is the juice worth the squeeze?

@danzelikman #BOLO2013

applying startup mentality to everything

who is this guy?

• 5 years in sales • 2 years in media planning• 3 years in agency life• 2 years in a bootstrapped journalism

startup• 2 years working with a variety of

startups • = like, 100 years of experience

why startups?

• driven by impact, product, team• lean, focused, make mistakes fast• agile, versatile, many, many, many

hats• everyone’s on the same page• team members feel accountable to

each other• always on the clock• (revenue yes, but not first)

problem statements• why so much attrition?– what are they trying to fix?

• agencies and clients, not aligned in goals– invest in your clients, think long-term

sustainable scale

• too many long meetings, no action steps– put an ipad timer in plain view, be strict

mo’ problem statements• slave to email, reactive vs. proactive– google hangouts, chat, groupme,

yammer, kill recurring company emails, quality > quantity

• slave to process, creativity suffers– be agile, bust down the door

• teams too segmented, challenges in execution– smaller teams, better chemistry

are we effective?

• effective > efficient• quality > quantity • is the juice worth the squeeze?• what does success look like?• identifying and communicating goals,

with road maps to get there• measure your metrics• test, iterate, improve (nothing is finished)

know your measurements

• quantitative–metrics, usage, conversions,

percentages

• qualitative– usability testing, heat mapping

• comparative– a/b testing

• competitive– choose competitor activity and compare

what clients really want

• new customers• customers with a great first

experience• to keep those customers happy (new

ones cost more)• happy customers to talk about their

experience to new customers• to grow revenue

new people• (make sure your product is ready)• high volume channels• low cost channels• best performing channels• seo, ppc, facebook, twitter, instagram,

pinterest, reddit, youtube, yelp, articles, contests, biz dev, ads, commercials, conferences, email, affiliate marketing, billboards, etc.

• cost per new person

happy first experience

• define it, it can be anything• a click, a buy, a form fill out• how long they engaged with the

product/campaign/thing• a/b tests, optimizely• heat maps, crazy egg• the basics, google, adobe, chart beat

keep them happy (coming back)

• keeping customers (or team members) is less expensive than getting new ones

• not good, great customer service• email cycles (+3 +7 +30 days)• genuine human storytelling (blogs)• zappos them• spend money on customers >

marketing

happy customers = evangelists

• if the product/experience rocks• (and) if the customer service rocks• (and) you stay competitive (pricing)• (then) your happy customers should

use the interwebs to get new customers for you

• (and) that rocks

revenue

• what products make the most?• what products are in the long tail?• how are the approaches different?• which is the current focus?• (because) the targets are different

a few more tips• 80/20 rule• less is more – minimalism• too many chefs, assign decision

makers• don’t use, “because instagram”• putting out fires sucks, be proactive• ideas can come from anyone• don’t deliver static products• complacency sucks• we’re not curing cancer, have fun

getting started

• start a movement, it takes two• don’t try to convince everyone at once• find your crew, define goals, refine

them• be ready to be rejected• present your vision in a way where they

can’t say no• how do we eat an elephant?– one bite at a time

products I love (right now)

• blue apron• *helloflo• southwest• phonebloks• mercedes + casey neistat• thunderclap

* I don’t personally use this one, yet

read

• rework• delivering happiness• 4 hour work week• the thank you economy

me

• dan (zel-ik-man)• @danzelikman• dan@mentalpez.com• mentalpez.com• danzelikman.me