Startup Revolution

Brief History of SEO
I'm lucky enough to sit across from one of the best SEOs in the world. Latey #seo is much maligned. Don't be stupid. Google and the math always win in the end.

And that is why every startup should have a great SEO on their team or find one to help. Startups get so wrapped up in their widget they forget an important truth - without COMMUNICATION about what a hero your widget will make someone NO ONE WILL CARE.

Without a great SEO to help shape a stsrtup's communication there is a great chance SILENCE will be what happens when doors are finally open and a launch happens. Don't believe in the "better mouse trap" myth.

These days you can find better mousetraps falling from the sky. The KEY to startup success is shaping communication for maximum impact. The key to shaping communication for "maximum impact" is a great SEO.

I'm lucky enough to sit across from one of the best SEO on the planet and host of the largest SEO Meetup in the country - Curagami Co-Founder Phil Buckley.

What makes a great SEO? Here is how I described the characteristics of one of the best SEOs on earth on G+ this morning:

SEOs require a rare blend of talent including:

* Patience.
* As little EGO as possible.
* Einstienian Intelligence.
* Communication Skills of the TRANSLATION variety.
* Courage.

https://plus.google.com/102639884404823294558/posts/P6AeQZfkN9y

Phil's Truth About SEO post on Curagami
http://www.curagami.com/featured/truth-seo/

So if your startup isn't fortunate enough to have a great SEO on the team like Curagami, find one or get lost in the widget junk yard.

Popping Startup Bubble
As we create our Triangle Startup Factory funded startup called Curagami (http://www.curagami.com) we operate largely in self imposed bubble. Books such as The Lean Startup explain the need to get OUT THERE working with customers to create validated learning as soon as possible.

We can see why. Problem solving can be solipsistic. Problems can create more problems on into infinity. Since our tool is about know what content matters and why the irony of falling into the problem black hole would be crippling. Here are a few ideas for how to break out of the startup bubble:

* Work with "beta customers" who are almost part of your team but running businesses your tool can help (such as Moon-Audio and Vestique for Curagami).

* Start forming community ASAP. We stumbled a little on this when our Curator Contest got swamped with my need to have chemo again. We ill get back on the horse because forming community is a CSF (Critical Success Factor).

* Create Key Performance Indicators for EXTERNAL validation metrics such as whitepaper downloads, unique visitors, time on site and email list growth.

* Curate content from a wide range of experts and sources because curation is easier and cheaper than content creation, more relevant to what is happening now and it helps your brand because you gain in authority by curating content from authorities.

* Define your "competitive space" BROADLY. Don't just look directly across the table discover who and what is competing for your customers mindshare and then steal the good stuff and lead with asynchronous marketing.

* Find a universal topic such as seasonality (locally "universal" and others can easily empathize with HOT and COLD) and the weather.

* Create asynchronous marketing and if that sounds disruptive and as if you should blow shit up you are getting the idea. Sometimes you should do some strange things JUST TO SEE how they blow up. Try not to blow up the good stuff :).

When startups do any two of those ideas they are less likely to fall into the talking to themselves about themselves black hole that can easily swallow a startup whole.

The link to Google Plus shares more information about how to use universal signals to create empathy and community:
https://plus.google.com/102639884404823294558/posts/JzD6DmrPWWa

CrowdFunde team is attending startup school. This Triangle Startup Factory Dairy shares our journey. Day 2 = creation of "unrealized networks", UGC & SEO.

Day 2: Tapping Unrealized Networks
Wow, what a day. Started with a Scrum-like standup and then worked the Business Model Canvas with TSF Founder Chris Heivly and Whitney. Discussing CrowdFunde's SEO benefit we realized that many businesses have "unrealized networks".

Unrealized networks are your customers. One undeniable New SEO truth is commons or platforms like HuffPost and Facebook out perform all other models. Problem is how does a small business easily add a "commons" that won't cost them a million bucks in cash or time?

CrowdFunde to the rescue.

CrowdFunde's goal is to help our partners TAP the gold they carry in their unrealized network. When I was a Director of Ecommerce our mailing list was around 50,000. We communicated with our customers regularly because email marketing was the most profitable Internet marketing channel (by far).

What we DID NOT do was for a community. We didn't realize benefits from our network. This Video Diary includes a 2 minute video that walks you through our first cut at tapping "unrealized networks". Please share any thoughts, reactions or ideas.

We are in "startup school" at the Triangle Startup Factory in Durham, NC for 12 weeks and everything is up for grabs. Together we create a cool tool, a "get more with less" tool to help conquer the "New SEO".

Thanks, CrowdFunde team and Marty

CrowdFunde's Triangle Startup Factory incubator application is IN a day before their deadline tomorrow Sunday the 19th (YES).

Please follow @CrowdFunde and wish us luck in our application.

Watch a video fo Me (Marty) explaining CrowdFunde here (with cameo from Lucian the crazy cat):
http://youtu.be/CtLStPJ6C4k

Wish us luck! #fingerscrossed Marty

Now sleep is mandatory or "dead" isn't going to be so funny. Thanks for support from an army of friends such as Phil Buckley, Frank Pollack and Nick and the team at Smashing Boxes at the American Underground in Durham. You guys ROCK! Marty

Startups & Stores
I almost forgot one of my rules (lol). Stores help any website, brand or idea get better faster. There are things you learn creating a store our #startup http://www.curagami.com can't teach.

We have over 30 years of ecommerce experience and creating one Shopify store will, over the course of the 2 - 4 days it takes, teach you half of what we know.

What Creating A Store Teaches Startups

* Content and copy writing.

* Webdesign.

* Product categorization, planning and business intelligence (#BI). 

* Social Media.
* Thinking about THEM (your customers).

* Learning to test & validate assumptions.
* Provides a new dimension for B2B and B2C products, companies and tools.

The new "perspective" the last bullet mentions is the gold. Getting out of your head and testing assumptions and ideas IRL (In Real Life) is more valuable than every brainstorm we've ever had.

Brainstorms and past experience create an assumption framework. Creating a store pushing assumptions into the deep end of the pool and they learn to swim fast or drown

Competitive Advantage
We work around 6 startups and NONE of them have or are likely to follow my advice to create store. Every startup here in Durham thinks they are selling a THING.

I've learned the hard way the first thing we startups sell is OURSELVES (you & people on your team). Next thing you sell is money making competency. If you know a better way to prove "money making competency" than spending $200 to create a Shopify store be sure to tweet @Curagami and share that idea and trust we will be creating your idea next :).

Marty & Team Curagami

PS. Will share HackHeadphones.Shopify.com when its live (probably Monday)

Curagami & The Ecommerce Revolution Played Triangle Startup Factory's Pitchday today discussing how how to fix ecommerce marketing with Curagami.

This post is about branding's journey from Tide in 1958 to Red Bull now with one inescapable conclusion - We Are All Media Companies Now.

Working everyday at Triangle Startup Factory is reinforcing how reluctant most startps are to START PUBLISHING. No our startup CrowdFunde (http://www.crowdfunde.com). We've been publishing warts and all from inception. The biggest content marketing mistake is NOT creating content. You can roll with anything else.

Lesson for Startups - START PUBLISHING NOW because the sooner you form a tribe the easier life gets.

CrowdFunde Accepted Triangle Startup (TSF) Factory
Thanks to friends who wrote cards and letters and thanks to the team at Triangle Startup Factory, our Durham, NC based startup incubator, who are willing to take a risk on CrowdFUnde as we smash content marketing and crowdfunding together to see what happens.

Our TSF session starts March 10th and we hope you will join us as we share this great startup adventure.

CrowdFunde
http://www.crowdfunde.com

Haiku Deck Pitch to TSF
http://shar.es/QFOzU

Triangle Startup Factory
http://thestartupfactory.co/