4 Months since TechCrunch

Trying to build momentum for Kangalope is a challenge. I received some initial buzz in September from my demo at TechCrunch08. Since then, EVERYONE has their hand out asking for $$$ to "help". I get offers for so any things - development, social marketing and usually someone offering SEO. I have an issue with SEO because it invariably means adding click advertising. Too many people fall prey to an SEO practitioners charms without understanding the implications. If it sounds too good to be true then it usually is. You MUST resist the temptation to say yes. Why? Can you answer the following Question?

1. Do you have analytics in place?
2. What is your conversion rate?
3. What is your conversion funnel abandonment rate?
4. What is your customer acquisition cost?
5. What is the nature and magnitude of your customer demand?
6. Have you optimized your landing pages?
7. Have you optimized your conversion funnels?

If you answer NO to any of these questions then STOP. DO NOT PASS GO!
If you begin an SEO program before you have addressed the above items then you are doomed to fail and will be pouring money down the drain. Think of your site as a strainer - some visitors will stay and some will go down the drain - it's up to you how many stay. Here is why -
1. You need analytics to measure success. I have meet a few companies that had sales in the billions that did not use analytics and didn't understand the need for them
2. You need to know your starting conversion rates. Look at industry averages. If your lower then fix your site. If the numbers change at some point can react.
3. You need to know where visitors are dropping off in your funnels so you can react any changes
4. You need to know how much it costs to get a new customer so your not spending more than you make.
5. You need to know where customers are coming from and why so you can react to any changes
6 & 7 You need to make your landing pages work for your existing customers so you can spend less to get new ones - same thing for the funnel.

This is why so many people are jumping on the social media band wagon. No matter how bad a site may be a customer is more likely to use it if a friend recommends it as opposed to some ad they may see.

Use social media - it's more relevant to your customers.

Side track - there are 2 launching platforms in the US - Demo & TechCrunch. Demo wants 18K for 15min of fame. They review all submissions and choose which get to pay to play. I will not be going to Demo this March. TechCrunch reviews all submissions too but the top 50 get a free ride and 15 min on stage. The rest are offered the Demo pit. If you are interested a DemoPit a spot goes for 2K. Word has it 1,038 companies applied to TechCrunch08 but only 150 were chosen to attend. I wonder how many of the 888 that were not there chose not to buy the Demo pit table vs. they were flat out rejected? Inquiring minds may never know...

I thought it was worth it. We got a mention on CNET. Dumb luck sat me next to Brad Stone of the New York Times. We met some cool people and companies, a VC or 2 chatted me up and I walked away with great hope and a growing membership to Kangalope.

Fast forward to 4 months. Where are we now? The credit crisis is hurting us all. The buzz is gone and membership growth is flat. The next release is pushed back to Feb/March. I'm taking this opportunity to dive deeper into social media to learn how I can apply/integrate it into Kangalope to rebuild the growth. Only time will tell how it works out.

I am learning a lot from people like Peter Shankman - founder of Help a Reporter Out and social media speaker. You can find him: Twitter.com/skydiver & www.helpareporter.com & www.shankman.com. And Gary Vaynerchuk - founder of Wine Library and social media guy. You can find him at tv.winelibrary.com & garyvaynerchuk.com.

I'm building my social connections and interlinking all my accounts in an effort to raise my social bubble. You can also find me at:
Twitter.com/kangalope
Kangalope.com
Facebook.com
LinkedIn.com

Please feel free to provide comments, suggestions and criticism. All are appreciated.