All of marketing should be about results! When you are a startup this is even more important, because you have no money to waste on "brand"... you certainly don't have the time to waste. Harlan T. Beverly, 3-time Start-up Founder & CEO, will present a 7-Step process to create an effective Results-based "marketing engine" that will drive results for your startup. Harlan will give specific examples from marketing campaigns he has created from: Bigfoot Networks, Harlan's video game hardware company, Night Owl Games, where Harlan developed marketing that attracted more than 1,000,000 players, INGZ games, where Harlan created marketing campaigns to drive users to install mobile games, and Key Ingredient, where Harlan is currently CEO and drives 3,000,000+ visitors/month to http://www.keyingredient.com

1. By Harlan Tytus Beverly
harlan@fastai.com
http://tytusblog.blogspot.com
10/24/2014

2. Quick About:
Harlan Beverly
Harlan Titus Beverly
• PhD from OSU (est. 2015)
• MBA from UT 2004
• BSEE from ONU 1999
• Programmer (Networking)
• Chip Designer/Architect
• Family:Super-Wife,
2xkids, 3xdogs, 5xhorses
•Currently: President & CEO of Key
Ingredient, Inc. (Social Food Website)
•Founder/CEO Karmaback, Inc. (social
Network Marketing) Acquired Jan 2013.
•Founder/CEO Bigfoot Networks &
Designer Killer NIC* Raised over
$20MM in VC funding. Acquired in 2011
• 15 Issued Patents, across
Networking, Security, and Game Tech.
• Designed “World's first” 10-Gig
Ethernet Adapter at Intel.
* CPU Mag Product of the year 2009

3.  If you Build it, They Will Come …
 Definition of Insanity?

4.  Decide, BEFORE you begin, that Marketing your
game/product/service is going to be necessary.
 Then BUILD IN the Marketing into the Product
 Viral Invites
 Social Sharing
 Referral Rewards
 The Purple Cow
 Or at least consider that you will have to attract people
to your product somehow… and setup your business
model and funding/etc. to account for that.
 Ads / PR / Resellers / Partners / etc.

5. Does everybody love SPAM? Does anybody? (Germany)

6.  No Product can be perfect for “everyone”….
 Not everyone likes turn-based strategy games.
 Not everyone games.
 Not everyone has a PC / Console / Phone.
 Not everyone speaks the same language.
 Not everyone can see or hear…
 Proactively decide, “I’m going to please THIS
Customer… knowing full well it won’t please everyone.”
 Demographics: Age, Sex, Income, Location, Language
 Psychographics: Game-preference, Violence-preference,
Past-preferences, Music-tastes, Political-persuasion

7. Marketing before Analytics.

8.  How do you know what’s important?
 If it’s necessary for initial Launch, it’s important.
 If it’s part of your initial launch marketing plan, it’s
important.
 Otherwise, you MUST measure what you do to know if it’s
important or not.
 Analytics are Important. Google Analytics (for
web/apps/phone) should be #1 on your marketing list.
 Measure every click/touch if you can. EVERY CLICK/TOUCH
is an EVENT that can be measured.
 Now, with Analytics, you can know what is important.
 SIMPLE: If it’s in the path of you making more money/getting
more sales/signups/trials… it’s important… otherwise, it’s not.

9. What was the price of this car when new?
How much would you pay to NOT drive this car?

10.  Pricing is important.
 Must offer a price that leaves ‘some value’ for the user… (can’t
charge MORE than $100 for a $100 bill… without that $100 bill
being special in some way… that’s value).
 Capture as much value in your price as the market will bear…
(early customers are happy to pay more to get it sooner).
 Most Startups Underprice… because they do it wrong.. Here are
the best-to-worst pricing methods:
1. Best Pricing Method: Capture Value. ($104?).. Must calculate
value somehow.
2. Competitive Pricing: Price based on competition’s price or price
standard. ($59.99 anyone?)
3. Cost+ Pricing: Fully-loaded costs + some margin
4. WORST: Variable Cost+ Pricing: Marginal Unit Cost + some
margin

12.  2 kinds of Customer Needs….
 Their personal/business needs (what they are seeking).
 Their needs once you’ve attracted their attention.
 You should already know their personal needs… (see
Step 2: Begin with the Customer).
 Now that you’ve attracted their attention… you must:
1. First, Tell them what you have… briefly. 1 Sentence.
2. Second, Tell them the BENEFITS of what you have.
(Bullets)
1. BENEFITS always start with “More XXX” or “Less XXX”
3. Third, Tell them how you are DIFFERENT.
4. Finally, Tell them the price & how to buy.

13. What the hell is this commercial about?

14.  Everything within Marketing works together to create the
experience.
 The PR matches the Reality (Hype=Real)
 The Advertising matches the Offer (Connected Landing
Pages)
 The Product delivers the promised Value. (Quality)
 If done well; customers want to return, re-purchase, refer,
and recommend.
 Message crafting involves starting with the needs of the
customer and creating a consistent experience of both
brand and voice.
 4Ps Product, Place, Price, Promotion
 5Cs Customer, Context, Collaborators, Competitors,
Company

15. New Coke may NOT have worked, but they didn’t wait long to fix it.

16.  Sharpen Customer Acquisition
 Weed out failed methods, try new ideas and weed quickly.
 Sharpen Customer Retention
 Survey to find out what customers love and hate.
 Figure out why customers leave/quite/don’t return.
 Make the product/market/synergized offering better.
 Sharpen Value
 Add Smart Value to the product (through expansion/new
versions/etc).
 Change with the times.
 Sharpen Yourself ~~~ Hopefully you’ve done some of this
today.

17.  Step 1: Be Proactive About Marketing
 Step 2: Begin with the Customer in Mind
 Step 3: Do Important Marketing First
 Step 4: Offer Win-Win Value
 Step 5: Understand Customer ‘s Needs
 Step 6: Synergize The Message
 Step 7: Sharpen the Marketing Saw
Bonus Question: What popular business book
was this presentation patterned after?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Seven_Habits_of_Highly_Effective_People

18.  Harlan Beverly
 harlan@fastai.com
 http://fastai.com (my blog)

19.  First, start with really understanding the basics of
Marketing. (from Harlan’s blog):
tytusblog.blogspot.com
4 Ps. 5 Cs.
Product
Price
Place
Promotion
Customer
Company,
Competition
Collaboration
Context
customer_action = customer_need * demand(product(5cs),
place(5cs), price(5cs), promotion(5cs));

20.  Positioning is VERY IMPORTANT
 You cannot be everything for everybody….
 You must be SOME thing for SOME body.
 THE STATEMENT… DO THIS NOW!
 _____ is a ______ that does ______ for _________.
 (product) (category) (core benefit) (target customer)
 Unlike other _____ products, _____ does _____ .
 (category) (product) (unique benefit)

21.  A lot of marketing that seems important isn’t.
 Your Logo can be basic.
 Your Website can be simple.
 Your Design/style can be plain.
 (as long as it matches your target-customers preferences).
 Examples: Lawyers have certain expectations about websites… different
than stay-at-home moms, or single men. Your simple design needs to
appeal to them.
 A Social page does not have to be fancy/have a lot of followers.
 So don’t waste too much time/resources on this.
 Focus on conveying the CORE value of your products & getting the core
& unique BENEFITS across.
 Focus on trust-building and GETTING SALES>
 DO NOT FOCUS ON FEATURES!!!! (Benefits are more important).
 Good: “Our product can reduce your Lag in games by 15%”.
 Bad: “We have Ping-Reduction Tech with 1GBPs connectivity.”

22.  In an early-stage startup.. BRAND is not the goal.
 Your goal is to enable early sales to happen.
 FOCUS on helping the sales-team get “QUALIFIED”
leads.. (see next 2 slides).
 THEN, build your brand on your early successes.
 The key is to help the sales team execute their sales-model
and prove it to investors.

23.  Since a “human being” is involved in direct sales…
marketing can best help by:
 Getting qualified leads for the humans.
 How?
 Targeted Advertising -> email/phone acquisition -> list.
 SEO -> email/phone acquisition -> list.
 (if possible capture some qualifying data for the human
sales-team).
 *Harlan’s example:
 NEVER LOSE SIGHT:
 Investors/your company needs to be “somewhat scalable”…
so the marketing you do, needs to be scalable too.

24.  Lots of Web Traffic is NOT the goal… the goal is to get “Qualified” web traffic:
 Visitors that have the problem you solve
 Visitors that are in a “buying mood”
 Visitors that are “ready to click” BUY NOW
 How?
 Targeted Advertising (google/facebook)… targeting people who are your Target Market
who are:
 Searching for what you solve.
 Like competing products.
 Fit a customer profile.
 Landing Page:
 Focus on building great landing pages for each product.
 A/B test them if you can… so you will always get the best results.
 A/B test ads too… A/B test everything if you can.
 Analytics.
 Did I mention A/B testing… you MUST know how your site performs to know what is
broken.
 Enable Google Analytics, and use any tools you can to measure “sales conversions”
 See “the funnel” (next slide)

25.  Direct or Indirect sales, you will always have customers at
various stages. MEASURE AND TRACK stages of prospects
 Try to keep in mind that customers have a “buying process”
of their own... Learn it! Ex: who has to approve?

26.  Do price based on the VALUE you deliver.
 Do not price based on your costs for the solution.
 Do price high if you can. (higher than you think).
 Do look at competitors price, and figure out your position.
 Realize, if you don’t offer the full solution, you can charge the full
price.
 Do not discount, unless it has a set limit (expiration)
 Do use coupons/discounts for ‘helping to close’, but always with
an expiration.
 Do give volume discounts.
 Do not drop price. Ever.
 Do try to differentiate customers & price descriminate…
(although if you are targeted enough you won’t have to).

27.  Co-founders & Employees
 Investors
 Suppliers
 Partners
 Potential Customers
 “When I was CEO, my main job was selling. I was
constantly selling to someone.” - Harlan

28.  No!
 If your selling feels slimy, you are either:
 NOT CONFIDENT ENOUGH ABOUT THE “VALUE” your
product delivers..
 Or
 Your PRODUCT is not as good as you are saying.
 Avoid Slimy selling at all costs. Be honest. Provide Value.
 If you can’t solve customers problem and provide value… don’t
sell it to them! Find the RIGHT customers!

29.  Investors want to know… what is YOUR sales model.
 WE don’t want to know… it’s A today, and B tomorrow.
 (prove B now!) even on a small scale.
 Get 1 or 2 customers with B and tell me how you will scale it.
 We care about sales ONLY to strangers. (non-friends/family)
 SOME MODELS:
 Direct Sales
 Inside Sales
 You will have a sales-team that calls people/meet virtually. (e.g. they don’t leave their
office)
 Outside Sales
 Your sales-people are Face-to-Face but outside their place of business, such as Door-to-
door, trade shows, etc.
 SOURCE: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sales#Inside_sales_vs._Outside_sales
 Indirect Sales
 You will not have a sales-team… but will close deals by:
 Internet website
 Mail order
 Phone in-order, etc.

30. 1. Get some leads. (see Marketing section; part 2)
2. Qualify some leads – call them/email them/meet them, find out if
they HAVE the problem you solve, and ARE in the market or
WOULD be.
3. Each Call/Email/etc. should be about “LEARNING” about your
prospect and his needs… ASK QUESTIONS! (book: SPIN selling:
summary)
 Situation ( questions )
 Problem ( questions )
 Implication ( questions )
 Need-payoff ( questions )
4. Each Call/Email is a “level-up” and you should always close the call
with “next step”… e.g. follow-up call… next meeting.. Etc.
5. Let the customer decide to close! “do not pressure”…
1. Good: “As always, if you are interested to order feel free to call or
email.”
2. Bad: “Are you ready to place your order now?”

31.  You must make it REALLY easy to “say yes or no.”
 Clean, simple offering… with 1 Call-to-action: Buy Now
 You must give confidence to the buyer that you will deliver..
And you will not fraud them.
 Paypal, Visa logos, SSL sites, etc.
 FEWEST CLICKS POSSIBLE
 BUILD an amazing Landing Page
 (see: The Conversion Scientist)
 Use Internet Marketing to “pre-qualify” web traffic. (see
part 2)

32.  Sell the VISION!
 A great opener tells a story about a CORE PROBLEM.
 If your business idea does not “solve a problem” for “a
customer”.. Go back to the drawing board.
 Show the Business Model. (how you make money)
 Show how it will ‘scale’ and get big.
 Show some financials… yes even to employees… let
them know your GOAL is to get X..
 Be Honest and Passionate above all else.
 Always wear your Positivity Goggles.

33.  SPIN Selling is a book by Neil Rackham, and is a technique
that is proven to work in direct sales:
 The key is to ask questions… truly trying to learn about the
prospects business, qualify them, and be able to connect
YOUR product/service as a solution to THEIR problems.
(at the end!)
 S=Situation Questions,
 P=Problem Questions,
 I=Implication Questions,
 N=Need-Payoff Questions
 Read more & see example questions on my blog:
http://tytusblog.blogspot.com/2013/10/spin-selling-for-engineers-
how-to-teach.html