In the past 7 days Mashable has posted over 10 How to be a startup success tips. Its part of their Digital Entrepreneur Series that started later this year. I guess they decided to put it on overdrive this week.
Just in case you might of missed them here is a quick rundown:
When I look at both of these lists two things jump out at me; being focused and having the right team. I guess those two things really do set you pace to be a successful startup.
This fact make me excited for whats coming out of Pittsburgh. Most of the up-and-coming startupers I meet in Pittsburgh have these qualities. When I ask them what there doing they have clear idea and mission of what the want to accomplish. They also have about 1-3 more people, usually working away, right behind them.
Pretty soon the word Startup and Pittsburgh are going to be like bacon and eggs. Seeing one without the other is going to look strange and unsatisfying.
Read Write Web recently posted a great article called “Going Alone: Thoughts on the Single-Person Startup”. It talked how founding a business alone can be more risky and difficult then founding one with a co-founder.
Even with what looks like hard road to travel alone not having a co-founder is not an excuse. The article stresses that point and the fact that there are other factors that dictate a startups success and failure.
One look at the business cards of DeviceKnit co-founders John Ganotis and Jordan Messina will tell you these guys aren’t your typical entrepreneurs. Listed as the chief espresso officer and chief tea officer, the recent AlphaLab grads have a knack for setting themselves apart (and employing humor while they’re at it).
DeviceKnit began as a web application for Ganotis and Messina to keep track of their gadgets and share ideas of how to use them with friends. Both were often asked to help setup electronics for other people and like finding new uses for devices they already own.
“I was always tinkering,” Ganotis said.
The best use Ganotis found was using the Wii remote, which he describes in a video on DeviceKnit.
Messina said he is looking forward to using GoogleTV with the iPhone.
Working from their interest in devices, Ganotis and Messina thought to expand the network by including more users and to make a profit through pay-per-click and affiliate sales. They decided to apply for the Spring 2010 AlphaLab session after Messina heard Resumator founder Don Charlton on the podcast This Week in Startups. Charlton had mentioned AlphaLab during the talk.
“I looked up Don after I heard it and emailed him last June,” Messina said.
Now that the program is over, DeviceKnit has moved in to office space with fellow AlphaLabers CloudFab in the Hill District. The building is owned by Dale McNutt, who is calling the location “Startup Town” and offering graduated pricing for new companies. Ganotis and Messina agreed that the community of local business owners in Pittsburgh offers a lot of different groups to get involved with and provides opportunity and guidance.
“Everyone is pulling for each other and giving a helping hand,” Ganotis said.
When it comes to funding, Ganotis and Messina are hopeful about their prospects and can self-sustain from profit in the meantime. Receiving support will enable the two to grow the community for DeviceKnit at a quicker pace by allowing them to move forward with development and gain users.
Ganotis and Messina are working on development along with the help of an intern from Duquesne University. The private beta for users who sign up is expected by the end of June, with a public beta to follow.
Not to be forgotten are the efforts of “Pluggy,” the logo for DeviceKnit, which can be found on Twitter. Pluggy was described as a “plug with an attitude” and picked from several designs submitted to 99designs.com, the site Ganotis and Messiner used to solicit ideas for the logo. Plans for Pluggy include t-shirts and stickers. The stickers, as Ganotis said, may find their way onto devices in different stores (some with angry faces to show Pluggy’s disgruntled opinion).
Eventually, Ganotis and Messina hope to expand DeviceKnit to include person-to-person sales, similar to how craigslist operates. No matter how the business expands, the initial idea for DeviceKnit remains the motivation behind the company.
“DeviceKnit is about sharing ideas and getting inspired by what others are doing,” Ganotis said. “Too many people are trying to reinvent the wheel when they should be figuring out how it works.”
Last week, I told you how you can create a blog-like effect with your Press Releases by adding an RSS feed. This week I am going to show you how a blog can help you fill the gaps between big announcements for additional press.
Before you start scrambling around to set up your new blog ask yourself these three questions:
Do you have something new to say weekly or daily? One of the worst things you can do is setup a blog and then fail to update it. Having a poorly maintained blog can make your company look dead.
Are your customers looking for an online connection? If you have no one to talk to then you shouldn’t start a blog. If you build it, they will not always come. If your company is retail or service based, it’s almost a no-brainer to have a blog.
Do you feel comfortable giving up control? Having a blog on your site will give people a forum to talk about your company via blog comments. Yes, you can turn the comment feature off on most blogging platforms but if you do, you are missing a chance to learn from your customers.
If you answered yes to at least two of these questions, it might be a good idea to start researching ways you can set up a blog. There are a lot of people online that can help you with this, like ProBlogger. If you would like an idea on what is involved, check out this eHow article, How to Setup a Business Blog.
A blog can be a great tool to communicate to your customers. But, if you don’t know what to say you could end up with a blog that lacks updates. Here is a short list of topic ideas:
Product Research: Write a post about a new direction your taking with a product, and see what your customers have to say about it. You don’t have to give away your secrets, but try to find a clever way to let them think they are in on the “secret”. It builds loyalty.
Office Life: The great thing about a blog is that it can add the “personal touch” to your company. Write about the new dog someone got in the office or the April Fool’s joke you played on each other. These kinds of post can do wonders for building a personality around your products and brand, but it’s not for everyone. A trendy company like Mod Cloth can get away with posts like this, but a life science company might want to stay away.
Little Things: Let’s say all you did was change the color of your product. It’s not something you would rush out and write a press release about, but it’s definitely something you should blog about.
Industry News: If there is a new development that has something to do with your industry or products, write about it. Chances are your customers will find value in the information.
Jobs: If you or one of your vendors has a job opening, write a post about it. I have seen a few companies do this, but I do not know the outcome.
On a blog you can post anything you feel comfortable posting. Before you get started, remember to set some boundaries. If you think your brand would not get any benefit out of talking about office life, then don’t post about it. Write posts that compliment the brand your company already markets.
Next week I will share with you ways you can have your customers do marketing for you with Social Media. This can also be helpful for companies that do not have a need for a blog, but have customers looking for an online connection.
Last week in my post “Pittsburgh Startups are Silent on the Internet”, I told you I was going to go over three tips to help you have a voice online. This week I am going to cover Press Releases / RSS. This will help you take the PR you are already doing and make it more accessible to new media types.
Before I dive in to this, I want to make sure you have an understanding of what RSS (Really Simple Syndication) is and how it can help you. To do that, I found a great little video on YouTube that explains this very well.
After watching the video I think you get the idea why RSS is so important, it’s distribution. Using RSS for your Press Releases will make it easier for your customers and the media in your niche find your news.
The PR Company you hired to write the Press Release most likely sent it out on a news wire service, but that’s not good enough. If you’re a new company, chances are your Press Release will not be picked out from the large pool of news found on those services. Having your own RSS feed puts your news in the hands of the people that want to cover it.
Here are some ways to create a Press Release feed:
Easy Way – If you use a content management system (CMS) chances are you already have the ability to publish a RSS feed. Check with your webmaster or read documentation to find out. Also, if you use a PR service they could help you with setting up a feed.
Not So Easy Way – You can also you a program like Feed 4 All to manually create a RSS feed. It’s time consuming to set it up the first time, but once it’s done, all you have to do is keep it updated.
Hard Way – If you are comfortable with HTML you can use a RSS example and plug in your information. I would not recommend using this method.
If you have any questions or feedback about this topic please share them via comments below. Also, if you have any other ideas on how companies can easily start using RSS let us know.
Next week I will cover Business Blogging and answer the question, “To blog or not to blog”?
In the past 7 days Mashable has posted over 10 How to be a startup success tips. Its part of their Digital Entrepreneur Series that started later this year. I guess they decided to put it on overdrive this week.
Read Write Web recently posted a great article called “Going Alone: Thoughts on the Single-Person Startup”. It talked how founding a business alone can be more risky and difficult then founding one with a co-founder.
