Three years ago, I was in the worst shape of my life. I was approaching 300lbs, grabbing fast food at least once a day, and avoiding exercise at all costs. Though I’ve always enjoyed a nice, leisurely hike outdoors, I’ve never been athletic. The only sport in which I participated in high school was track, as a shotput and discus thrower. I did this because everybody who wanted to be...
The first step in developing a marketing plan is to become obsessed with knowing your audience. That’s right, obsessed. It doesn’t matter how much money you spend on Google Adwords, or how many conference booths you rent out if you are off-course with knowing who your audience is.
Product validation is the crucial foundation for building a successful startup, a process that cannot be taken lightly. Many applications have been built and have consumed many hours and dollars only to discover that potential customers don’t really see enough value to whip out their credit cards.
Startups spend a great deal of time and money getting people to visit their marketing site (aka, their website). A startup’s marketing site typically exists to establish brand awareness, promote a sense of reliability, generate leads, and sell products or services.
Honing your skills as a writer is of course essential for blogging. However, when it comes to our marketing websites, doesn’t the product speak for itself? Isn’t copywriting just fussing over the details? Why spend all that time and energy to eek out a tiny percentage increase in signups?
Why do 3 out of 4 venture-backed startups fail? I mean, these aren’t stupid ideas. Someone has to come up with an idea, validate it’s market demand, create a plan for execution, and articulate this via presentation to venture capitalists, who reject approximately 99% of the ideas they agree to sit down and listen to. The few that make it through this process must have a pretty good chance of...
It’s finally here. After months of planning, writing, and interviewing folks, I’ve released SaaS Marketing Essentials. Early response has been wonderful, with people commenting how much value they are finding in the product. Others have been asking me just what my process was in creating the book. For those, I write this article.
Getting started without an audience can look like an uphill battle. However, with a little creativity, some time, and perhaps even a little cash, there are a handful of ways to get that initial flow of signups coming.
Previously I had the pleasure of attending the MicroConf Conference in Las Vegas. Whether discussed during the talks on stage, in the hallway, or on a walk to dinner–these are the key takeaways that made the nearly $2,000 trip worth every penny (and led to me being a speaker at the same event the next year).
Many times the last thing we feel that we can make time for is exercise. Already we are stretched in a number of directions, who can take an hour out of each day to throw in another that, at first glance, doesn’t even improve the bottom line? The irony of exercise for entrepreneurs is that, even though it takes time out of your day, in the end you actually get more done in the remaining time that...
HI, I'M RYAN. I believe the best way to learn and remember is by writing things down and sharing them with others. This blog exists to help me synthesize and process my journey towards self-improvement.