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Make a list of competitive/alternative services: See competitors.md file
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Set up Google News alerts for "side project marketing" and "startup marketing".
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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
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Come up with a name and domain name
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Write a site tagline and elevator pitch:
Side Project Marketing, A checklist of tactics for marketing your side projects. -
Create a logo.
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Set up email and form on Mailchimp: [email protected].
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Create email alias in Gmail for [email protected] to [email protected].
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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.
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Set up custom domain:
sideprojectchecklist.com -
Add favicon/logo to site and readme
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Create a standard email template for your brand.
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Create welcome email for when user signs up: direct them to blog, suggest improvements.
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Create custom landing page after signup, track on analytics
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Set up Google analytics to learn about who signs up, bounces, etc.
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Set up weekly feedbin email for marketing blogs
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Set up webmaster tools to track SEO, keywords
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Create anchor pages for keywords you'd like to rank for.
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Research keywords that you'd like your site/blog to rank for.
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Write blog post for personal blog.
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Write blog post for Linkedin.
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Write blog post for Medium.
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Have a blog post brainstorming session:
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Build/update publishing calendar for your blog.
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Meet another entrepreneur who has a similar or competitive product.
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Turn checklist into an eBook with nice looking checklist pdf, exchange it for email signup.
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Add to personal social media post cycle.
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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?
- Solicit guest posts from anyone who submits a PR.
- Weekly email of side project marketing tips.
- Post on directory/review sites (see places-to-post.md).
- Check, answer relevant questions on community/forum sites:
- Stack Overflow
- Quora
- Indie Hackers Forum
- Ask HN
- Launch Slack Channel
- Warrior Forum
- Industry or geographically specific forums?
- 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.
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Better analytics tracking with email signups as goal.
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Ask subscribers for feedback directly (individual outreach).
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Request to guest post on other blogs.
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Run a customer poll (can also generate content for your blog or social media channels).
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A/B test your landing/payment pages (check out Optimizely).
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A/B test email newsletters and promotions.
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Implement Twitter cards on your blog posts.
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Implement rich snippets in Google search results.
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Collect and show testimonials from your happy users.
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Analyze user signup flow (check out the teardowns here).
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Test your website on multiple platforms, make sure speed is good.
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Use Website Grader to pinpoint website improvements.
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Create and track weekly traffic and growth goals.
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Time social media posts and email newsletters to when your audience is most likely to respond.
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Make sure each page on your site has a clear call-to-action.
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Implement live chat to capture leads and allow them to ask questions (Intercom seems to be the most popular).
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Segment traffic by source and audit conversion rates.
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Set up automatic analytics reports to be emailed to you each week.
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Experiment with various signup form locations, colors, and sizes.
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Add "Exit Intent" popup to your blog/site.
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Create an FAQs page.
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Build a "best of" page with your best blog posts that you wrote or contributed to other sites (ProBlogger calls this a "Sneeze Page").
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Write how-to guides/videos related to your product/industry:
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Repurpose existing 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.