12 Most Relevant Things To Do When Creating an Online Marketing Strategy
Suzen Pettit
by Suzen Pettit at Omaginarium
3 weeks ago I ran a contest asking for great idea’s to help me get my blog onto 12most.com, a website that has taken over my brain. I had to have my blog published there. Why? Who knows; I love the concept and the creativity, and the writers are top notch. And I got some great responses, although it was hard, wasn’t it, coming up with topics that weren’t just 12, but 12 MOST….that tripped most people up. I also promised that the winner of my little contest , should it get me accepted into 12most.com would win either a multi page, in depth website analysis, or if the winner could care less about the optimization of their website or a website at all, a 30 minute marketing consultation on the subject of their choice.
6 Free Techniques to Bring Traffic to your Blog
Suzen Pettit
by Suzen Pettit at Omaginarium
A year ago, In February of 2011, I wrote an amazing article titled : “It’s a New Dawn; Protect Your Online Reputation”. It was one of the first blogs I’d written and I was filled with great confidence about the vast value it was going to offer my “online community”. After all, I have awesome services to sell, and I knew people would hungrily sign up for them, and most definately hire me to protect their online reputation. I was targeting a strategic market, offering services at a competitive price and providing interesting content on various platforms. All the stuff the big gun Joe Pulizzi talks about.
Eye Capture is like QR Codes on Steroids
As part of our Founders Spotlight series, we cover new, promising startups. This week we’re featuring Eye Capture, a free mobile app designed for magazines that acts like QR codes on steroids — only without the QR codes or the steroids.
With Eye Capture, you take a picture of the entire page — no tiny QR codes or hidden codes or any codes — and are presented with an screen full of images and magazine-approved links of content that’s directly related to what’s on that page.
Dollar Shave Club cuts a Sharp Launch Video!
Dollar Shave Club gives us a clean cut example of how to make a razor sharp video for launching a site.
Can you top this hilarious startup video? If so, send it our way!
Geek Gear: ScreenFlow is a Powerful Tool for Startups
Okay, so you’re a startup and you’re launching a new website or app. How do you communicate this to users, journalists and investors? ScreenFlow makes it easy by allowing you to create screencasts, including tutorial videos, training videos, how-to lessons, marketing videos, and product demos.
With ScreenFlow you can record the contents of your entire monitor while also capturing your video camera, microphone and your computer audio. The easy-to-use editing interface lets you creatively edit your video, and add additional images, text, music and transitions for a truly professional-looking video. The finished result is a QuickTime or Windows Media movie, ready for publishing to your Web site or blog or directly to YouTube or Vimeo.
HatchMe – Incubator focused on University Startups
HatchMe is a startup incubator with a focus on incubating university entrepreneurs’ ideas and school projects to build the next big thing to improve the world.
Their main initiative is to discover talented entrepreneurs from all colleges and universities who by themselves don’t have the time, resources or connections to bring their ideas to life. HatchMe partners with influencers, educators and financiers in the entrepreneurial ecosystem to transform ideas to startups to success.
From what we can tell, this incubator is pretty new. They don’t have a lot up on their website yet, but you can check it out at http://hatchme.com/
Co-working Spaces for Startups in Cities Across the USA
Co-working is a style of work which involves a shared working environment. Unlike in a typical office environment, those co-working are usually not employed by the same organization.
We’re focusing here on co-working spaces targeted at the nomadic internet entrepreneur, seeking an alternative to working in coffee shops, garages and living rooms.
We’ve compiled a list below of coworking spaces in major cities across the United States. If we missed any coworking spaces, please add them in the comments section below!
Arizona
Gangplank
http://optinlearningcenter.com/co-working-env
260 S Arizona Ave
Chandler, Arizona
Optin Learning Center
1440 S. Country Club Mesa
Mesa, Arizona
Co-working Spaces & Shared Offices in San Francisco
We keep getting asked about co-working and shared office space in San Francisco. Let me tell you, there is an abundance of places to choose from.
Parisoma
http://www.parisoma.com/
Citizen Space
http://citizenspace.us/
Sandbox Suites
http://sandboxsuites.com/
NextSpace
http://nextspace.us/
Hub Bay Area
http://bayarea.the-hub.net/
Founders Den
http://www.foundersden.com/
Reactor
http://reactorsf.com/
SomaCentral
https://twitter.com/#!/somacentral
WeWork
http://www.weworknyc.com/
People Browsr Labs
http://www.peoplebrowsr.com/labs
RocketSpace
http://www.rocket-space.com/
And this probably isn’t even all the spaces!
Life Science Collaboration Agreements
by Richard Hsu at One Page Blog
Inspired by the music from Steve Jobs 1984 introduction of the Macintosh, I have put together my nuts and bolts of a Life Sciences Collaboration Agreement.
LaunchRock – Landing Pages Made Easy & Viral
LaunchRock helps you instantly build a prelaunch landing page and adds all the hooks so that it can go viral.
Here’s some adivce they give on their site:
Five lessons for a friend-fueled viral launch page:
1. Ask for help: Your friends care about you and want to help you succeed.
2. Lines, Not Dots: Share a story line with friends not just a snapshot.
3. Snipers, Not Shotguns: Target small circles of friends with catered emails.
4. Keep it fresh: Continually show your friends how your business works.
5. Don’t be annoying: Be comfortable asking for help, but don’t over do it.
Startup Incubator for Teens — Teens in Tech
What’s next — an incubator for those over 70? Probably not, but Teens in Tech is a good idea. Get kids when they’re young and teach them valuable lessons in business.
The Teens in Tech Incubator is an eight week hands-on program for entrepreneurs between the ages of 13-19 who are serious about building products and learning about entrepreneurship.
Through the eight-week program, teams will experience what it means to start a company and build a product. With over 60 top startup mentors around the world, seed funding, an amazing office in the heart of Silicon Valley, and a vibrant community of entrepreneurs, we help our companies succeed through hands-on experience.
How to Market & Promote iPhone, iPad & Android Apps (Part 5)
Steve Hoffman
by Steve Hoffman, Publisher of Founders Space
Okay, your app is now live. Here’s what you need to do to keep your app visible and healthy.
Post-Launch Phase – Marketing & Promotion
- Take advantage of services like TapJoy and Millennial Media to buy installs and boost your app’s rank. But don’t get carried away. These guys can cost you a bundle, and unless your app performs, it can be a waste of money.
- Avoid advertising on the Web. These clicks seldom translate into mobile downloads.
- Look for new partnership opportunities.
What’s the Science behind a Startup? An LA Incubator Thinks it Knows
A hot new incubator hits LA… This time it’s Science. It’s the brainchild of Color cofounder, Peter Pham and former MySpace CEO Mike Jones. With their connections and Silicon Valley money, they should do alright.
Here’s their pitch:
Science creates, scales and acquires successful digital businesses by bringing together the best ideas, talent, resources and financing through a centralized platform. Science focus’s on three things: developing new businesses, providing emerging startups with operational strategy and capital, and transforming later-stage Internet ventures with new talent and innovations.
Here’s their roster:
TEDxSheffield – Alan Moore’s No Straight Lines
If you haven’t heard of No Straight Lines, you’re missing out. Allan Moore is onto something big. He calls himself a Creative Destructionist, and below is his wonderful talk at TEDxSheffield:
Given this year’s theme of ‘Disrupt’ Alan’s a wonderful addition to TEDxSheffield. Alan is a noted expert on disruption particularly in a nonlinear world. He’s the author of ‘Communities Dominate Brands’ and he has a new book coming out in October entitled ‘No Straight Lines’ which originally came to fame as a hugely popular talk delivered at SXSWi in Austin, TX.
Founders Spotlight: Hear It Local
We’ve got another great startup for you: Hear It Local. Hear It Local’s mission is to help musicians secure more local gigs and to help fans get the inside scoop about local shows.
This video was produced by our good friends and collaborators Lyne and Peter at WavePlay as part of their What’s Hot Now series. It features Matt Lombardi and Glenn Shope, cofounders of Hear It Local. Enjoy!
Geek Gear: Gamecom 780 with Dolby 7.1 by Plantronics
As part of our Geek Gear series, we’re happy to let you know about Gamecom 780. If you’re looking for a headset for both work and pleasure (a.k.a. games), it’s the perfect combo. We tested it out on everything from Skype to World of Warcraft, and this baby is a keeper.
The GameCom 780 has a retro look, a bit bulky, but it’s surprisingly light weight. The nice thing is that it’s not flimsy. We like the high quality construction — the materials are superb. It feels great to put those cups over your ears, like you’re heading off to another world.
How to Market & Promote iPhone, iPad & Android Apps (Part 4)
Steve Hoffman
by Steve Hoffman, Creator of Yumby
The day your app hits the App Store, you need to be ready to respond to anything and everything. This is your biggest single day for marketing and promoting your app, and here’s what you need to do.
Launch Phase – Marketing & Promotion
- Upon launch, email blast all the journalists you didn’t contact ahead of time. Point them to the press release and the App Store, so they can download your app. Also include a link to a video of your app. Journalists are lazy and often won’t download your app unless they find the video compelling.
How to Market & Promote iPhone, iPad & Android Apps (Part 3)
Steve Hoffman
by Steve Hoffman, Publisher of Founders Space
Right before your app launch is the most critical time for marketing and promoting it. You need to cement all the key relationships and make sure everyone knows your app is about to hit the App Store. If you do a good enough job and are lucky enough to get on Apple’s radar, the chances of getting featured go way up.
Prelaunch Phase – Marking & Promotion
How to Market & Promote iPhone, iPad & Android Apps (Part 2)
Steve Hoffman
by Steve Hoffman, Publisher of Founders Space
It’s never too early to start marketing and promoting your app. Ideally, you should begin right when you start development. As you build out the app, you should be working on marketing and promoting it to all the key influencers, including bloggers, strategic partners, potential users, etc.
Development Phase – Marketing & Promotion
- Identify your target customer. Is it Moms between the ages of 35 and 45? You need to know exactly who will be using your app and why they’ll download it.
LinkedIn Marketing for B2C Companies – The Audiences on LinkedIn that can Double Your Sales
Kristina Jaramillo
During a presentation that I was giving at a small business owner’s boot camp, I was asked a very interesting question by one of the attendees:
“I am a real estate agent and I am not sure how LinkedIn can help me since it is a business to business platform and I am targeting consumers and homeowners. Should I be focusing just on Facebook which is more consumer oriented? And, if I should be on LinkedIn, how can I best utilize it to help me obtain more business and clients?”
How to Market & Promote iPhone, iPad & Android Apps (Part 1)
Steve Hoffman
by Steve Hoffman, Creator of Yumby
After doing extensive research and interviewing industry experts, I’ve compiled a list of what you need to do to launch and market a successful mobile app on the iPhone, iPad and Android.
How to Get Your App Featured & Ranked
Nothing can compare with getting featured by Apple. If you get featured by the App Store, sales will spike. The problem is that getting featured is increasingly difficult. Not only do you need a great app, but your icon must be beautiful, your screenshots must look great, and your description must grab the reviewers attention. And it doesn’t hurt to have bloggers talking about your app in advance. This is probably the most important thing you can do to get Apple’s attention.
How Can You Create a Viral App or Site?
Steve Hoffman
by Steve Hoffman, Creator of Yumby
I’ve been doing a lot of research on virality, and I thought I’d share some of what I learned.
First off, what makes an app or site viral?
Extreme Startups – the Incubator Up North
Do you want to take your company to an extreme? Well, we’ve found the incubator for you. Extreme Startups is extremely cold. At least for those of us living in sunny California. It’s way up in Ontario, Canada. But that shouldn’t stop you. First of all, they’re offering $200,000 in funding to each startup that enters their program. Nice! That can buy you plenty of long underwear.
They also have a nice roster of mentors and solid industry connections. Most importantly, they have a program that they put you through to make sure you’re prepared to spend their money wisely. Are you up for a trip to the great white north? If so, Extreme Startups is worth considering. And they have a sense of humor…
Need Help Creating Great-Looking Apps? Tapptics to the Rescue
For any of you who attended our session on “How to Create & Market Award-Winning Apps,” you’re already aware that having a great-looking app is not a luxury any more. It’s a necessity. And if you ever hope to get featured by Apple, it’s a must have. A poor looking UI or not-so-great icon can kill your chances of ever getting to the top of the App Store.
HTML 5 vs. Adobe Flash — Which Should you Choose?
According to Wikipedia, Flash has been in existence since 1996 and, because of this, has a strong base of developers and users. According to Adobe statistics, Flash has reached 99% penetration on Web browsers, while HTML 5 has a 40% penetration.
The latest version of the Adobe Flash Player runs on Microsoft Windows, Mac OS X, Linux, Android 2.2+, RIM QNX and Google TV. Earlier versions run on PlayStation 3 (Flash 9), and PSP (Flash 6). Adobe Flash Lite runs on Wii, Symbian, Maemo Linux, Windows Mobile, and Chumby. In contrast, some video sites, including YouTube, Vimeo and blip.tv, have implemented a degree of experimental support for HTML5 video. Steve Jobs noted that Flash is not an open standard – it is controlled by Adobe Systems, whereas HTML5 is largely controlled by a committee (WHATWG) made up of three companies: Opera Software, the Mozilla Foundation, and Apple.
Do You Really Need a FoundersCard?
Founders Card
FoundersCard is now two years old and has over 5,000 members. So what is it?
FoundersCard lets you receive discounts and deals from a whole bunch of businesses, like 10% off of everything at AT&T, 10% off Groundlink cabs, instant “Silver access” on Virgin Atlantic, 50% off domains at Hover, and a free account at Shoprunner — to name a few. In total, the startup has about 96 companies offering its members benefits, including 44 lifestyle companies, 16 travel companies, and 36 business companies. In addition, members enjoy access to frequent networking events held throughout the year.
500 Startups: Blowing up Startups with Design, Data & Distribution
Today, as part of incubator roundup, we’re featuring Dave McClure’s 500 Startups.
If you haven’t heard of it already, 500 Startups provides early-stage companies with funding ranging from $10K to $250K via seed investments. They offer a startup accelerator program and new micro-fund models, like the Twilio Fund. With over 160 experienced startup mentors around the world, a cool creative workspace in the heart of Silicon Valley, and a vibrant community of startup founders, we think 500 Startups is a winner!
Here’s a bit about their philosophy:
Here are 14 Steps to Winning the SEO Wars
Is SEO (Search Engine Optimization) a mystery to you? Well then, take a look at this presentation by Ryan Spoon of Polaris Ventures.
Need a loan for your startup? Try ZestBank
ZestCash
Okay, so angel investors are ignoring you, VCs won’t give you a second meeting, your credit card is maxed out, and you can’t get a loan from any bank. What do you do? First off, pay-off your credit card. The interest will kill you. Next, look for an alternative.
One option is ZestCash, a financial services technology startup that serves the needs of the underbanked. It has just secured $73 million in its second round of funding. ZestCash doesn’t pull any information from credit burrows. Instead, it uses non obvious variables, like cell phone payment records and how much time applicants spend on our site, to offer loans to its customers.
