For an entrepreneur, launching a startup begins with the creation of something from nothing. This creation should take into account what an individual is passionate about and this can beRead More
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]]>For an entrepreneur, launching a startup begins with the creation of something from nothing. This creation should take into account what an individual is passionate about and this can be done by listing the items and prioritizing them to help an individual remain focused on their idea.
When launching a startup, an entrepreneur must make sure that he or she stands out from the crowd especially because of the large number of new businesses that are launched every year. This is the reason that a successful launch is necessary to help an individual have a strong social proof, build a user base rapidly and improve the chances of long-term growth.
The following are five popular ways entrepreneurs can launch a startup:
The target market chosen should be an industry that is growing fast, big and profitable. The selected market can then be won by differentiation where a business gives customers more of what they want and this boosts their willingness to pay or a business that serves as a low-cost producer and charges the lowest price in the industry. When customers buy the products, the entrepreneur should monitor the changing customer needs as well as new technologies and figure out other additional products to build as well as fresh markets to conquer.
The competition should be studied through the performance of the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats analysis. A list of businesses that offer services and products similar to the one being launched should be done, a review of the marketing materials which includes brochures and ads should also be done.
The marketing tactics and strategy should also be chosen. This involves the sales as well as the marketing channels that can be used which include online, catalog or using dealers. Multichannel marketers usually achieve great success because customers like it when they can shop when and however they like.
Knowing the product’s life cycle is important because the campaign used during the introduction as well as education phase of the service or product needs to be updated as the service or product matures. An entrepreneur should monitor the marketing results carefully so as to notice any diminishing returns that indicate when to revise the service or product, alter the media message or phase out the particular offering.
This is important so that people can start signing up to receiving emails from an email list. This should be done before the official launch. Email is important because it can get people engaged as well as convert them into customers. For the email list to work an entrepreneur must get their contact list together, this can be done by downloading contacts from those on the email or from people spoken to. This data can be put in a customer relationship management system. Emailing people directly with the launch announcement is more effective than posting it on social media.
Having a large list of motivated and qualified email subscribers is important if the business is to grow. This list can be built by using list building strategies as follows:
> The list can be built with article marketing where the content is taken from the entrepreneur’s blog or website and is then submitted to article directories.
> Videos can be used to build the list because videos help to authentically connect with the people who visit the entrepreneur’s site and allows engagement in a compelling manner. Videos also allow an individual to interact with prospects better.
> Pay-Per-Click advertising can be used in list building and is one technique that can attract many ideal as well as highly qualified leads consistently.
This list dictates the number of clients and customers that sign on and this affects the income of the business.
For an individual to optimize their website, it is important that they give the right kind of information that will grab people’s attention as well as leave an element of mystery that will generate curiosity. The content on the website should be useful, link-worthy and entertaining as this increases the chance of the start-up being discovered. Assess the type of content the competition is creating and use gaps in the content as an opportunity to deliver something the competitors have missed or are lazy to perfect. Keywords should be worked into the posts and the blog optimized for the search engines.
Having a page that is a basic “Coming Soon” page, can be used to entice people to sign up. Offering a special bonus can be an effective way to get early subscribers. Make social sharing an important part of your website and lead generation plan as well.
The sign-ups should be monitored on a daily basis and this should be set up in a way that an email is received every time someone signs up. This can be used to send the person a follow-up thank-you note.
Attracting clients consistently requires that the entrepreneur’s marketing message be clear and stand out. When this message is clear, the marketing plan will be so much easier as well as less costly. To communicate regularly it is important to engage the audience immediately. This can be done by sending out emails regularly, as well as offering people something that will be useful to them with each message. This is one way to keep them signed up, and respond positively to the launch. Have email programs that will allow the set up of “autoresponder” sequences that enable the automatic sending to people a particular set of messages once they sign up.
The emails can offer sneak peeks concerning the progress of the business, industry news, fun quips and also how-to.
To launch a startup successfully, align it with relevant companies that have significant reach. With that being said, it is very important that an entrepreneur looks for opportunities in brands that will complement their product offering and provide unique value for the customers. Build relationships with people regarded as influential in the industry. This will open the business to powerful resources, endorsements as well as introductions to other key influencers in the industry.
The Startup Survival System by Kurt Won
New Business Next Steps by Ann Hawkins
Become Your Own Boss in 12 Months by Melinda Emerson
Startupland by Mikkel Svane
100 Days of Growth by Sujan Patel
The post 5 Popular Ways Entrepreneurs Can Launch A Startup appeared first on The Entrepreneurs Library.
]]>A summary of things you should know about Pitching and Closing according to Alex Taub Introduction In this episode Alexander Taub provides his insights and expertise on business development andRead More
The post A Preview of Pitching and Closing with Alexander Taub appeared first on The Entrepreneurs Library.
]]>In this episode Alexander Taub provides his insights and expertise on business development and partnerships when it comes to startups. In his book, Pitching and Closing, Taub gives you an all-inclusive guide to the best practices of creating a startup in a nontechnical format breaking down the categories of business development, partnerships, sales tactics, preparation, and execution. This book is the perfect match for the entrepreneur interested in startups who does not have the technical capabilities.
There is really no great go-to book that helps nontechnical people break in to the startup world. So this is a book for people interested in startups but don’t have the technical capabilities.
Once you read this book it should get you excited about going in to the startup world and how much potential there is.
We broke up the book into five sections. The first section is called Business Development. Basically it goes through everything you need to know about business development. From what is business development to how to structure your business development team and what the difference between business development and sales are.
The second section is an introduction to partnerships. We came up with something called the four golden rules of partnership which is basically why would anyone want to work with you? You are either going to make them money, you’re going to save them money, you’re going to grow their user base or you’re going to improve their product. We also talk about three types of partnerships.
The third section is pitching and closing. We talk a lot of the legality of deal making, contracts and things like that. We have a lot of quotes from companies such as Spotify that give us some great insight into when you should sign a letter of intent. Another part of part three is launching deals and compounding effects and the last part of part three is keeping the deal.
Part four is about the best practices of preparation and execution. We go through all the best practices around all the preparation execution of being on the nontechnical side of a startup.
The last section is called war stories. In this section we talk to people like Gary Vaynerchuk, Tristan Walker and Jesse Itzler and let them tell their story and why we have highlighted them in the business development world.
There isn’t a quote that I’m really excited about but one of the sections I like is called sincere selling, in the introduction to partnerships. This is one thing that I really live by; you need to believe what you are selling to other people if you want them to buy into it. If you don’t sincerely believe what you are pitching to somebody, you need to get out of there and go do something that you do believe in.
I am the co-author of Pitching and Closing with my good friend Ellen Dasilva. I am also the co-founder of a company called Social Rank which is a simple tool to help brands find out more information about the people that follow them across social networks. For the past two years I ran business development and partnerships for a startup called Dwolla. Two years before that I ran business development for a business called Aviary. I also have a blog called Alex’s Tech Thoughts that I write four posts a week and contribute to Forbes entrepreneur section every two weeks.
I have been writing for four years and one day I got a LinkedIn message from an editor at McGraw Hill asking me if I ever considered writing a book because she really liked my stuff. I hadn’t thought about it before but I said that’s a pretty good idea but I knew I couldn’t pull it off on my own. That’s when I brought in my friend Ellen to co-author the book with me. The inspiration was an editor liked my stuff and I felt like there wasn’t much out there on the topic of business development in partnerships.
Rich Dad, Poor Dad by Robert Kiyosaki
Buy Pitching and Closing by Alex Taub on Amazon today
Visit PitchingAndClosing.com to get more information on the book
Follow Alex Taub on Twitter and Facebook
Follow Ellen Dasilva on Twitter
Download the full transcript here
Listen on iTunes, Stitcher , and SoundCloud
Related books: Traction: A Startup Guide to Getting Customers by Gabriel Weinberg | Go For No! by Andrea Waltz | High Profit Selling by Mark Hunter
Relevant advice and tips: 7 Reasons Why Your Sales Skills Suck
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