Content-Based Marketing -- -5 Steps to Creating a Content-Based Marketing Campaign

To gain attention in today’s business world you need to have something relevant, informative, and interesting to say. The days of banner ads are long gone. Content-based marketing will help you establish your name in the market. Here are the five steps to creating a content-based marketing campaign:

1. Know your audience--know their interests, care-abouts, problems, and issues.
2. Create a Mantra and a Message--boil your core message down to a few words
3. Create a list of topics --these topics address what you found in step 1. Focus on what your audience wants to read or know about.
4. Write about those topics in your blog -- you need to write consistently over time to establish a presence in the market.
5. Reformat the content for other purposes -- take the show on the road with presentations, articles, etc.

As you build out your content, you’ll also find you’re niche and your target audience will become more clearly defined.


Best regards,
Hall T.

Networking--Take Them With You on the Entrepreneurial Journey

I see many companies go through the fund raising process. Without a doubt the ones with networking skills come out with checks more often than those without networking skills. Most investors are found through the networking process and even more importantly those relationships are nurtured through good networking practices. Entrepreneurs seeking funding need to apply their networking skills to the fund raising process just as they do to other areas of their business.

In fact, even before you go out to raise funding you should begin the networking process. When you identify an investor -- ask to put him on your list to keep him informed of your progress. As you make progress send out a short email (say once a month or quarter) with an update of accomplishments.

I advised a local gaming company to do that and when I received their first status report, I was blown away by the accomplishments they had achieved in the past few months including downloads, subscribers, product developments, awards, and more. Had they not sent me that report, I would never have suspected they had as much traction as they did. That’s the key to networking -- making contact and keeping those contacts with you on the journey.

Best regards,
Hall T.

Guest Blogger-- Kevin Ready 10 Seconds and Your Business is Toast!

The Survival Tactic Every Company Needs

Would you keep live hand grenades in your desk drawer?

Not unless you are Blackwater International!

That being the case, why do so many companies keep comparably deadly problems in their metaphorical desk drawer for months or even years without dealing with them?
What are we talking about here?

We are talking about Single Points of Failure!

A single key employee that has unique knowledge required to do your business. What will you do if they move on, or (in business parlance) ‘get hit by a bus?’

A single advertising medium can be a big risk too. If you depend on being on the first page of Google for most of your business, you are going to have problems if or when you are no longer at the top of the search results. Do you drive most of your traffic from Google AdWords? What would happen if you could no longer advertise there?

An outsized large client – If your company depends disproportionately on one client like Wal-Mart, then you are clearly at risk.

A Single Sales Channel - I was a partner in a company that depended disproportionately on EBay for moving physical products from its warehouse into consumer's hands. This eventually got 'em in big trouble - as Ebay.com policies frequently changed, and their systems could be unstable.

A Single Financial Pathway- This is a huge one. If you are an online merchant, what will you do if your merchant account gets yanked out from under you? (This happened to us in 1999) Depend on PayPal? What would happen if they suddenly demand over $1 million in warm, fuzzy, escrow money to continue using them? (This happened to us in 2008).

What is the magic solution, the ‘bomb squad’ that will remove that live grenade out of your desk drawer?

One word: Diversification

Diversification is a buzzword in financial markets for a reason. It makes a critical difference when things don't go as planned...and things rarely go as planned. Look through your organization and play a game of "What IF?" and consider what would happen if any of the various cogs and wheels that make your company operate should break, disappear, or stop working. If your investigation hits on any points that make you feel uncomfortable, sick at your stomach or like you want to throw up on your desk -- you've hit gold!

I know what you are saying, I have heard it before. Hell, I have SAID it before: “We know about the dependency but we are too busy working on everything else to deal with it right now.” Having two businesses that took torpedoes to the engine room by the “leave it alone for the time being, too busy to fix it” mindset gives me the right – the privilege – to tell you this:

“You DO have time to fix your dependencies if you decide that it is important to do so.”

Hire more talent and train them to know what your key people know. (This can be TOUGH to do, but should be part of your plan -- even if it is a long term goal).
Build diversification into your marketing plan. Invest in alternative methods of reaching your customers like pay-per-click, traditional advertising (if appropriate), social media, etc. Hope for the best, but plan for the worst. It will mean more business in good times and better survivability in bad times.
Establish multiple payment methods for your transactions. (This too can be hard, but you will never regret finding a viable solution to this single point of failure.)
The Takeaway (and an excellent sound-bite): Fix single points of failure before they bite you in the ass! It is less a matter of “IF”, and really a matter of “WHEN” that bite will come.

Kevin Ready blogs on business and entrepreneurship at http://KevinReady.com
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Seed Stage Funding -- Over 200 Accelerator and Incubators in the US Today

Angel groups fund deals that have a product in the market or going to market very soon--say the next three months. Often times, start ups approach me seeking seed stage funding. They have an idea or the beginnings of a product but they need funding to finish the prototype. I call this seed stage funding because they are still fleshing out the business model and product. Formal angel groups typically don’t invest in seed stage deals. They want deals that are further along with more of the risk taken off the table.

There are several sources of funding for seed stage deals. If the entrepreneur only needs $50K to $100K this is more easily raised from family and friends. Also, individual angels will sometimes invest in seed stage deals if they like the idea, the entrepreneur, or the target market.

There’s a host of accelerators and incubator programs which offer funding as well as training. Here’s a list of over 100 accelerator programs and a similar list for for business incubators. Given the lower cost of starting a business today (it’s about 1/10 what it was 10 years ago), these accelerator/incubator programs can be quite helpful.

Best regards,
Hall T.

Intellectual Property--The Four Elements of Intellectual Property

Almost every entrepreneur has heard that it’s important to protect the idea and most have heard about patents. But in addition to patents there are other forms of protection that come under the name of Intellectual Property. They are

Trade Secrets--information about your product/service that is not publicly known
Trade Patents--protection based on legal means through the US patent office
Copyrights--set of exclusive rights granted to the author or creator of an original work
Trademarks-- a distinctive sign or indicator used by an individual, business organization, or other legal entity to identify that the products or services.

A robust intellectual property strategy for your business includes all of the above. Some recommend you start with trade secrets and only move to patents if necessary. Using copyrights and trademarks you can add additional layers of protection around your business.

For a software business many startups talk about their patents, but most angels know that patent protection is weak at best in the software world since there are many ways to work around a patent if someone wants to duplicate the idea. A better measure is to calculate the cost of duplicating the software including design, coding, build out, and most importantly data set build out.

Best regards,
Hall T.

Startup Weekend will be coming to Austin at CoSpace

Startup Weekend will be coming to Austin at CoSpace (http://cospaceatx.com/) the weekend of September 10th-12th, 2010.

Startup Weekend (http://www.startupweekend.org) recruits a highly motivated group of developers, business managers, startup enthusiasts, marketing gurus, graphic artists and more to a 54 hour event that builds communities, companies and projects. It is an amazing opportunity to connect with other passionate and skilled individuals, and perhaps even find a co-founder or two to transform your idea into reality.

Featured in Forbes, TechCrunch, NY Times and more, Startup Weekend continues to make the buzz with success in more than 100 cities world-wide. Thanks to Joey Pomerenke (http://www.twitter.com/joeypomerenke) of Startup Weekend for bringing the event to Austin for the first time.

“Startup Weekend is a perfect opportunity for entrepreneurs and the local tech scene to network, but also meet potential co-founders and hopefully leave the weekend with a new startup. It is a must attend event if you want to network, find co-founders or just spend the weekend with some passionate and smart people. –Joey Pomerenke”

If you want to be a part of Startup Weekend Austin you should act fast and buy a ticket because participation is limited to the first 75 and tickets are selling fast! Tickets are $75 and include meals and beverages for the entire weekend.

To register now, click here: http://austin.startupweekend.org/tickets/

When: September 10th-12th, 2010
Where: CoSpace (http://cospaceatx.com/)

For more information visit http://austin.startupweekend.org/

Legal Structure—What does an Angel Investor Look for in a Startup’s Legal Structure?

Most startups use an LLC structure when they form the business. This is okay for starting a company but when it comes time to raise funding, it needs to be converted to a C-Corp. In general, angel investors don’t like LLCs. Tax laws dictate that owners in an LLC must submit a K-1 tax form each year which is a hassle. The other drawback is that there’s typically not a proper board formed in an LLC so the oversight by investors is not as solid it needs to be from the investor’s point of view. S-Corps limit the number of investors and so doesn’t work well in an angel funded company.

The next question is should it be a Texas-based C-Corp or a Delaware C-Corp? If you raise funding only in Texas then a Texas C-Corp is sufficient for most investors. If you plan to raise funding on the West Coast or East Coast, then a Delaware C-Corp is better. For those who are not familiar with company legal structures, Delaware provides the most advantageous legal environment for companies.

I’m not an attorney and so advise you to seek professional counsel on these matters.

Best regards,
Hall T.

Market Positioning-the Five Ps of Marketing but they Start with Positioning

Understanding your position in the market goes a long ways to determining the rest of the marketing decisions you must make. The five Ps in marketing are

1. Positioning
2. Product
3. Place
4. Promotion
5. Price

If you’re going to be the low-cost provider in a niche market, then that will dictate the product must provide the basic value and not much more. Promotion will focus on low-cost and good-value functions. The price must be the lowest and the place will be those marketing channels that cost little or nothing. The place or channel to promote/sell the product must be trafficked by bargain hunters.

On the other hand if you’re going to pursue a product differentiation strategy and you want to position your product as a highly differentiated one, then the product must have additional features, the price can be set at the upper end of the range that customers will pay for it and the promotion will focus on the unique features offered. The place or channel must be trafficked by premium buyers.

By determining your position in the market, the other decisions become clearer.

Best regards,
Hall T.

The Business Model – The Nine Models for Making Money

After you validate the market, the next step in the process of starting a company is to identify the business model. The business model in short answers the question: how do you make money? The following site outlines the nine business models:

Brokerage Model—bringing buyers/sellers together.

Advertising Model—promoting products/services to an audience

Infomediary Model—gathering information about an audience and monetizing it

Merchant Model—selling goods/service either wholesale or retail

Manufacturer (Direct) Model – selling goods/services directly to the user without an intermediary

Affiliate Model – providing purchase opportunities wherever people may be

Community Model – selling ancillary products/services in a community

Subscription Model – charging for ongoing usage of a product/service

Utility Model – charging based on how much of a product/service is used.

In today’s web-based world, it’s common to use two or more of these models in the same business. Before fund raising, it’s important to identify the business model. The business doesn’t have to generate a great deal of revenue but it needs to have a clearly defined business model that is scalable.

Best regards,
Hall T.

Market Validation—the Five Steps to Identifying Market Validation and the One Criteria that Counts

Angel investors look for market validation in a startup before investing. Fundamentally, it means the entrepreneur has found a market with a need. Here are the five steps to validate a market segment and the one key criteria that provides the acid test indicating you have found one.

1. Identify the target market—write out a specific definition of your target market segment and how it fits in the overall market. Set up a list of objectives you want to learn from the research.

2. Build the Question Set—in a web/email survey ask no more than five questions. In an interview, ten questions form the basis of a good interview. Match each question to your objectives.

3. Test the question Set—send the question set to five friends and ask them to fill it out and then give you feedback on the wording. You can also check their responses to see if it addresses your question. Rollup the responses and see if the results answer your objectives.

4. Conduct the interviews/surveys – in an email survey you will receive most of the responses you’re going to get in about 2 to 3 days. After that the responses drop off dramatically. In the survey you may want to ask if you can contact them for further questioning. This may give you additional contacts to interviews.

5. Analyze the data—review the raw data yourself. It’s surprising how often the same set of data can generate completely different results from different reviewers.

While surveys and interviews can help validate the market, the one criteria that counts more than anything else is will the customer buy the product/service. Generating revenue even at a small scale says a great deal about your market’s need for the product. This is important because when angels review deals, one of the first questions that come up is “Do they have revenue?” If the answer is “yes” then you’re in the “to be considered” category.

Best regards,
Hall T.