TopSprout Updates on Marketing and Product Launches
There's a lot of good information out there on marketing and product launches. Below are some excerpts from TopSprout's "Out to Launch" blog, which discusses TopSprout's experience with key marketing issues, marketing advice and product launch topics.
Or you can read more personal
thoughts on marketing and business by following
TopSprout on Twitter @topsprout. Happy reading!
Jawbone UP: Product Launch Do's and Don't's
"I never had a product die on me twice. I hope Jawbone figures out how to make the Jawbone UP stay up, but there are some key lessons for anyone trying to launch a new product..."
> Read More.
You Are Not Steve Jobs
"Fact #1: Steve Jobs is a great presenter. Fact #2: You are not Steve Jobs.The cold hard truth is that not everyone should try to be like Steve Jobs. Here's why..."
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You Gotta Know When to Hold 'Em, Know When to Fold 'Em
"Good advice from good ol' Kenny
Rogers. After almost two years of running a bunch of
different business development ideas for TopSprout, there are some things that I'm definitely
foldin'!"
> Read More.
How to Ring Up Some Initial VC Funding
"I've been getting a good number of
requests to help people with their funding pitch for VC's or angel
investors. While there's tons of advice out there, here's what I've
found works."
> Read More.
Free PR Sites - You Get What You Paid For
"Are free PR sites any good? They sound awfully appealing, but after some
initial tests, I'm not so sure."
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Get Over Your Fear of Networking
"What's ironic is that Facebook, LinkedIn and other social networking websites have made it so easy to stay in touch and reach out to friends and colleagues. But in the business world, I think a lot of people are still afraid of really leveraging and getting the most out of their network..."
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"Getting market data for your VC or internal pitch can be a very tedious process - trawling through government data tables, reading analyst reports, etc. But if you're selling to businesses, Hoovers.com can give you a FREE and FAST way to pull these numbers together for your pitch. Here's how..."
> Read More.
7 Ways CEO's Create Buzz on a Shoestring Budget
"I recently attended a local lunch featuring the CEO's from Vyatta, Red Condor and Serious Materials who shared what they thought were the most useful ideas for creating buzz, especially with a startup budget. Here are 7 key lessons I heard..."
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"A client and I recently created some great messaging for an upcoming product launch...but when we tried the same messaging technique to a related product, we ended up with so-so messaging. So how can a messaging approach work wonders with one product, yet be woefully inadequate with another...?"
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"You don't need to be Apple or Coca-Cola to be a marketing machine. There are some "no duh" rules of marketing I think any company should follow..."
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“Marketing in the B2B world can be a very rational process. But with brand new products, you need something a little more emotional and visionary to break through people's preconceived notions. That's where leading with "What If" can help you win more deals...”
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“I've seen many companies try to save money by doing their websites by themselves, but end up creating god-awful websites. The truth is you only need to spend a few hundred dollars to create a professional website...”
Make Your Events Eventful
“I just stopped
by Dreamforce, salesforce.com's annual user conference, and found some
examples of good, bad and ugly event marketing...”
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Protect Your Pricing with Better Positioning
“While limited
budgets and competitive pricing continue to be a big factors affecting
lots of deals in the current recession, here are some key things I’ve
picked up with my clients that should help you differentiate yourself,
protect your pricing and close deals...”
How to Create Killer PowerPoints
“I've found
that clients have a good deal of uncertainty when it comes to converting
their messaging into a killer PowerPoint deck. Based on my own
experiences and two books I’ve recently read – Presentation Zen and
Slideology – here are my top rules for PowerPoint success…”
> Read More.
Snail Mail Success
"I'm tired of bad
marketing. To break through the clutter, I recently tried my own
postcard campaign for TopSprout, and was pleasantly surprised by the
results. Here are the 5 key rules I followed..."
>
Read More.
PUSH
Out Better Marketing
"I'm a big fan of KISS. No, I don't mean
the black-and-white face-paint-wearing rock band. I mean the good old
acronym: Keep It Simple Stupid. But instead of KISS, I've been heavily
recommending that my clients think about PUSH Marketing: Personal,
Understandable, Short and Honest..."
> Read More.
DIY
Marketing for Your Product Launch
"There's a good number of
companies who are launching products that don't need consulting - they
just need some very simple advice to get their marketing house in order.
I call this Do-It-Yourself or DIY
Marketing. While it's easy to find marketing advice on the web,
it's hard to cut through the clutter. So I've compiled a 3-step DIY
marketing cheatsheet to here address the most common marketing requests
I've heard from companies who want to launch products..."
> Read More.