Skip to content

Instantly share code, notes, and snippets.

@karllhughes

karllhughes/1-side-project-marketing-checklist.md

Last active August 9, 2024 05:12
Show Gist options
  • Save karllhughes/56153edea80f2c735a0b8f57ff0eba94 to your computer and use it in GitHub Desktop.
Save karllhughes/56153edea80f2c735a0b8f57ff0eba94 to your computer and use it in GitHub Desktop.
Download ZIP
Side Project Checklist Marketing
Raw
1-side-project-marketing-checklist.md

Setup Work

  • Make a list of competitive/alternative services: See competitors.md file

  • Set up Google News alerts for "side project marketing" and "startup marketing".

  • Make list of blogs, subscribe to RSS feeds in Feedbin:

    • Startup marketing blogs
    • Side project blogs
    • Small business marketing blogs
    • Chicago small business/startup bloggers

  • Come up with a name and domain name

  • Write a site tagline and elevator pitch: Side Project Marketing, A checklist of tactics for marketing your side projects.

  • Create a logo.

  • Set up email and form on Mailchimp: [email protected].

  • Create email alias in Gmail for [email protected] to [email protected].

  • Set up a website/blog using GHPages/jekyll. Key elements:

    • Intro/about this list
    • Email Sign up for updates
    • Banner image
    • Side project marketing blog
    • Links to watch/star, make update on Github: https://buttons.github.io/
    • Contact email: [email protected]
    • How to use this checkist and example blog post
    • Update the readme to refer to site pages
    • Add email signup form or link to all blog posts.

  • Set up custom domain: sideprojectchecklist.com

  • Add favicon/logo to site and readme

  • Create a standard email template for your brand.

  • Create welcome email for when user signs up: direct them to blog, suggest improvements.

  • Create custom landing page after signup, track on analytics

  • Set up Google analytics to learn about who signs up, bounces, etc.

  • Set up weekly feedbin email for marketing blogs

  • Set up webmaster tools to track SEO, keywords

  • Create anchor pages for keywords you'd like to rank for.

  • Research keywords that you'd like your site/blog to rank for.

  • Write blog post for personal blog.

  • Write blog post for Linkedin.

  • Write blog post for Medium.

  • Have a blog post brainstorming session:

    Blog post ideas
    • Little known features of your product.
    • Highlight use cases for your product.
    • Highlight customers who are using your product.
    • Interview industry specialists.
    • List of popular sites in your industry (be sure to notify them after you publish it!)
    • See these lists of ideas from Buffer and Hubspot.

  • Build/update publishing calendar for your blog.

  • Meet another entrepreneur who has a similar or competitive product.

  • Turn checklist into an eBook with nice looking checklist pdf, exchange it for email signup.

  • Add to personal social media post cycle.

  • Set up referral program:

    • Each subscriber gets a query string code
    • When query string is used, it gets put into mailchimp form
    • Query string code gets added to mailchimp users
    • 5 referrals and you get a free gift?

Weekly Recurring

Monthly Recurring

  • Blog post.
  • Look for Facebook and Linkedin groups where your product might be beneficial, ask to join
  • Send link to LinkedIn/Facebook Group owners, ask to share.
  • Join Twitter chats related to your industry/product.
  • Reach out to marketing bloggers/twitter people. Inform and ask for contributions.
  • Find similar checklists, ask to be added as a reference or leave a comment about your product.
  • Leave comments on relevant Slideshare presentations.
  • Review industry-related books on Amazon, Goodreads.

Later

  • Better analytics tracking with email signups as goal.

  • Ask subscribers for feedback directly (individual outreach).

  • Request to guest post on other blogs.

  • Run a customer poll (can also generate content for your blog or social media channels).

  • A/B test your landing/payment pages (check out Optimizely).

  • A/B test email newsletters and promotions.

  • Implement Twitter cards on your blog posts.

  • Implement rich snippets in Google search results.

  • Collect and show testimonials from your happy users.

  • Analyze user signup flow (check out the teardowns here).

  • Test your website on multiple platforms, make sure speed is good.

  • Use Website Grader to pinpoint website improvements.

  • Create and track weekly traffic and growth goals.

  • Time social media posts and email newsletters to when your audience is most likely to respond.

  • Make sure each page on your site has a clear call-to-action.

  • Implement live chat to capture leads and allow them to ask questions (Intercom seems to be the most popular).

  • Segment traffic by source and audit conversion rates.

  • Set up automatic analytics reports to be emailed to you each week.

  • Experiment with various signup form locations, colors, and sizes.

  • Add "Exit Intent" popup to your blog/site.

  • Create an FAQs page.

  • Build a "best of" page with your best blog posts that you wrote or contributed to other sites (ProBlogger calls this a "Sneeze Page").

  • Write how-to guides/videos related to your product/industry:

    How-to sites

  • Repurpose existing blog posts:

    Repurposing blog posts
    • Record/post video of you reading the post on YouTube.
    • Turn posts into a podcast.
    • Create an infographic based on the post.
    • Create a Slideshare or Prezi of your post.
Raw
2-places-to-post.md

* Chicago Tech Slack/side projects * /r/IndieBiz - https://www.reddit.com/r/indiebiz/ * /r/SideProject - http://reddit.com/r/sideproject * Show HN - https://news.ycombinator.com/showhn.html * /r/ShamelessPlug - https://www.reddit.com/r/shamelessplug/ * /r/OpenSource - https://www.reddit.com/r/opensource/ * Product Hunt - http://www.producthunt.com/ - https://www.producthunt.com/posts/the-side-project-marketing-checklist

Raw
3-blog-ideas.md

- How to use the side project marketing checklist - Why I created the side project marketing checklist

  • Making a contribution to the side project marketing checklist
  • How to learn about and keep up your side project's competition
  • Finding meetups where your customers might be
  • Creating a media kit for your side project
  • Tools for creating a landing page for your side project
  • Creating a great About page for your side project
  • Creating a pricing page for your side project
  • Setting up Google Analytics for your side project
  • Setting up an email account for your side project
  • Creating an email template for your side project
  • Creating a welcome email for your side project's mailing list
  • Blogging platforms for your side project
  • Researching keywords for your side project
  • How to brainstorm topics for your side project's blog
  • Adding an email signup form to your side project's site
  • Choosing social media accounts to focus on for your side project
  • Setting up recurring payments and coupon codes with Moonclerk
  • Finding and connecting with potential customers on Linkedin
@vishal0178
Copy link

Great List brother. Thanks for sharing.

@Aliya0178
Copy link

These sites help me a lot. Thanks.

@dssagar93
Copy link

Maybe ranking them according to traffic so creators don't need to apply to all the pages?

Sign up for free to join this conversation on GitHub. Already have an account? Sign in to comment