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.
Linked Data in Production: Moving Beyond Ontologies
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)
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.
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
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
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/
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