Startup Hustle

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Viral Marketing Works?If the Audience is Right
2008-02-26 08:45:00
Startups often want to use viral marketing (aka word of mouth) because it is free, the public does most of the work for you and people are more likely to use a product recommended by a friend. My experiences with viral marketing often involves a startup asking me to turn on viral marketing like a ...
More About: Marketing , Internet Marketing , Viral , Viral Marketing , Works

Venture Capital Wear - $100 T-Shirts?
2008-02-20 23:08:00
So I came across a site called Venture Capital Wear. They produce humorous (in someones opinion) t-shirts that can only be bought by accredited investors and they cost $100 a piece. Or you can buy the entire company for $100,000, which includes the VC Wear site and 20 of each t-shirt (remember, $100 a piece). ...
More About: Venture Capital , Shirts , T-Shirts , Guerrilla Marketing

The Power of Names (and Profiles) in SEO
2008-02-13 11:05:00
Sites are always trying to rank higher in search engines. The best way to rank well is to have well written, original content that sites want to link to (this is the non-spamming technique). This is why many web optimizers push you to have a blog on your site. A blog will generate new, original ...
More About: Power , Internet Marketing , Link Building , Profiles , Names

Your Server (or Hosting) Can Hurt Your Search Engine Indexing!
2008-02-11 09:30:00
I have been tracking Google’s indexing for a few sites I work on (this is how I track Google’s indexing). The index for one site has dropped hard while the other sites saw no large movements. While this is a weak conclusion, I assumed a change on the site had caused the shift, not a ...
More About: Hosting , Search , Search Engine , Hurt , Engine

Marketing Tips and a Startup Viewpoint
2008-02-04 10:55:00
Anita Campbell of Small Business Trends had a great post last week with marketing experts sharing one of their marketing secrets. I have quoted some of my favorites with a reason why I think the point is important below. Toby Bloomberg, Diva Marketing – “Forget what your mama or your preacher taught you. The Golden Rule does NOT work for developing marketing strategy. Your customers do not want to be treated “as you would like to be treated.” In understanding your customers you might discover that their values, needs and expectations differ from yours. New Golden Rule For Marketers: Do Unto Your Customers As THEY Would Like To Be Treated.” I work with many startups and a common issue I find is as the product changes and molds in the first few years (as it does in all startups), many lose sight of their customer. Too many startups make changes because they believe they are not growing fast enough and it usually breeds a poor product and poor quality. Scott Shane, Author o...
More About: Marketing Tips , Tips , Viewpoint , Startup

Want Startup Weekend in Your City? Vote for it.
2008-01-31 15:07:00
Startup Weekend has opened the voting for the next cities that could hold the event. There are over 20 cities currently on the ballot with the majority in the North America and a few in Europe. Startup Weekend gives you 54 hours to build a company. The company is equally divided by the founders. Startup Weekend was created by Andrew Hyde and has already held 13 weekends in the United States, Canada and Europe. Check out the Boston Startup Weekend Blog and the Boulder Startup Weekend Blog to get a better idea of all that goes into the a “traditional” Startup Weekend. Permalink - Internt Startup Marketing Blog
More About: Vote , City , Startup

Bounce Rate vs Exit Rate and Landing Pages
2008-01-28 15:38:00
Launching a new landing page is exciting. You spend weeks working and tweaking a landing page for public launch with hopes it will sell your product or service. After launch you are reviewing Google Analytics and CrazyEgg several times a day and keeping track of sales. How do you gauge if a landing page is really ...
More About: Landing Pages , Bounce , Pages , Rate , Landing

Ad Age Reports 90% of Searchers Ignore PPC…Worried?
2008-01-24 10:40:00
The percentage is actually 88.5% but 90% is more intimidating in the headline. You should only be worried if you are selling a product that has poor a pay per click (PPC) record. Then again if you are selling a product that does poorly in PPC you better sell it through a different marketing medium. When I first read about the high percentage of internet searchers that don’t use PPC I was a little concerned. The majority of startups I work with either use or have tried paid search. Most of the time it works well and I have never entered a market that didn’t receive some activity. The major assumption from this report is most searchers use the organic listings. Thus putting more emphasis on search engine optimization tactics. Which is much more difficult and takes time. Here can find the Search Fact Pack 2007 from Ad Age. Permalink - Internt Startup Marketing Blog
More About: Worried

How Do I Get to the Next Level of SEO?
2008-01-21 09:10:00
In October of 2006 I joined a startup as a marketing manager, which means I was the marketing department. My only post college experience was as a marketing/product strategist for a year. I came into the startup with no knowledge of SEO or paid search, but I was responsible for both. About 2 weeks before starting I was handed Aaron Wall’s SEOBook and started my SEO education. With the help of an outsourced SEO consultant already being used by the startup, I had become versed in the meta text, keyword research and link building techniques. The problem I have now is I’m the average SEO guy. I want need to get to the next level of SEO. I now manage the SEO tasks for multiple sites and have the chance to test and experiment different SEO tactics (which I believe is essential). I try to read as much as I can but only find a few select authors actually provide a view behind the curtain of advanced SEO tactics. I believe, as with any industry, those that find a competitive adva...

Entrepreneurs - Please Understand How Internet Business Works.
2008-01-15 07:55:00
After a discussion I had with some colleagues this evening, I was blown away with the lack of understanding of why websites are more popular/make more money/receive attention (buzz) than others. This discussion usual revolves around free sites and premium (paid) sites. Let me explain my understanding between free and premium sites (other than the ...
More About: Business , Internet , Internet Business , Works , Entrepreneurs

January 08 PageRank Update
2008-01-13 22:02:00
If you haven’t noticed already, Google has begin the first quarter PageRank update. Start Hustle has seen some movement in individual post but not on the homepage. A few of the sites I work with have seen increases. Although many deem PageRank unimportant I still contend that it is one way to tell how relevant Google deems your site. Permalink - Internt Startup Marketing Blog
More About: Pagerank , January , Update

Top Ten Myths of Entrepreneurship - Scott Shane
2008-01-11 11:50:00
Scott Shane wrote a guest blog article on Guy Kawasaki’s Blog about the Top Ten Myths of Entrepreneurship . It was a great list. I’m only going to quote the myths I found most interesting. Visit the article to read all ten.   2. Venture capitalists are a good place to go for start-up money. Not unless you ...
More About: Scott

Registering A New Domain? Don?t Use Network Solutions
2008-01-10 09:45:00
I love researching new domain names. My first website was a forum for pay-per-click marketing. When I found the domain PerClickForums.com as an unregistered domain, I thought I was a genius. I sold the site and the new owners drove it into the ground (wish I still had the domain though). Later I came ...
More About: Domain , Network , Domains , Solutions , Network Solutions

Guerrilla Marketing + Lost and Found = Light Blub
2008-01-08 12:45:00
Guerrilla marketing is one of the more creative outlets that startups can use to get noticed. One of my business partners, Gabe Shultz of Bored Sketchbooks fame, came up with a great guerrilla marketing idea that involves using his companies lost and found (and I’m suppose to be the marketing mind between the two of ...
More About: Marketing , Lost , Guerrilla , Internet Marketing , Light

Tracking Your Site in Google?s Index
2008-01-03 10:55:00
Are you tracking how Google indexes your site? If you rely on Google as much as most web companies, it is important to see how you are being indexed. You always hear about the dreaded “Supplemental Index ” (whether it exist or not) which is a fear for any startup. The supplemental index (SI) is a ...
More About: Site , Tracking , Indexing

Theft of a Domain and Rebuilding a Brand - David Airey
2007-12-28 12:55:00
What would you do if your site was stolen and held for ransom? David Airey had built a blog, and more importantly a brand with his website that was also instrumental to his consulting business. Due to a security flaw in Gmail David’s domain name, DavidAirey.com was stolen, and with it all the link and ...
More About: Domain , Blog Marketing , Brand , Theft

The Crunchies - Startups Ouside the Valley Need Not Apply
2007-12-23 19:01:00
The Crunchies have picked the top 5 “startups” for each category and are ready for you to vote. What I had feared earlier this month has happened, and worse than I had predicted. I feared that the Crunchies would be a bunch of Silicon Valley startups while other new businesses around the country would not ...
More About: Startups

Is It Too Late To Get In? (Startup Conundrum)
2007-12-20 10:55:00
I have been floating the idea of dabbling in the domain game. As I discuss domaining with fellow entrepreneurs I get the usual talk, it is hyper competitive, all the low hanging fruit is gone…blah. This is a common question many entrepreneurs face when trying to find an industry or idea to attack next, is ...
More About: Startup , Late

Where Does Google Trends Data Come From?
2007-12-17 09:55:00
I’m currently working on an international pay per click campaign for a startup. I turn to Google Trends to get an idea of the search volume in different countries. I don’t take these numbers as 100% correct, but I assume they are in the ballpark. Well, its not in the ballpark, its not even on ...
More About: Internet Marketing , Data , Google Trends

Startup vs Small Business and Messaging Customers
2007-12-12 16:49:00
Are you a small business or a startup? The answer probably depends on where you are located and what industry you are in. The term startup is generally used by tech companies in population hubs like San Fransisco, New York, Boston, LA, Austin that are “in the know”. The term small business is often used ...
More About: Business , Small Business , Customers , Small , Startup

Are you BORED? Then Grab a Sketchbook.
2007-12-10 19:01:00
Most of my friends growing up were artistic and creative, I was not. The one thing I can bring to the table is internet marketing knowledge. When you put that together with a great designer named Gabe Shultz, you get a sketchbook company called Bored Sketchbook s. The site (and idea) was designed by Gabe and ...
More About: Grab , Etch , Then

Can Streakr compete with StumbleUpon?
2007-12-06 17:16:00
StumbleUpon (SU) is an addictive web application that I can’t stop using. The idea is you add a tool bar on your internet browser that has a button. That one button will keep you occupied for hours. Every time you click the “Stumble!” button, it sends you to a new website. You vote (with the ...
More About: Internet Marketing , Stumble , Blog Marketing , Compete , Guerrilla Marketing

Will the Valley Sweep the Crunchies?
2007-12-04 12:55:00
Well, of course they will. Early last month I wrote an article on how The Crunchies would be a great source of publicity for a new startup. The nominations have opened for the 20 awards and will close at 12 PST on December 12th. You can nominate any startup if they meet the criteria per ...
More About: Internet Marketing , Valley , Sweep

Reader Question: Why Do (Internet) Businesses Fail?
2007-12-03 08:55:00
If you research why businesses fail on Google, most of the answers have to do with money management or founder experience issues. These explanations seem to be focused on more traditional brick and mortar (B&M) businesses. Since this blog is written by those with internet business experience, it will focus on why internet businesses fail. ...
More About: Internet , Question , Reader , Businesses , Sine

rssHugger.com - Link Building Strategy
2007-11-28 17:15:00
rssHugger.com is a new site that brings bloggers and readers together with “a unique easy-to-use way to promote their blogs by sending them traffic, building backlinks for search engine optimization, as well as attracting new rss subscribers if the content is interesting to the reader.” What is impressive is the link building strategy rssHugger implements, ...
More About: Building , Internet Marketing , Strategy , Link Building , Blog Marketing

The 2008 Startup Marketing Plan
2007-11-27 14:55:00
Have you started your 2008 Marketing Plan yet? If you are lucky enough to actually have a marketing budget, you need to plan where to spend it. Most startups do not bother with such nonsense, there are more important tasks to complete. It is nice to have an established (working) plan so you can ...
More About: Webmaster Tools , Internet Marketing , Links , Adwords

Microsoft Launches Webmaster Tools
2007-11-20 10:00:00
Microsoft has launched a Webmaster Tools program to match Google’s Webmaster Tools . While it is not as feature heavy as Googles tool, it is a start and better than Yahoo’s Site Explorer. Adding your site and verification is simple as adding a meta tag to your header. Microsoft does not provide a great deal of information. ...
More About: Microsoft , Aster

TheFunded.com - New School Linkbait Or Old School PR Trick?
2007-11-16 10:55:00
TheFunded.com has been a big deal in the startup world. It allows entrepreneurs to write about their experiences meeting with venture capitalist while staying anonymous. TheFunded.com has become such a big deal because no one knew who was behind it. That and most of the reviews were negative, aggravating named VCs. The suspense ...
More About: School , Trick , Old School , Guerrilla Marketing

Adwords GeoTargeting Doesn?t GeoTarget (to my Embarrassment)
2007-11-15 16:10:00
While I was in Ohio on business I was searching keywords in Google as I was explaining the purpose of Adwords GeoTargeting. Of course it was the perfect time for GeoTargeting to not target per my geo(graphy). I had recently launched an Adwords campaign targeting New York (the state) in a rather competitive market, lets call ...

Does Your Business Have a Facebook Page Yet?
2007-11-13 19:40:00
If not, you better register your Facebook Page . The Facebook Pages for businesses are like domain names. I’m not positive how Facebook will police members that make pages for popular companies or products, but you should at least register your names and products before anyone else can. The best part, it is free. Once you set up ...
More About: Business , Internet Marketing , Domains