BootstrapWiki - User contributions [en]

Website Analytics

2006-11-04T05:01:21Z

Bigbob:

Some free or inexpensive website analytics that were referred to me by fellow bootstrappers were the following:

*Google Analytics
*AWstats
*Webalizer
*Hitslink
*Indextools
*W3counter

They are in the order of most often recommended to least but I can not vouch for which one is best...you just have to try them out yourself and see if they work for what you are looking for.

I will try to update this as I try some of these out myself.

*beware of Google Analytics*

PR and Marketing

2006-11-04T04:59:42Z

Bigbob: /* Branding and Logo */

Bootstrap businesses will need PR and Marketing at some point. How do you know '''when''' to start marketing, average '''cost''' ranges, and what's the '''advice''' from fellow Bootstrappers?

== General Advice ==

1. Identify where you are in your company's cycle. As a startup, you should focus on selling your product and getting customer input. To save money, barter for services or do them yourself as best you can. You wouldn't want to spend too much in this area before you really develop your customer base.

2. Ask for referrals from Bootstrappers or successful firms in your industry. Make sure the professionals that you hire understand and work in your industry. You don't want to be their ginnea pig or teach them about your business when they should be the experts.

3. ALWAYS get it in writing. Don't just sign the contract provided by the firm. Make sure goals, timelines, objectives, and deliverables are provided. Don't pay up front. Instead, try to bargain to pay at pre-agreed intervals that are based on percentage of completion.

4. Again, your branding and expenditures in these areas will depend on how many '''employees''' and '''income''' you have. If you have a single employee ''and'' are in the Valley of Death, you should spend as little as possible without hurting your image. If your company is in a growth phase, it may be time to expand your image/brand, so the investment could be worth it.

== Website Design and Programming ==

1. Prices range from $50/hour on the average end to $75-$95/hour for high-end programming and graphics (Java, Flash, backend tool). Expect around $75/hour for a good firm.

2. Sites can range from $1000 on the low end to $250k++ depending on how advanced the interface is. Expect to spend $2500-3k for a decent, good-looking website that doesn't include heavy programming.

== Branding and Logo ==

1. Expect at least $500 for a US-made logo. A good price for full branding would be $3k-5k. Some overseas companies that charge a flat fee of $150-500. All of these options produce various degrees of success.

2 A traditional branding company will often charge $5-10k for a total marketing collateral package. This will include logos, stationary, a brand image, design fees, and brochures. Corporate IDs usually range from $5-25k unless you are a mid-cap company or Fortune 500 firm, in which case it would be more expensive.

== PR and Marketing ==

1. The average range is $50-$200/hour. Smaller or newer PR firms will charge less. The more high-end or successful the firm, the more they cost. $75/hour would be a good deal. Average cost is $100-125/hr for a good firm.

2. Event marketing and PR is often 15-25% of the total budget. If the event budget is a $100K, the firm may spend upwards of $15k in consulting services fees, if not more.

3. '''Monthly retainers''' are common, but not required. They're often $2k on the low end to 10k+ on the highend. Ask if the retainer fee includes all costs, such as writing and placement. Retainers below $2k/mo should be suspect.

4. A yearly cost may be $10-15k for a startup and $25-30k for the first phase of growth, perhaps when you are hiring employees and trying to keep up with business.

5. You can hire a freelance PR person, but they won't have as much focus on your business. Press releases are about $500 each, which should include creation of the release and sending to the appropriate sources.
----

Elance.com has a list of providers who can do all of these functions, but '''let's try to support our fellow Bootstrappers!'''

PR and Marketing

2006-11-04T04:57:22Z

Bigbob: /* Website Design and Programming */

Bootstrap businesses will need PR and Marketing at some point. How do you know '''when''' to start marketing, average '''cost''' ranges, and what's the '''advice''' from fellow Bootstrappers?

== General Advice ==

1. Identify where you are in your company's cycle. As a startup, you should focus on selling your product and getting customer input. To save money, barter for services or do them yourself as best you can. You wouldn't want to spend too much in this area before you really develop your customer base.

2. Ask for referrals from Bootstrappers or successful firms in your industry. Make sure the professionals that you hire understand and work in your industry. You don't want to be their ginnea pig or teach them about your business when they should be the experts.

3. ALWAYS get it in writing. Don't just sign the contract provided by the firm. Make sure goals, timelines, objectives, and deliverables are provided. Don't pay up front. Instead, try to bargain to pay at pre-agreed intervals that are based on percentage of completion.

4. Again, your branding and expenditures in these areas will depend on how many '''employees''' and '''income''' you have. If you have a single employee ''and'' are in the Valley of Death, you should spend as little as possible without hurting your image. If your company is in a growth phase, it may be time to expand your image/brand, so the investment could be worth it.

== Website Design and Programming ==

1. Prices range from $50/hour on the average end to $75-$95/hour for high-end programming and graphics (Java, Flash, backend tool). Expect around $75/hour for a good firm.

2. Sites can range from $1000 on the low end to $250k++ depending on how advanced the interface is. Expect to spend $2500-3k for a decent, good-looking website that doesn't include heavy programming.

== Branding and Logo ==

1. Expect at least $500 for a decent logo. A good price for full branding would be $3k-5k. Some companies that charge a flat fee of $250-500 with various degrees of success.

2 A true branding company will often charge $5-10k for a total marketing collateral package. This will include logos, stationary, a brand image, design fees, and brochures. Corporate IDs usually range from $5-25k unless you are a mid-cap company or Fortune 500 firm, in which case it would be more expensive.

== PR and Marketing ==

1. The average range is $50-$200/hour. Smaller or newer PR firms will charge less. The more high-end or successful the firm, the more they cost. $75/hour would be a good deal. Average cost is $100-125/hr for a good firm.

2. Event marketing and PR is often 15-25% of the total budget. If the event budget is a $100K, the firm may spend upwards of $15k in consulting services fees, if not more.

3. '''Monthly retainers''' are common, but not required. They're often $2k on the low end to 10k+ on the highend. Ask if the retainer fee includes all costs, such as writing and placement. Retainers below $2k/mo should be suspect.

4. A yearly cost may be $10-15k for a startup and $25-30k for the first phase of growth, perhaps when you are hiring employees and trying to keep up with business.

5. You can hire a freelance PR person, but they won't have as much focus on your business. Press releases are about $500 each, which should include creation of the release and sending to the appropriate sources.
----

Elance.com has a list of providers who can do all of these functions, but '''let's try to support our fellow Bootstrappers!'''

Marketing:Online Marketing

2006-11-04T04:48:35Z

Bigbob: /* Contributors */

[[Bootstrap Marketing|Marketing Home]]

== Bootstrap Online Marketing ==
Right now, the most cost-effective techniques in online marketing are:
# [[#1. Web sites|Web Sites]]
# [[#2. Email|Email]]
# [[#3. Search Optimization|Search Optimization]]
# [[#4. Keyword Search Advertising|Keyword Search Advertising]]

Focus your research on these at first.

== Online Marketing Resources ==
The most popular places to read about marketing, including online marketing, are:

* [http://www.marketingsherpa.com MarketingSherpa]
* [http://www.clickz.com ClickZ]
* [http://www.imediaconnection.com iMediaConnection]
* [http://www.marketingprofs.com/ Marketing Profs]
* [http://www.marketingvox.com Marketing Vox]
* Direct Marketing Association
* [http://www.ad-tech.com ad:tech]
* Double Click Reports

=== Blogs ===
* Seth Godin (http://sethgodin.typepad.com)
* Sally Falkow (http://falkow.blogsite.com)
* James Cherkoff (http://www.collaboratemarketing.com/modernmarketing)
* Brian Massey (http://customerchaos.blogspot.com)
* Adrants (http://www.adrants.com)
* Jen Blackert (http://www.brandterra.com)
* Cauvin (http://cauvin.blogspot.com)
* Search Engine Marketing (http://www.apogee-search.com/Blog/index.php)

=== Books and Manifestos ===
Don't do anything until you've read the [http://www.cluetrain.com/ ClueTrain Manifesto]

=== Where to get ideas ===
Look at your competitor's online marketing. Don't assume it's good, but steal the ideas that seem good and try them yourself.

=== Choices for Internet Marketing ===
==== 1. Web sites ====

Banner advertisements on complementary sites. CPM (Cost per thousand displays of your ad) can be costly for local advertising. Prices range between $5/CPM and $20/CPM for local advertising. The problem is that conversions can be as low as .1% (that's .001). That means that at a $5 CPM, you just spent $5 to get one person to your website. These forms of advertising are great for branding, but a little more difficult for direct sales.

==== 2. Email ====

Email is complicated with all of the laws surrounding this industry. Make sure that your email source has email addresses that are [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E-mail_marketing#E-mail_marketing_terms double opt-in]. This means that not only did they sign up for the email, they also verified their account by clicking on a link in an email sent from the company that manages the list.

Do not attempt to email advertise people who have not asked to get your information. If you want to reach new customers, hire a company who has double-opt-in customers who are acceptable to receiving your email through that list company. An example of this service is through [http://www.postmasterdirect.com Postmaster Direct]. This can be costly.

==== 3. Search Optimization ====

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is a great way to earn some extra money from the sales of your product or service. SEO is difficult to do correctly unless you are BOTH technically AND marketing savvy. If you are, then go to some of SEO forums that exist. Remember that the major search engines don't really want you to create webpages specifically designed to make it into the "top 10" of the search results. Aggressive SEO can get your site banned from the search results. The most important piece of SEO is ensuring that Google can find your web content. The second most important piece is keyword selection. The third most important piece is your inbound link architecture (how the rest of the web is "voting" for your web pages). After that come things like age of domain, title tags, and things that used to matter a bunch pre-Google, but don't much anymore, like keyword density ratios.

==== 4. Keyword Search Advertising ====

Google's Adwords and Yahoo's Overture have keyword search engine advertising programs. You can advertise using low dollar keywords. The problem with focusing solely on keyword advertising is that you might be surprised how limiting this form of advertising can be. The dollars spent here are well spent, but it's hard to spend a lot of them. To gain additional exposure (and therefore the opportunity to show you ad to more people), you might want to consider hiring a company that specializes in this. This service should be inexpensive, and a few quick modifications might double or triple the exposure of your ads.

== Contributors ==
* [http://www.bootstrapaustin.org/wiki/index.php/User:Bmassey#Brian_Massey Brian Massey]
* [http://www.pitylaksecurity.com Ryan Pitylak]
* [http://www.lcgrowth.com/management.asp William Leake]

Marketing:Online Marketing

2006-11-04T04:47:50Z

Bigbob: /* Contributors */

Marketing:Online Marketing

2006-11-04T04:47:11Z

Bigbob: /* 3. Search Optimization */

Marketing:Online Marketing

2006-11-04T04:40:42Z

Bigbob: /* Blogs */

[[Bootstrap Marketing|Marketing Home]]

== Bootstrap Online Marketing ==
Right now, the most cost-effective techniques in online marketing are:
# [[#1. Web sites|Web Sites]]
# [[#2. Email|Email]]
# [[#3. Search Optimization|Search Optimization]]
# [[#4. Keyword Search Advertising|Keyword Search Advertising]]

Focus your research on these at first.

== Online Marketing Resources ==
The most popular places to read about marketing, including online marketing, are:

* [http://www.marketingsherpa.com MarketingSherpa]
* [http://www.clickz.com ClickZ]
* [http://www.imediaconnection.com iMediaConnection]
* [http://www.marketingprofs.com/ Marketing Profs]
* [http://www.marketingvox.com Marketing Vox]
* Direct Marketing Association
* [http://www.ad-tech.com ad:tech]
* Double Click Reports

=== Blogs ===
* Seth Godin (http://sethgodin.typepad.com)
* Sally Falkow (http://falkow.blogsite.com)
* James Cherkoff (http://www.collaboratemarketing.com/modernmarketing)
* Brian Massey (http://customerchaos.blogspot.com)
* Adrants (http://www.adrants.com)
* Jen Blackert (http://www.brandterra.com)
* Cauvin (http://cauvin.blogspot.com)
* Search Engine Marketing (http://www.apogee-search.com/Blog/index.php)

=== Books and Manifestos ===
Don't do anything until you've read the [http://www.cluetrain.com/ ClueTrain Manifesto]

=== Where to get ideas ===
Look at your competitor's online marketing. Don't assume it's good, but steal the ideas that seem good and try them yourself.

=== Choices for Internet Marketing ===
==== 1. Web sites ====

Banner advertisements on complementary sites. CPM (Cost per thousand displays of your ad) can be costly for local advertising. Prices range between $5/CPM and $20/CPM for local advertising. The problem is that conversions can be as low as .1% (that's .001). That means that at a $5 CPM, you just spent $5 to get one person to your website. These forms of advertising are great for branding, but a little more difficult for direct sales.

==== 2. Email ====

Email is complicated with all of the laws surrounding this industry. Make sure that your email source has email addresses that are [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E-mail_marketing#E-mail_marketing_terms double opt-in]. This means that not only did they sign up for the email, they also verified their account by clicking on a link in an email sent from the company that manages the list.

Do not attempt to email advertise people who have not asked to get your information. If you want to reach new customers, hire a company who has double-opt-in customers who are acceptable to receiving your email through that list company. An example of this service is through [http://www.postmasterdirect.com Postmaster Direct]. This can be costly.

==== 3. Search Optimization ====

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is a great way to earn some extra money from the sales of your product or service. SEO is difficult to do correct unless you are technically savvy. If you are, then go to some of SEO forums that exist. Remember that the major search engines don't really want you to create webpages specifically designed to make it into the "top 10" of the search results. Aggressive SEO can get your site banned from the search results.

==== 4. Keyword Search Advertising ====

Google's Adwords and Yahoo's Overture have keyword search engine advertising programs. You can advertise using low dollar keywords. The problem with focusing solely on keyword advertising is that you might be surprised how limiting this form of advertising can be. The dollars spent here are well spent, but it's hard to spend a lot of them. To gain additional exposure (and therefore the opportunity to show you ad to more people), you might want to consider hiring a company that specializes in this. This service should be inexpensive, and a few quick modifications might double or triple the exposure of your ads.

== Contributors ==
* [http://www.bootstrapaustin.org/wiki/index.php/User:Bmassey#Brian_Massey Brian Massey]
* [http://www.pitylaksecurity.com Ryan Pitylak]