• About

oldienewbies

~ Fred Horstman on A great WordPress.com site

oldienewbies

Monthly Archives: October 2013

Facebook Rejecting Your Ads? Here’s Why

31 Thursday Oct 2013

Posted by fredhorstman in Internet Marketing

≈ 43 Comments

Tags

Advertising, Facebook, Marketing, rejected ads, rules, Social media, Social media marketing, Social Networks

Facebook Rejecting Your Ads? Here’s Why

Posted October 26, 2013

If you’re a marketer who has advertised your goods or services on Facebook, chances are you’ve had at least one rejected – which seems to be very common!  There are lots of reasons the social media giant rejects ads which are fairly obvious, but sometimes your ad gets rejected, and you have no idea why.  Don’t despair!            

Facebook logo Español: Logotipo de Facebook Fr...

Facebook logo Español: Logotipo de Facebook Français : Logo de Facebook Tiếng Việt: Logo Facebook (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

First off, ALWAYS adhere to the rules and make every effort to keep your account in good standing.  Other than that, here are some of the reasons your ad may be getting rejected.  Keep this list handy, so the next time you create Facebook ads you’ll have it to refer to – and lower the odds your ad will be rejected.

  1. Target the audience you want to reach; after all, you’re spending money, so zero in on those you want your ad to reach.  Inappropriate targeting will get your ad rejected.
  2. Improper grammar – it’s not what you think!  Capitalizing every word in your ad will result in rejection, because it may give you an unfair advantage over competitors.
  3. Unacceptable language.  Profanity, content that’s sexual or degrading in nature, derogatory – just don’t do it.
  4. Your ads should be professional, which means using complete sentences.  Pay attention to spelling, grammar, and sentence structure.  Not only will it help get your ads approved, your target audience will see you in a more professional light.
  5. Destination Urls – Ever cloak your links, or direct ads to Word documents, PowerPoint, or downloads such as PDF files?  This is the best way to go from “account in good standing” to “account terminated” in 8 seconds or less.  The guidelines for URL destinations are explicit, so send all users to the same landing page, and make sure these destinations are not pop-ups or fake close behavior.  Also, the text must reveal to the user that you are linking to iTunes, if in fact your ad does link to the site.
  6. Ad text that’s inaccurate.  Does your ad clearly state your company’s name, offer, or product?  Make sure it does, otherwise expect rejection.
  7. Words that SCREAM – you got it, entire words in all caps.  Nothing’s more of a turn off than an ad that screams to your audience, is it?  Facebook agrees – when your ad looks like spam, it won’t be effective; but you really don’t have to worry, it will probably be rejected anyway.
  8. Substituting numbers and symbols for words.  In a world where using all kinds of symbols, numbers, and abbreviations seems the “norm” (think texting and Twitter), it just doesn’t fly with Facebook.  Use real words (not “4″ for the word “for”), and complete sentences.  These types of ads make Facebook’s trigger finger twitch!
  9. Using images that are irrelevant to your ad.  Images should be clean, and relevant to your ad.  Essentially, Facebook wants to keep the environment a fun and safe place for users – so avoid irrelevant images designed solely for the purpose of shock value.
  10. And that brings us to . . . offers and discounts that are deceptive.  When your ad claims a specific offer or discount, this is what the user should find upon arriving at the landing page.  Having users land on a page that is totally different from what the ad claims is a super way to not only get your ad tossed, but completely lose your account.  Not to mention being a trickster is a good way to tarnish your online reputation.

If your ads frequently get rejected on Facebook, consider whether you may be committing some of the “Facebook sins” above.  Follow the rules and keep the above in mind, and who knows?  You may have experienced your last ad rejection.

Authored by:

Eric Chapman

Eric Chapman is an accomplished marketing and information technology professional with over 15 years of experience. Eric began with a degree in computer networking, with a concentration in business systems and was quickly certified by Microsoft as a Microsoft Certified Technology Specialist. Fresh out of college, the horrible events of the attack on the World Trade Centers occurred and …

Facebook Ads Disapproval Referee

Facebook Ads Disapproval Referee (Photo credit: Search Influence)

See complete profile

 
Related articles
  • Facebook Ads CTR up 275% + More [Research] (business2community.com)
  • Are Facebook Ads Failing? Analysts Disagree (businessweek.com)
  • 8 Tips For Starting Out In Social Media (business2community.com)
  • Are Facebook Ads Working? The Clicks Say Yes (mashable.com)
  • The 9 Facebook Ad Mistakes that are Hurting your Click-Through-Rate (business2community.com)
Advertisements

Share this:

  • Facebook
  • Google
  • Twitter
  • Print
  • LinkedIn
  • More
  • Reddit
  • Pinterest
  • Tumblr
  • Pocket
  • Email

Like this:

Like Loading...

10 Simple Steps to Benefit from Failure and Turn It into Success

30 Wednesday Oct 2013

Posted by fredhorstman in Uncategorized

≈ 3 Comments

Tags

balance, Believe, change, determination, Failure, Focus, Future, habits, happiness, hard work, Harmony, hope, ideas, Learning from the best, Lesson, Lidiya, Motivation, Positivity, Self Improvement, success, successful people, trying

Hello Everybody,

If you aren’t following Lidiya, I recommend that you do. She writes some good stuff.  Check out her recent article below. And if you want to read more about failure, read some of the Related Articles at the bottom of this post.  Thanks for visiting. Fred

 

10 Simple Steps to Benefit from Failure and Turn It into Success.

Failure is the condiment that gives success it...

Failure is the condiment that gives success its flavor. -Truman Capote (Photo credit: deeplifequotes)

Steps

Steps (Photo credit: nogger)

Related articles
  • “Develop success from failures. Discouragement and failure are two of the surest stepping stones to success.” – Dale Carnegie (priscillaajacks.wordpress.com)
  • 3 Steps for Turning Failure into Lasting Success (under30ceo.com)

    Failure

  • What To Do When You Fail (thesecondpaige.com)
  • Does failure exist in this world? (detactiveh2o.wordpress.com)
  • Affirmation: Every Failure Is A Learning Experience (iamlikenoother.com)
  • The Key to Failure (lifehack.org)
  • Success Secrets Chapter 1 (solutionscase.wordpress.com)
  • The One, Only and Best Way To Overcome The Fear of Failure (business2community.com)
  • Failure……really? (leighblack.wordpress.com)
  • The power of failure (normashilpi.wordpress.com)

FAILURE

Share this:

  • Facebook
  • Google
  • Twitter
  • Print
  • LinkedIn
  • More
  • Reddit
  • Pinterest
  • Tumblr
  • Pocket
  • Email

Like this:

Like Loading...

How To Be A Flipping Genius

30 Wednesday Oct 2013

Posted by fredhorstman in Internet Marketing

≈ 31 Comments

Tags

Business, buy and sell websites, buy websites, buying and selling websites, buying websites, clever negotiator, Clickbank, flip website, Flipping, flipping genius, flipping websites, How to be a clever negotiator, internet business for sale, Learning, make money online, Real estate, Sales, sell my business, selling websites, simple skill, succeed, web broker, Website, website marketplace, websites for sale

How To Be A Flipping Genius 

How To Be A Flipping Genius

Posted 2 months ago
by Titus  https://www.ubuyandsellwebsites.com/blogs/flipping-genius
I am going to tell you how to make money online using one of the easiest methods out there.

You will learn that there is a powerful angle in this method that most people miss.  Using it, you can maximise your returns more easily.

The truth is you can still make great money from flipping websites.  Flipping is buying a site, enhancing it and then selling it on for a profit.  The aim, like share dealing, is to buy low and sell high.

Before you go rushing off to start googling for information on flipping websites, lets get some reality into this piece.  I am sorry to be the one to tell you that just like everything else in life, it does require effort.

Flipped

Flipped (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The Simple Skill That Can Produce Big Flipping Benefits.

It’s a fact that in many areas of online business you need to be a great all rounder.  The beauty of website flipping is that you can get on with it without a ton of skills under your belt.  You don’t need to be a coder or a writer; it’s all been done for you by the seller.

The one thing you need to have is the ability to be patient and watch. To spot and track opportunities and follow them through so you learn about selling patterns.

There will be a ton of trash out there.  You will need your B.S. deflector shields turned on full so you can be sure to check and verify everything. It will be boring for a while and you won’t actually buy a thing because you are still learning to filter.

I know, it’s not sounding too great so far! However, with patience and time, something marvellous will happen. You will start to spot some amazing opportunities.

You will learn to spot when someone is undervaluing their work, or to spot the site with no income that could be quickly refocused.  You will gain the ability to see some of the sites for sale like scrap cars, that are great for ripping pieces out of to use in your other websites.

Learn To Limbo Without Breaking Your Flipping Back.

One of the most attractive things about cutting your teeth flipping websites is the low cost entry point.

Although you may only break even initially, there are tons of websites up for sale at around the $30-$50 mark which will allow you to experiment.  If you prepare carefully and do your due diligence, at the very least you will come away with a site stuffed full of content, with an untarnished and aged domain.

But at this entry level what can you really gain?

A cantilever system allowed a car to flip in t...

A cantilever system allowed a car to flip in the Police Academy Stunt Show at Warner Bros. Movie World. The car is in the process of flipping just moments after an explosion. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Well some key things to look out for include:

  • The domain.  Is it a great fit and a great name?  Could it be sold on its own if you can’t flip the site?
  • The software. Is there a gem hidden in there?  Like a wordpress plugin worth $100 that they have bundled in?
  • Traffic.  Traffic that doesn’t convert is worthless….in it’s current context.  Can you spot an opportunity to change the context of the site to attract the same traffic and pitch to them?

How To Be A Clever Flipping Negotiator.

Earlier I mentioned an often missed angle that people who flip websites do not capitalise on enough.

In the real estate industry there are people who buy a house below market value and then sell it on quickly for a profit.  They do this by learning to find what are politely known as “motivated sellers”.

In reality they are “distressed sellers”.

A distressed seller is someone who needs the money fast.  In website flipping terms, this is someone who is looking to shift a website as quickly as possible because they cannot afford to run it, or need the cash to pay for something else.

another flip

This is where you can profit.

Nobody is going to say they are selling a website because they need the money fast.  That would be insane.  So you have to learn to find out.  There are two main methods you can employ to do this.

First, through spending time tracking listings, learn to spot the difference between the “cookie cutter” site sellers, who churn out sites purely for money and the people selling sites with soul.  Focusing on the second group, you can start to spot clues in the listings as to their real motivation for selling.

Second, use the tactic of contacting them and asking friendly general questions about their site.  Through building rapport and digging deeper, using a subtle leading question technique, you may get that gem you were looking for – a reason for the sale of their website that is linked to needing the cash.

Once you know they may be a desperate seller, you are in pole position, especially if the site does not sell first time.

This is a soft skill rather than a technical skill and it will take time to become an expert in extracting the signals you need.  The point is that you are will be approaching things from a different angle than most people involved in website flipping, an angle that can give you a decisive edge.

FLip back

The Reason Some People Almost Always Flipping Succeed.

After reading this you will of course rush off to read everything you can about site flipping.

As with everything else online, you will learn that it is not profitable any more.  They will tell you it’s almost impossible to make money doing it any more, just like flipping real estate.

But people still flip real estate and make millions.  People also still buy and sell thousands of websites every day.  That’s why the website marketplaces are stuffed full of buyers and sellers.

As with anything online, the idiots tell you that you can’t make money because they failed to, while the people making the money tell you the method is dead.  The truth is that people can and do make money buying and selling websites and so can you.

Back flip

 

 

Related articles
  • Tips When You Buy And Sell Websites (siteflippinglead.wordpress.com)
  • How to make money by buying and selling websites (maznwebsite.wordpress.com)
  • You Will Never Get Rich Selling an MLM Opportunity (retire100k.wordpress.com)
  • Perhaps 27 New Ways To Make Money Off The Internet (totesphere.wordpress.com)
  • How To Find The Best Website Marketplace? (siteflippinglead.wordpress.com)

Share this:

  • Facebook
  • Google
  • Twitter
  • Print
  • LinkedIn
  • More
  • Reddit
  • Pinterest
  • Tumblr
  • Pocket
  • Email

Like this:

Like Loading...

Men Have Feelings Too

29 Tuesday Oct 2013

Posted by fredhorstman in Uncategorized

≈ 3 Comments

Tags

feelings, Human, men, Men are stupid, People, Relationships, TagsEmotion, women, Women are crazy

Don’t expect your woman to change either. This article is short and sweet. I like it.

Contemplating Love

Have you heard this funny one? Allegedly men have feelings too. Ha ha. I know. Most absurd thing ever. Now before you say that I am an egomaniac feminist, let me be clear about something – I know that men have feelings. Of course they do – just like every other human being on earth. Some humans have deeper emotions, more complex ones so to say. And others don’t. If we were all the same, we’d have probably killed each other already.

The truth is – men are really simple. Most of the times they are just plain stupid. Even the best ones, the most successful ones, still the same – stupid. And women are crazy. It’s true. We are emotional, clingy, jealous, anxious and nagging drama queens, but I believe we are the way we are because men are the way they are. It’s that endless clash of the…

View original post 107 more words

Share this:

  • Facebook
  • Google
  • Twitter
  • Print
  • LinkedIn
  • More
  • Reddit
  • Pinterest
  • Tumblr
  • Pocket
  • Email

Like this:

Like Loading...

10 Youtube Videos Every Entrepreneur Should Watch

29 Tuesday Oct 2013

Posted by fredhorstman in Internet Marketing

≈ Comments Off on 10 Youtube Videos Every Entrepreneur Should Watch

Tags

Entrepreneur, Free, Google+, Hosts, Michelle Phan, Music video, Web Design and Development, Youtube

Español: Logo Vectorial de YouTube

Español: Logo Vectorial de YouTube (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Here you will find some good information from some well-known people.

 

http://www.stumbleupon.com/su/9Ol8DF/:q.AzRaJR:eOZnddQd/www.inc.com/ss/10-youtube-videos-every-entrepreneur-should-watch/

Related articles
  • How to be stress-free and Happy: The Pursuit of Happiness for Entrepreneurs (solutionscase.wordpress.com)
  • 10 Ways Self-Promotion Drives Entrepreneur Success (bizsugar.com)
  • Contagious Entrepreneurship: People Who Know Entrepreneurs Are More… (prweb.com)
  • The Worst Business Plan Mistake Entrepreneurs Make (bizsugar.com)
  • WATCH: Why Now Is The Best Time To Be An Entrepreneur (blackchristiannews.com)
  • How to grab startup stash without spending a dime (metronews.ca)
  • Entrepreneur Qualities – Jamal Edwards (lukemccormack10.wordpress.com)
  • A Generation of Entrepreneurs (caitlinbourn.wordpress.com)
  • Five Reasons Why Entrepreneurs Need Public Speaking Skills (faithbowman2.wordpress.com)

Share this:

  • Facebook
  • Google
  • Twitter
  • Print
  • LinkedIn
  • More
  • Reddit
  • Pinterest
  • Tumblr
  • Pocket
  • Email

Like this:

Like Loading...

How to Map Out Online Content for Maximum Impact

29 Tuesday Oct 2013

Posted by fredhorstman in Uncategorized

≈ Comments Off on How to Map Out Online Content for Maximum Impact

Tags

content, content marketing, Klout, map out content, Marketing, maximum impact, online content, Site Management, Target audience, The Girl of My Best Friend, User-generated content, Website

How to Map Out Online Content for Maximum Impact

by Alesia Krush October 24th, 2013

Read more: http://www.searchenginepeople.com/blog/how-to-map-out-online-content-for-maximum-impact.html#ixzz2ikRFda2C                                               

Content Lifecycle / Document Lifecycle

Content Lifecycle / Document Lifecycle (Photo credit: Saad Faruque)

Related articles
  • How to Re-Purpose Content For Maximum Social Media Impact (coolintl.com)
  • Establish yourself as a content writer (seochanges.wordpress.com)
  • Vastly Improving Your Content Marketing (business2community.com)
  • Site Map (nathanjwilliamsblog.wordpress.com)

Share this:

  • Facebook
  • Google
  • Twitter
  • Print
  • LinkedIn
  • More
  • Reddit
  • Pinterest
  • Tumblr
  • Pocket
  • Email

Like this:

Like Loading...

How To Install WordPress Plugins – WP Video Tutorial #1 – #5

28 Monday Oct 2013

Posted by fredhorstman in Internet Marketing

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

free tutorials, Google+, install plugins, install WordPress Plugin, Plug-in (computing), Publishers, Tools, Tutorial, Wikipedia, WordPress, WordPress Plugin, WordPress Plugin Directory

If you are a newbie to using WordPress and if you have been wondering how to install plugins for WordPress, these videos will help.

Five more tutorial  videos will be at the bottom of the first.  

I hope they are helpful. Fred

http://wordpressvideotutorials.me/free/video1.html

Ugg & Lee - Valuable WordPress Plugins

Related articles
  • Options for Building a Multilingual Site with WordPress – Free Plugins to Download (wplift.com)
  • Enable WordPress Users To Sign Up With Multiple WordPress Sites At Once Using The Same Details (business2community.com)
  • Infiniteskills – How To Use WordPress for E-Commerce + Working Files (libroosfree.wordpress.com)
  • What Are Plugins and How Can They Help My Blog? (faithfulbloggers.com)
  • 30 helpful WordPress Theme Tutorials and Resources (cmsframe.wordpress.com)
  • WordPress Plugins for Google Fonts (faithfulbloggers.com)
  • My Favorite Free WordPress Plugins (faithfulbloggers.com)
  • 5 Common WordPress Setup Mistakes (And How to Fix Them) (managewp.com)

Share this:

  • Facebook
  • Google
  • Twitter
  • Print
  • LinkedIn
  • More
  • Reddit
  • Pinterest
  • Tumblr
  • Pocket
  • Email

Like this:

Like Loading...

The Darker Side of Blogging: A Spooky Roundup, Part Two

27 Sunday Oct 2013

Posted by fredhorstman in Uncategorized

≈ Comments Off on The Darker Side of Blogging: A Spooky Roundup, Part Two

Tags

Bin Weevils, bones, characters, creepy, Flem's Halloween Vault, freaky, frightening, Halloween, Halloween Chaos, Halloween Drink, Horror, michelle w., mutants, scary, spookiness, spooky craft, Spooky Food, spooky treats, The Sunday Five, WordPress, zombie

 

Write text here…

Related articles
  • Halloween Drink Roundup (pacificmerchants.wordpress.com)
  • Flem’s Halloween Vault Now Open! At The Bin Weevils Halloween Party (weeklyweevilblog.wordpress.com)
  • Spookiness (beautylicious7.wordpress.com)
  • Halloween Chaos Countdown: Extra Spooky Bizarro News Roundup! (bizarrocentral.com)
  • Spooky Food and Crafts : A Halloween Roundup (todaysnest.com)
  • Spooky Treats (mercimarcy.com)
  • The Sunday Five #6 (booksandbeautifulworld.wordpress.com)

The WordPress.com Blog

We started getting into the Halloween spirit yesterday, with Halloween craft and costume blogs and a look at some of the real-life witches on WordPress.com.

Today we continue the Halloween Spooktacular with some less Halloween-y but no less creepy content: horror film buffs, zombie aficionados, and cemetery guides, oh my!

Frightening film and fiction

If you prefer that ghouls stay safely in movies and books, there are plenty of WordPress.com authors ready to guide you to the scariest of scary movies, like the team of eleven bloggers behind Mutant Reviewers.

Screen Shot 2013-10-25 at 4.49.10 PM

Led by Head Mutant Justin, the Mutant Reviewers team is dedicated to cult classics, watching the worst so you don’t have to. Visitors looking for recommendations can check out their movie of the week, helpfully highlighted with an image widget in the left sidebar. This week’s offering is 1979’s The Prophecy.  (Conclusion: “Simply, if you are looking…

View original post 758 more words

Share this:

  • Facebook
  • Google
  • Twitter
  • Print
  • LinkedIn
  • More
  • Reddit
  • Pinterest
  • Tumblr
  • Pocket
  • Email

Like this:

Like Loading...

The 4 Most Important Parts of a Page for SEO

27 Sunday Oct 2013

Posted by fredhorstman in Uncategorized

≈ 7 Comments

Tags

CMS, consistency, Content management system, header tags, keywords, meta descriptions, Meta element, page titles, page URLs, Promotion, Search engine optimization, Search Engines, seo strategy, Uniform Resource Locator, Web Design and Development, Web search engine

 The 4 Most Important Parts Of A Page For SEO

English: The three biggest web search engines

English: The three biggest web search engines (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

 

There are 4 important parts of a page to consider for SEO purposes. When looking at on-page optimization, it is crucial to target these influential pieces. They bear a heavier weight on search engine placement than any others. They include the page title, META description, header tags (most notably h1’s), and the page URL in that order.

After the initial choice of keywords, ensuring consistency within these 4 areas is essential. Maintaining the exact same sequence of wording cannot be overstated. This will provide a more likely opportunity to rank higher on the search engines for a given term. Often times, maintaining this consistency is hard if a CMS is being used. Furthermore, inserting the appropriate keywords in the page URL may also prove to be tricky. In any case, being strategic with respect to keyword placement will maximize your potential SEO results.

http://www.seoremedy.com/articles/the-4-most-important-parts-of-a-page-for-seo/

Related posts:

  • Optimizing META Descriptions
  • The SEO Checklist
  • Why Is SEO So Important?
  • How Do I Make My Site Search Engine Friendly?

    English: seo block

    English: seo block (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

  • Basic SEO Strategy
Related articles
  • SEO for Blogs (mskatedavis.wordpress.com)
  • 5 points to understand the basics of SEO (bhupeshkalra.com)
  • Search Engine Optimization Strategy (ashutoshsaxena8.wordpress.com)
  • Doctor Search Engine Optimization (zohangodstone726gfanizza8074.wordpress.com)

Share this:

  • Facebook
  • Google
  • Twitter
  • Print
  • LinkedIn
  • More
  • Reddit
  • Pinterest
  • Tumblr
  • Pocket
  • Email

Like this:

Like Loading...

Most Common Early Start-up Mistakes

27 Sunday Oct 2013

Posted by fredhorstman in Internet Marketing

≈ 9 Comments

Tags

California, Early Start, Facebook, Google+, Mark Suster, MySpace, Twitter, United States

Most Common Early Start-up Mistakes

Posted on August 17, 2009 by Mark Suster

michelangelo-creation-adam-

This is part of my ongoing series “Startup Advice”  If you want to subscribe to my RSS feed please click here or to get my blog by email click here.

In the Beginning …

This is a very important post to me because I find myself giving this advice all the time and if you don’t follow the basic advice here you can cause yourself much heartache down the line – even if your company ultimately becomes über successful.

I often talk with entrepreneurs who are kicking around their next idea.  Sometimes they’re working full time at a company or sometimes they’ve already left their employer and they’re bouncing around ideas with friends.  These periods of time can leave a founder very vulnerable in the future.

Here are some lessons to avoid common traps.  Please remember to read my disclaimer (it’s not long) – I am not a lawyer and my advice should not substitute getting formal legal advice.

1.    Moonlight Responsibly – If you are still employed please be very careful not to use your company’s resources to produce your product and please do not work on your next idea during business hours.  It’s hard enough to build a successful company.  Imagine you pour 5 years of your life into your next gig and it starts to become successful.  Would you want to run the risk that your former employer could have a claim against the intellectual property you’ve created because you broke company policies and developed your ideas on company resources?  Not worth it.

To the best of my knowledge US law allows you to work on your own resources and in your own hours and let you personally own your IP.  I don’t know 100% that this is true in all 50 states (if any lawyers read this please put notes in comments section) but I’m pretty darn sure that this is statuary law in California.   In some countries outside the US (the UK for example) employers can specify in an employment contract that ANY IP you develop while you’re employed by that company is owned by them.  If you live somewhere where this is the case you’re better off discussing with your employer that you may from time-to-time work on private projects outside of work hours and you want their clearance in writing that this is OK.

2.    Register a company. When I hear entrepreneurs say that they’re kicking around ideas with friends  I ask, “have you legally registered a company?” Many times the answer is ‘no.”  The problem is that you’re opening yourself up to a claim by one of these people that you somehow stole their ideas.  I know it sounds crazy because you’re talking about friends or colleagues here.  And you’re probably right.  BUT … if you do create the next MySpace, Facebook or Twitter there will be much money at stake.  Where money is at stake sometimes things get crazy.

facebook founder dispute

Don’t believe me? See here for the Facebook story.  Register a company before you do anything else.  Even if you keep it dormant for 2 years while you work on your idea.  It isn’t expensive and the admin isn’t too great.  You can find a good start-up lawyer to help or if you want to do it on the cheap there are tons of websites you can find on the Internet to help.  Here is just one: Incorporated.com (I don’t endorse them – there are many).  You can probably get loads of information on LegalZoom.com also.

3.    Pick the founding members. This is advice that I give people all the time.   I’m reluctant to put it into writing because people get so passionate about this issue and many disagree.  But I’m so certain that this is one of the single most important areas for you to preserve your future wealth creation opportunity that I feel compelled to write it:  your founding team should never have more than 2 people total (including you).

Why?  I know that your goal in creating a company is to “change the world” or create something really cool and enduring that has a positive impact on some group of people.  Presumably you also want to make a bit of money over time.  If you start a company with 4 people you’ve just given away 75% of the value of the company.  It is hard enough to have a great financial outcome when you start with 100%.  Starting with 25% is even harder.  Assuming normal valuations at fund raising rounds you’ll be down to 6-12% after you’ve created a stock-option pool and raised capital.

I know that 6-12% is more than most senior executives who join start-ups get.  But these people seldom make retirement money from the stock options on these companies.  I know it happened in the late 90′s and there are some very wealthy minority shareholders from Google’s early days.  But many people win the lottery every week also.

The fact is that most people lack the willingness, ability or nerve to start a company from the very beginning with just an idea or a desire to start a company.  These same people will join you and your one other co-founder (maximum) 6 months later when you’ve established the company, done your Powerpoint deck, built a prototype or product and started fund raising discussions.

They’ll happily join for 5% or less and they’ll have options and not stock.  That’s the difference between a founder and a non-founder.  You’re the one who gets paid extra rewards for taking the extra risk and more importantly taking the initiative.  The world is much safer for non-founders.  There is nothing wrong with non-founders – by design they are the overwhelming majority of companies.  But the worst case scenario in my mind is more than 2 co-founders where everybody sub-optimizes.  That said, if you’re already in a company with more than 2 founders – put it behind you.  The decision is already made.  Your next business will have less;-)

4.    Research your market.  I know it’s obvious but I’m always surprised how many people just start building products without thinking enough about the market.  You need to do some analysis.  Start by evaluating areas that you have domain expertise in.  Make sure that you’ve identified a problem that you believe exists.  Calculate how much time or money this is causing the people involved.  Sketch out your solution.  Find out what solutions they’re using today.  Use all of this for the basis of a plan that defines your company strategy.

business plan

Don’t worry if it isn’t perfect from day 1 – just make sure it appears to be a good idea.  You will confirm that later on.  Putting your thoughts into spreadsheets, PowerPoint, HTML, etc. forces you to come to grips with whether you really have a good idea or not.  DO NOT start with product, start with the market.

5.    Get customer input. This is another big mistake.  People design their products in a box assuming that they’ll show customers later and get feedback.  Get feedback before you start building anything – else you might be wasting your money.  Interview customers to better articulate their problems.  Show them multiple solutions to their problems and find out which ones resonate.  Ask if they’d be willing to pay for a solution like that if it existed.  Ask them how much they think such a solution would cost them.

6.    Build prototypes and/or product. Start building out your product.  It you have a great software engineer that’s awesome.  If not, at least find someone really technical that you trust to help act as an adviser to you.  If you can’t find somebody any technical resources at all through networking please consider keeping your day job.  I’m not being flippant (OK, maybe slightly) but seriously it isn’t hard to network your way into someone technical.  If you can’t do this it is highly likely that you lack some of the basic entrepreneurial skills to be successful in your own company.

If you need a cheap way to get a prototype build consider the following options: student interns, people willing to work for stock options rather than cash or some mix, doing the work through oDesk, eLance or Rentacoder.com.

7.    Make sure you own your IP.  This is a BIG mistake many early stage companies make.  They have developers or friends help code their software without having legal agreements in place.  You MUST have a legal agreement that stipulates that anybody working on the design, coding or testing of your system assigns any and all intellectual property (IP) created to your company.  Otherwise you run the risk that in the future somebody claims that the programming work that they did for you represents their IP and not yours.

Close up Women's Rowing Team

8.    Assemble a team. As you know my preferred route is the start the company, register it, get the basic plan in place, sketch out wireframes and/or start getting your product built AND THEN assemble your team.  You can be talking with potential employees all along the process getting them excited.  But best to bring some of your team members on as your plan starts to solidify.  If you started the company yourself consider bringing on a “partner.”  By this I mean somebody who has a large and meaninful percentage of stock options – but nowhere near 50%.  There is no specific % – it is different in each case.  But for the sake of my example – say 20%.  Treat this person like your true partner where you share all information with them and involving them in the decision-making processes.

You also need to get other people around you.  Teams create companies – not individuals.  Teams raise money – not superstar CEO’s.  Start building your team early.

9.    Founder vesting. Yesterday I wrote a blog posting on founder vesting.  You should implement restricted stock with vesting at the earliest stages in your company -even before the VC’s ask.  The reason is that if you found a company with a partner (or 2) and somebody decides to leave the company do you really want them to be able to walk away with half of the value when they may have only worked with you for 9 months and all the hard work is ahead?  Founder vesting is an insurance policy for all team members involved.

This post isn’t meant to be a comprehensive guide on starting a company so I think I’ll stop here.   I just wanted to list some of the most value destroying mistakes I see many early-stage entrepreneurs make.  It’s a shame because these mistakes are often made in the first 12 months when all the work still lies head.  I’m sure there are many more early-stage mistakes – please feel free to add comments or send me a twitter message @msuster

Related articles
  • Mark Suster on his big LA bet: The infrastructure has been built and we monetize better than anyone (pandodaily.com)
  • Mark Suster’s biggest regret is allowing his golden handcuffs to stop him from founding a company when he was 27 (pandodaily.com)
  • Mark Suster: Maker Studios is so much more than a YouTube talent aggregator (pandodaily.com)
  • Mark Suster’s 7 lessons from failing (andrewhargadon.typepad.com)
  • MySpace to axe a third of its staff, imminent shutdown predicted by many (yannikap.wordpress.com)
  • Startup company lawyer (infoaboutlaw.wordpress.com)
  • Mark Suster’s SMWLA Keynote Is Worth Watching (tubefilter.com)

Share this:

  • Facebook
  • Google
  • Twitter
  • Print
  • LinkedIn
  • More
  • Reddit
  • Pinterest
  • Tumblr
  • Pocket
  • Email

Like this:

Like Loading...
← Older posts

Enter your email address to follow this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Join 14,710 other followers

Meta

  • Register
  • Log in
  • Entries RSS
  • Comments RSS
  • WordPress.com

Top Posts & Pages

  • Customer Satisfaction vs Customer Loyalty

Search for what you are looking for here.

Recent Posts

  • Customer Satisfaction vs Customer Loyalty
  • Access Over Ownership: Who Benefits from the New Consumption Culture?
  • Here Are Some Clickbank Basics For Internet Marketing Newbies.
  • EMAIL – Fred’s Tip # 4 for Oldies who are Newbies in Internet Marketing
  • Fred’s Tip # 3 for Oldies who are Newbies in Internet Marketing

Archives

  • June 2015
  • May 2015
  • February 2015
  • September 2014
  • June 2014
  • May 2014
  • April 2014
  • March 2014
  • February 2014
  • January 2014
  • December 2013
  • November 2013
  • October 2013
  • September 2013
  • August 2013
  • July 2013
  • June 2013
  • May 2013

Categories

  • Internet Marketing
  • Self Improvement
  • Uncategorized

Meta

  • Register
  • Log in
  • Entries RSS
  • Comments RSS
  • WordPress.com
Advertisements

Mr. Analog

fredhorstman

fredhorstman

Follow Fred on Twitter (fredgarden8).

View Full Profile →

OldieNewbies

  • RSS - Posts
  • RSS - Comments
Follow oldienewbies on WordPress.com

Blog at WordPress.com.

Cancel
loading Cancel
Post was not sent - check your email addresses!
Email check failed, please try again
Sorry, your blog cannot share posts by email.
%d bloggers like this: