SoCal Tech Calendar

OCTOBER 3, 2012

Tuesday, October 9, 2012 -- Do or Die: How to acquire and retain customers. Acquiring customers is the biggest challenge facing startups today. Startups who are building companies for the first time or launching a new product struggle with focusing on the right priorities, measuring their efforts, and converting leads into customers.

Custom 124

Custom Customer SEO Acquisition 124

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 12, 2014

If you’re a technology startup you need to excel at product, of course. The starting point of product IS marketing, which is what a lot of young entrepreneurs that never studied business don’t realize. How do people drive SEO growth? Online marketing uses techniques for driving promotion and place.

Marketing 379

Marketing Startup SEM SEO 379

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. Who are the customers? Please be able to provide me with a few specific examples of different types of customers, what they need, what the system will do for them. SEO for Startups )? Other types of users?

Software Development 292

Software Development Develop Development Startup 292

socalTECH

AUGUST 22, 2012

The firm said its new Launch by Local product is aimed at small and medium-sized businesses, and helps customers with digital marketing. The product includes web hosting, social media, mobile, content creation, website creation, SEO, and other services for those businesses.

Marketing 169

Marketing Services SEO Social Media 169

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.

Custom 164

Custom Customer Advertising SEM 164

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 14, 2010

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. Similar with product features. Let me give you an example.

Startup 323

Startup Press Development Team Review SEM 323

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 16, 2013

What you really want to know is which campaigns drove “bottom of funnel activities” such as: Purchases, newsletter signups, subscribers, comments and so forth in the same way you’d be tracking this on Google Analytics for your SEO / SEM campaigns, direct referrals, etc. The other major pilot customer was.

Marketing 307

Marketing Technical Review Startup Tool 307

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 27, 2011

Because market is such a broad topic, I’m restricting these lessons to PR marketing (as opposed SEO, SEM, product marketing, etc.). My general rule is that it’s good to be stealth in the early days while you’re building your product and testing your market. It’s a buggy product but pretty damn cool.

Marketing 380

Marketing Startup Press Technical Advisors 380

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 4, 2021

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, despite low SEO rank). Thus I recommend that you stick with organic search, and use SEO to raise your ranking. Marty Zwilling.

PPC 154

PPC SEO Paid Search Search Engine Optimization 154

SoCal CTO

NOVEMBER 10, 2009

He has a really interesting background as a product manager and now an entrepreneur. 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. Tell me a bit about your background.

Product 150

Product Entrepreneur Social Media Google 150

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 21, 2020

Many of the entrepreneurs I advise or invest with spend considerable time on the Internet, keeping up with technology, customers, and competitors, but very few feel the need for an early personal presence. In fact, some totally avoid it, assuming their product or solution will speak for itself later.

Product 127

Product Entrepreneur Technical Advisors Technical Review 127

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

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? We give it to our own kids.

Web 225

Web Social Media SEO Media 225

SoCal CTO

FEBRUARY 25, 2009

Team – higher requirements for caliber of team members Product – focus on truly differentiated and not me-too Market – is it really big enough to provide investor returns** Traction – need more users, partners, patents, etc Timing – are you building for yesterday or 2 yrs from now?

Startup 150

Startup SEM IP SEO 150

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. Using your service or owning your product isn’t why a person buys, it’s the experience your customer will have.

Customer 85

Customer Custom Marketing SEO 85

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 25, 2011

Entrepreneurs always work hard to create an innovative product or service, but often count on standard seller marketing for sales. But the reality is that sellers are no longer in charge of the customer buying process. The best way to do this is with real customer interviews. Don’t start from how you want to sell.

Custom 96

Custom Customer Search Engine Optimization Summary 96

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 20, 2017

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. Here’s how it goes: You have a business development group with two people.

Activity 164

Activity Conference Press Case Study 164

socalTECH

JANUARY 15, 2019

Santa Monica-based MomentFeed , which develops software tools that helps multi-location brands manage the customer experience of mobile consumers, says it is making it easier for its customers to build landing pages for their locations. Pricing on the new product were not announced. MomentFeed's CEO and Chairman is Robert Blatt.

Template 113

Template Draper SEO Santa Monica 113

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

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. Good action plans include a listening plan, channel plan, SEO plan, and a content creation plan, with activities and metrics. You spend the months influencing the influencers.

Social Media 102

Social Media Media Product Metrics 102

Tech.Co

JANUARY 15, 2018

Having the right domain name can make a big difference when it comes to attracting new customers. Ward, O’Reilly author of The SEO Battlefield and CEO of CircleClick Media , said punctuation, top level domains, and even spellings can impact the ease of getting found online. Your domain name is part of your brand. Do Your Research.

SEO 70

SEO Startup Sites Research 70

socalTECH

JULY 17, 2009

San Diego-based Covario , a developer of search engine marketing automation tools, said earlier this week that it has rolled out a new product which the firm will further automate keyword marketing for customers. According to the firm, it has launched a product called D3- Data Driven Decisions for Search Engine Optimization (SEO).

Search Engine Optimization 100

Search Engine Optimization SEO San Diego Web 100

socalTECH

AUGUST 14, 2018

According to ConsumerTrack, Au will integrate product, data, SEO, and design to its clients. ConsumerTrack's websites are used to connect customers with financial institutions. Au had most recently been Vice President of Strategy for the company. READ MORE>>.

SEO 100

SEO Los Angeles Design Custom 100

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 21, 2011

You don’t need to invent an innovative product to be a real entrepreneur. They are not the generalists required for new product startups. As your business starts up, you need marketing programs, Search Engine Optimization (SEO), Search Engine Marketing (SEM), a modern “pull” strategy based on social networks, and lead generation.

Entrepreneur 89

Entrepreneur Services Product Search Engine Optimization 89

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. Do you agree that Google SEO optimized results for high volume search terms are broken? (49:35-51:30). The company later sold for around $300 million.

Capital 265

Capital Venture Capital Veoh Startup 265

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

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 metrics were good but we wondered how much better they would be when we expanded our product. Market Structure.

Startup 150

Startup Marketing Study SEO 150

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 14, 2013

Entrepreneurs always work hard to create an innovative product or service, but often count on standard seller marketing for sales. But the reality is that sellers are no longer in charge of the customer buying process. The best way to do this is with real customer interviews. Don’t start from how you want to sell.

Startup 105

Startup Search Engine Optimization Summary Custom 105

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. They have to pay for placement. That''s why it''s exciting for flower shops.

Beverly Hills 157

Beverly Hills Technical Review Design Startup 157

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. I read everything online I could about customer acquisition, marketing, design, and coding, and every part of the business I could. While I was doing that, I was learning about social media, about SEO, about gorilla marketing, and so on. That's what Tradesy is.

Startup 236

Startup Education Acquisition Funding 236

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 22, 2014

SEO marketing vs. social marketing. Simply put – I’d be in search of a VC who had an intuitive sense of my product, my customers, my organizational issues, my competitors, etc. Think of web vs. mobile. Traditional software vs. SaaS. EQ and Team Leadership? Nail on the head.

Venture Capital 364

Venture Capital Coach Writing SaaS 364

Eric Greenspan

JANUARY 15, 2014

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

HTML 139

HTML Search Engine Optimization Santa Barbara Education 139

socalTECH

OCTOBER 14, 2011

Wondering how, as a small business, you can reach customers in the YouTube age? Well, Los Angeles based Near Networks (www.nearnetworks.com) is looking to both reach customers online, and avoid the tacky, lousy production of typical small business ads, with a new service. What is Near Networks?

Networking 150

Networking Search Engine Optimization Product Startup 150

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 3, 2012

Entrepreneurs always work hard to create an innovative product or service, but often count on standard seller marketing for sales. But the reality is that sellers are no longer in charge of the customer buying process. The best way to do this is with real customer interviews. Don’t start from how you want to sell.

Tips 93

Tips Search Engine Optimization Summary Startup 93

SoCal CTO

JULY 13, 2010

Pivoting - Chris Dixon , June 14, 2010 My Hunch cofounders and I frequently ask ourselves: “If we were to start over today, would we build our product the same way we had so far?&# Just because a product has a patent, deep complexity and an obvious competitive advantage does not mean that it can fly by itself into the market.

Startup 175

Startup Venture Capital Slides Blogging 175

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