ZERO BUDGET MARKETING FOR STARTUPS
12th October, 2014
Hi, I’m Vidarth Co-Founder @ Stribr
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8 Month old Bootstrapped Company
Product Paying Customers
Stribr =
10/12/2014 Vidarth Jaikrishnan, Stribr
8 Month old Bootstrapped Company
Product Paying Customers
Stribr =
10/12/2014 Vidarth Jaikrishnan, Stribr
8 Month old Bootstrapped Company
Product Paying Customers
Stribr =
10/12/2014 Vidarth Jaikrishnan, Stribr
8 Month old Bootstrapped Company
Product Paying Customers
Stribr =
10/12/2014 Vidarth Jaikrishnan, Stribr
2 Very Broad Terms in
this presentation
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MARKETING
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START-UP
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THIS PRESENTATION IS
SPECIFICALLY FOR
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Tech Product Companies
(Leaning B2B)
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How to get your first
‘X’ customers.
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Based on what I’ve learnt the hard
way
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Hard way =
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Couldn’t get customers Changed our Product after 3 months of trying. Spent another 3 months
trying to get our first customer to use the product. Struggled to expand to
more customers. Struggling to get payments on time. Co-Founder is
broke. Laptop display broke (Rs. 5000 to repair) .
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10/12/2014 Vidarth Jaikrishnan, Stribr
All this while having lunch at
Amma-Canteen….almost Every Day
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I know a bit about Marketing
I know a LOT about Zero Budget
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LET’S GET STARTED
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TEAM
PRODUCT
MARKET
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TEAM
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PRODUCT
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PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT
CUSTOMER DEVELOPMENT
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GETTING YOUR FIRST ‘X’
CUSTOMERS
X = 10 – 50 for a B2B Startup
X = 1000 – 10,000 for a B2C Startup
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How to calculate ‘X’
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START-UP MARKETING
101
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MARKETING ≠ SOCIAL MEDIA
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MARKETING = Everything you do communicate your value
proposition to your potential customer
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The difference between a great marketer and a lousy one is the ability to understand WHO to
market to. -Anonymous
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WHO is my customer?
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How do I reach him/her ?
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How to acquire customer #1
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Make a list of all the working professionals you know.
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Talk to all of them about your
idea/product.
Ask them for intros to potential customers.
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You’ll be surprised at how many leads you get.
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Go Out and Convert One of these Leads
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This is the hard bit. There is a lot of luck involved
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MAKE IT HAPPEN
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Get this first customer to use your product - consistently
STEP 2
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THIS IS EVEN HARDER. Trust me
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Your Customer
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YOU
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Once again…you’ve gotta make it happen.
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If they are not using your product regularly you have to find out why. This is the true test of your value
proposition.
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YOUR #1 Priority
MAKE CUSTOMER #1 HAPPY
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STEP 3
GET CUSTOMER #1 TO PAY
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Okay! Sure… Next week Then.
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Go back to your old list of contacts.
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Try to convert as many leads as possible.
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Photo Credits: Adarsh Balak on Facebook
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Get referrals from customer #1 .
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These are the easiest leads to convert
IF
Customer #1 is happy
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Target 10-15 paying customers
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On the way to target 15
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Start Blogging
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Open Social Media Pages to promote your blog.
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Choose the right Social Networks. You are NOT going to advertise.
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Inbound Marketing + SEO Takes time.
Start now. Be Patient.
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On the way to target 15…here’s what the non tech founder does
every day. All day.
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Write Blog Post
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Write Blog Post
Talk To Customer
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Write Blog Post
Talk To Customer
Product Feedback
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Write Blog Post
Talk To Customer
Product Feedback Get Money
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Write Blog Post
Talk To Customer
Product Feedback
Register the company
Get Money
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Write Blog Post
Talk To Customer
Product Feedback Get Money
Register the company
Acquire New Customer
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When you finally get to #15
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This method of acquiring customers
will not scale beyond this.
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Your Company
Continue to bootstrap. Move from Zero budget to Other Marketing Methods.
Raise $$$ Try to Scale Rapidly. Hire team. Invest $ in advertising.
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This is where most
startups are
Image Credit : @stinsondesign on Twitter
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This is where we are
Image Credit : @stinsondesign on Twitter
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This Deck Is Uploaded on Slideshare
@vidarth91
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www.stribr.com/blog
My Co-Founders are more interesting than I am…
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On Twitter
@rohitp @chingucha
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Questions
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