how to start a startup with wordpress (if you're a non-techie)

How To

Start

A S

tart

up

With

Wor

dPress

By:

Yas m

i ne

Mu

s t af a

- C

EO

& F

ou

nd

er

of

12

3Li n

kI t

. co

m

What the hell do I know?

• No technical expertise

• Business/Marketing background

• 123LinkIt.com – tech business

Agenda

• Launching a sign-up page

• Market Testing

• Development

• Design

• Marketing

Assumptions

• Concept is well-articulated

• Business model is defined

• Startup is based online

• You’ll be using self-hosted WP

GUESSING GAME!(How much did you think it cost to build my site?

Type of Sites and Plugins

• Content/Brochure site (any)

• Subscription site (Kajabi)

• Social networking site (BuddyPress)

• eCommerce site (WP Commerce + others)

Valid

atin

g you

r con

cept

SHOW SCREENSHOT OF LANDING PAGE WORDPRESS THEME

Do’s:• Put up a signup page with a brief

description of what you do until your site is launched

• Link it to a feedburner account• Build buzz through Twitter and

conferences• Can also try the invite only angle

Don’t:• Post a launch date• Hire someone else to do it

(it’s very easy)

SHOW SCREENSHOT OF FEEDBURNER SETUP

Another example: Ask

for alpha testers if

appropriate

My favorite example (and what I wish I would have done):• Provide brief description• Signup field• Survey after email is entered (see next page)

Love this!

Testing out assumptions before launch

Note: This form was built using Wufoo (free tool)

Devel

opin

g you

r site

Building your site using WordPress

Tip: If you’re a newbie, get your domain and hosting from the same provider

123LinkIt sitemap example. You can use PowerPoint or mindmapping tools to develop this

Desig

ning y

our s

ite

Highly recommend Balsamiq to create wireframes. Tip: You can get it for free if you blog about it

Designing your Site1000s of WordPress

themes available

Crowdsourcing sites

Freelance designers

Tips: • Ask for a homepage and interior page design (copy interior page design to

all pages if appropriate)• Be as detailed as possible in what you’re looking for. If using crowdsourcing

sites (I used 99Designs, continuously provide feedback)• Don’t get your design and XHTML done by the same person• Get your favicon, avatar, etc designed at the same time to decrease costs

Power of Plugins

Add functionality to your site without getting a developer

Tip: At the same time, limit the # of plugins you add (they slow down your site)

Mar

ketin

g you

r site

Marketing

• Most SEO-friendly platform•XML Sitemaps plugin & Google Webmaster Tools are a must• Thesis (use Theme as alternative)

• Include a blog page

• Leverage social media

• Utilize referral programs

• Piggyback off a trend or news item

Make sharing as easy as possible

Allow users to invite friends from their Gmail, Outlook, etc.

Create link bait

Hubspot was unknown until they launched this tool

A/B Testing

(for copywriting & design) (for web pages)

(for marketing) (for eCommerce sites)

Fivesecondtest.com example

Fivesecondtest.com example (cont’d)

Fivesecondtest.com allows you to test your design and copywriting as well as perform market testing. That said, make sure they’re the right target market. An alternative is UserTesting.com

Optional fields converted 45% better – less friction

Key Performance Indictors (KPIs)

Always measure your metrics! Some examples for 123Linkit:

• # of downloads/growth rate

• # of active users (after download and after install)/growth rate

• Avg revenue per blog

• Top categories

• Traffic growth referring sites and top converting keywords

Analytics

Questions to ask:Do the keywords that drive people to my site align with the purpose?

Which traffic sources are driving the most TARGETED traffic?

What are the most popular pages on my site and what does the bounce rate look like on each?

What’s my ratio of new/returning visitors and how can this be improved?

What events led to an increase in revenue?

Final notes

• Talk, talk some more, and keep talking to your users/customers

• Focus!

• Reiterate often

• Be creative

• KISS

• Figure out your user acquisition costs ASAP

GUESSING GAMEDo these sites use WordPress?

They are all built on WordPress!

(Back to the first guessing game)

Cost of 123LinkIt…

$1,208($990 just for design)

Articles worth checking out:

What you should ask your designer –

http://www.thedesigncubicle.com/2009/01/what-should-you-get-from-your-logo-designer

How to measure your metrics - http://www.slideshare.net/dmc500hats/startup-metrics-for-pirates-long-version

How to build an online store using WP and Thesis - http://diythemes.com/thesis/create-online-store/

Than

ks fo

r

com

ing!

Questio

ns?

Contact info:yasmine@123LinkIt.com(215) 948-2426@myasmine