- Embarrassing Mistakes I've Made In Launches - Things I've Learned - Detailed Launch Plan for SpyFu SEO RECON Files (Agency Ready White Label SEO Reporting). See the presentation here: http://vimeo.com/14965166

1. How I Do Launches:
(Painful) Lessons Learned Bringing
My Own Products to Market
Mike Roberts
President, SpyFu, Inc.
@mrspy

2. What I’m Gonna Cover
• Embarrassing Mistakes I’ve Made.
• Cool Stuff I’ve Learned Lately
• Detailed Launch Plan for RECON Files

3. Spring, 2002 : Skills Assessment
• 6 months into dev of first
product
• Average developer
• Above average at interviewing
(for a geek)
• ZERO marketing experience

4. Why Does This Matter?
• Reasonably smart at times.
• Totally stupid at times.
• (Still am.)
• 2002: Pre-a-lot-of-things.

5. Spring 2002: My Finances
• No savings.

6. This Can’t Possibly Matter.
• Spending $100 means
it *better* f’ing work.
– Or else I gotta get a job.

7. On Track: My Very First Launch
• 14 months of work (nights and weekends)
• Put up a website.
• Posted the product to Download.com.
• …
• Waited for the sales to roll in.

8. Lesson 1: Kevin Costner is a Lying Douchebag

9. How’d That Work Out?
• 5 sales of $849 in 6 months.
• Had to get a job – actually a
couple – ugh.

10. Lesson 2: Never Do Your Own Creatives

11. Local Designer: ~$1000

12. Excuse: I can’t afford a designer

13. Excuse: I don’t suck like you, Mike.
• Shut up.
• Design is one of the cheapest skills you
have to replace.
– you have a product to launch.
• Spend your time on:
– User experience (UX) design, development,
conversion tactics, strategic marketing…

14. Resources:
• Vworker.com (aka Rentacoder) – cheap.
• Guru.com – good.
• Elance, oDesk – heard good things.

15. Lesson 3: Don’t Name Your Product Something
That Sounds Like a Venereal Disease
Providus

16. Lesson 3 Restated: Choose a Name That…
• Is as descriptive as possible.
– Gets a lot of searches
• Providus vs. Web Scraper Plus

17. You Don’t Necessarily Need the
Domain Name.

18. “Cool” Names are Overrated
• Unless you can afford to build a brand
– Then, cool = more memorable
• Suggestion: CoolCompanyName.com +
Descriptive Product Name

19. Descriptive Name = Good SEO
• Also, good communication
• Elevator Pitch  Bullet Point  Product
Name

20. I try to follow this advice:

21. How’d All That Work Out?
• 3 Employees.
• Solutions business = Product + Consulting
• No need for me to work “in” the business.

22. GoogSpy  SpyFu
• Learning Adwords
• GoogSpy.com

23. Lesson 4: It Really Helps a Launch
if You Tell Someone About It
• This is embarrassing…
• It’s not complicated.

24. Lesson 4 Restated: People Want to Hear
About Your New Thing
• Bloggers need something to write about.
• Everybody wants to be first.
• People actually care.

25. Big Follows Small
• Tweet  Blog  Trade Pub  WSJ

26. 15 Months Later…

27. Late 2006: My Biggest Launch Ever (until now):
• 3-month Free Beta Period
• Tell a few bloggers a couple days in advance
• Issue a press release the day of the launch
(PRNewswire)
• Send out an email on the day of the launch
• Onsite promotion (subscribe now button)
• Went to happy hour…

28. My Hype Cycle: Equivalent of Cult
Movie DVD Sales

29. *Real* Launches Last Weeks,
Months, or Years

30. Why did we succeed?
• Partially free.
• Latent need.
• Innovative.

31. Lesson 5: Make Something that is Free
• Nobody writes / speaks
about paid stuff.

32. Why did we succeed?
• Partially free.
• Latent need.
• Innovative.

33. Non-Lesson: My One Saving
Grace as a Human…
• Finding the Latent Need

34. Easier Ways to Make Money
• Extreeemely Risky
• Very Hard to Predict

35. My Advice:
if (competitors = 0) then
RUN AWAY!!!

36. My Actions:
…Like Kevin Garnett, Anything
is Possible…

37. Record:

38. If You Get Off on This Sort of Thing…
• Trust your instinct
• Choose projects that:
– You can test quickly
– Scale well

39. Why did we succeed?
• Partially free.
• Latent need.
• Innovative.

40. Innovative
• Hire and Grow Brilliant People.
• Tolerate Failure.

41. Latent + Innovative + Free =
Blogger Love
• Blogger Love = Pretty Good
SEO = Strong Brand

42. Blogger Love = SpyFu Success

43. Today…

44. Student of the Launch

45. Good vs. Bad Launches
Good Bad
• Apple • Google
• Movies (Blair Witch) • Banks
• Star Craft 2 • Microsoft
• Clickbank IM
Launches
• Politicians (AZIMA
9/14)

46. Internet Launch in Action

47. Back to the Hype Cycle

48. Tease
Core Audience Tools
• Existing Customers • Teasers
• Twitter, LinkedIn, • Sneak Peaks
Facebook Followers • “Leaks”
• Tradeshow Visitors • Secret Demos

49. Pre-Launch
Visitors Tools
• Launch Story
• Everybody in our
email list • Free Stuff
• Demo Videos
• All website visitors
• Marketing Copy
• Personal Twitter
• Feature Emails and
Accounts
Autoresponders
• Webinars

50. Pre-Launch: Telling the Story

51. Identify (I’m a lot like you)
• Persona.
• Identity implied – be
real.
• JIF
• Old Spice

52. Common Frustrations
• Clients can’t understand value proposition
of SEO.
• Very high “baseline” and research cost
when onboarding a client.
• Month-end reports are tedious and time
consuming.

53. Pre-Launch: Telling the Story

54. What If?
• Make it as easy for clients to understand
SEO as it is PPC?
• Eliminate baselining?
• Automatically create month-end reports
that make clients want to buy more
services?

55. Pre-Launch: Telling the Story

56. How I Found the Solution
• Top 50 organic positions, 20M keywords, 3
years.
• No more page load times.
• Answer real questions.
• Sizzle sells.

57. And now it’s ready to share…

58. Well, not really.
To be continued…

59. Our Launch Plan: Tease

60. Our Launch Plan: Pre-Launch

61. On to the Launch…

62. We’d Love Your Feedback...
mike@spyfu.com
@mrspy, @spyfu
youtube.com/spyfuteam
spyfu.com/recon

63. Thank You
mike@spyfu.com
@mrspy
spyfu.com/facebook

64. Launch
Targeted Universe Tools
• Other Peoples’ Email • Banner Ads
Lists
• Text Ads
• Industry Website
• Emails
Visitors
• Interviews
• Demographically
Targeted Web Users

65. Retention
Customers Tools
• People who bought • Instructional Content
• People in the (Videos and Articles)
conversion funnel • Auto-Responders
• Webinars
• Support