Nibletz Staff - 84/87 - Serious Startups

3 Steps To Building A Strong Network

As any entrepreneur will tell you, there are few things in the world of business that are more valuable than a great network. After all, you’re only as strong as your weakest link. And when it comes time to start a new enterprise, expand a company, raise funds or even find a co-founder, you’ll be relying on the value of your network to help you accomplish these milestones. Here are three steps to make sure you have the strongest network possible:

MAKE YOURSELF UNCOMFORTABLE.

No, I do not mean wear a wool sweater in Phoenix in August. I mean put yourself out there. Unless you are one of those rare people who can meet a random stranger on the street, strike up a conversation and get a stranger’s life story within 30 seconds of meeting them, approaching someone you have never met before can be nerve-racking.

But if you want to build a great network, you have to do it — a lot. The more you do it, the better you will get. Make it your goal to get people talking about themselves, while genuinely listening to what they are saying. If you fake it, they will know and you will have burned a potential valuable connection. Dale Carnegie’s classic “How To Win Friends and Influence People” is an incredible resource built largely on this idea. If you haven’t read it already, I highly suggest you do. Twice.

Next time you meet someone new, smile, introduce yourself and ask a simple question; i.e. “Where are you from?” Proceed with small follow-up questions. You will find that they talk at length and naturally warm up to you. It’s basic, but it works.

BUILD YOUR NETWORK BEFORE YOU NEED IT.

Far too often, aspiring entrepreneurs get to a point in their business when they need advice but have no clue who to go to for direction. I call this the I-wouldn’t-even-know-where-to-start dilemma. It is the result of one simple fact: they do not have a network.

You have to put in the necessary time to build genuine relationships with the right people. Successful people are always connected to other successful people. Join local business networking groups or venture associations (i.e. Los Angeles Venture Association, LAVA) and immerse yourself in rooms full of them. You want to be a millionaire? Surround yourself with millionaires. You want to be a drug addict? Surround yourself with drug addicts. This might sound ridiculous, but it’s absolutely true.

On a related but important note, do not go to someone you have recently met and start asking for favors. It will appear that you’re trying to take advantage of them and they will pick up on it. Invest the time to build real relationships, and thus, your network.

FOLLOW UP, EVERY TIME.

You know the person who says they are going to do something, then doesn’t? You do not want to be that person. In fact, you want to be the opposite of that person.

When you meet someone, even if you do not think they can help you directly, ask if you can keep in touch. Send a simple follow-up email the next day saying that it was nice to meet them and that you look forward to staying in touch. Finally, stay in touch.

Just because you don’t think they might fit your idea of an important connection does not mean they don’t know 10 other people who are perfect for what you may try to accomplish in the next month or year.

This last point is what a great network is all about. Networking is not just about the people with whom you are directly connected; it is about getting those people to tap into their networks on your behalf when you need it most.

Adam Callinan is the Co-Founder/Co-CEO of BottleKeeper, the simple yet practical solution to the warm beer and broken bottle epidemics that have plagued the world for centuries. Adam is also the Founder/CEO of PiCK Ventures, Inc., the parent company of PiCK, a mobile wine technology company. Adam and his wife Katie now live in Manhattan Beach, California. Tweet @Adam_Callinan

The Young Entrepreneur Council (YEC) is an invite-only organization comprised of the world’s most promising young entrepreneurs. In partnership with Citi, the YEC recently launched #StartupLab, a free virtual mentorship program that helps millions of entrepreneurs start and grow businesses via live video chats, an expert content library and email lessons.

The Aha! Moment: When Lightning Strikes

Reshma Chamberlin is a double-transplant. From India to New York and currently St. Louis, her life has been full of stories. And the same goes for her partner-in-enabling-others-to-tell-stories, Elizabeth (Beth) Buchanan. The pair is behind Muzio, an app that self-proclaims to be “the easiest way to curate the best of life’s adventures into one little package to share and enjoy.” And many would agree. How many times have you taken a bunch of notes, pictures or videos on a business trip or vacation and wanted to share them in an organized way (but haven’t been able to)?

“How do you capture the essence of an experience in an easy-to-capture way?” That’s the question that led to Muzio’s first ‘aha moment.’ Beth had just come back from a trip to Cape Cod when she was showing Reshma some of her pictures. The conversation went something like this:

Beth: “I had such an amazing time! Look at all of these wonderful pictures I took!”

Reshma (looking at pictures): “Beth, this is boring.”

And, thus, the two decided they needed to do something about that. Muzio was born.

So Reshma and Beth, who were (and still are) running a design firm, B&C Designers, headed to the Women Entrepreneurs Rock the World conference in New York City this past May. It was an on-course conference; they were meeting some great people, making awesome connections and learning a thing or two. Everything was great. But then things got better – much better – when they heard a woman named Angela Jia Kim present a concept called “finding your ‘lightning rod.’”

What’s a lightning rod (in a metaphorical sense, of course), you might ask? “A lightning rod is that thing that gives you career satisfaction, helps you achieve your monetary goals and makes you happy all at the same time,” Reshma said. “When she talked about the lightning rod concept something clicked. At that moment we realized we needed to pause everything else and just focus on this [Muzio]. We couldn’t expect it to do what we knew it could do and wanted it to do if we’re not focused on it 100%.

And the third ‘aha moment:’ being able to knock out Muzio’s entire launch plan in a two hour plane ride after a sleepless night transferring in and out of airport wings and waiting lines and wallowing through multiple canceled flights and hours of layovers. “When we finished that we knew we had our lightning rod. This is what we were supposed to be doing,” Reshma finished.

Don’t worry; you don’t have to be the next Benjamin Franklin to find your own lightning rod. Think about it – or don’t. Either way, you’ll know when lightning strikes.

Learn more about Muzio online at http://muzioapp.com/ and follow them on Twitter: @MuzioApp.

Tyler Sondag is a startup connoisseur with a hand in anything and everything you could imagine. Hailing from the ever-developing Northwest Mississippi, an alum of Saint Louis University and currently a transplant to St. Louis, Missouri, one of his main missions in life is to get and keep young people engaged in the entrepreneurial ecosystem. Follow him on Twitter: @MrSondag.

The Biggest Deal In Shark Tank History Comes Just In Time For Halloween

Last Friday Shark Tank returned with one of the creepiest pitches ever. Former Clear Channel Communications executive Melissa Carbone walked in with a snarling zombie in tow, and as the pitch continued a scarecrow, clown, a chainsaw murder came out of the display to terrorize the sharks.

“Don’t eyeball me. I will kick your tush back to Texas,” Mark Cuban informed the chainsaw-wielding actor.

The founder of the Ten Thirty One Productions, the company behind the popular LA Haunted Hayride was looking for $2 million dollars to expand her business to New York. Despite earning $1.8 million in 17 days, many of the sharks disagreed with Carbone’s $20 million valuation.

“I’m an expert in high-octane scare,” Daymond John said. “Put on a piece of jewelry and walk around where I grew up. That’s a high-octane scare.”

He went on to offer $2 million for a 40% stake in the company. Carbone paused before countering: $2 million for 20%.

It took Cuban–whose face showed nothing but disgust at the beginning of the pitch–about 2 seconds to jump in.

“I’ll take that,” he said, slamming his notebook closed.

And, just like that, the biggest deal in Shark Tank history is done. Cuban, of course, is well known for his wide portfolio and often unusual investments. As the segment ended, he told the other sharks he believes the future of entertainment is in experiences.

However, a lot of sharks argued that Carbone’s company will never see the kind of profit she projected. We all know that not everything goes right when we launch new endeavors, and Ten Thirty One’s plans are ambitious. In 2014 they plan to launch a series of horror campouts along the West Coast, as well as a New York Haunted Hayride in October. They have some–sorry–scary goals. Still $2 million from Mark Cuban can’t hurt.

Find out more about Ten Thirty One Productions at their website.

Stop Testing And Start Something

blog-writing When we started the “When You Work At A Nonprofit” Tumblr blog, an interesting thing happened. A prominent nonprofit publication asked us to write a post about it, on the topic of “how to create a blog that fills a community need.” They wanted us to discuss the process behind getting a blog started: how we chose a platform, how we determined the voice and content, tips for keeping an updated content schedule, and all those other “bloggity things” (their words).

We couldn’t help but shake our heads.

Their request summed up the epidemic of overthinking things that, in our opinion, plagues the nonprofit sector. As an industry, nonprofits tend to overthink things — it’s a huge problem that stems from a deep aversion to risk and fear of failure. As a result, we try to help nonprofits overcome their fear of risk, and not overthink things.

We’re big advocates of just trying something and seeing where it goes. Our blog is a good example of that approach.

We didn’t create a strategy for it. There was no evaluation of tools. There was no discussion about voice. There’s no content schedule that we agree on. It’s very “Lean Startup” — we just decided to do it one day, and we did it in about an hour. We tweeted it out and it took off from there. Here’s how other organizations can do the same:

1. USE TECHNOLOGY TO RUN A SMALL TEST

Instead of investing hours of time or waiting months to “get things set up,” use new technologies to allow you to get set up quickly and with very little cost. There are tons of consumer technologies that are easy to set up, and you shouldn’t have to pay more than $20/month for just about anything you want to do. Even at that price, the benefits of a small investment of $240 per year far outweigh the cost.

How we did it: We created the blog using the blogging platform Tumblr (free), and used a theme that was pre-installed on Tumblr (free). We found and uploaded gifs (free), and posted them with some catchy, snarky text. We added a Google Analytics tracking code (free) so that we could see if anyone actually came to the site. We had our programmer add a small Facebook Like/Share plugin (cost: $125). We added a signup form using Mailchimp (free), which let people sign up for a weekly “best of” email. We tweeted it out using Tweetdeck (free), but you could just tweet using Twitter as well (free).

Total time spent: 3 hours

Total cost: $125

2. MAKE IT MEASURABLE

Build in mechanisms for tracking, so you can see the progress and success of your test. Google Analytics, an email sign-up form, social sharing: all of these are important tracking elements. Even if it’s not tied to donations, there’s tremendous value in building your list, increasing social following, and getting people into your organization’s ecosystem.

How we did it: We started a Google Analytics account under our master account, specifically for “When You Work At A Nonprofit”, then added it to the blog. We also embedded a Mailchimp signup form, so people can sign up to get the top posts emailed to them each week.

3. JUST START, THEN USE RESULTS TO MAKE YOUR CASE

Most people are quick to stop you before you get started, but hesitant to get in the way if you’re moving. Especially if you can show data. Once you just try something with your test, and you have data from your measurement tools, you can make the case that your test is worthwhile.

How we did it: On the first day of “When You Work At A Nonprofit,” we got 115 views. Second day: 3,000 views. Third day: 96,000 views. Fourth day: 115,000 views. Since we added the newsletter sign-up, over 5,000 people have signed up. I doubt management or the Board would argue with results like that.

4. IF IT DOESN’T WORK, THAT’S OK TOO

A test is just that — a test. Sometimes it will work, sometimes it won’t. That’s actually the goal here: it’s called “failing fast.” Try a test to see if it will work before spending real time and money. It is always better to fail quickly after a 30-day test using free or low-cost tools, than to invest months and significant expense.

The important part is to decide what’s failing. To some organizations, 100 signups is success; to others, that’s not worth the time it takes to maintain the test. Failure is determined by whether the cost of your time is worth the benefit afforded by the test. Use your best judgment to determine what’s failing and what’s a thumbs up.

How we did it: For another project we started, Lean Impact, we originally planned a telesummit: a one-day online summit featuring thought leaders in the Lean for Social Good space. We were testing whether people were interested enough in the topic to pay $20 for an educational experience.

We secured six speakers (free), set up a page on Lean Impact (free), created a graphic to advertise the site on the Lean Impact homepage (cost: 1 hour designer time), used Eventbrite to sell tickets (free), and planned to use Google Hangouts On Air to host the online event (free).

Total cost: $125 of designer time

Only four people bought tickets. As a result, we reached out to potential participants to ask why they didn’t buy tickets, and we learned that people needed in-person interaction with Lean Impact first before paying for something online. We quickly cancelled the telesummit and instead planned three in-person events in New York, DC and San Francisco. Each event had over 500 attendees.

Even though no one bought tickets originally, the test was a success. We failed fast. Instead of contracting with a venue, signing catering contracts, using a complex event ticketing service, and paying speakers, we spent $125 and had our answer in 60 days.

5. DON’T STOP TESTING

If your test takes off, that’s the ultimate thumbs-up. But the success of a test is not the end goal. If test Number 1 works, take the next step towards a test Number 2. For example, if X number of people from the test opt in to a newsletter, will they then open a newsletter targeted directly at them? If X people participate in a Facebook contest, will they then donate if a landing page has messaging specifically targeted towards contest participants? Think about each step as a test.

When everything is a test, you’re able to get things up and running faster. You can see results more quickly. You’re less invested in the results, positive or negative. You know when to call off the test and move on to something else. And you can try new and better things.

A version of this post originally appeared on Medium.

Leah Neaderthal is the Co-Founder and Chief Marketing Officer of Start Somewhere, which uses design and technology to help social good organizations look incredible online. Leah is the co-creator of the popular “When You Work At A Nonprofit” Tumblr blog, and she is the Co-Founder of Lean Impact, the community of people and organizations using Lean Startup principles for social good. Follow Leah at @leahtn.

“Nice Shirt, Bro!” Best Practices For Startup T-Shirts

GiveForward’s Ethan Austin & the “Giveasaurus” at EE Cincinnati

Maybe, at a recent event, you found yourself gawking at startup teams who came dressed for the event wearing their company’s swag and thought, “That’s awesome! How do I get shirts for my startup?”

We boot-strappers know that every penny needs to be carefully spent and maxing out our credit card ordering t-shirts just doesn’t make sense. We also understand that our shirts need to be just right to convey our brand message while looking cool. And believe it or not, there is a certain unspoken standard you should abide by.

From experience with my startup, I have devised these four easy tips to make a great startup t-shirt.

1. STAND OUT – Pick a style and color that will get you noticed. Hopefully you already chose a bright color for your brand that will easily translate into shirt form. If not, pick a close color or iterate your logo/image to work with the shirt color. Thankfully, with BTSocial, we used organge as our main color which really stands out at events. Not to step on any toes, but blue is way overdone. The biggest tech companies all have blue in the brand sceme. Be bold and different. I think yellow looks really nice this time of year.

2. KEEP IT SIMPLE – We’re not talking about printing a whimsical graphic T or some amazing rendering from Threadless. You just need a simple and clear representation of your brand that people can understand. Ideally, it would be good to translate your logo to solid white and print it on your bright colored shirt. Not only is this easy on the eyes, but also saves you on multi-color printing costs. The folks at SpotHero are all about this. Your design should also be easy to read and not too wordy. Your logo and call to action are good, but don’t overdo it with a long tagline in a small font that’s too hard to read, requiring us to practically bury our face in your chest. Awkward.

3. USE THE BACK – Your shirt has a lot of real estate and while it shouldn’t be overused, it also shouldn’t be wasted. Many companies also do back printing, so add something to the back across the shoulder blades so that even when your back is turned you’re showing off your brand. With our BTSocial shirts, we put our website address on the back. It’s also fun to turn around and show people the back in conversation.

4. COORDINATE YOUR TEAM – When you’re heading to an event with your startup, whether you’re pitching or not, have everyone wear their shirt – its obviously a great way to get noticed. Now, not all events are suitable for your shirts. Some are formal and require a tie, so throwing a sport coat over your t-shirt to make a Silicon Valley Tuxedo is not always acceptable. Look at your industry for best practices. Also, if you are going to a lot of events and wearing your shirts frequently, make sure they are clean. This should really go unsaid, but don’t wear the same exact shirt in the sweaty summer heat to TechWeek. People will notice those pit stains!

Tim Hines is an entrepreneur, consultant, and speaker based in the Chicago area. Follow him @tnhines.

A version of this post first appeared on Tim’s blog.

The Founder’s Dictionary: Buzzwords For Every Entrepreneur

There’s a secret language in the startup world. Once you become a founder, words that have no meaning to your regular friends suddenly mean everything to you.

When I first got ~~stuck~~ involved in the startup world, it was months before I had the courage to ask someone what the hell a VC was. I kept thinking it would be awesome if there was some kind of dictionary for this stuff. A cool one, you know, with great design and in an app.

Well, the infographic below is not that resource. Nope, the folks at Udemy and Column Five Media took a much lighter look at startup vernacular here. We all need to take ourselves a little less seriously, and after reading this, I bet you’ll never throw these buzzwords around without giggling a little.

For example, you thought an “angel” was an early stage investor, right? Wrong. Angels are actually the spirits of deceased founders and CEOs who may or may not dwell in the water cooler.

Or, for those of you so impressed with your iteration…turns out an iteration is really just the same product with a number after the name. I.e. iPhone5 whatever.

Check out the whole infographic below for a lighthearted look at the world we’re all living in.

by Column Five Media.
Explore more infographics like this one on the web’s largest information design community – Visually.

13 Reasons This Is The Best Time To Be An Entrepreneur

QUESTION: NAME ONE CHARACTERISTIC ABOUT THIS GENERATION OR TIME IN HISTORY THAT MAKES BECOMING AN ENTREPRENEUR EASIER OR MORE REWARDING THAN EVER BEFORE.

MODERN MENTORSHIP MODEL

“Because this is the first digital generation, aspiring entrepreneurs have an opportunity to use social/mobile software they’ve grown up with to build a network of people navigating their careers together for the first time. This network opens the door for mentorship. Technology has completely revolutionized the traditional mentorship model!”

– Caroline Ghosn | Co-Founder and CEO, The Levo League

EASE OF GLOBAL COMMUNICATION

“I think this is the best time in history to become an entrepreneur because you can run a lucrative operation right from your home. This is because the speed of communication is lightning fast, and you have the ability to connect with the best resources all over the world. Since you are not bound by location nearly as much, individuals are able to create a stellar organization worldwide.”

– Lawrence Watkins | Founder & CEO, Great Black Speakers

FLEXIBLE DEFINITION OF A “JOB”

“This generation has abandoned the idea of working for years at one company until retirement, making the flexible nature of entrepreneurship more acceptable. It’s not uncommon to have many clients, short- or long-term, and to continually innovate to retain and attract new clients. Instead of bouncing from job to job, entrepreneurs appreciate shorter term interactions that add value for everyone.”

– Kelly Azevedo | Founder, She’s Got Systems

TODAY’S ACCELERATED LEARNING

“Thanks to modern technology and the Internet, the world is now hyper connected for almost anyone with a desire to leverage it. These platforms of information super highways allow knowledge to be obtained, shared, improved up, then re-shared — all within days, if not hours. Accelerated learning means entrepreneurs today will have easier time to use these knowledge to help build their success.”

– W. Michael Hsu | Founder & CEO, DeepSky

ACCESS TO ABSOLUTELY EVERYTHING

“The gap between creativity and technology is becoming narrower by the day. What Web 2.0 has done is given us access to people we might never have otherwise been able to reach before. That’s incredibly powerful!”

– Srinivas Rao | Co-Founder, BlogcastFM

ALWAYS CONNECTED, WIRED AND TIRED

“While it may not be a good thing to be tired and caffeinated to keep going, entrepreneurs have the fuel to keep going like the Energizer bunny. With technology surrounding entrepreneurs, it makes it easy to communicate, promote, and work in the fast-paced commerce world that we rely on instantaneous contact for.”

– Lane Sutton | Social Media Coach, Social Media from a Teen

EVERYTHING IS CHEAPER!

“Today you can start a WordPress blog, choose and tweak a design, assemble a killer team, craft a meaningful brand, distribute your product/content, fund it, and build an engaged community for basically no money. We did it — and it only gets easier for you to do it, too!”

– Derek Flanzraich | CEO and Founder, Greatist

LOW BARRIERS TO ENTRY

“The obvious ones are that technology costs are the lowest, and the time it takes to develop your online presence are the shortest they have ever been. However, if you look at Gen Y, you will see a very high unemployment rate. Many have no choice but to create their own living and can easily find others their own age to co-found with them. It all adds up to very low barriers to entry.”

– Seth Kravitz | CEO, Technori

NO CHOICES MAKE FOR EASY DECISIONS

“For many, the hardest part about entrepreneurship is taking the initial plunge. In an economic recession where regular jobs aren’t readily available, people are quickly running out of options. An individual with a goal and only one option to achieve it is a dangerous person to bet against.”

– Nick Friedman | President, College Hunks Hauling Junk and College Hunks Moving

LOCATION INDEPENDENCE IS AWESOME

“We live in unprecedented times, primarily due to the Internet. With the right business model, it’s possible to work from anywhere in the world with an Internet connection. No longer must we confine and define what we do by where we live. That is a profound and inspiring shift commerce. Carpe diem!”

– Kent Healy | Founder and CEO, The Uncommon Life

THE JOBS ACT

“The JOBS Act is going to fundamentally transform the way companies get started, making it easier to obtain startup funding and democratizing the fundraising process to let companies seek capital from investors across the country –not just from Silicon Valley. There’s never been such a user-friendly startup ecosystem, or a better time to become an entrepreneur.”

– Eric Corl | President + Co-Founder, Fundable LLC

IT’S SOCIALLY ACCEPTABLE

“Starting your own business used to be thought of as hokey or not a real job, but now, entrepreneurs earn prestige and are looked upon as doing something “real,” not something made up. You face a lot less pushback from society for pursuing something of your own today, which makes it easier to move forward with it, since others are more supportive of your choice.”

– Stephanie Kaplan | Co-Founder, CEO and Editor-in-Chief, Her Campus Media

FAILURE IS A COMMON THING

“Before, failure was the ultimate shame. Today, failure is seen as more of a learning tool, just as long as you bounce back. Your brilliance is no longer based on just your successes, but also how you overcome tough obstacles.”

– Kenny Nguyen | Founder/CEO, Big Fish Presentations

Handwritten Letters Meet Technology

Do you remember the days of pen pals? You’d write a letter on paper with a pen, and you’d put a lot of thought into it because it would be your only communication with that person. You would fold it up, put it in an envelope, stamp it, and stick it in the mailbox. Weeks later, you’d get a response and know your friend had put the same kind of effort into communicating with you.

Sounds idyllic, right? Fast forward 20 or so years, and we all know that’s not what we call “scalable.” In today’s world, thanks to email and social media, we’re meeting people all the time, and we need to interact NOW, not weeks from now. Emails and texts get business done faster, and often more efficiently.

Still, on the rare occasion you get a handwritten note, isn’t it a memorable experience?

That’s what the team at MailLift is betting on. Founders Brian Curliss and Daniel Jurek believe that with the rise of technology, we’ve lost the habit of personal connection. So, they’ve figured out a way to automate a quintessential part of personal connection: handwritten letters.

At his last company, CEO Curliss rented homes by the night, and he would write a real handwritten note to leave for the guests to find at check in. Obviously, they loved it. When a mentor asked him what one part of his business he would have gladly paid for, he knew what his next company would do.

Now, MailLift isn’t for writing notes to Grandma. (She’s your grandmother, for crying out loud! Write your own damn note!) Instead, MailLift focuses specifically on sales and marketing professionals. Handwritten letters break through the marketing noise in email and on social media, which MailLift believes will increase sales for their clients.

“Our customers love it because they can turn a high-touch action to a set-it-and-forget-it system,” Curliss told me.

The system is easy enough, with clients doing most of their part online. Then a team of retired teachers and artists does the actual handwriting. They also address the envelopes by hand and use actual stamps to send the letters. The website even says that Curliss insists that every letter or envelope be photographed and verified by 3 people before it goes to the post office. That’s commitment!

MailLift is participating in the recently announced 500 Startups class. In the coming months, they will roll out Salesforce integration, which will make the process even easier on their clients.

Find out more about MailLift on their website.

Want To Build A Website? Don’t Sweat The Tech

At one point, when I was fresh out of college, I was really excited to learn how to build websites. I studied HTML, CSS, Javascript, PHP, MySQL, AJAX, and a lot of other acronyms I have since completely forgotten about. My short-term obsession was probably a residual effect from studying engineering for six years. Plus, I’ve always loved taking things apart, breaking them, and putting them back together.

Looking back on that time I spent studying coding, I see it was a total waste of my time. No one (except hardcore developers) needs to know any of those things. In fact, the technical side of building a website is actually the least important thing to understand. Yet, that’s where many of us get hung up. When you think of a website, you immediately think about complicated code and technology. It sounds scary and expensive.

But it doesn’t have to be! If you’re thinking about building or redesigning your website, here are the three components you’ll need:

Technology
Design
Copywriting

These things are listed in order of least importance. I’ll briefly touch on the first two, but you’ll want to spend the majority of your time focused on copywriting. Your website copy is ultimately how you’ll convert visitors into paying customers.

TECHNOLOGY

There’s only one tool you need to know: WordPress. I can’t think of any good reason to use any other tool to build your website. Most hosting companies like GoDaddy give you the ability to install WordPress by literally clicking one button. You may have to enter a username and password, but you essentially just click a button and you have a website.

No coding is required. Click install and you’re all set. If you can use Microsoft Word, then you can use WordPress to create webpages.

DESIGN

Go to themeforest.net and pick a design you like. This will set you back between $3 to $50, so it’s not a big investment. If you’re just getting started, then use something already available and don’t spend money customizing it. Design is important. You want your website to look professional, but again, the most important component is the copywriting. So let’s move on to that final step.

COPYWRITING

Think of your website as one of your sales people. That’s really the purpose of your website — to make sales. The reality is that an ugly website with compelling copy, a strong offer, and a lead magnet will always generate more sales and return on investment than a fancy, flashy, slick website with weak copy. Therefore, the words on your page are much more important than the technology and the design. And like I said, there really isn’t too much to worry about when it comes to technology and design, thanks to WordPress.

So if you’ve been putting off building or redesigning your website because the project is too daunting, I hope you now see it’s not as hard as it seems. First, focus on your copywriting and the offer you’re going to present on your website. Then pick a professional theme and install WordPress. It will save you time and money.

A version of this post originally appeared on the author’s blog.

Phil Frost is a Co-Founder and Managing Partner of Main Street ROI in New York, NY. Main Street ROI teaches internet marketing strategies that actually work for small businesses. Click here to get the Ultimate SEO Checklist to help you rank higher in Google.

The Young Entrepreneur Council (YEC) is an invite-only organization comprised of the world’s most promising young entrepreneurs. In partnership with Citi, the YEC recently launched #StartupLab, a free virtual mentorship program that helps millions of entrepreneurs start and grow businesses via live video chats, an expert content library and email lessons.

Mobile Makes It Big In The 3rd Quarter

By now most of us are aware that the future of the Internet is in mobile. According to the Pew Research Center, 56% of Americans have a cell phone. Well over half of them use their phones to access the Internet, and a full 34% use their phones for Internet access more often than they do a desktop or laptop. Worldwide, it is estimated there are already more than 1 billion smartphones in use, and that number’s growing.

That’s the definition of a big market.

That market explains why mobile had its biggest quarter of fundraising ever. CB Insights is reporting that venture deals to mobile companies passed $1 billion dollars in the third quarter of 2013. Exactly a year ago, in the third quarter of 2012, mobile deals almost hit a billion before seeing a sudden drop in the first quarter of this year. Since then, deal flow rose steadily to the $1.12 billion dollars invested in the last 3 months.

Given the $1 billion dollar sale of Instagram to Facebook, you might expect social or photos to have raised the most money. They did garner 4% and 3% each, which is nothing to sneeze at, with numbers that big. However, the biggest winners this quarter were customer relationship management, business analytics, and mobile payments. These three combined garnered 1/5 of all the deals closed.

Who are the VC’s doling out this money? CB Insights looked at mobile deals for the whole year, and 500 Startups comes out on top as the most active mobile investor with 20 deals closed so far this year. Andreesen Horowitz and Google Ventures round out the top three.

This quarter marks the first time mobile deals surpassed those for healthcare. However, mobile-focused healthcare startups still netted 4% of that $1.12 billion.

Our phones and tablets have already become less like novelty devices and more like sturdy workhorse for our work and personal lives. This quarter may mark the first time VC financing reaches $1 billion, but we’re guessing it won’t be the last.

Read the whole CB Insights report and tell us what you think.

5 Ways To Maximize Your Startup’s Efficiency

to-dos As an entrepreneur, I’ve found that my biggest challenge is figuring out which tasks to tackle each day. Do I work on marketing? Sales? Update the website copy? Improve our internal training program? There have been days when I’ve been so overwhelmed by my options that I’ve become completely stuck — I couldn’t get anything done.

In the end, no single task will help to move the business forward without a larger goal behind it. A few years back, I learned about the concept of a 90-day plan for goal setting when I downloaded a “Get it Together Kit” from photographer Millie Holloman. As business owners, we may not be able to predict exactly where we’ll be in three months and beyond, but we can certainly set specific goals and take action to drive our businesses forward. Setting specific goals and deadlines makes it easier to prioritize tasks and get “unstuck” in day-to-day work.

If you’re feeling stuck, here are five quick tips that could help.

Create your 90-day plan. Choose three to five measurable goals that you want to accomplish within the next 90 days. I create a grid of these goals, along with specific tasks and dates for each based off of Millie Hollman’s template, but you can create your own template in just about any program. Just list each goal at the top, then list specific tasks and deadlines below each.
Post your 90-day plan where you’ll see it every day. I made my 90-day plan the background on my computer desktop so that I can see it every single day. As I accomplish each incremental goal, I go into the template and cross off my accomplishments so that I can see how much I’ve progressed toward my goals.
Use your 90-day plan to create your daily to-do list. I use teuxdeux.com to plot specific tasks across time, based on my goals. This way, I don’t have to look at an overwhelming list of to-dos all at once. I can look at my tasks for any given day and know that I’ll get reminders for other tasks later on to stay on track.
Find someone to keep you accountable. I’ve recently become a big fan of hiring professional coaches. I’m currently working with a speaking coach who I meet with every three weeks. If I fail to meet my incremental goals, I have to answer to him. If you don’t have the means to hire a coach just yet, find an accountability group online or ask a friend to be your accountability buddy.
Manage your energy. I work in a client service business, so it’s natural to start each day responding to client requests and push off tasks related to my bigger goals until later in the day. I did this for years, until I finally discovered that by the time I got around to working on these tasks in the afternoon, my energy way drained. I’m more creative early in the morning, but I was spending my creative energy answering emails. Now I check my email for time sensitive issues in the morning, and if nothing is pressing, I block out an hour or two to focus my energy on my 90-day goals.

Allie Siarto is the co-founder of Loudpixel, a social media market research company. Rather than relying on expensive, time-consuming surveys or focus groups, Loudpixel’s technology and team help companies better understand their customers and market by analyzing social media conversations that are already taking place each day. Allie recently published her first book on social media monitoring and analysis called ‘The Social Current.’

The Young Entrepreneur Council (YEC) is an invite-only organization comprised of the world’s most promising young entrepreneurs. In partnership with Citi, the YEC recently launched #StartupLab, a free virtual mentorship program that helps millions of entrepreneurs start and grow businesses via live video chats, an expert content library and email lessons.

Inside the Investor’s Mind (Infographic)

Without a doubt, Funders and Founders is one of the best places to find startup infographics. Anna Vital has some beautiful graphics that are both inspirational and/or educational.

This one caught my eye as I was perusing the site last night. The inner workings of an investor’s mind are often a mystery to first time founders. What exactly do you need to prove to get investment? What is the investor judging you on, as you nervously ask him or her for hundreds of thousands of dollars.

The answer, as this infographic shows, is, “A lot.” There are a million things that go into an investor’s decision to put money into your company. Some things you can control, like the size of your team and the quality of your product. Some things you have no real ability to forecast yet. How many rounds will you need to build your company, and how much will that dilute the original investor’s return?

However, many times the things that are complicated are also simple. What is an investor looking for when he or she is introduced to your company? SoftTech VC Managing Parnter Jeff Clavier summed it up in the “3 Asses Rule”: smart ass team, kick ass product, and big ass market.

Of course, you really can’t know everything an investor is thinking. Even the graphic below is only the thought process of one particular VC. Still, it’s a safe bet that if you’re following the “3 Asses Rule,” it won’t be too hard to raise some capital.

*Infographic from Funders and Founders.

5 Presentation Tools Your Startup Should Check Out

Audrey Jones pitching at #EECincinnati

Have a startup idea? Ready to take your concept from napkin etching to full-fledged business proposal? It might be time to explore your options in terms of presentation tools. Whether you need to create a pitch deck to impress potential investors or a slide presentation to woo new customers, knowing which tools can present your concept in the best possible light can be critical in the development of your startup. Following are five presentation tools you can consider utilizing in your efforts to transition from wantrepreneur to startup founder.

Slidebean

Slidebean lets users create slide presentations in a variety of styles. Whether you want to create bullet list slides to highlight your startup’s core features or a chart slide to illustrate your month-over-month traction, you can do so with Slidebean. Slide options include word cloud slides, timeline slides, image slides, and text slides.

Gliffy

Need to illustrate your startup idea with a diagram? Gliffy makes creating diagrams easy. From venn diagrams to flowcharts, Gliffy offers multiple options. Organizational charts, floor plans, technical drawings, sitemaps, and network diagrams are just a few of your options. Whether you are launching a startup or monitoring marketing tools, Gliffy is definitely worth bookmarking.

Blogvio

Considering business blogging to build brand awareness for your startup? Blogvio offers impressive blog widgets to help your content marketing stand out from the crowd. Whether you want to add a news ticker to your blog or a widget to add conversations to your images, you can do so with Blogvio. Widget options include a disc spinning MP3 player, a before and after image widget, and a video player with progress bar overlay widget.

Populr

Need to create a professional single page website to show off your concept? A landing page to harvest email signups for beta testers? Populr lets you create a single web page in mere minutes. With a multitude of designs and extensive analytics tracking, creating a professional image for your startup with Populr couldn’t be easier.

Bunkr

Create collaborative visual presentations with Bunkr. Collect everything from images to articles, videos to URLs, and embed into your Powerpoint or PDF presentation. Bunkr lets you take your pitch deck presentation from basic to bombshell in no time at all.

Creating a strong first impression can play an integral part in taking your startup idea from concept to reality. While traction and revenue will ultimately determine your startup’s fate, getting your proverbial foot in the door might be partially attributable to the presentation tools you choose. Could one of the above presentation tools be the secret ingredient in your startup’s success story?

Eleanor Wall (aka Tech Tidbits) is a freelance tech blogger and startup cheerleader. When she’s not busy unearthing intriguing startups, Eleanor ghost writes brand marketing content for corporate clients.

Photo courtesy of Demarcus Bowser.

Should Startups Hire for Today or Tomorrow?

Selecting and hiring talent in today’s market is perhaps the most critical success-factor for high growth startups. Yet these founders face a dilemma: Should they acquire talent to address today’s challenges and goals, or hire leaders with the head-room and skills to scale and anticipate future opportunities?

Earn the Right
Startups need to solve today’s challenges to earn the right to address tomorrow’s opportunities. By failing to focus on immediate challenges, such as meeting the needs of your early customers, the challenge you anticipate in international expansion will never materialize. It’s important to seek individuals who can drive near-term success, and thus position a company for growth.

Near-term challenges are inherently tactical in nature. The early success of a startup often hinges on the success of those first beta customers. Focusing on issues that guarantee that success is a matter of working day-to-day with customers, iterating product enhancements in response to market feedback, fine-tuning marketing messages and so on. The challenge is finding leaders who can scale down sufficiently to lead the company through these early challenges, while having the experience and knowledge to build scalable organizations that will sustain rapid growth when it comes. Focusing too heavily on a leader’s skills at managing established organizations creates the potential for leaving a leadership vacuum during this more tactical phase.

Seek Scalability and Potential

High-growth companies face challenges that evolve at rapid pace, and thus no company can afford to adopt a sequential approach to hiring. The best leaders are those who bring experience of what needs to be done today, with the capabilities to create the organization that can efficiently scale in pace with growth.

Adaptability

The rapid pace of change inherent in a high-growth environment leads to a dynamic culture that makes change the only constant. As a result, the nature of a leader’s charter will evolve rapidly, as will the cultural environment, moving from an agile, responsive organization to one structured around processes designed to facilitate growth. Leaders therefore need not only to be personally adaptable, but equally to hire for adaptability and instill a culture of embracing change in order to ensure the organization remains fit for purpose over an extended lifecycle.

Conclusion

The question of whether to hire for today or tomorrow becomes a false dichotomy. Scalability and adaptability become necessary requirements in durable leaders of start-ups. Organizations don’t have the luxury of selecting talent based on the needs of today, because tomorrow is just around the corner, along with the fresh challenges that come with it. Leaders with the aptitude and desire to operate at all levels, tactically and strategically, are the only ones with the skills required by the unique demands of the startup environment.

Bio: Kevin Buckby is a Partner at Riviera Partners. He focuses on helping his clients compete successfully for the most highly sought-after product and marketing executive talent.