Sitemaps

Zamir Javer

Professional Services Inbound Marketing

Getting some of your relevant authority content in the front of some of the decision makers or Influencers of your target market is a great way to make entry. This is done via content and Influencer marketing using digital and social networks. We work with Construction firms to develop strategies and execute them for these types of growth campaigns. Happy to get on a call to provide more insight.

Dan Martell

SaaS Business Coach, Investor, Founder of Clarity

All data ownership comes down to the terms of service for the providers involved or the agreement negotiated. It really all depends but those are the 2 places to look.

If I have to tell you only one thing: it is Distribution. Most of the entrepreneurs (including me at one point) are so obsessed with the product and adding new features to it. They completely overlooked the fact that Distributing the product is what play single most important role. Even over the quality of the product.

Stacey Alcorn

Empire Builder

I have written hundreds of blog posts by interviewing amazing people. I have interviewed best selling authors, CEOs, entrepreneurs and more. Here are my five tips for getting the interviews... 1. Ask - most people want to be heard and they will grant you an interview if you simply ask for it. Sometimes the hard part is finding their contact info but I have had great luck using the paid version of LinkedIn and theofficialboard.com. 2. Always Be Ready! Recently I was at a networking function at a bar when I had the opportunity to meet The Bachelor from the season 4 show. I googled him on my iphone...found out a little about his businesses and approached him spot on for an interview which I published a day or two later on The Huffington Post. 3. Make it worth their time. Getting author interviews is easy because they want to sell books. I usually do those interviews in a live webinar format for my coaching clients so that the author can sell books and we get a great mix of questions. I then publish the webinar/teleconference on my blogs. 4. Be Prepared - I never go into an interview asking questions I could find on google. Always find out as much as possible about the person you are interviewing by researching them first. As well, if you are interviewing an author, never interview them without reading the book first. 5. How much time do you need? I interview many people who are extremely busy and so when I ask for the interview I make it clear that I will work around their schedule and I let them know in advance how much time I am asking for. I have never had to pay for an interview. I always share my content via my blogs. I always follow up with a thank you note and small gift.

Growth Hacking

How has Uber grown so fast?

16

Answers

Bronson Taylor

The Growth Hacker

Obviously, they do the fundamentals well. Good brand. Good experience. Good word of mouth. Good PR. Etc. Etc. But after my interview with Ryan Graves, the head of Global Operations at Uber (https://www.growthhacker.tv/ryan-graves), it became clear that they are operationally advanced and this is a huge part of their success. I'll explain. Uber isn't just a single startup, it's essentially dozens of startups rolled into one because every time they enter a new city they have to establish themselves from essentially nothing (except whatever brand equity has reached the city ahead of them). This means finding/training drivers, marketing to consumers, and building out local staff to manage operations for that city. This is where Ryan Graves comes in. He has a protocol of everything that must be done, and in what order, and by who, to ensure the best chance of success in a new city. So how has Uber grown so fast? Essentially, they figured out how to grow in one locale and were relentless about refining their launch process to recreate that initial success over and over in new cities. No plan works for every city, and they've had to adapt in many situations, but it is still a driving factor for their success.

Malcolm Ong

Co-founder @ Terminal 3; Co-founder @ Skillshare

As mentioned, it depends on what your specific goals are and what kind of marketplace we're dealing with. I know the best practices / approach we used at Skillshare, but let me know if you have a more specific question.

Mijael Feldman

CEO & Co Founder at Übank

Hi! I am owner of an ice crean chain with 45 stores in Chile. We have stores in shopping centers, streets and also karts that you can put in events and parks. The average cost margin of ice cream (depends on the amount of materials you use in producing the ice cream) is around 40%. This is italian gelatto where you serve the ice cream without a specific measurement so your costs can vary due to the size of each portion you serve. About the brand you should focus on your unique value proposition and what kind of ice cream you are selling. We import the pastry from Italy and the fruits and milk from our country. Your ROI depends on your sales price and costs. If you focus on high market ice cream you can charge high and keep costs down.

Dan Martell

SaaS Business Coach, Investor, Founder of Clarity

100%. Many companies "Pivot" and when they do, they let their current users know that the service is shutting down - but that they're now moving onto something new (or launching a new company). Flowtown (my last company) did this 3 times. We even leveraged users to test the new product before we made it public. Just be respectful of peoples time/email and only send to them if they opted in to receive company updates.

Michelle Lei

Apparel sourcing and manufacturing expert

Many of the large established maunfactures attend trade shows, such as the Canton Import and Export Fair. The key is to look for manufactures that already supplies to established brands. Once the manufacture meets the QA standards of the large brands, their quality remains consistent regardless of the company they produce for. Most of the time the minimum order quantity they request are up for negotiation. Same for the sampling cost. Most manufactures are willing to wave the sampling cost if a production order is placed at a later time. Sourcing at the end of the day requires a lot of ground work. It takes time and effort to locate the right suppliers, visit and audit their facilities, and prices negotiate. However, this really saves money in the long term because you will have solid supply chains you can count on and trust. One way to approach this is to consolidate. Consolidate the number of suppliers, and make each sourcing trip count by finding multiple suppliers at once. Best of luck in finding the right suppliers for your products!

Dan Martell

SaaS Business Coach, Investor, Founder of Clarity

It really comes down to 2 major buckets. 1) CONTENT / INBOUND MARKETING Some people consider this option free, but it's not. Time is money, and it requires an major investment to do it right. The options are: - Company blog - Guest post on other blogs - Engage on social media (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram) - Press - Videos on YouTube - Create a free App (web or mobile) etc ... This strategy is all about create amazing content/information/tools for your customers. Think about their major questions they have for your industry, and answer them. Even consider teaching them everything you know about your industry. Doing so will attract them, and make you look like an authority. I've done this with my past 2 companies Flowtown (300K U/V), and Clarity (40K U/V) blogs. Each of the items mentioned above have a unique strategy and tactic .. so best to pic the one you'd be most excited about creating, and do just that one with all your resources. 2) PAID MARKETING Paid means using advertising to introduce your company to potential customers. Some options you have: - Google Adwords - Facebook Ads - Twitter Ads - Bing Ads - Banner Ads etc ... The only way I would suggest paid marketing is if you truly understand your customer LTV (Lifetime Value). If you don't know that, then you could be wasting money attracting views to your startup that aren't profitable. So be sure to have a product / service that makes profit, then you can test different paid marketing channels. My rule of thumb, is it'll cost your $200 to get 1 new paying customer (on avg.), so unless you're making $600 profit from a new customer, don't both for now. If you need to discuss further, you know how to find me.

Jonathan Sexton

Clarity Expert

I have a lot of background in live event promotion and also dealing with investors. Really it depends on the type and size of the event you are wanting to promote. Sometimes sponsors are enough to get you going depending on what the target market it is and if the ideal audience for the concert matches the sponsors marketing goals. In the event you want to go that route, you'd need to set up some sponsorship packages etc. (also something I've done). Finding investors can be really tricky if you've never put on a concert before. Usually, It is best to get some sort of track record first- again, I'm not sure the actual context here, but generally you have to create an investible story (i.e.- The first time we did this we only had x amount of money to start with but we accomplished y- so if you will invest Z in the next event- we'll be able to make 10x as much money. Lastly, Im not sure who the big concert promoters around Ohio State, but I'd look into maybe doing a summer internship with AEG live or AC entertainment in Nashville, or find out who the local promoters are and try and learn from them. Happy to talk more anytime- Hope that helps. JS

Dan Martell

SaaS Business Coach, Investor, Founder of Clarity

The way I higher anyone is to find people who already do amazing work, approach them for advice on my projects, see if their a fit for our team and skills - then over time (as I work on a project with them) convince them that our company is the best opportunity they have. So, back to your questions - where do I find high quality UX designers? We'll, here's a few places I look: - www.dribbble.com - http://www.behance.net/ - http://www.deviantart.com/ - http://carbonmade.com/ I also like searching on Twitter for bio's with UX design and high influence score, or follower count Ex: https://followerwonk.com/bio/?q=UX%20designer&s=social_authority If you follow this approach for sourcing great candidates, and my recommendation above re: get advice/start a conversation - then work on a simple project first to see if there's a fit, you should find some success. It takes time, but the right person can 10x your growth .. so slow down and do it right. P.S. I also did this once, and ended up higher 2 AMAZING guys! http://www.danmartell.com/why-i-would-pay-100000-for-an-amazing-ui-designer/

Dan Martell

SaaS Business Coach, Investor, Founder of Clarity

You can either 1) load it with other peoples content, or fake content to prime the pump. 2) recruit an initial group of users to create the content or provide the supply. It's really that simple. For Clarity I recruited 1000+ experts before launching the site. It's not easy, but not impossible.

Balind Sieber

Brand Strategist & Creative Director

Hey. :) Craft a joke that's relevant to the situation. Touch on the core essence of why everyone is attending, or make light of something that's happening in current news, preferably in a context that relates to your subject matter. As a backup you can alway open with asking people why they're attending and what they're hoping to get out of the workshop. Hope that was helpful.

Dan Martell

SaaS Business Coach, Investor, Founder of Clarity

The concept of having a directory to get advice has been around for years .. earliest occurance I can find is 1999 with Ingenio.com (acquired by AT&T). In todays world, there's www.healthtap.com | http://helpouts.google.com + many many others. The key is community & liquidity. Marketplaces are all about building enough demand + business model to support growth. It's not the technology, it's the implementation of that technology to ensure a great experience for both parties.

David Berman

Bootstrap Expert

1. Make sure you have a great list. By "great" I mean targeted to the specific demographic and psychographic profile of your market. 2. Make sure you have a great message and offer. 3. If you aren't a skilled copywriter - hire one. Consider your cost of client acquisition (and if you haven't calculated your cost of acquisition - you need to before you do ANY marketing) when deciding on how much you can afford. 4. Split test the mailing so you can find your control. 5. Measure everything. Give me a call if I can help with more on the specifics. And good luck!

Hello, I am a Marketing responsible for online video monetization so your point rings a bell. Few questions need to be answered in order to build a successful strategy : 1/ What kind of instruction do you have in mind and for which target ? 2/ How many video do you plan to produce per day/week/month and at what cost 2/ What are your membership objectives and your communication budget for year 1 and 2. Then, we can build a launch plan and the internet marketing plan associated. As you mentioned the OVP is very important but again it depends on what you have in mind, on the zone you plan to reach, on the way you plan to secure your content, on the additional features you expect (or not) etc etc. Also, it is important to keep in mind that a membership subscription service is built on what you give for free. What will you show to your prospect that will give them the will to pay for the next part, for the full service. Hope it helps and call me so we can build a full strategy.

Mike Pouraryan

Principal/Mng Editor at The Daily Outsider

Probate is tough. As I helped to launch my Real Estate Investment & Management Firm almost 10 years ago, I was on the lookout by monitoring the updates from the Public Guardian of my local County and other venues. But, the challenge of dealing with the Courts outweighed any potential gain.

David C.

Principal at Punctuation

1. Let's define successful. Each of us has individual goals and only some of them are monetary. But I take it you are asking about how to make money consulting! I'd be very careful listening to the advice of a consultant who isn't successful by that measure. I pledged to never accept money from someone who makes more than I do. Why in the world would they need me to get to the next level when I haven't demonstrated both good ideas and the discipline to do it? I'm grateful to have been consulting for nearly 20 years, and here are some specifics (fees billed, by myself). I hit my stride four years in and billed $307,000. For the next four years, it rose every year until I hit $686,000. Then decreased the next four years during the recession, reaching $339,000. Then back up in 2007 to $804,000. Then a tad down each year during three spinal surgeries and recoveries. Then back up to a new high in 2011 of just over $1 million. Now I'm at a sane level. :) 2. Recognize the "blah blah me too lemming-like" marketing speak you'll read everywhere and plant a flag on ONE specific mountain instead. Make it your business to be the unquestionable SME (subject matter expert) to defend it. Ignore the really bad advice to put your eggs in one basket or to just follow your heart and the money will come. (There are a lot of people following their heart and struggling.) 3. Consider these very distinct stages in how you make money in consulting, in order: a. Forget spreadsheets; see your hourly rate as a positioning tool. b. Get a second shift job to keep from compromising while you build it. c. Fill >60% of ALL the time you work w/ recoverable fees. d. Maintain >60% with an increasingly higher hourly rate. e. Move exclusively to package pricing w/o reference to hours. f. Build scalable income (webinars, books, etc.). 4. Be friendly but not too accessible. Experts are not accessible in developed cultures. 5. Take two stances, concurrently. Be very helpful in giving away terrific advice for free as long as you don't personalize it. Then charge ridiculous amounts of money to do so. 6. Figure out why you're in business. I'd suggest these three things, in this order: a. Make money. b. Make a difference. c. Enjoy the process. If you don't charge enough, no one listens and you don't have an opportunity to make a difference. But just charging a lot of money is very emptying. 7. Take chances and be different. On my website I tell visitors who aren't a good fit, list all my prices, and list all my competitors. I'm not sure there's a business in the world that does that! Best wishes to you.

Ali Maadelat

President at The Lorenz Marketing Group

Billboard ads have some of the worst response rates out there and some of the highest costs. The companies that look at things like billboards are the ones who probably won't pay the bills for your marketing services because they'll be bankrupt in 2 weeks since they make poor decisions. Want to know what the BEST methods are? Set up a call and I'll guide you through them.

Lars Lofgren

Chief Growth Officer and Cofounder of Stone Press

Many well-known SaaS companies have doubled their prices. I've personally worked with a few that have gone through it. In most cases, your conversion rates stay the same and you see a huge jump in revenue. This is because people tend to under-price themselves. Also, your product improves over time so it provides more value and can support a higher price. But don't raise prices for old customers. Grandfather them in so their plans stay the same price. In the long run, it won't make a difference to your growth since most of them will churn out anyway. If you raise prices on current customers, you'll get a huge backlash. It gets nasty. I'm pretty sure that Zendesk tried it and had to reverse the price increase. I highly recommend raising your price by 100% for a month on new customers. Keep a close eye on your revenue and your conversion rates. If things don't go well, you can easily reverse it and discount everyone that paid for the more expensive plan. Either way, you'll know what your market will actually support.

David C.

Principal at Punctuation

Dan has given you some excellent advice. On the low-level, purely mechanical front, send your pitch via some tracked service like FedEx or UPS, for two reasons. 1. Nobody is going to throw one away without opening it. 2. When a road-blocking gatekeeper rolls you to a stop, just say: "Could I speak with Stephanie, please? I'm following up on a FedEx she received yesterday."

Dan Martell

SaaS Business Coach, Investor, Founder of Clarity

The way I hire anyone is to find someone who's currently employed in that role for a company in my existing market. You can find that person using a few techniques. 1) LInkedIn: Search who's currently doing technical sales for companies similar to yours, and reach out to them to get advice on "How to hire someone like them?". 2) Customers: Connect with a company using a similar product and ask them who's the most impressive technical salesperson they've met - contact that person. Another technique for finding-the-right-person is to search on LinkedIn for a person who previously worked at a similar company that would manage that kind of person (ex: Sales Manager) and ask for advice on hiring... then you can ask who they worked at, at the previous company that impressed them. Build the list using this technique, then win them over to join you for US domination :). Call anytime for more tips like this.

Conversion Rate Optimization (CRO)

How to price conversion rate optimization?

5

Answers

Kevin McCaffrey

Conversion Rate Optimisation Consultant

I provide conversion optimisation services on a price per day on a rolling monthly basis. I did it this way, because my background is in software development consultancy and everything was estimated and billed out on a daily basis. I also provide one off services which is normally priced based on how long it would take to complete. I prefer to work with customers on a rolling monthly basis because I can have an impact on many aspects of their digital marketing and business processes. It means I'm also not tied to only creating split tests but have the freedom to advise and have a positive impact on multiple areas of a business.

David Cordover

Clarity Expert

Can you demonstrate value for them? All the words you're using here are very negative; you need to find a positive spin because I'm not going to pay for something which sounds so negative.