How We Unexpectedly Got 60,000 Users in 60 Hours

(And other ways to get users without spending money)

A talk by Patrick Ambron

CEO of BrandYourself

A few cool things you’ll learn• How to !nd anyone’s email• How to pitch the press the !rst time• How to help articles go “viral”• Other ways to show lots of people your cool start up

BrandYourself started as a problem, that turned into an idea, that turned into a mission

The Problem: Pete Kistler, a co-founder, was a model student, but couldn‘t get an internship.

3.9 GPASuccessful entrepreneurLeader on campusFounder of multiple clubsSeveral relevant internships

He was being mistaken online for an ex-con with the same name

This Guy This Guy

or

He couldn’t change it, because he wasn’t:

A tech genius who could do it himself

A high net worth individual who could pay thousands for

a reputation !rm to do it

To help anyone get some control over their search results with a simple and free do-it-yourself platform.

So we made it our mission:

(check it out at http://brandyourself.com)

Where we started• Had the idea in 2010 from a dorm room at SU• No marketing budget, no resources, no clue

Where we are Now: • 9 full-time employees• Over 150,000 customers• $1.5 million in funding• Named #1 Emerging Business in NYS ($200k prize), top

app at SXSW

How did we get from A to B?

It started with a lot of building…

And rebuilding

and more rebuilding...

Until !nally…

…we were ready for Launch!

Growth was pretty good right out of the gate…

but then…

…we hit a tipping point

60k users in 60 hours

So what happened?

On May 1 we announced a feature that (accidentally) went a little viral

First, Mashable picked it up

It brought more traffic than we thought: (not all Mashable articles are created equal)

An article trending on the front page for 2 days gets way more traffic than a normal article

Once the story was “hot” other places picked it up

All these new users began sharing BrandYourself, which compounded growth even more

Signups from direct sources and direct Google searches sky-rocketed

Finally, all the new users created a huge long tail effect

We signed up over 10,000 people from sources that signed up less than 200 people each.

Some sent us users through their own BrandYourself pro!les

Others wrote personal blog posts

So What Did We Learn(that might help you)?

1. Pitch the right publication

Once you choose, it’s time to

2. Pitch one feature at a time (make sure it’s the one people care about)

Bad Pitch: Here’s a list of ten technical features you won’t really understand. Will you write about it?

Good Pitch: We have a new feature that helps you do something amazing that no one else can help you do.

3. Focus the story on speci!c

Bad Pitch: I just stayed up all night releasing this. You should write about it

Good Pitch: Millions of people — like my friend Jim — could never learn to speak Spanish. With this new product he was "uent in two weeks!

Bonus: How to !nd a writer’s contact info

• Look for any connection possible (LinkedIn, alumni network)• If you can’t !nd a connection, here are some tricks…

Find the company’s email schema (!rstname@company.com lastname@company.com)

• See if you know anyone else who works at the company• Google

– [name] + email (or) email address– [name] + contact (or) contact information (or) contact me– site:companywebsite.com + [name] + email

– site:companywebsite.com + [name] + contact

– site:companywebsite.com + ken.lyons [at] companyname.com

• Contact them via LinkedIn !rst (you can’t contact them on LinkedIn unless you have the correct email, so try each schema until it goes through)

Great, now you have their email?

What do you say when you contact them?

Cold email: !rst time storyHi xxx,

 

My name is Patrick, I'm a big fan of your work, and have been for while.  I'm emailing you today about my company, BrandYourself.com to see if you see any !t for a story on xxx. 

To give you a quick background: We’re the !rst DIY platform that makes it easy for anyone to take control of their own search results. We started the company when my co-founder Pete couldn't get an internship because he was being mistaken for a drug dealer. We wanted to create a free product that put the power in everybody’s hands. We’ve been able to launch, put together a great team with a great group of investors (link)

While growth has been great (link to an article), I’ve always wanted to see an article on xxx. Particularly because I think a two articles you wrote a few years ago did an amazing job summarizing the industry. As a long time reader myself I think this is something readers would really enjoy.

I know you’re busy so just let me know if you have any interest.

Future emails: (Write the story for them)

Hi xxx,

Hope you had a good weekend! I just wanted to let you know we’re releasing an infographic you might be interested in. I think it’s right in line with your content.

"How Will Google Remember this year's top Olympic Athletes"

Basically every year, new stars emerge, and they are surrounded by a lot of chatter. Once the games end and the chatter dies, Google becomes their post Olympic legacy, and unfortunately it's not always in their favor. We looked at the 3 most talked about athletes to determine what their post Google legacy will be (basically what people will !nd about them in 10 years). Michael Phelps "the Icon", Ryan Lochte "the rival" and Gabby Douglas "the newbie"

Some of our conclusions (I think each one could make an interesting headline):

–Michael Phelps will be forever remembered in Google as a legend, and not as a lazy stoner

–Lochte will be forever remembered in Google as the frat boy idiot who could never beat Phelps, and not as an incredible 11 time olympic medalist

–Unfortunately, all the petty controversy around Gabby Douglas's hair will forever tarnish the memory of her historic victory in Google.

Let me know if you're interested or if you want to jump on a quick call. Infographic is attached. If you have any questions, just let me know.

4. Focus on your sign up $ow

Ideal Home Page

Pretty good home page (thank you)

Really good home page

Obviously really bad homepage

Not as obvious bad homepage

5. Know where your product can be viral (even if it isn’t a social network)

People will always share an interesting experience

People like to brag about

People want to do what their friends do

Other companies that work

• DropBox: Invite a friend you both get free space• Skype: Invite a friend and you both get to talk to

each other for free

6. Have a great product

“The quickest way to kill a bad product is good advertising”

Ok, but how do I have a

Solve a problem

VS.

1 billion

75%names are Googled every day

of HR departments are requiredto research candidates online

Nega%ve Hey,  that’s  not  me!Irrelevant

Most people are not represented by well-branded content about themselves:

The Problem:

Solve a speci!c problem

We Were:

“Put your best foot forward on the web”:• Manage your entire online reputation

• Own your Google results• Track your digital breadcrumbs

• Create effective social media pro!les• Get more fans and followers• Figure out how to blog

• Automate your social media outreach• Manage your online privacy

Screenshot of our old website

Now, we’re this:

Own Your Google Results

Other things that have worked for us

1. Create content people want to read and share

Share it in relevant places

Bonus Hack: How to keep an article trending

•Article get’s published•Promote it on StumbleUpon (cheap, fast way to get it in front of even more people to get more likes, tweets, etc.)•The more interaction, the longer it trends•The longer it trends, the more traffic

2. Biz dev deals• Get big companies with complimentary services to send traffic your way• Start with a test: “Let’s test it in your newsletter before we try anything”

• Hit their social media/blogging team: They are always looking for good content, free way to get in front of all their customers

3. Customer Service: (the most underrated marketing channel

This is how you create passionate users who tell their friends about you

Answer the phone

315 565 1799

Seriously, call us…

Send Personable EmailsWe have an intern send jib jabs to new paying members to let

them know “they rock”

http://www.jibjab.com/view/VoemwvBIAQBdmHFC?utm_campaign=URL+Copy&utm_medium=Share&utm_source=JibJab&cmpid=jj_url

Hold weekly WebinarsThere’s no better way to scale personal demos

Meet your users in person whenever you can

Do something special every once in a whileI %ew out and delivered homemade cookies and a trophy to our 10K user

@patrickambronpambron@brandyourself.com

By Patrick AmbronCEO & Co-Founder, BrandYourself