traction ms
Traction
A Startup Guide to Getting Customers By Gabriel Weinberg and Justin Mares
Traction is quantitative evidence of customer demand. This might mean an increase in revenue, downloads, number of users, or searches. Traction is growth. And traction trumps everything, say Gabriel Weinberg and Justin Mares. They stress two important points: (1) Many startups only focus on the channels they’re already familiar with (like public relations or search engine marketing), and miss out on other ways to gain traction. (2) You can’t know what traction channels will work until you’ve assessed them. Weinberg and Mares offer 19 proven traction channels: viral marketing, public relations, unconventional PR, search engine marketing, social and display ads, offline ads, search engine optimization, content marketing, email marketing, engineering as marketing, targeting blogs, business development, sales, affiliate programs, existing platforms, trade shows, offline events, speaking engagements, and community building. To find the best channel for you, use the five-step Bullseye Framework: brainstorm ideas for all 19 channel options; rank each channel; prioritize and choose the top three; test these three inexpensively; and then focus your resources and efforts on what you’ve identified as the best traction channel. Then, if that channel stops performing, repeat the Bullseye process to identify another. How much of your time should be spent on building traction? A lot, say the authors. “… traction and product development are of equal importance, and should each get about half of your attention.” It’s hard to do, but it’s vital – many entrepreneurs fail because they focus on the product to the exclusion of everything else. TheBusinessSource.com
All Rights Reserved
A Startup Guide to Getting Customers By Gabriel Weinberg and Justin Mares
Traction is quantitative evidence of customer demand. This might mean an increase in revenue, downloads, number of users, or searches. Traction is growth. And traction trumps everything, say Gabriel Weinberg and Justin Mares. They stress two important points: (1) Many startups only focus on the channels they’re already familiar with (like public relations or search engine marketing), and miss out on other ways to gain traction. (2) You can’t know what traction channels will work until you’ve assessed them. Weinberg and Mares offer 19 proven traction channels: viral marketing, public relations, unconventional PR, search engine marketing, social and display ads, offline ads, search engine optimization, content marketing, email marketing, engineering as marketing, targeting blogs, business development, sales, affiliate programs, existing platforms, trade shows, offline events, speaking engagements, and community building. To find the best channel for you, use the five-step Bullseye Framework: brainstorm ideas for all 19 channel options; rank each channel; prioritize and choose the top three; test these three inexpensively; and then focus your resources and efforts on what you’ve identified as the best traction channel. Then, if that channel stops performing, repeat the Bullseye process to identify another. How much of your time should be spent on building traction? A lot, say the authors. “… traction and product development are of equal importance, and should each get about half of your attention.” It’s hard to do, but it’s vital – many entrepreneurs fail because they focus on the product to the exclusion of everything else. TheBusinessSource.com
All Rights Reserved
