How do SaaS Startups Make Money?
This question came to me on a popular Q&A site. I thought it may also be helpful to many of you questioning how you may generate a profit from your product or service, so I am resharing it here with some additional content. First off, let’s define what a SaaS is before we start talking about how they make money. What is a SaaS? “SaaS” (pronounced “Sass”) stands for “Software As A Service”. It is a software licensing and delivery model in which software is made available to the user on a subscription basis and is centrally hosted. What does that all mean? It means that rather than having to…
Pay What You Want Marketing Consulting
As I mentioned in my “A Look Ahead” post, I was inspired by the pricing model of The Mad Optimist, a startup soap and body care company based in Bloomington, Illinois. Their “Choose Your Price” model is an interesting way of balancing the needs of their audience. When asked about the unusual model, the founders discussed their desire to help people who need specialty soaps. Some of those people were more affluent and felt the $10 bar of soap should be $16 or $17 – probably for bragging purposes. Others, those in less affluent parts of the country, would be priced out at $17 per bar of soap – even…
On Raising Your Price
If you are a specialist, expert, leader, or consultant who has the ability to set their own rates, you may struggle with how to price your services. As if that isn’t difficult enough, what about when it’s time to raise your prices? How do you know how much to charge? How much to increase? Does the rate increase apply to everyone? I am a huge proponent of experts realizing their value and charging what they’re worth. But, if you don’t value your time and skills, there is no way you can expect others to do it for you. Some Indicators It’s Time To Raise Your Prices Sometimes we don’t know…
Instead of Complaining About Competition, Actually Compete
Direct-to-Consumer marketplaces are eating up established industries at an unprecedented rate. Savvy entrepreneurs and using today’s technology to solve painpoints in nearly every corner of the market. From movie tickets and ride-services to moving companies and food delivery, consumers have more freedom and choice than ever before. Generally, this is viewed as great news! Except if you’re an established business with little to no interest in … you know, actually competing. Recently, peer-to-peer moving company, Dolly, announced a recent fund raising series. The response? Established moving companies sued to block Dolly’s ability to operate in the state, saying the company did not possess the same licenses required by the larger…
Social Media Marketing in 2018: Next Steps
I’ve resisted the urge to write about the Facebook privacy meltdown and ensuing faux-panic. In truth, I believe most of the controversy is entirely overblown and extreme examples are being made. But they are being made, nonetheless. And Facebook isn’t helping itself. Where does that leave businesses? Many feel that they “must do something” as a small, yet vocal, subset of consumers and lawmakers are calling for “something” to be done. We’ve seen large brands like Tesla, SpaceX, Mozilla, and Playboy all say they are giving up their Facebook presence. Another outcry. Another PR-driven opportunity to “take a stand.” Late last year, for the first time ever, Facebook reported a…
Your Brand’s Brand
Throughout history, we’ve used branding to mark everything from bread to livestock. Bakers would cut unique marks in their bread dough as a way to signal trust to their consumers. Ranchers used iron to sear their brand and track commingling cattle. Today, we associate branding with our businesses. Branding serves the same purpose: to give consumers, workers, and users a sense of what to expect. Actors use their personal brand to build anticipation around their upcoming theatrical release. Companies backfill their brand with “Best Place to Work” awards or Fortune recognition. Automobile manufactures intentionally place their logo on cars where we expect to see — the brand. Brands work best…
The Case for a Beautiful Website
Many of the expert entrepreneurs I talk to are passionately consumed with the details. The little things that go into making a beautiful website – perhaps choosing from 1000s of font and color combinations. Or obsessing over a competitor’s website. Or wanting a carbon copy of something they’ve seen. While I can support attention to detail, we must also remember utility. And the fact that we should provide a service to our clients. If the client cannot navigate the site, find what they are looking for, or feel pressured into contacting you before they get information- they’ll leave. You’ve lost the sale. In addition to aesthetics, remember usability, functionality, and…
The Social Media Algorithm and Your Business
“Every day we’d be having meetings saying, ‘What was Facebook’s algorithm change today, and what can we do?’ It was always an issue,” said Jessica Rotkiewicz, who worked as a news and branded content producer at LittleThings until she was laid off last April. “At the end of the day, the company was relying on another party they couldn’t control.” Digiday highlighted a small ecommerce company, LittleThings. As the company grew from their modest beginnings in the pet supplies industry to a social media favorite sharing inspiring content, they realized they had an unhealthy dependency on Facebook. On a whim, Facebook could adjust their algorithm and decimate the viewership of…
Don’t Let Your ‘How To’ Posts Destroy Credibility
Lately I’ve seen a lot of “How To” posts from industry “experts” intentionally misleading readers. The series of posts that sparked this one is a recent trend advertising that they have the steps for readers to gain verification on platforms like Instagram or Twitter. In fact, I’ve seen three posts today with the title, “How To Get Verified on Instagram”. All three posts from different brands or consultants whose services are to help small business owners grow their social media presence. The problem: you cannot initiate verification on Instagram. They pick you. You can do things that better your odds of verification, and that is what the content of these…
Playing Politics In Business
DISCLAIMER: This post contains political topics. I am not going to debate the merits of the topics themselves; this post talks of a brand’s response to an issue. You can replace guns with any topic you wish and the argument stands. Thursday, the outdoors equipment retailer, REI, decided they needed to be in the pro-gun/anti-gun debate. If you’re keeping track, that list includes Delta, United Airlines, Enterprise Holdings, Dicks Sporting Goods, Walmart, Kroger, MetLife — and now REI. It is beyond puzzling why a giant corporation decides to jump into political hot-button issues where they are likely to alienate half of their base. It is possible to have an opinion or personal stance about a…
Confusing Complexity with Capability
Last week, I met with two different entrepreneurs, in two very different industries. Yet they had the same problem. Internal complexity masking as capability. Any consulting session with me generally starts with a discussion about where you are, and where you want to go. It includes me asking a series of clarifying questions to get to the root of the frustration you’re facing. Often, the problem isn’t what has been self-diagnosed. If it were, you would have fixed it instead of calling me. (grin) These pointed questions often reveal layers and layers of complexity that have built up over time within the organization. Not just layers of management, or layers…
Filtering Your Ecommerce Photos is a Mistake
Without a doubt, the barrier to worldwide commerce has been lowered – if not destroyed – by the internet. Data from Statista anticipates a 246.15% increase in worldwide ecommerce sales, from $1.3 trillion in 2014 to $4.5 trillion in 2021. That’s a nearly threefold lift in online revenue. The idea of a local tribe trading goods and services exclusively is long gone. Now, we can buy everything from snow to an original poster for the 1932 movie, Freaks with the click of a button. An analysis by Slice Intelligence found that, in 2016, 43% of all US online retail sales were done through Amazon. Not only that, but many third-party brands leveraged the retail giant’s…
You’re a Media Company Now
It doesn’t matter whether you sell houses, cupcakes, yoga sessions, or treadmills, you are a media company. Or, at least should be thinking you are. Let’s look at today’s consumers. Today’s consumers care about the origins of the products they use. Today’s consumers care about the people behind the products. Today’s consumers want to understand the market before buying. Today’s consumers want to be educated enough to make the right decision. Today’s consumers care about what others have to say about products and services. Now, let’s look at traits of a successful media company. A media company excels at telling the story of a product; how it came to be,…
What You Can Learn From The “Big 4” About Building Your Brand Platform
Google recently announced some changes to their popular email platform, Gmail. Without getting into all the technical aspects of what “AMP” means (it is an acronym for Accelerated Mobile Pages – which means webpages load lightning fast on mobile devices like your phone), it means users of Gmail will be able to do more without leaving their email message. For example, you can Pin content to your Pinterest Boards without opening a new window or the Pinterest app. You can confirm airline reservations or change seats without opening your preferred airline app. I am a fan of removing steps and reducing friction between tasks and I am happy to see…
Valentines Day for Entrepreneurs
I have long thought the made up holiday of Valentine’s Day is eye-roll worthy. A capitalistic approach to drive greeting card sales, flowers, chocolates, and jewelry. A single day with such focus highlights broken relationships, places undue pressure on one party, creates unspoken expectations, and creates a culture of “One and Done.” My question: why does it have to center around one day? If you love someone, shouldn’t you show that affection throughout the year? The same for marketers. When we create a culture of “one and done” in business, allow unspoken expectations to exist, and place undue pressure on our clients/partners/prospects/and peers to perform, we are setting everyone up…
Your Business, 2 Years From Today
The savvy business leader is looking at tomorrow and beyond. She is aware of the challenges today, but focused on the challenges of what is coming up. She is looking at the horizon, around the corner, seeing the unseen. I see many entrepreneurs fail to invest in their business today because they are obsessed with the challenges of today. This approach lends to a continual cycle of reactive actions. Always feeling like you are a little behind. Constantly putting out fires. It leads to knee-jerk reactions rather than smooth transitions. Not only that, it gives competitors an advantage. The farmer invests in the future by planting seeds before he needs…
Your Strategic Toolshed
In the world of ecommerce, shovels and gloves have little in common. One is categorized in Tools while one is categorized in Fashion. When it comes to digging a hole, both can help do the job, but one is far more efficient than the other. When it comes to protecting our hands, there is a clear winner. No contest. When we add the word “garden”, the whole formula changes and we have the context to see a connection between shovels and gloves. Experience is knowing how to use one to dig a hole while using the other to protect our hands. Just having an assortment of tools in your shed…
Where Are You Starting?
Directions to New York City vary greatly depending on where you’re coming from. Not only will your route vary, but so will your mode of transportation. Without knowing the starting point, is hard to give a clear explanation of how to get to your destination. The same is true in marketing. It’s easy to discuss your destination, your goals, objectives, and campaigns. We can point to others who have done it well. But without knowing where you’re coming from, your journey is off to a tough start. – Photo by Jamie Street on Unsplash
2018 Is The Year of Strategy
Last year, the goal of my agency was to speak with 100 entrepreneurs and business owners. The industries ranged from health and fitness to specialty foods; real estate to solid waste; and wedding planning to personalized calligraphy. And two food trucks! More than 500 hours was spent in one-on-one conversation with people passionate about their business. Each of these individuals expressed one unified frustration: what do I do next? They all had an idea of where they wanted to go, but lacked the vision to see what step to take next. They imagined their business expanding, hiring employees, utilizing social media better to capture new customers, improving their brand awareness,…
How To Develop a Social Media Strategy
Whether you care to accept it or not, social media is here to stay. It is becoming a powerful marketing tool for businesses all over the world to connect with their customers. The questions is no longer, “should we be doing social media?” It is now, “are we doing social media right?” One way to do it right is to have a strong social media strategy. Many brands are simply using social media as a way to promote themselves. They’re not using it as it was designed: as a communication platform. Social media is a two-way street of dialog between a brand and the consumers. Unlike traditional marketing platforms – like…
3 Major Reasons Your Marketing Efforts Are Not Successful
NOTE: This is written to the forward thinking marketer who has overcome the first hurdle of getting stuff done: the excuse. “It didn’t work.” “We tried that already.” “Our previous web guy / consultant / designer / gardener didn’t understand us.” Congratulations, you’ve made it through the hardest part. Kudos for accepting a level of responsibility for a previous marketing campaign failures and your genuine interest in seeing the fruits of your labor and improving. Now, my people, let’s get to the nitty-gritty! Here are 3 major reasons your marketing efforts are not successful: 1. Not Consistent Consistency in marketing wins the race. Look at megabrands like Coca-Cola, Ford, Budweiser,…
