Rob Walling: The Stairstep, No-Bull Approach to Bootstrapping

I've just launched a new YouTube channel!! The concept? I take real businesses struggling to stand the f*ck out, provide my positioning/branding/lead gen help, and record it all for YouTube. The first mini-series features three freelance marketers (copywriter Rob, ecommerce designer Laura, and non-fiction book coach Vicky).I hope you'll set aside half an hour to watch it through. Maybe with your morning coffee? Or lunch break? Or evening onion soup? And then, the usual "Subscribe, Like, Share" would go a long, long way too.https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCdNXaHHVnVntg5gpveB-5_Q***For start-up marketing, how do you get something off the ground without outside funding? What’s required to launch a product?Marketers and developers will learn a lot today!In this episode, I’m talking to Rob Walling, a Web developer, podcaster, entrepreneur, and conference co-host about stairstepping your way up when it comes to bootstrapping.Topics covered:How to launch a new software business without a lot of time or moneyStairstep Approach: Build something small, a one-time sale product; find source of traffic or nicheHow to come up with useful product ideas for angles; use tools that show places that generate trafficMake money online by knowing SEO practicesOptimize for an engine to provide a valuable resource for people searching for a specific termBy using marketing to get to the top or to get in front of people, only to let them down - then you will not have longevityUtilize communities and marketplaces, online or elsewhere, that already exist and people are usingGain confidence, experience, and knowledge to improve and make moneyProcess of building a simple plug-in: Research; come up with an idea; know where to go; teach yourself or outsource work; submit; and determine level of interestAcquire something rather than building it from scratch; leverage other people’s workStart something guaranteed to get traction by using an idea done before, several timesDetermine if a certain number of people are looking for the same thingCan you charge for it? Can you add something to charge for? Can you build something people are willing to pay for? Are you interested in building something?Rob’s Goal: Provide value to people in exchange for money; take that money to quit day jobIdentify that there are volumes of searches to sustain your objectiveFocus on a landscape with a lot of products that are not good enough; competition validates the marketGo for the goal to rank #1; that’s the challengeNiche-down results in smaller opportunities but that does not matter initiallyEarning your first dollar is a life-changing moment, but it is still good to sell stuff; as the dollars get bigger, the more interesting it isRob’s passionate about being ethical and adding value to people’s lives and making money out of itIf you make money from an add-on, then launch more add-ons for diversification; if not, start overYou have an audience, grow it slowly, offer solutions to their problems, and make a livingPractice patience and maintain a long-term mindset; marketers get overwhelmed with the amount of day-to-day information availableSet long-term goals because choices you make today, stick with youMarketers should learn to think analytically like developers; measure conversions, link dollars to spending on ads to how many people are buying, etc.Developers can learn from marketers that a product is not everything; customers and marketing are directly related to the success of a product; and talk about the benefits rather than the featuresSome marketers go for growth hacks - grow at any cost and just for the sake of itMarketers have a bad reputation because of overstepping bounds of ethicsGood marketing goes unnoticed; bad marketing is in the news a lotHave an opinion, stand for something, and be realDefine your enemy because when things get tough, fighting against it is the only thingResources mentioned:Rob Walling on TwitterStartups for the Rest of Us podcastDripMicroConfGoogle AdWordsAhrefsMarket SamuraiJungle ScoutDotNetInvoiceJustin Jackson - Marketing for DevelopersShinestyRand Fishkin - Step-by-Step Guide to Inbound MarketingCopy HackersInbound.orgUltimate Sales [email protected]***→ Buy my book: book.stfo.io→ Watch my YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCdNXaHHVnVntg5gpveB-5_Q→ Take my 60-second quiz: stfo.io/q→ See my pretty face on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/louisgrenier/→ Leave a review on Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/3p4wL4r→ Leave a review on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/7iEF1qovZZiaP1iRtxGARo🐔

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