startups Archives - Page 82 of 117

Know what you’re selling

Posted on May 27, 2010 by Steve Sammartino

It was Friday night and I was having a drinks with colleagues who were discussing the relative taste profiles of various beers. I went on challenge the crowd that they wouldn’t know which beers was which in a blind taste test. None of them believed me.

Turns out it’s true. I once worked in a marketing role at Fosters, and 90% of beer drinkers cannot pick any brand within the same type (eg lager, pillsner, bitter ale). Beer is not bought on taste, it’s bought by brand. Sure, there are other factors which come into the decision like availability and price. But both trail and subsequent loyalty is never about taste.

So we have to know what we are selling. Not in the primary sense (the physical product) but in the secondary sense, the real motivation which makes us choose brand A over brand B. And in most categories it’s not what it seems

Beer = fashion

Electricity = company interactions

Coffee = socialisation

Cameras = memory library

For entrepreneurs the message is simple, we must know what we are selling. It’s most often how we market the secondary benefit which will drive our brand over the competitor.

Stay the course

Posted on May 23, 2010 by Steve Sammartino

I love the story of James Podsiadly for one reason. He has broken convention and in doing so, will change peoples perception forever.

For the uninitiated, James managed to break into the AFL ranks for the first time at the age of 28. Playing his first game for Geelong in season 2010. In football terms he’s a senior citizen. In fact, most people start retiring around that vintage. But James wasn’t fortunate enough to get picked to play at AFL level at a young age. Geelong is his third club, and he has been starring this year.

He’s proven that age is relative to development.

He’s proven that age is relative to opportunity.

He’s proven that desire can be translated into results.

He’s proven that great work eventually gets noticed.

He’s proven that sometimes people / companies / clubs get it wrong.

He’s proven that staying the course over a a long period is where results live.

So far in the year 2010, he’s the most inspiring person I’ve come across. Before we make an assessment of someone’s worth, we should think of James. He’s also who we should remember when we think of quitting, or we’re overlooked in whatever we are doing.

Startup Blog says: Thankyou James.

Don’t be boring

Posted on May 17, 2010 by Steve Sammartino

It’s not a boring category, industry, startup or company. You’re a boring brand run by boring people.

Exciting is a state of mind, if we have the courage to create, upset or even offend, then we can change our brand or industry forever. In fact, it might even be worth going broke or getting fired for.

The law of focus

Posted on May 13, 2010 by Steve Sammartino

We can only beat the big guys with focus. It has to be so small the big guys don’t care. Big guys rarely buy big businesses anyway, especially not in the tech or web scene. They want it to fit tightly into their portfolio. We ought put all our eggs in a tiny basket. In this way we wont get short short of resources, both human and financial.

When we do this in startup land, we have a chance of winning.

The internet lives in Dog years

Posted on May 11, 2010 by Steve Sammartino

The internet is a bit like dogs. Life moves a bit more quickly. Which is why I still laugh whenever I hear that the latest hit website is going to be the dominate force forever in that that category. As Facebook is currently being touted to be, then I love to remind the pundit just a little bit about the history of the internet.

Yahoo was search. it was game set and match, then came Google.

Myspace was social networking – it had won, apparently…

Blackbery had stitched up the hand held internet enabled smart phone market…

Geocites was the way we’d all have our own websites… then came blogging

All of which remind us how things can change ever so quickly on the intenert. This wont change, because the barriers to entry are so low. $5 an hour in India for a coder, $9.99 for a domain, $Free internet access and a wifi enabled laptop for a few hundred dollars and you’re an internet entrepreneur. Unlike TV and tradtional media outlets, anyone can play. Creativity wins, not financial resources.

The insight is that the forums people hang out in will always change, like disco’s and pubs (the web is social) – it’s also kinda Punk. Our job isn’t to predict which is the next big thing, but to learn how to use them quickly so that we can participate in a timely manner.

the cool thing about blogging

Posted on May 5, 2010 by Steve Sammartino

I’ve had to very quickly pull together a social media straetgy for a project I am working on. The timeline I had was a few hours. I’m certain that only due to the fact that I’ve been an avid blogger for a few years was I able to meet the deadline. Blogging creates great habits. It forces us to consider our chosen topic deeply and regularly. (startups & marketing in my case) It forces us to respond to our ideas quickly, to trust their value and publish them anyway, before tomorrow comes. It’s a personal newspaper and our readers want to know what’s new everyday. They’re not looking for perfection, but inspiration.

Whatver we do, are interested in and regardless of our industry, blogging is a must for those of us wanting to get better and faster.

Top 7 startup tips

Posted on May 5, 2010 by Steve Sammartino

I was asked to give a list to Tim Reid on a few micro marketing / startup tips for his terrific podcast. I thought they were worth sharing in point form here.

Project management is the key skill (Outsource weaknesses, be blissfully unaware how to do technical things, manage the value chain.)
Think micro (Start small, no tiny. think hyper-local, and expand out from there)
Compound effort (Our labour compounds over time like interest and investments do, social media takes compound effort)
Speed is better than perfection (perfection is the enemy of success, launch review and iterate constantly)
Manage for cash flow not profit (Money in and money out are the only 2 financials that matter, we can’t go broke when cash flow positive)
We’ve got to sell (Selling is a core skill, we have to sell not just to customers but to everyone in our business world, employees & suppliers too, have a sales guru in your team)
Start now (The right is never going to come, stop waiting for it)