How to start a startup with WordPress (if you're a non-techie)
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The presentation takes you through launching a signup page before you launch your idea as well as how to develop, design and market a site built on top of WordPress when you don't have the technical background.
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How to start a startup with WordPress (if you're a non-techie)
- 2. What the hell do I know? • No technical expertise • Business/Marketing background • 123LinkIt.com – tech business
- 3. Agenda • Launching a sign-up page • Market Testing • Development • Design • Marketing
- 4. Assumptions • Concept is well-articulated • Business model is defined • Startup is based online • You’ll be using self-hosted WP
- 7. Type of Sites and Plugins • Content/Brochure site (any) • Subscription site (Kajabi) • Social networking site (BuddyPress) • eCommerce site (WP Commerce + others)
- 9. SHOW SCREENSHOT OF LANDING PAGE WORDPRESS THEME Do’s: • Put up a signup page with a brief description of what you do until your site is launched • Link it to a feedburner account • Build buzz through Twitter and conferences Don’t: • Post a launch date • Hire someone else to do it (it’s very easy)
- 10. SHOW SCREENSHOT OF FEEDBURNER SETUP Another example: Ask for alpha testers if appropriate
- 11. My favorite example (and what I wish I would have done): • Provide brief description • Signup field • Survey after email is entered (see next page)
- 12. Love this! Testing out assumptions before launch Note: This form was built using Wufoo (free tool)
- 14. Building your site using WordPress Tip: If you’re a newbie, ge your domain and hosting from the same provider
- 16. 123LinkIt sitemap example. You can use PowerPoint or mindmapping tools to develop this
- 18. Highly recommend Balsamiq to create wireframes. Tip: You can get it for free if you blog about it
- 19. Designing your Site1000s of WordPress themes available Crowdsourcing sites Freelance designers Tips: • Ask for a homepage and interior page design (copy interior page design to all pages if appropriate) • Be as detailed as possible in what you’re looking for. If using crowdsourcing sites (I used 99Designs, continuously provide feedback) • Don’t get your design and XHTML done by the same person
- 20. Power of Plugins Add functionality to your site without getting a developer Tip: At the same time, limit the # of plugins you add (they slow down your site)
- 22. Marketing • Most SEO-friendly platform • XML Sitemaps plugin & Google Webmaster Tools are a must • Thesis (use Theme as alternative) • Include a blog page • Leverage social media • Utilize referral programs • Piggyback off a trend or news item
- 23. Make sharing as easy as possible Allow users to invite friends from their Gmail, Outlook, etc.
- 24. Create link bait Hubspot was unknown until they launched this tool
- 25. A/B Testing (for copywriting & design) (for web pages) (for marketing) (for eCommerce sites)
- 27. Fivesecondtest.com example (cont’d) Fivesecondtest.com allows you to test your design and copywriting as well as perform market testing. That said, make sure they’re the right target market. An alternative is UserTesting.com
- 29. Optional fields converted 45% better – less friction
- 30. Key Performance Indictors (KPIs) Always measure your metrics! Some examples for 123Linkit: • # of downloads/growth rate • # of active users (after download and after install)/growth rate • Avg revenue per blog • Top categories • Traffic growth referring sites and top converting keywords
- 31. Analytics Questions to ask: Do the keywords that drive people to my site align with the purpose? Which traffic sources are driving the most TARGETED traffic? What are the most popular pages on my site and what does the bounce rate look like on each? What’s my ratio of new/returning visitors and how can this be improved? What events led to an increase in revenue?
- 32. Final notes • Talk, talk some more, and keep talking to your users/customers • Focus! • Reiterate often • Be creative • KISS • Figure out your user acquisition costs ASAP
- 43. They are all built on WordPress!
- 44. (Back to the first guessing game) Cost of 123LinkIt… $1,208($990 just for design)
- 45. Articles worth checking out: What you should ask your designer – http://www.thedesigncubicle.com/2009/01/what-should- you-get-from-your-logo-designer How to measure your metrics - http://www.slideshare.net/dmc500hats/startup-metrics- for-pirates-long-version How to build an online store using WP and Thesis - http://diythemes.com/thesis/create-online-store/
Editor's Notes
- Ask: Diff between WP and WP.org Not sure I was going to be able to launch a business without having a technical background. I’m here to tell you that it can be done, and it can be done well.
- Signing up to be notified when the service is released. Helps build a little buzz and gives you a list of people who are interested in your product. Invite only angle Talked to a lot of people at conferenced and used Twitter
- Help us build something you want.” This is a great way to communicate to someone that they are an active part of the product development process. Less Sign-up Friction Qualified Reponses
- Kickapps
- SEO Slideshows/photo galleries Forms Sitemaps Analytics Sharing features/RSS Twitter/Facebook widgets Commenting Mobile viewing Monetization tools Maintenance (backup, making the site faster, security, check for broken links)
- News item – come up with an angle for reporters Referral programs – increased Dropbox users by 60%
- Think about what your target market could use and go where they hang out
- In this case, 20% of the required email addresses entered on Version A’s form were bogus, whereas all of Version B’s email addresses were valid. The trade-off for using an optional form is that some visitors will leave it blank, which means you won’t get the lead but you will expose them to your brand.
- Separate them out into separate slides
- Focus - Do a few things really well instead of a lot of things poorly Reiterate often – launch early and launch often – the cost of launch increases with each stage – concept/prototype/alpha/launch Be creative – fake it until you make it KISS – UI/sign-up process, no decisions = nothing to screw up
- So does WSJ
- Logo & Web design – $990 CSS/HTML - $225 Domain/Hosting - $98 - $1208
- Focus - Do a few things really well instead of a lot of things poorly Reiterate often – launch early and launch often – the cost of launch increases with each stage – concept/prototype/alpha/launch Be creative – fake it until you make it KISS – UI/sign-up process, no decisions = nothing to screw up