3 Over-Hyped Companies & How To Avoid Their Mistakes

Posted by smartups on November 11, 2014November 11, 2014 Posted in Hype, Marketing

We’re talking about hype and how to use it for good in your business this month at Smartups. Unfortunately, some companies have gotten hype wrong. Let’s look at three of them and see what we can learn from their mistakes.

Cuil was a search engine that came out and had a rockstar launch in 2008. They claimed to have a larger index and that they were faster than Google. They even had an ex Google engineer running the show, which provided credibility to the claims. And they had already raised $33 million dollars. They got tons of press right away from the launch. They had some unique and innovative ideas. Unfortunately, as people dove into the search engine, they didn’t find the results as good as expected.

The hype turned to backlash, and, eventually, the company shut its servers down.

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How Formstack Adapted Their Marketing To Become One Of The Fastest Growing Companies In America

Posted by smartups on October 16, 2014October 16, 2014 Posted in B2B Marketing, Entrepreneur Stories, Interviews

With Eva McKnight, Content Specialist at Formstack, speaking next week about “How do I increase my conversion rate?” at Smartups, we wanted to learn a little bit more about Formstack and how they have achieved marketing success as one of the fastest growing tech startups in Indy. So, we interviewed Chris Lucas, their Vice President of Marketing, and asked him about how Formstack has grown their business and the changes they have seen along the way. Formstack is an easy-to-use form building tool and was recently named to the Inc. 5,000 as one of the fastest growing private companies in America.

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Turn Random Strangers Into Raving Fans with Lorraine Ball of Roundpeg

Posted by smartups on October 14, 2014October 14, 2014 Posted in Uncategorized

You can’t turn random strangers into raving fans until you truly know who your customer is. In September Lorraine Ball of Roundpeg, a digital marketing agency in Indianapolis, spoke about the importance of understanding your target market. Listen and learn.

How To Transform Random Strangers Into Raving Fans; Smartups September 2014 by Smartups on Mixcloud

How To Get Your Emails Delivered With Greg Kraios of 250ok

Posted by smartups on September 16, 2014September 16, 2014 Posted in Uncategorized

Greg Kraios of 250ok talks about how you can ensure your emails get delivered. He covers the myths and evolution in email deliverability. Most importantly for you startup, he teaches you how not to be a spammer. Being a spammer might seem to have short term gains, but it can’t compete with having an email campaign and list where your customers love to get your emails.

Smartups August 2014 How Not To Be A Spammer with Greg Kraios of 250ok by Smartups on Mixcloud

Full Transcript After The Jump.

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On Playing Google’s Game with Ryan Mull and Steve Hill of Imavex

Posted by smartups on September 16, 2014September 16, 2014 Posted in Paid Media

Ryan Mull, Partner and Director of Internet Marketing at Imavex, starts off the discussion on why companies should invest in pay-per-click campaigns. Steve Hill, Digital Marketing Director at Imavex, dives deeper into pay-per-click marketing and offers five strategies to maximize your campaigns. Listen to the conversation or read it below. If you haven’t joined Smartups sign up here and come out every third Tuesday to the Speak Easy to grow your marketing knowledge and connections.

Smartups July with Ryan Mull and Steve Hill of Imavex by Smartups on Mixcloud

Full Transcript After The Jump.

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