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The Three Best Books for Powering Your Bootstrapped Startup

ebadrina — Fri, 30 Jul 2010 19:56:51 +0000

[tweetmeme] As summer comes to a close, there’s still time to cram a few books in. And, having collectively been a part of 6 different startups, some successful and some not so much, we are asked by many of our colleagues and clients what our favorite books are regarding the strategy of building successful businesses. We are not experts by any means, but we are aggregators and curators of what other successful entrepreneurs read and recommend. All three of our desks have sections devoted to books, but each of us own our copies of the following books (in either paper or e-book format, and sometimes both!), so you can imagine that we recommend these books without reservation. We get asked so much, that we thought this might act as a reference post, and as we are all avid readers, we will add to this from time to time.

Rework has recently hit the shelves in the past three or four months, but it is an instant classic. We respect what the guys over at 37 Signals have built, and how they build it, so when they first indicated that the book was going to be available, we pre-ordered it. Known for its bite-sized insights and proclamations, Fried and Hansson explore and expound on how to effectively bootstrap a business and cut out all the margin-eating operations and costs, both from a financial perspective as well as a mental-capacity standpoint. Their ideas on focused, managed growth are both educational and inspirational.

Making Ideas Happen is a personal favorite of Cameron’s, who ascribes to the Behance Action Method almost religiously. Scott Belsky, founder of Behance, does a great job laying out the barriers to converting ideas into actual reality, and explains in plain English the process that needs to happen within a creative environment to bring the right ideas to light. In fact, he argues that the most creative companies and individuals are brutally disciplined about idea creation and culling. It is a good followup to Rework because, while making your company lean and mean is important, the execution of your ideas and products is even more crucial. For us, who live and breathe ideas for our clients, this process is so very crucial when it comes to weeding and pruning our gardens of wildly growing concepts and pursuits.

Four Steps to Epiphany is last, but certainly not the least. In fact, it is the hardest to get through, as it resembles more of a textbook than a Rework or Making Ideas Happen. A bit of a cult classic among software and application entrepreneurs, Four Steps is all about Customer Development, as opposed to the traditional approach of product development. While targeted towards companies and individuals who shepherd a product to market, it is invaluable to companies like us who focus on digital strategy and inbound marketing, because it emphasizes the customer so much throughout each step of building the business model. If your business model is customer-centric, then the way you execute your social media, email marketing and all the rest will naturally follow.

In the spirit of sharing book recommendations, we are curious: what are your favorite books? Are we missing any of them here?

Update: there was a lot of good feedback and discussion offline, and we’ve added a couple more books:

Crush It, by Gary Vaynerchuk and
E-Myth Revisited, by Michael Gerber

Tolstoy and Marketing Campaigns

ebadrina — Fri, 21 May 2010 14:22:40 +0000

[tweetmeme] What does War and Peace have to do with executing great online marketing campaigns? Everything. Once you have the most efficient and effective strategies and tools in place, Tolstoy’s General Kutuzov declared,

“the strongest of all warriors are these two: Time and Patience. It is not difficult to capture a fortress but it is difficult to win a campaign. For that, not storming and attacking but patience and time are wanted.”

Kutuzov dismissed a rival general’s accomplishments, saying “Kamenski would have been lost if he had not died. He stormed fortresses with thirty thousand men… Everything comes in time to him who knows HOW to wait.”

We shouldn’t try to win over a client with brute force PPC campaigns, impressive amounts of Twitter followers, Facebook Fans or a website chock full with keywords, hoping for that quick hit and show of appreciation. Establishing reasonable expectations during the sales process is key. Next, setting SMART (specific, measurable, attainable, realistic and timely) goals for a client, and then executing them, is the way to go. Finally, being patient while they play out, and providing reporting tools to track those incremental gains over time, will keep your (and your client’s) expectations in check.

Patience and Time. It’s also essential when trying to read War and Peace.

Image via Bengoshi-san.

Social Media Starts with Strategy, not Solution

cgawley — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 14:05:41 +0000

[tweetmeme] Don’t be fooled by the all time high of Social Media Hype. Coming from the tech world of Solution Based Selling I can see how easy it is to rush into using Social Media platforms before strategically building a Digital Strategy (aka Shiny Object Syndrome). Of course you need a Twitter, Facebook, Youtube, Flickr page for your company … right? I get it.. you might assume that by jumping on the Social Media bandwagon you will drive a good amount of traffic to your site… That’s not realistic unless you put a strategy in place first. SXSW Interactive and Blogworld opened some eyes to a new breed of “Social Media Agencies” and “Social Media Experts” who primarily speak and consult about what they are doing for clients on Twitter, Facebook, Youtube, etc. Typically these “Experts” have a Tech, PR, or traditional marketing background which led me to the question a few things… Have these “Experts” ever run a successful business before? Do they even understand fundamental business processes? It seems so often that “Social Media People” talk up the Social Media Fluff but lack a understanding in key business principles and objectives. Our Digital and Social Strategy always starts with Forrester’s POST Methodology.

P is People. Don’t start a social strategy until you know the capabilities of your audience. If you’re targeting college students, use social networks. If you’re reaching out business travelers, consider ratings and reviews. Forrester has great data to help with this, but you can make some estimates on your own. Just don’t start without thinking about it.

O is objectives. Pick one. Are you starting an application to listen to your customers, or to talk with them? To support them, or to energize your best customers to evangelize others? Or are you trying to collaborate with them? Decide on your objective before you decide on a technology. Then figure out how you will measure it.

S is Strategy. Strategy here means figuring out what will be different after you’re done. Do you want a closer, two-way relationship with your best customers? Do you want to get people talking about your products? Do you want a permanent focus group for testing product ideas and generating new ones? Imagine you succeed. How will things be different afterwards? Imagine the endpoint and you’ll know where to begin.

T is Technology. A community. A wiki. A blog or a hundred blogs. Once you know your people, objectives, and strategy, then you can decide with confidence.

(Thanks to Jeff Bernoff of Forrester’s Groundswell Blog)

I tend surround myself with business and thought leaders, along with a great mix of Digital Strategy Rockstars. These business leaders and Rockstars leverage Social Media to help grow both their business and their clients businesses. At the same time I run into daily “Social Media People” that talk all about “Social Media Stuff” and don’t understand business principles behind their message. So before you go out and build a Facebook fan page, YouTube channel, or Twitter account, make sure you know where your audience is and have clear defined objectives. That way when you start diving into your strategy you be able to leverage the right technology to help your business grow.

Monetizing in the Blogosphere

cgawley — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 22:56:21 +0000

[tweetmeme] Technorati’s CEO Richard Jalichandra released a preview of their annual State of the Blogosphere report at Blogworld 2009. The ”New Technorati” was announced which would allow bloggers to publish content directly to Technorati. This will allow the slightly less known bloggers to have the opportunity to get more recognition. Some of the highlights from this years report included:

Monetization and Revenue

Professional bloggers monetize their blogs via:

Display Ads: 40% (up from 28% in 2008)
Search Ads: 39%
Affiliate Links: 36%
Paid Postings: 8%
Self-Employed Bloggers are the most likely to sell their inventory through a blog ad network & use affiliate links
2 out of 3 Part-Timers and Self-Employed bloggers use self-serve ad platforms

17% say blogging is their primary income

68% increase in the number blogs with ad tags from 2008 to 2009

2008 67% of ad tags were Google
2009 47% of ad tags are Google

Brands In The Blogosphere:

70% of all bloggers blog about brands
80% of Part-Timers & Self-Empleyed blog about brands

One in three post reviews at least once a week

Corporates get paid to write for their companies

40% of Professional Bloggers have worked in traditional media

Confirmation: BuzzShift Kicks Ass (via Alltop)

cgawley — Mon, 24 Aug 2009 17:41:32 +0000

(Don’t worry we are not tooting our own horn…) If your looking for all of the top headlines from topics around the web, look no further than Alltop.com. From Social Media, to SEO, to Photography- AllTop.com is by far one of the best places to find the information you are looking for. Guy Kawasaki created Alltop to help answer the question, “Whats Happening?” in “all the topics” that interest you. It is different than a search engine as it gives you a new perspective on the question “what is happening now?” It is thought of as Online Magazine Rack of some of the best content you can find. Buzzshift.com is proud to be Best of the Best on Alltop. Feel free to check it out at http://social-media.alltop.com .