Meetup.com – an interesting freemium model.

04Jul10

CC: kalandrakas

Meetup.com over the years became THE place for people to organise all sorts of group activities around a particular topic. Starting from programming language groups through stay-at-home-mums to nudist men – everyone now wants to connect with likeminded individuals and they use Meetup.com for this. It serves a very simple purpose of creating an event calendar, managing the member list and RSVPs and notifying members about new meetings or changes in the current ones. We now have more features like picture galleries or voting for meetup ideas as well as message boards and advanced user profiles. But the basic purpose is: get people organised for a particular date.

Now, the business model. Every meetup organiser pays a monthly subscription, starting at 12USD. There is no free plan, but you get your first 30days free, so you can check how it works for you before being charged. Where is the ‘free’mium then? Well, group members don’t pay anything. A whole 4 mln of them. Now, as you notice, it’s not a typical freemium model. Normally you’d provide the basic service for free and charge for advanced features. Well, meetup works just the same, it’s just harder to notice. When you’re attending meetups – it’s free. If you want to go into ‘advanced mode’ – which here is organising meetups – you start paying.

There are a lot of businesses that have two groups of ‘customers’ – like for AdTaily, we have publishers and advertisers – both of which are important for us. Sometimes we manage to convert a publisher into an advertiser, but this is not our focus. For Meetup.com, I guess that’s their primary ‘lead generation’ system for getting new organisers – getting more group members. And this is why I think Meetup.com has an interesting freemium model.


Filed under: Uncategorized   |  Leave a Comment

Who is in your network of contacts?

28Apr10
Who is in your network?

CC Marco Bellucci

Individual relationships are an incredibly valuable asset in all stages of business development. Having said that, I also have to state that quantity doesn’t equal value in that case. But I want to make a different point now – did you check how is your network distributed, regardless of it’s size and ‘objective’ quality? Who do you actually know?

You may know influential people in the finance/banking industry, because of your job history or education. But right now you’re trying to grow a business that has products for corporate IT departments. And all of your contacts are sitting in the trading rooms or marketing divisions. Passing a message through several ‘ears’ in an organisation is usually good enough to seriously distort it, or completely loose it – before it reaches someone you should really talk to. Quite often it’s better to find another ‘lead’ into the organisation rather then try to push the message internally.

So I encourage you to do a quick check, and really evaluate your network in terms of your current goals. Be honest with yourself, don’t rate someone high just because you had (more than) a few drinks back in the days. And if you find that some important parts are missing, you can always ask your current contacts for direct introductions to highly relevant people. If not, you can go and read my post on growing your network here :)


Filed under: HowTo's   |  1 Comment
Tags: , , , ,

The value of a timely ‘F*ck Off’

26Apr10

CC by loush

There is one thing I wish western culture learned from Eastern European folks, and it’s being more straightforward. I meet new people everyday. Quite a lot of those new connections can be potentially good for my business. Most of them won’t be. I don’t mind. It’s nobody’s fault. My product might not be right for you. You might be too busy to focus on implementing it at the moment. It might not be possible for us to cooperate because of some ‘political’ issues. It’s possible that you simply don’t like me. I don’t care, as long as you tell me now.

Quite often we end up talking to that Big Important Customer for 6 months, just to hear that ‘things have changed’ or ‘we need to focus elsewhere at the moment’, while the answer was obvious from the start. This is why I value the approach that Fred Destin once described in his blog post on The one-sentence e-mail turndown – a quick no is worth a lot more than a nice half year long ‘conversation’. But it’s a two sided issue – quite often we should move on if the dynamics of the new relationship is not performing the way it should be.

So please Mrs/Mr Important Customer, the next time you get a call from someone that wants to do business with you, and you’re not interested, just say no. You don’t have to be rude. People will understand (eventually). It will save them a lot of time, in which they can do quite a lot of new business. And if you’re the guy being told ‘no’ within first week of new business relationship – just be grateful and move on.


Filed under: Attitude   |  4 Comments

One thing at a time

12Mar10

The number one on the back of a fire truck from station one in Eugene, Oregon. By drcorneilus

CC: drcorneilus

People don’t listen. In general. But you might get them to remember one thing. That’s why it’s always important to have a clear message about your product. Where it really comes into play though is in your direct communication. When you meet someone in person, you can see or confirm that they understood you correctly. When you talk to them on the phone – you can ask. With e-mail, twitter and other forms of written communication – it’s harder. I noticed that people seldom read e-mails from start to end, so this is what you can do:

  • always put important stuff in bullet points
  • if it’s more than three – you missed the point
  • ask for one thing – and only one – at the end of the message

This will give you two important results:

  1. People will actually start doing what you ask them to do
  2. You will build continuous relationship with them

Getting an email from someone with a bunch of requests quite often ends up in a ‘to-do-later’ bin. However, if you give people small actionable tasks – you will make them more eager to work with you, but also it will create an impression of your relationship moving forward and being fruitful.

So remember – one thing at a time :)


Filed under: HowTo's   |  3 Comments
Tags: , , ,

Networking in Bucharest

04Mar10

A short update about my trip to Digital Marketing Forum in Bucharest, where I delivered ‘The simplicity of online advertising” speech for my current employer – online advertising network AdTaily. You can find the full post I wrote about it on Daily on AdTaily – that’s where we blog about advertising and, well… blogging.

Below is a short video we shot with Digital Marketing Forum organizer, Cristian Manafu:


Filed under: Uncategorized   |  Leave a Comment

Breaking the conversation

18Feb10

Photo credit: soylentgreen23

This came to me last night, at one of the events I attended in London. Quite often on a business related event you end up in a situation when you’ve spent some time talking to a person, and you know that the conversation is heading nowhere. Sometimes you know that even thought the relationship you just created is valuable, you have to catch someone else at the venue, before they leave (or you forget about them), or just meet more people, because that’s what you should do. Anyway – you want to smoothly end the conversation, without offending the other side, and jump into a new one.  Here are a couple tips on how to do it:

  • Physiological breakers: I need to get a drink (would you want one?). I need to go out for a cigarette (works great, because out there you can meet more people, and then break the conversation again because you’re heading back). I need to go to the loo (only if you’re running out of options). – downside – you have to be genuine (really get a drink, go to the loo etc. – otherwise they’re too obvious).
  • ‘Help me’ breakers. You simply ask the person, who else should you talk to at the party/venue, and even ask them for the introduction afterwards. Works best in an environment you’re new to, but the other side is familiar with.
  • Bridging. Now, this is my favourite one – taken straight from the PickUp Artist guides. Instead of breaking the conversation, you take it with you, asking the person – I need to talk to ‘X’ as well, will you join me? Sometimes that’s the point when they’ll break the conversation, by backing out, but in other cases, you get an instant opener to the next person. You simply say, hello I’d like to introduce Y to you. Oh, you don’t know me probably, I’m Z, and I’d like to talk to you because…

Well, I hope this helps. If you have other smooth ways of managing conversations, drop me a note or post a comment below.


Filed under: HowTo's   |  1 Comment
Tags:

How to grow your business network

08Dec09

Now that you already know why you need business networking for your startup it would probably be a good idea to grow your network of contacts . Here are a couple steps that will help you get there:

  1. Go out, meet people. Can’t really put it any simpler – you need to meet people face to face. It’s a web world, but people are social creatures and there is nothing more social than having a few drinks at 4am in a dodgy bar. Kidding, but seriously, check out meeting oriented sites like Meetup.com or relevant events on Facebook and LinkedIn – sign up to at least one event a week for starters, you can be more selective later.
  2. Be prepared. Get decent business cards, even if you’re just thinking about creating a startup. Make them meaningful, so people know who you’re after they get sober the following day (you can use MOO to get different graphics on each one of your cards). If you run out of cards, get a pen and paper to take notes or fire up your phone whenever someone gives you his/her details. Check the list of people attending before the event – look up those that you need to meet the most. Start the event by talking to them – they might leave early.
  3. Work the crowd. You never know how the person standing next to you might be useful. Or how you might help that person. Don’t wait, move around. Start talking to people for whatever reason – they are all there to talk to you anyway. That’s the sole purpose of those events.
  4. Get tailored information. When talking to someone don’t hesitate to steer the conversation in the direction that is important to you. For instance if you have a product for community managers ask people, how they manage communities of their companies/products. You have the right to be interested. If you’re not, you should switch the product you sell ;)
  5. Ask for leads. The person you’re talking to might not be the best contact in this company for you. But chances are (rather big) that he/she can advise you and introduce you to the right people. You’ll be surprised how eagerly people will help you. Also ask, who else should you talk to at the party, or in this person’s network.
  6. Give back. ALWAYS think of the ways you can contribute to other person’s business or situation. It might be by referring a business or service that might be beneficial or referring a contact/customer that might need the person’s services or products. Give, even if you didn’t get anything out of interaction – referring people makes your network stronger (if relationships are beneficial for both parties of course).
  7. Exchange cards/contact info. This is an important moment, because you need to be able to get back to the person. As obvious as it sounds, sometimes we don’t feel comfortable about asking for a card, especially if the other person is of a ‘higher status’ then we think we are. Be serious about it, give the card with proper emphasis and make it obvious that you expect one in return. If the other person is hesitant, ask for the card – usually after people have a couple drinks they forget about simple things like returning the courtesy.
  8. Follow up. No later than next day: send a ‘thank you’ e-mail, make introductions you promised (be sure both parties want them), deliver information you think will be useful to the person. To finish, store the information in a networking service like LinkedIn or Xing.
  9. Add your own step in growing networks – in the comments section please :)
Related articles by Zemanta
Reblog this post [with Zemanta]

Filed under: HowTo's, Tools   |  4 Comments
Tags:

6 reasons why you need business networking for your startup

30Nov09

Because you do, no question about it. There are a couple areas where knowing people directly is a great help (random order):

  1. Partnerships
    You will need them at some point if you want to grow fast – be it your distribution channel, promotion partner or complimentary product provider
  2. Financing
    ‘We don’t invest in people we don’t know’ one VC told me once – enough said ;)
  3. Buying
    When you’re small, have no credit record, and you company is 10 days old it’s hard to get good prices, long term payment conditions and any form of exclusivity (which might be important if you’re claiming a ma rket niche)
  4. Promoting
    It’s a lot more efficient to call 3 friends and tell them you’re up to something new than distribute 1000 press release messages to industry bloggers.
  5. Hiring
    You can’t pay them enough. You can’t give them benefits. Your promise is sweat and blood. And possible defeat. The’ve got to like you to trust you :)
  6. Selling
    Chances are your product can be sold to enterprise customers, be white-labeled or bundled with something. It might not be your ultimate strategy, but anything that keeps cash flowing in is good at the beginning.

So even though you think that in this WebThingy you can Adwords your road to wealth, or Digg your product to fame – think twice. People are using your product. People spread the news about your product. People will make your product. Get to know them. Go, network.

If you strongly disagree – let it out in the comments.


Filed under: Attitude   |  1 Comment
Tags:

Social Selling

16Nov09

Now this title might seem a bit weird a couple years ago, when you really needed to be face to face with your client in order to make a sale. But today in the time of e-commerce, everything-as-a-service, virtual currency and goods it’s not so obvious anymore. Online businesses rarely meet their customers in person. Quite often (if customer is fairly satisfied with the product) they don’t even exchange a single word, except for the credit card details.

Thus said, customers didn’t stop being people – even if those people represent companies or organizations. How do you make contact with them then? You have e-mail, IM, blogs, Twitter, social platforms and other tools to help you – but do you really use them all? Probably not, and quite possibly you shouldn’t. Because what you use should really be contextual to your business, or rather to the way your customers are used to communicate. If you’re selling to people in their twenties Twitter will probably work. But if your customers are their grandparents you will have to stick to the old-school like phone or standard mail. In middle ages the best place to communicate with clients was being literally on the streets because that’s where they were. And you couldn’t send them letters, because most of them couldn’t read. That’s pretty much the same right now – they can read, they just don’t know how to get your message.

So if you’re running an online business make sure you let your customers communicate with you pre and post sales in the way that you really thought through and dedicate yourself to. Because if you put e-mail address on your website, and don’t respond to it people will be disappointed. And they will let everyone else know about it in their way: Twitter, Facebook or their local BINGO club. Also – make sure it’s a two-way and active communication. It’s not enough to run Twitter account to broadcast company promotions. You have to react to people’s complains or praise about your products. You should participate in conversations that are relevant to your business, even if they’re not about you.

Internet is ‘the street’ of today. Make sure you’re really on it. Because being social is not only about the buzzword – it’s about communication with people. Your people.


Filed under: Attitude   |  Leave a Comment
Tags: , ,