Grab a cup of coffee, this is going to be long.

Let me get a couple of things out of the way first. Your startup is not your website. The website is the store front. What you are asking about is not promoting the startup but about how to design a good marketing plan. A marketing plan is a combination of marketing tools/resources combined and used to achieve one goal: profitable sales.

Ok, now let's talk about the two different ways you can approach this problem. In marketing there are two main audiences: general and direct. The genereal audience is anyone and everyone that may read/listen/watch your marketing tool. The direct audience is composed of people who are the most likely to buy your product because they have bought a similar product or fit your ideal customer description (The ideal customer descirption is basically you saying that people who bought X, have Y, carry a given credit card, live in Z are most likely to buy my product).

Ok, which do you use? In my experience, marketing to a general audience is a waste of resources, because it just eas away too much time and money. It is also harder to measure and keep track of. The direct approach has always proven itself to be, well, direct. It is completely measurable, and depending on the marketing tool being used, can be modified on the fly to see if something works better. Direct marketing is about talking directly to the customer. The best definition I can come up with is that it is as if you were sending a professional sales person through your marketing tool. If your tool is a targeted email, then imagine as if you were sending a sales person through the email message and the sales person pitching the sales message to your prospect directly. This is why direct marketing is has a better profit/cost ratio. It allows you to test, test, test marketing tools directly with the customer without having to buy expensive advertising campaigns/spots.

What are some good direct marketing tools? Almost all marketing tools available out there can be used as direct marketing. TV? The late night commercials selling pots and pans are evidence that it works. Radio? Same. Print? You betcha. The question should be: what combination of marketing tools do I have to use to make up a good marketing plan? Let's answer that below.

What you want is to: first, define your ideal customer description. If you don't have a clue, then look at your competitors. Who is buying their products? Second, find how can you reach those prospects. Is it through email? Regular mail? A video brochure sent to their office on a thumb drive? A skype call? A telephone call? Third, find out how they buy. Some people (include companies) buy when presented with a lot of print materials. Others require a sales person to visit them. Other might enjoy a night out drinking. Find that out.

The point to the marketing plan is to define a general multi-step pattern that will allow you to duplicate any succesful marketing efforts without much problem. For your business it might be a direct sales letter inviting the customer to visit your website to watch a two minute video presentation. Then a scripted telephone call with the customer that will focus on answering any questions. Then if you cant close on the sale, an email highliting your offerings, and giving the person a chance to get some special order. And so on.

When you think of marketing, don't think of funnels. Think of ladders. What steps do people have to take in order to get them to where you want to.

Ok, break time. Think of puppies for ten seconds. Now back to this.

What are some good marketing tools that you can start with? Depends on your business. It really does. I can't give you any insight into this because I dont know if you sell cars, chairs, or helicopters. The product has a lot to do with how you market it. You don't market a Rolls-Royce in a shitty youtube video, just like you don't market cheap web hosting on the Wall Street Journal.
The internet does make this a bit simple. You can create a simple marketing plan to get things rolling. In general terms, an email campaign is a good start. But how do you get those email addresses?

Welcome to the second part of this post.

Have people find you. This is going to sound wrong, and against everything I've said about direct marketing. But, direct marketing is not a one way deal. Direct is about talking directly to your customer. Doesnt matter who starts the conversation, as long as it takes place. You can make people find you by creating content that they find valuable. Things like blog posts, newsletters, podcasts are great tools that allow you to start a conversation with the people that want/need your product. Just dont fall into the trap of limiting your marketing to these tools only. It is a huge mistake to do so, because it limits how much you can sell.

Create a good landing page (a squeeze page), a blog, the miriad of social accounts and what-nots, and start crunching out valuable content. Do you sell diapers? Talk about diaper rash, diaper fitting, how to dispose of diapers properly, but dont talk directly about the diapers you sell. You want to give people a taste of your knowledge, and then have them give you their email address so they can learn more. Information is priceless. People will feel indebted when you give it away for free. Remember that.

What about those bloggers, journalists, and news people? Forget about them (for now). Not worth your time. Focus on getting the customers directly. Fact: if you sell enough of your product, the bloggers/journalists will come knocking on your door.

Now, some random thoughts, because it is 10:10 PM and I have to go to sleep.

-- Talk to everyone you know about your product. Just do it casually.

-- Do not be afraid of selling. If you can't pick up the phone and call a customer, then work on that first. In fact, email me and I'll call you! Email in my profile.

-- Realize that marketing is a full-time job. In fact, it is the most important job in your startup/business. Become fairly good at marketing and your business will grow.

-- Your startup is a business. The word startup is wrong. Think of it as a small business. Just because you dont have a bick and mortar store front doesnt change the fact that it is a business. A business lives or dies on marketing.

-- Your startup is not about the software. Whatever you sell is your product. Dont obsses about: programming language (pick whatever makes it easier to prototype), framework (ditto), design too much (make it pretty but dont go broke on designers), the website, the name, the address, the office chair or desk (the $22 desk was interesting, but unless you sell desks it wont help you much). Focus on selling the product. Not on the produc itself.

-- Email people in the industry (the industry you are selling to). Do you know how much valuable contacts I've made by just sending an email with the words: Hi, I really like what you are doing with X. Wish you great luck with it. Tace care, orangethirty.
Do you what happens next? They either ignore me (which saves me the hassle of dealing with assholes) or (most likely) they will answer with a thank you. Most will ask what is it that you do, and the rest is just easy. Dont be afraid to email people. You are not spamming them. You want to meet and ge to know them. Most people are worth meeting, even if through an email.

-- Print some nice business cards, but dont pay more than $50 for them. Also dont hand them out to everyone.

-- Advertise your email address, and please dont put a contact or sales @yourstartup.com. Use your name or a fictional name. Makes people less resistant to contacting you.

-- Read some marketing books.

-- Hire a good copywriter. If you need help with this, email me. I can help you with making the choice. The words used to sell your product must be carefully engineered. Just like you dont write variable names like this amount_ofProduct_leftOn_inventoryPer_disctrict, you jus dont write sales copy without a basic guideline.

-- Realize that marketing != lots of money. It does require a lot of thought and detail.

-- Realize that everything Ive said may not work for you. Huh? Maybe you can sell your product with a SEO campaign and a landing page. But that would still constitute a marketing plan. So think about that for a second.

- Be open to new ideas. You know who is rich? The guys that decided to sell advertisements through internet searching (yeah, google). Test all ideas, and be open to re-testing them in the future. Dont label anything permanently.

-- Reach out and help people. Good sales can come from helping local organizations with their needs.

-- Above all, dont ever, ever think that marketing doesnt work. It does work. You just have to become good at it.

-- All free advice is cheap advice. And cheap advice dont work. Hit some books, contact some professionals, and get working.

Ok, so now I have to go. Sorry for the huge post, and I deeply apologize for the mess of a post Ive made. Im tired and need to sleep.

If you need any help, just shoot me an email.

PS. I dont want to sell you anything. Hell, I dont have anything to sell. This post is not some thin-velied attempt at getting some gigs.