What the role is;

• Leading a team of 4 customer development/marketing people as they work their butts off to start new web businesses.
• Build processes and systems to more efficiently and effectively get customers for new startups.
• Keep up to date on new systems, ideas, methods and implement them in our startups.
• Work very closely with product, engineering and design people to create great startups.
• Tracking and measuring everything that moves.

What we’d like to see:

• Must have worked on startups (day 1, creating products, no budget, finding customers, selling)
• 5-10 years online
• Marketing, customer acquisition roles.
• Strong hands on acquisition and Conversion skills
• Strong metrics/data driven person
• Heavy detail person, not big picture/strategic.
• Great people person, leader, manager.
• Great written and spoken communication skills.
• Sydney based (or willing to relocate)
• Able to juggle 5-10 businesses as once.
• Eager to work in high risk, uncertain environment where it’s up to you to work it out.

Key reasons the team at Pollenizer love what they do:

• The challenge – it’s hard to get startups off the ground, Pollenizer constantly challenges you.
• The impact – work a hard day and you’ll see a full days worth of value. Everyone makes an impact.
• The team – you’ll be surrounded by a strong team of passionate people always keen to help.
• The variety – you’ll never get bored. Everyone works on 2 businesses at once and you’ll get to have input into 4+ more.
• The pride – startups are high risk and they don’t always work, but you’ll be proud of the effort and thinking you put into the business to give it the best shot.

If you’re interested, please email your Linkedin profile to info pollenizer com or get a referral via Linkedin.

Hi! My name is Pierre, and I’m a domain junky.
I own close to a hundred domain names and I haven’t bought one in over a week!
*cue for clapping*

Finding a good domain name is a real challenge. You’ll need a lot of creative juice to come up with something that domain squatters haven’t put their hands on… yet!
So challenging it is, but not impossible. Here are some tips on the process I follow:

1. Lexical fields
Start your process by identifying a dozen keywords that identify to your product.
I suggest using a good thesaurus (like this one).
Alternatively, if you can’t find relevant keywords you can use a name generator tool. There are plenty of them, my favourite is Wordoid.

2. Keywords mashing
Throw your keywords into a domain making tool (I use Panabee) and see what comes out. You might get lucky on a .com but most likely this will send you down a path that you didn’t think of.
Make sure you also run your keywords into keywords mashing tools such as BustaName.

3. Creative juice
If you find yourself in a crowded space (all your keywords are already used and abused), my favourite tool to get the creative juice flowing is Domize. Make sure you use the advanced functions that will let you enter multiple lists in a query. For example, type [red,blue,green][light,lamp] to search for redlight, redlamp, bluelight… etc. It’s awesome!

4. Repeat the process until magic happens
As you go on you’ll come up with new keywords that you can look up in the thesaurus and run by Panabee and Domize.

5. The shortlist
By now you should have a shortlist of available relevant domains. The next step before buying them is to check that you’re not setting yourself up for trouble down the track (trademarks, social squatters etc.).
So the obvious first thing to do is a Google search for your domain. See what comes up (a competitor you didn’t know of? Some hidden meaning you were not aware of?).
Next make sure you check twitter for availability. Twitter is an important part of most businesses so making sure that your – candidate – brand name is available on twitter is a must do. Netflix learned it the hard way.

6. Buy it now!
Don’t wait too long once you’ve found the domain of your dream. Nothing worse than seeing it being snapped away by someone else… so don’t wait and spend the bucks! I recommend using Gandi or GoDaddy. For .com.au we use CrazyDomains.

## Generic rules

Focus on the right extensions

.com
Finding a catchy .com has become very challenging but well worth the trouble as it is the default extension for most internet users. If you manage to get them to remember your brand name it is very likely that they will type it with a .com at the end.

.co
Increasingly popular and won’t be an issue if your are targeting a fairly geeky / nerdy market :) Don’t expect “normal” people to type it right though. The cherry on the cake it that it will save you a letter on Twitter :)
Examples: t.co, angel.co, pygg.co etc.

Ignore all other extensions unless you can have them as part of your brand name. ie. youtu.be, pitch.it, about.me, with.me etc.

Beware of dodgy domain name services

Stick to the big players (GoDaddy, Gandi).
DO NOT check domain availability on more obscure domain providers. Some of them have dodgy processes in place where they monitor the domain searches and automatically buy the domain you are searching for and re-sale it back to you at a premium…

If your product is good it will work regardless of its domain name

Finally keep in mind that a great domain name can be a powerful asset but you shouldn’t invest too much energy in hunting down THE perfect domain for your product. Your time and money would certainly be better spent at actually building your product rather than naming it :)

## The tools

Here are the tools that I use when in need for a domain hit:

https://domize.com/
+ The search speed
+ Very cool advanced commands

http://www.panabee.com/
+ Apple app store name checking
+ Creative name mixing
+ Shows you translations

http://wordoid.com/
+ Generates natural sounding names

http://www.bustaname.com/
+ Clever prefix and suffix
+ Includes synonyms

http://thesaurus.com/
+ The visual thesaurus is a great way to discover other lexical fields
+ Definition and synonyms all in one place

http://www.gandi.net/
+ A tad pricey but top notch service
+ Reliable and trustworthy

http://www.godaddy.com/
+ Cheap and dirty

http://www.crazydomains.com.au/
+ Cheap .com.au
+ Local company (Surry Hills)

Probably not.

I’m still surprised constantly by people who try home page headlines, landing page headlines, blog post headlines and most especially email subject lines that are vague and boring.

People, this is the first gate. The first and only chance you have of getting peoples attention and earning the right to have them spend one more second on you.

Don’t mess with it. Don’t hope. This is no time for a newspaper intriguing pun. It’s a different world.

Some quick tips from me;

• Be blunt. People should know why they are clicking/reading before they do. Intrigue doesn’t work.
• Use short simple words.
• If given the opportunity you should attempt at all costs to try to minimise and reduce the amount of words you use when at all possible. (Use less words!)
• Put the offer in there. It’s too risky to hope they keep going.
• Use things that highlight the difference. Is it money, %’s, something else – put it in there if it helps convince them to keep going or click.

Some more tips for good headlines here and here.

Key thing is to test. Try it, measure it, change it, improve it. And keep testing.

I copped some flack on Friday for tweeting out a link to a site called Noble Village. This was one of those tests. If you see the site all it has is a title, basic offer, and an email submission box. Like this:

So what are we doing here? We’re testing a couple of key things pre-product as customer discovery and customer development.

1. Customer acquisition

We see if we can intercept people who could be interested in a product doing what they would normally do. We run Google ads, Facebook ads, linkedin ads that are really targeted and have a simple offer. We also put it out on Twitter – hence me spamming my friends occasionally. If I said it was one of our businesses then it would influence the effectiveness of the test. Given the reaction from my followers (or at least the ones that know me well enough to tell me) Twitter is clearly not a good way to test.

2. Is there strong general interest?

If we put up a generic offer and ask for an email address, it’s our way of gauging that at least some of the taget customers find the proposition appealing. Giving up your email address isn’t as powerful as paying 1c but it is something.

3. Is there a ‘deal’ combination that appeals?

As well as trying generic offerings, we try specific ones to see if we can find a combination that works. i.e. we might try to focus the page on one of three key points of value to see which one appeals the most. Or we might try three different price types ($100 for the year, $20 a month, free trial, etc).

There is a lot of reasons why a test of this may not show a true result, but it’s one of the fastest ways for us to start learning – and speed of learning is everything.

All 3 of these points are trying to find out if anyone other than you cares. Do even a few possible customers want this, before you go off and start building a product.

As the shirt says…….

P.S. If anyone would like to design some shirts like this for the Australian startup scene I would totally help out and fund it.

“Previously, access to Unvarnished has been limited to invite-only or professionals from a list of roughly 200 pre-approved tech/tech-related companies.” From Techcrunch.

By intentionally limiting their initial base, not just through a private beta, but by actually specifically only allowing a certain segment of people in, they get a stronger response.

For them it’s obvious why this is the case. If I’m going to be able and motivated to give feedback on a colleague, chances are they work at the same company.

Facebook did this as well by only allowing Harvard Students, then college students, then highschool, then the world. If they did the world day one, they wouldn’t have made it.

Lesson: Forcefully limit your initial base to a focused, small group and you’ll get stronger results.

Read the media release below for more info:

Group buying site Spreets receives $2 million investment and joins forces with brandsExclusive in new billion dollar industry

Australia’s first group buying site Spreets (www.spreets.com.au) has received $2 million in funding, with backing from two major European investors, Klaus Hommels and Oliver Jung.

Hommels, whose investments include Facebook and Skype, and Jung are currently concentrating their efforts on group buying sites around the world.

This new type of venture uses the power of social networks to offer significant discounts to consumers, while promoting local businesses. National deals start today with an offer from hip noodle-house Wagamama. Buy a $7 Spreets voucher and get $20 to spend in the restaurants. Groupon (www.groupon.com) in the USA is the world industry leader, valued at more than $1 billion after just 18 months.

Leading Spreets are some of Australia’s most respected entrepreneurs, Dean McEvoy, Phil Morle and Justus Hammer. McEvoy’s first business, Booking Angel (www.bookingangel.com), a restaurant booking system, was voted #7 in the BRW top100 web 2.0 businesses.

Previously CTO of music-sharing site Kazaa, Morle is now director of web venture incubator, Pollenizer (www.pollenizer.com). Pollenizer is renowned for its ability to bring focus to ideas and help develop them into successful businesses.

Online marketing expert Justus Hammer, who helped build GetPrice (www.getprice.com.au) into Australia’s leading shopping comparison site, gave up a senior position at Google to join the Spreets team. “I called Google up on what was meant to be my first day and told them I had a better offer. Spreets is a once in a lifetime opportunity”

Today, Spreets launches with a new design and announces an ongoing partnership with shopping club brandsExclusive (www.brandsexclusive.com.au). brandsExclusive’s 350,000+ active members quickly benefit with instant access to Spreets offers nationwide. “We offer premium fashion and lifestyle products at up to 70% off,” says founder Daniel Jarosch. “So when we came across Spreets we knew it was the perfect fit”.

Spreets has offices in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane, with plans to open in Perth already underway. “In this competitive and fast-growing space we’re not just about daily deals, we’re about helping busy people discover things they never knew they loved,” says McEvoy.

Sign up at Spreets to have deals delivered direct to your inbox.

Follow Spreets on Twitter and Facebook

At present there are over 400 million active users of Facebook worldwide, and 50% of those active users log on daily (Facebook Press room).

So it’s no surprise that businesses are now using Facebook groups and pages to promote their goods and/or services.

But what are the differences between the two? And which is more appropriate for your business?

A quick search tells you that groups allow their members “to connect, share and even collaborate on a given topic or idea.”

Meanwhile, Facebook pages help “define the identities of the people and brands with which you interact.”

But what does this mean in a practical sense? This is what I’ve discovered;

1. Facebook groups are a space designed for personal interaction to harvest deeper discussion between users about a particular topic area. If you want consumers to become more of a community where they can organise themselves and communicate easily, in relation to a particular topic area, then groups are for you.
2. Facebook pages are used to build a fan base for users to congregate to; and where public figures/organisations can broadcast information to their fans. If you’re aiming to create brand or product awareness and want to target specific types of consumers, then pages are for you.

Here is a table outlining more specific differences;

Sam from Blurb.com next to Sydney Harbour Bridge and Sydney Opera House

It’s fun and challenging working with clients in different time zones, so it is good for the relationship when you can catch up in person. Samantha Howe (pictured) from Blurb visited Sydney in March to spend time with the Pollenizer Blurboz team; attend Blurb sponsored events; and catch-up with Blurb’s partners. I interviewed Samantha Howe, Marketing Account Manager (Global Partnerships and Business Development) for the Pollenizer blog.

What is Blurb?

“Blurb is an online print-on-demand creative publishing platform which enables anyone to creatively express their individuality through a professional coffee-table quality book.”

Who is Blurb for?

“Blurb is for everyone! It’s your content in a printable book form. It is your poetry, your design, your writing, your photography.”

Why is Blurb so cool?

“We never say we’re cool but others do. I think it’s because our platform is creative and accessible and there are no boundaries. Blurb.com has worked hard to remove barriers to making a book. We’re passionate about enabling people to see their work published in a book.”

Blurb.com at 2010 Semi-Permanent Sydney Design Conference

What is Pollenizer doing for Blurb?

“Pollenizer is our eyes, ears and voice in Australia and New Zealand. This means the team is actively ‘seeding’ the market, talking about Blurb.com with cultural and creative influencers and organisations, and creating opportunities for Blurb.com in the marketplace.”

Tell us about the range of books in the Blurb bookstore.

“Blurb.com prints a book every 10 seconds. We have over 40,000 titles in our online bookstore. We see all kinds of books – photographs of dogs in bow ties to artist exhibitions to stunning graphical illustration, photography and brand books.  Everyone uses our platform for different purposes: as a business tool, agency creds book, writing fiction, photo books, fund-raising. Some titles do raise our eyebrows. As long as the content is not illegal there’s a market for it.”

Billy Blue Design School Students at Blurb.com Presentation

What have you been doing while you have been in Australia?

The team and I went to Semi-Permanent Creative Conference in Sydney as a sponsor and exhibitor.We spoke to creative professionals and students about Blurb.com can be used for portfolios, story-telling, brand books and more.

During this week we hang out with Blurb partner Art Whats On; caught up with potential partners; and met with local Blurb Nation designers.

I then flew to Fremantle in WA for the launch of month-long photography festival, Foto Freo, where Blurb was a sponsor and I did Magnum Workshop presentations. While we were in town, we ran a meet up for our WA Blurb bookmakers. Over 80 people squeeze into a small Fremantle bar to talk about book-making, share stories and show-off their books.

Melbourne was the last stop to to visit partner Red Bubble and cool global utility bag brand Crumpler.

From technology strategy and implementation to product and market development, the Pollenizer team played an integral part.

SportsPassion’s suite of free online community tools allow team managers and teammates to better communicate and collaborate, while sharing the fun and spirit of their sport.

Pollenizer Gets A Guernsey

So how does Pollenizer help? 3eep CEO Rob Antulov says the Pollenizer team has the ability to take an entrepreneur or business from the early concept phase into development and then beyond, once a product becomes live.

“In any company, let alone in a start-up, the real risk is that you try to do too much,” Antulov says. “In a start-up that can be particularly dangerous since there are so many things that are not yet proven – so, you can easily expend scarce resources doing the wrong thing.

“The cases where Pollenizer has helped us focus are numerous, ranging from understanding which clients are the right ones to listen to, through to which features in a new product design are the ones we should develop and which ones we should drop.” Pollenizer has also helped define and then target SportsPassion market campaigns.

“After you work with Pollenizer – if you really listen – you’ll know what you need to do, and why. Then, comes the hard part. Doing it. Lucky they help with that too!”

Rob Antulov, CEO 3eep

I’m running a Web Business Focus workshop for $80 on March 17.

I’ve done more than 35 focus workshops for clients over the past two years and I love doing them. We take a big vision and find out where our starting focus is and it lets us get started in a lean, agile way with a reasonable budget.

A lot of smaller startups haven’t had the budget to pay for one on one workshops, so some suggested a multi-person workshop. I’ve done these at BarCamps and BootupCamps and got good feedback, so I thought we’d do it. Here is the details;

Web Business Focus with Mick Liubinskas

Get 2010 in focus!

Do you run a start up that needs focus or have a great web business idea that you want to explore – then register for Pollenizer’s Focus Workshop run by Mick ‘Mr Focus’ Luibinskas, Pollenizer Co-founder, Chief Marketing Officer and serial entrepreneur.

What we’ll cover:

1. Why is focus and agility so important?
2. What is your core value and driver?
3. How to find your customer?
4. How to make the experience valuable, fast?
5. How to get people to your site?
6. How to make sure people come back?
7. How to get people to bring their friends or refer more business?
8. How to get people to share your content to the world?
9. How to build a roadmap?

What’s your investment?

• Three hours for one night
• Pre-workshop: complete a one page strategy summary
• $80 per person

In this interactive workshop you will find your busines focus. The purpose of the workshop is to help every participant find and/or refine their business focus for 2010. Over two hours we will cover the business, the product, the market, the customer acquisition strategy and communications using Pollenizer’s focus methodology.

In the last hour, you can ask questions and share your ideas with other participants.

Pollenizer’s marketing team will assist you with planning, to bounce ideas and support you in this process. We have helped over 30 web businesses find their marketing focus.

Join us for a enjoyable and challenging evening and kick off 2010 with brutal focus!

About Mick: http://www.pollenizer.com/about/our-team/mick-liubinskas/

Register Here for April