Category: Selling

Some stuff all web startups should know

Posted on by Steve Sammartino

I’ve just read the following book. 50 great e-Businesses and the minds behind them. By Emily Ross and Angus Holland. It includes all our favourites over the past 10 years. Put simply it’s insightful.

 50-great-e-businesses.jpg

I really think you should read it, but if you’re time poor like most entrepreneurs here’s my bullet point summary for you:

  • More than 80% of these businesses were founded and run by non-technical people (web designers / coders etc)
  • Only a handful actually went viral and had overnight success
  • ‘Fun parks’ build traffic & members quicker than ‘real commercial sites’ (see next blog entry)
  • The majority did not have VC funding, fancy offices, or even staff. They bootstrapped.
  • Most took much longer than 2 years to build
  • The most unexpected and common thing that drove success was cold calling & collaboration 
  • The entrepreneurs behind them we’re driven by the idea, belief and excitement – not only the potential for big money.

Worth a read.

The map

Posted on by Steve Sammartino

Sometimes we’re not as lost as we think we are. We just need to put the brakes on. Stop and revisit our map.

 world-globe.png 

We need to find our location, and determine if we’re on target, or if we’ve made a few wrong turns. If we’re not where we’d like to be, we might need to change direction.

 

The important this are that we don’t obsess over the map every day, or just keep forging ahead when we’re lost.

Pictures

Posted on by Steve Sammartino

I try and use pictures on every blog entry.  

I use pictures every time I do a business presentation.

You might see something my words didn’t tell you.  

My words might tell you something my picture didn’t show you.

wheres-wally.png 

(Where’s wally?)

Rain makers

Posted on by Steve Sammartino

Hippo jobs is a fast growing web startup which focuses on the youth job market. I recently had a coffee with the super successful entrepreneur and General Manager of Hippo.com.au – James Masini.

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The discussion found its way towards scaling up and staff requirements and structure.  

Insert startup insight here:  

The majority of his work force are currently in business development roles – read ‘sale people’. He’s currently recruiting a few more staff who’ll also be in Business Development – sale people. 

Not coders, not techies, not marketers, not bean counters, not admin…. rain making, revenue generating, sales people. Simple.  

Ego

Posted on by Steve Sammartino

I recently bought the book below. I have read this book before, and yet I felt the need to purchase it and add it to my library.

 the-prince.jpg 

Yes, I will read it again, but that’s not why I purchased it. In fact it was a $50 impulse purchase.

On close inspection of the photo above you’ll notice this hardcover version of the book has beautiful embossing and a soft silken fabric cover. It’s tactile and premium. This book was an ‘ego’ purchase.

We normally associate ego purchases with items which are on display: Fast cars, haute couture clothing, funky sunglasses, golf clubs, Euro design kitchens and bathrooms, flying first class et al. Places where our consumption choices are on display. However, The Prince by Machiavelli will not be on display – only in my house and head.

The lesson for start ups is this: Our ego can be leveraged in any category. Even boring stuff like books. We’ll often pay more (which I did, more than double) because our ego isn’t an external thing, ego is about self importance, whatever that means to us.

As seen on (TV) Google

Posted on by Steve Sammartino

As seen on TV Google… 

Back in the halcyon days of the TV industrial complex, an oft used selling point was the fact that something was actually on TV.

The thinking went something like this: 

  1. TV advertising is expensive
  2. They (brand X) are advertising on TV
  3. They have the money to make this investment
  4. So people must be buying this product
  5. This product must be good
  6. I will buy this product

as-seen-on-tv.jpg 

It built a sense of trust. Trust that evolved from assumed scale.  

Guess what? It’s back! Only this time it’s ‘as seen on front page of Google’. 

The new thinking isn’t too different:

  1. Google knows everything on the web
  2. It’s on the front page of Google
  3. Google has done the sorting for me
  4. Lots of people must be using this site
  5. Lots of sites must be linked to it
  6. I can buy from (trust) this website

The cool thing about this for start ups, is that it really only takes an investment in time and thinking to get there. Not a big media buy.