Struggling to figure out marketing?

I was speaking to an early-stage founder the other day.

They were stressed because their business wasn’t making enough money.

They had been doing a ton of different things from a marketing perspective.

• SEO

• Email

• Paid Ads

But they never could tell what worked and what didn’t.

The fact that at their size (1-10 employees >$100K in total revenue) they were trying to do all the things to reach their customers.

This means they were doing nothing to their potential.

This circumstance isn’t unique and frankly leaves many founders in the same position.

Frustrated and burnt out.

I know because I’ve been there myself.

As a company with extremely limited resources like a startup, you have to be specific about how you deploy your resources.

Which primarily is your effort.

So let’s talk about how to approach early-stage marketing.

It is so easy to think that we need all the things when we are building our
go-to-market vision.

This is where a lot of us get trapped.

Because we end up doing everything sub-par.

Eventually getting burnt out because every marketing channel takes time to build.

Time we simply do not have as an early-stage company.

Instead, it is best to be relentlessly focused on one channel.

And grow our efforts once we have mastered it.

How do we go about picking what this channel should be?

Take on your target consumer's perspective

• Where do they hang out online?

• Where can I reach them in person?

• How can I do this as cheaply as possible?

This is the discipline it takes to discover what works.

A relentless focus on the one and then pivoting or doubling down based on what you learn in the process.

And being able to say “no” to good ideas in favor of the best one.

Once you have picked a strategy.

Be relentless about executing for the next 6-9 months.

This is the relative time it takes to know if your marketing is working or not.

And take stock along the way.

• What kind of content is working?

• What type of content is failing?

• Is this leading to new opportunities? (This I think is the most important)

At the earliest stages, everything has to be helping you make more money.

That should be the guiding light of your marketing effort.

Is this helping me get more opportunities than I would otherwise?

Be consistent for 6-9 months.

Then determine if you should retreat or keep going based on the results.

It is so easy to look from left to right and think…

I need to be doing what that company is doing.

When that company has:

• Full-time staff dedicated to specific marketing categories.

• A deep understanding of the customers they serve.

• Large budgets they can leverage.

We as early-stage founders are simply not in this position.

Our focus needs to be centered elsewhere.

So the few resources we do have are where they can make the most impact.

This doesn’t come from looking at what your next competitor is doing.

It comes from relentlessly focusing on the one person that needs you right now.

This won’t look like the work your competitors are doing.

This will look more like doing gritty necessary things.

To build 1 to 1 relationships with people and find what makes them want to purchase your products or services.

This won’t “scale” but it will help you get an intimate look at your customer.

Which is the most valuable in the early stages.

Founder-led marketing is the only approach to take when you are just starting.

You have to be the one that is ranting and raving about your business.

Some great ways to do that:

• Personal Branding: Choose one channel and start creating content that relates to your business and story. This is a great way to build an audience and increase your opportunity to attract your ideal customer.
  

• Cold outreach: This can be done in many forms. Social media DMs, email, door-to-door sales (Check out my recent LinkedIn post about that). This might not always convert at the highest level. However, it will enable you to refine your pitch and cross the types of folks off the list who are not interested.
  

• Network Referrals: Leverage the people who know you and the value you create to help get in some doors. Often these relationships are warm which makes it easier to have the conversations you need to move things forward.

You can’t be afraid to be out front on day one.

No one is going to be able to sell the business like you.

And 9 times out of 10, trying to outsource this will end up as a disaster.

Because you haven’t learned enough to share with an operator in a way that will help you achieve success.

Do the work required and be (or become) your biggest marketing weapon.

The biggest point of this that I want to stress is how important it is in the
early stages to…

A) Be the leader of your marketing. Leverage a founder-led approach to get things off the ground. If the business isn’t something you can get fired up about marketing. Then perhaps it isn’t the right business for you.

B) Focus on building relationships with your ideal customer. These are the most critical and valuable to your business. Make sure to focus on having quality relationships with people who get value from what you produce.

It isn’t about doing the things that bigger companies do.

They are living in a different reality than us.

It is about finding what works for you and your business.

And at the very earliest stages, you have to take the scrappy approach.

Don’t be afraid to reach out to people cold.

Don’t be afraid to put yourself out there.

This is what will enable you to find the right customer for you.

That being said…

What are you waiting for?

Today we celebrate our 10th Newsletter! Thanks for being part of the journey 🥳

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