage of those two million would participate in Mahalo by asking or answering questions, and if that number is also .5 to 1%, that means I would get about 250,000 new members for my service. Each of those 250,000 new members would cost me one dollar, and I'm certain over their lives we would monetize them for much more than that.

Jason estimated his customer acquisition cost of doing a deal to buy a Twitter suggested users slot to be a dollar.  Customer acquisition cost is simply the cost of securing a new customer, member, or user.  And while not every startup is well funded like Mahalo and has $250k to throw around on a whim, there is an important lesson here. 

Customer acquisition cost is a key driver of any Internet business.

Especially so for early stage and growth stage companies.  It deserves deep thought and consideration.  While I might not buy into Jason's math and question some of the assumptions made to reach the customer acquisition cost in this instance, he walked through the logic.  Every entrepreneur running an Internet business needs to be able to do the same.  You can start with a very simple model.  If you have no history make some reasonable well thought out assumptions. Have data points and facts to back your assumptions.  Using services like Facebook, Google, and Twitter as examples and a basis for assumptions is a bad idea.  Yes, Web services need to grow virally and via word of mouth (the two are not one and the same) to be successful.  But at some point it is going to take more then that.   Just assuming 20% quarter over quarter growth rates won't cut it.  Nobody is going to buy into that assumption unless you are actually achieving 20% quarter over quarter growth rates. And then they are going to want to know how you are going to sustain it.

Customer acquisition costs is one of the three most important drivers of a SaaS business model (churn and recurring revenue being the other two), if you are going to build a successful Internet business you need to know customer acquisition marketing cold or find somebody who does.  It is the only way that you can cost effectively grow your business. 

As for Jason's offer?  He raised it to $500,000.

Online Identity Management: You.com

Mar 10, 2009 in Internet, Marketing, Personal, Web/Tech

6

Somehow or the other I came to be known as a quasi-expert on personal branding.  And with the unemployment rate topping 8% the pace of people coming to me and asking about personal branding has taken quite a spike in the past month of so.  Surprisingly, all of the people that are doing so are currently gainfully employed (those that are not just want job leads, which is a bad strategy).

Also surprising is that they are really coming to ask me about online identity management, which is just one facet of a holistic personal branding effort.  While I may save the broader personal branding discussion for a real expert or a later day, personal branding is essentially the way an individual communicates their unique promise in value in the same manner a company would.  Online identity management focuses on creating a positive and distinguished Web presence of a person on the Internet.

Here are ten steps I recommend to manage your online identity.

1.  Conduct An Vanity Search Audit

Have one of your friends do a vanity search audit (Google, LIve & Yahoo!).  I recently had a meeting with a young lady to discuss managing her online brand.  She was a little surprised I googled her before our meeting.  Even more surprised that I found one of her niche social networking profiles with a reference to drinking and partying.

2. Clean Up Your Debris

If the audit uncovers anything unseemly, pick it up and discard it. 

3.  Control Your Social Network Audiences

Control is not a bad thing.  Close down your more social social network profiles to your real friends.  You don't want people that are searching for you as part of a background check to see comments from your college roommate on Facebook or MySpace.  Maybe that is just me.  Then again, maybe not.

4.  Be You

Cleaning up your debris and making sure some potential hiring company or business partner does not have full access to all your social networks does not mean losing your personality and becoming some sterile drone (discretion is a good quality).  Be nice, be helpful, demonstrate a little expertise, and above all be yourself.  It is the only way that you can be consistent enough to create a brand of you.

5.  Create Home Base

A place where you put all the stuff that you want people to find out about you. It can just be a collection of links to other places to find you on the Web, an online portfolio, a blog, or all of the above.  You can do this on the cheap with tools such as blogger.com but you don't want a cheap personal brand and...

6.  Home is Really Google

Jeremiah Owyang, a senior analyst at Forrester Research believes that a company's home page is really google.com. So is your personal home page.  Professionals are googling you. Before they meet you. Before they interview you.  As an example the number one keyword phrase driving traffic to FoG is "Lance Weatherby".  It has the second keyword phrase beat by 100%

In his article Jeremiah points to some research that indicates the top three search results are clicked on 75% of the time.  You want to own those SERPs (Search Engine Results Page) and if at all possible you want to dominate the entire default preference of 10 results.  How can you do that?

7.  Register a Personal Domain

I can not think of a single person that I know that has a personal domain that does not have the number one SERP on a vanity search.  Fifty six percent of the people that search for you are going to click on that number one link.  Own it and control you online identity destiny.

8.  Customize Your LinkedIn Profile

LinkedIn is purely professional and can be effectively managed as a pillar of your online identity.  Personalize your LinkedIn public profile to the form http://www.linkedin.com/in/lanceweatherby.  It will return better search results.  Instructions for doing so as well as other methods to promote your public profile are here.  To expose your profile to anyone using LinkedIn go to the Edit Public Profile Settings and select Full View.  Make your profile as complete as your resume.

9.  Scribd It

Great place to post your bio, resume and other portfolio materials.  Make sure the files you upload are saved with your full name in the file name.  I put my resume up in January.  It is currently the fifth SERP on my name.

10.  Use Niche Social Media

You can use niche sites to fill out your top SERPS.  ClaimID (which I really like a lot), Naymz, and Rapleaf are all online identity management services that could be utilized.  If you are really active and social online a number of niche sites could fill this void.  Flickr, Twitter, YouTube, you name it.  Just be aware if it is searchable people will search and find it.

And everything else.  To create a positive online identity that highlights your achievements and skills you must actively manage your Web presence.  Hopefully these steps will get you moving down that road.

A Presentation On Online Personal Brands

Mar 09, 2009 in Internet, Marketing, Personal, Web/Tech

3

On Friday Patrick Clements tweeted out that I had linked to a presentation about personal marketing.  He could not find it.  Either could I.  Made a comment to me that it was something edgy.  The only thing I could think of was Marta Kagan's social media marketing deck.

But my Startups in 12 Quotes deck attracted a follower that had faved "how we all become ELVIS, a note on personal brands."

Three Media Rules of Engagement

Feb 14, 2009 in Marketing

13

I received the following from Urvaksh Karkaria last evening.

The tweets that Urvaksh referred to were in response to an article on the Atlanta Business Chronicle blog in which he published an email from Sanjay Parekh.  Yes, I was surprised that he printed the email. I think that he could have accomplished the same thing by merely stating why he would not be attending Startup Riot.  Urvaksh has always been discrete and honorable in his dealings with me. He has never violated the rules of engagement.

Yes there are rules of engagement when communicating with professional media people.  You can even get trained in such things.  And I have been through a lot of such training.  Here are three things that anyone dealing with media needs to know.

1.  Two key phrases when dealing with the media are "off the record" and "on background".  Off the record means that whatever you say or type will not be part of a story.  It is being given confidentially to provide context but you can not be quoted or attributed.  On background means means that the gist of the conversation may be reported but that you will not be identified as a source and direct quotes will not be used.  And here's the catch.  The reporter has to positively affirm that you are in either of these modes or the rules do not apply.  You say "on background?"  Reporter says "yes."  Then you can proceed.  I have actually had such exchanges on twitter.

2.  Never ever put anything in an email that you would not want to see published.  Proof your email correspondence with this eye.  I would go so far as you should actually treat any email this way.  And even if I were off the record or on background I would not provide information via written communications.  I would have a conversation.

3.  The rules of engagement in one above does not apply to bloggers, paid or not.

What others rules do executives and entrepreneurs need to know?

Help A Reporter Out

Feb 12, 2009 in Marketing

6

My dear friend SJ sent me a note the other day. One of the things that I learned in the note is that I ALWAYS called her SJ. I am the reason SJ became her blog persona.

While you would never know it from the content of Give Me The Booger, SJ is a pretty accomplished marketer.  This is in part what her note said.

I was not familiar with HARO.  Now I am.  And so are you.  If you are too early stage to afford a PR firm this might be a good way to find yourself a little media coverage.

Yes, Master (The Only Brand Strategy for Startups)

Feb 03, 2009 in Marketing

11

Early stage technology companies should only implement a master brand strategy. 

Let me explain.

There is such a thing in the world called brand architecture.  Brand architecture is just a fancy and quick way of saying "this is how we are going to name our company, products, and services so that customers can find what they are looking for and understand what we offer."  There are generally two ways to go about this.

One is to pursue a master brand strategy.  A master brand strategy is one where all the companies products and services are branded with the corporate name.  For the most part this is the strategy that Google has pursued with Google Alerts, Google Blog Search, Google Calendar, Google Checkout, Google Chrome, Google Docs, Google Earth, Google Maps, Google Patent Search, and I could go on.  Yes, as Google has gotten bigger they have started buying lots of companies such as YouTube and keeping those brands and using sub-brands such as Gmail.  But for the most part they have pursued a classic master branding strategy just like Lysol. Lysol's master brand strategy is "Lysol" followed by "this is what the product does" (though Lysol is actually owned by a company called Reckitt Benckiser, but who has ever heard of them.  The dreaded secret corporate brand strategy).

Two is to pursue a sub-branding strategy.  A sub-branding strategy is one where the master brand is not reflected in the the sub or product brands.  Think Apple and their iWhatever.  iMac, iPhone, iPod, iTunes.  And Airport, Cinema Display, MacBook, MacBook Air, MacBook Pro, Mac mini, MacPro, and Mighty Mouse. They have pursued a classic sub-branding strategy much like Coca-Cola.  Coke has over 2,800 products, most with distinct non Coca-Cola company branding.

And while Steve Jobs is one of the most brilliant business people and marketers of our age, personally I think Apple's branding strategy is a bit of a mess.  And I am not alone. It's even been called sloppy. Think about that.  Steve Jobs, one of the best marketers of our age, has totally dorked a sub-brand strategy (though he did a pretty good job at Pixar).  And Apple spends $500 million annually on marketing.  Are you Steve Jobs?  Do you have $500 million to spend?  

Only one person can answer yes to both those questions. And unless you are that person do not try to implement a sub-brand strategy at your technology startup.

Implementing a sub-branding strategy is exponentially more complex.  It decreases the chance of effectively communicating your brand promise and brand identity in the marketplace, requires disciplined thought that could be better spent on more important issues, and costs more money.  It often creates confusion in the market for potential customers and partners.  It make it harder for employees to rally around what you are trying to achieve. Why make it hard?

Early stage technology companies should only implement a master brand strategy. 

Best Social Media Marketing Presentation

Jan 28, 2009 in Internet, Marketing

5

Few people truly understand social media marketing.  Marta Kagan does.  If you want to understand it and know how to play the game, breeze through her presentation.  Don't let the title scare you.  It's good stuff.  Don't believe me?  Goog best social media marketing presentation and see what you find (Great to see Toby Bloomberg there as well!).