At the end of the day, you have to build a service that people want to use or no amount of marketing or advertising will help. But if you are successful in building something people want — if you have traction and positive feedback — you will still need to make a serious effort to acquire users. Simply relying on the idea of “build it and they will come” won’t fly in the oversaturated world of startups we live in.

Track the Source of Your Traffic

Before knowing where or how to acquire new users for free, you need to understand where your best conversions are taking place. The way to do this is by adding tracking code to your site: (1) what website a visitor is arriving from; (2) the click on the signup form; and (3) the completed registration.

The last piece of the puzzle is calculating the lifetime value (LTV) of each registered user. You may see a lot of signups by a certain type of user, but that cohort may bring in only half the revenue of another cohort that may provide fewer total signups.

This kind of data is especially valuable. You want to trace back to the web environments of your most lucrative cohorts, figuring out who they are and why they’re converting better than other users. You can then start to target these users specifically. For example, if Carbonmade knows that wedding photographers in Europe convert higher than any other users, we can target where they like to hang out (forums, blogs, newsletters, offline, etc.).

The Viral Strategy

We’re all familiar with the idea of viral user acquisition: Your current users invite other users to use your service. Foursquare and similar viral success stories (Instagram, etc.) do a great job at this by tapping into your Facebook, Twitter, and phone’s contact list to get friends to join you through their “Invite Friends” tab.

You want to be able to track how new viral users are coming into your system. Specifically, you want to be able to measure conversion and measure the average number of invites users are sending out. If these numbers are high, you’re likely to have a viral service and your chances of huge growth are imminent.

The viral strategy isn’t without its problems, though. You’ll have little control over your demographics, which could overburden your support. For example, Tumblr found itself exploding in the Philippines very early on — Tumblr is among the top ten most visited sites in the Philippines — and they had to hire a huge team to support them there. Another issue is server growing pains. Twitter and Tumblr were knocked offline for long periods during their early viral growth days.

There are worse problems than exploding growth — who doesn’t want it? — but imagine not having the money or manpower to support it, leading to a decline in the quality of your service that causes people to jump ship, possibly to a competitor.

Create Micro Sites

A micro site is a landing page designed around a specific demographic and type of user. After you’ve tracked the source of your traffic (see above), you can develop these landing pages for users with the highest conversion rates. In my example above, we’d create a micro site for wedding photographers in Europe if they were our most robust cohort of converting users. Then we’d work our way down our list of LTV users and make landing sites for them.

The advantages of creating micro sites are: better SEO (you can target specific keywords for search engines); they’re great for A/B testing; the page is more targeted so you’re speaking specifically to a user group; and, if you do buy advertisements, you can funnel those ads directly to a specific page.

Give Away Something People Want

The most notorious practice of giving away something people want to encourage signups is found on gambling sites. Gambling sites all offer a “free poker bonus” for signing up and playing on their site. People see free money and they can’t resist. This doesn’t even end up costing the gambling sites much money either, as the “free poker bonus” isn’t unlocked until you’ve added $ 50 or more of your own money to your account and played a certain number of hands. By then, the poker site is banking that you’ve become hooked and plan on adding lots more money, and they’ve made money in any case from the rake they take on every hand played.

Of course giving away money can hardly be a strategy for “acquiring users for free,” but there are other things you can give away to attract them. Everyone loves free stuff. You can give away free paid accounts (see: Bootstrap Marketing), offer limited edition virtual goods such as icons, and special early adopter features. People love the feeling that they’ve received something exclusive that people after them won’t be able to get.

What Are Your Competitors Doing to Acquire Users?

One very effective way to acquire new users is to monitor how your competitors do it. Take note of where they’re receiving press from and what marketing they’re doing. This just happened recently to us at Carbonmade. A competitor reached out to a prominent Canadian photography website that wrote a detailed article about us and asked if the site would cover them next. Touché! I have to give them credit for trying.

While this photography website didn’t end up writing a piece about them, just as often a writer will want to paint a complete picture of what they’re covering and include your service in a follow-up or future article. You know they’re interested in your space if they’ve already written about a competitor of yours.

You also want to see where your competitors are spending their money. If you see that they’re pumping money into a particular means of acquiring users, then it’s likely that they’ve found a sweet spot. You’ll want to get a piece of the action too before it’s too late.

Transitioning to Paying For Users

Acquiring users for free is great when you’re just starting out and strapped for cash, but as soon as you’ve got the metrics worked out to support paying to acquire users, you should. You’ll still need to have optimized your service with free user acquisition before paying to acquire them.

Even knowing that every dollar you put in makes you two back, you’ll need revenue or financing to fund acquisition. This is often a Catch 22 for bootstrapped startups, as you have to decide whether spending money on a new hire to improve your product will net you a greater gain than paying to acquire users. When you’re first starting out, I think it’s better to hire.

The reasons to pay to acquire users are fairly simple. For starters, you’ll make money, but more importantly you’ll prevent competitors from entering the market by increasing your market share. Free users are still the best to generate a positive ROI, but don’t neglect what money can buy you.

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NYC, Startups, Clippings & Musings

Some young couples who are facing varied soundness problem, these individuals can buy remedies from the Web without any problem. Unconditionally, one of the wonderful place where buyers can purchase medicines is Internet. One of the best treatment for inability to get or keep an erection is Viagra. Today sundry articles were published about viagra substitute. You may have heard about “where to buy viagra“. Various companies describe it as “how to get viagra“. Sure, for a lot of guys, bringing up the problem in the first place is the toughest step. The most common perhaps serious side effects of such medications like Viagra is headache. Contact your physician if you have any dangerous side effect that does not go away. The extremely important point make sure that when you buy medicines like Viagra online, you get real remedy. Some of the web-sites offer really hazardous fakes.

The post Ways to Acquire Users for Free (from spencerfry.com) < great post (HT @evbart) appeared first on NY French Geek.

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FloCo’s posterous

Some young couples who are facing different soundness problem, these individuals can buy remedies from the Web without any problem. Unconditionally, one of the wonderful place where buyers can purchase medicines is Internet. One of the best treatment for inability to get or keep an erection is Viagra. Today sundry articles were published about viagra substitute. You may have heard about “where to buy viagra“. Various companies describe it as “how to get viagra“. Sure, for a lot of guys, bringing up the problem in the first place is the toughest step. The most common possibly serious side effects of such medications like Viagra is headache. Contact your doc if you have any dangerous side effect that does not go away. The much great point make sure that when you buy medicines like Viagra online, you get real drug. Some of the web-sites offer really hazardous fakes.

The post Help People from Bloomberg appeared first on NY French Geek.

Easter: Best of Parent Hacks

Overcome Resistance and Get Out of Your Own Way

Engagement Condition – How to Engage Employees in the Workplace (graphic)

5 Awesome Tips to Writing Emails That Won’t Be Ignored

How To Do a Productivity Reboot

How a Simple Timer Can Magically Improve Your Productivity

Simplifying Your Computer

8 Ways to Use Meditation to Improve Your Business

5 Benefits of Meditation I Didn’t Expect

7 Ways to Increase Productivity in Your Gym Workouts

Happy Earth Day-Easter-Passover-Spring! Stay Producteev

Photo credit: Kent K. Barnes 

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What’s up at Producteev?

Some young couples who are facing varied heartiness problem, these individuals can buy remedies from the Web without any problem. Unconditionally, one of the wonderful place where buyers can purchase medicines is Internet. One of the best treatment for disability to get or keep an hard-on is Viagra. Today sundry articles were published about viagra substitute. You may have heard about “where to buy viagra“. Various companies describe it as “how to get viagra“. Sure, for a lot of guys, bringing up the problem in the first place is the toughest step. The most common possibly serious side effects of such medications like Viagra is headache. Contact your doc if you have any dangerous side effect that does not go away. The extremely great point make sure that when you buy medicines like Viagra online, you get real preparation. Some of the web-sites offer really hazardous fakes.

The post An Easter Egg from Us to You | Staff Picks #productivity appeared first on NY French Geek.

There is a difference between tasks that are hard to finish and hard to get to. Hard to finish implies that a task is intense and feels like it’s draining your brain cells. Hard to get to, on the other hand, is often mis-categorized in the realm of procrastination. 

There is yet another difference, perhaps so slight that it is hard to detect, between procrastination and time management. The latter can be misunderstood as the former. This is how I misunderstood what Aric said. His process for completing tasks actually resembles the Zone Quadrant, one of the four quadrants you should read about.

The concept of moving responsibilities from one quadrant to another can be tricky. So to get tasks in the desired, or “good quadrants” — those being high demand/management and The Zone/focus, the following environmental and behavior modifications can go a long way. 

Though some, including author of said method, recommend things like saying “no” and delegating more to cope with an overwhelming to-do list, we recommend:

• relaxation techniques
  • breathing
  • stretching
  • closing your eyes
  • aromatherapy
• careful music selection
  • depending on urgency
• disconnecting from devices

But don’t take it from us, check out these amazing responses from our community!

You’ll want to check out the full article The Four Quandrants to Help You Prepare to learn more.

Photo credit: College Grad Life

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What’s up at Producteev?

Some young couples who are facing different health problem, these individuals can buy remedies from the Web without any problem. Unconditionally, one of the wonderful place where buyers can purchase medicines is Internet. One of the best treatment for failure to get or keep an erection is Viagra. Today sundry articles were published about viagra substitute. You may have heard about “where to buy viagra“. Various companies describe it as “how to get viagra“. Sure, for a lot of guys, bringing up the problem in the first place is the toughest step. The most common potentially serious side effects of such medications like Viagra is headache. Contact your physician if you have any dangerous side effect that does not go away. The highly important point make sure that when you buy medicines like Viagra online, you get real drug. Some of the web-sites offer really hazardous fakes.

The post From Procrastination to Concentration: Advice from Our CTO & Community appeared first on NY French Geek.

The post Word from the Floor: Oil prices edge higher appeared first on NY French Geek.

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NYC, Startups, Clippings & Musings

Some young couples who are facing varied heartiness problem, these individuals can buy remedies from the Web without any problem. Unconditionally, one of the wonderful place where buyers can purchase medicines is Internet. One of the best treatment for failure to get or keep an erection is Viagra. Today sundry articles were published about viagra substitute. You may have heard about “where to buy viagra“. Various companies describe it as “how to get viagra“. Sure, for a lot of guys, bringing up the problem in the first place is the toughest step. The most common potentially serious side effects of such medications like Viagra is headache. Contact your doctor if you have any dangerous side effect that does not go away. The so significant point make sure that when you buy medicines like Viagra online, you get real drug. Some of the web-sites offer really hazardous fakes.

The post Will be live from this studio at 1.15pm on www.bfmbusiness.com! appeared first on NY French Geek.

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NYC, Startups, Clippings & Musings

Some young couples who are facing various health problem, these individuals can buy remedies from the Web without any problem. Unconditionally, one of the wonderful place where buyers can purchase medicines is Internet. One of the best treatment for failure to get or keep an erection is Viagra. Today sundry articles were published about viagra substitute. You may have heard about “where to buy viagra“. Various companies describe it as “how to get viagra“. Sure, for a lot of guys, bringing up the problem in the first place is the toughest step. The most common potentially serious side effects of such medications like Viagra is headache. Contact your physician if you have any dangerous side effect that does not go away. The very important point make sure that when you buy medicines like Viagra online, you get real preparation. Some of the web-sites offer really hazardous fakes.

The post Great crowd @nyfrenchgeek, with christophe from @totsy appeared first on NY French Geek.

A pre-flight checklist before you hit the “Tweet” button.

1. Has correct spelling, grammar, & abbreviations
Common and friendly SMS abbreviations are OK. Look to @MargaretAtwood for best practices.

2. Contains a URL
Tweets should be clickable, leading to an image, video, or page describing…

JUICY AGENCY

Some young couples who are facing different health problem, these individuals can buy remedies from the Web without any problem. Unconditionally, one of the wonderful place where buyers can purchase medicines is Internet. One of the best treatment for inability to get or keep an hard-on is Viagra. Today sundry articles were published about viagra substitute. You may have heard about “where to buy viagra“. Various companies describe it as “how to get viagra“. Sure, for a lot of guys, bringing up the problem in the first place is the toughest step. The most common perhaps serious side effects of such medications like Viagra is headache. Contact your physician if you have any dangerous side effect that does not go away. The highly great point make sure that when you buy medicines like Viagra online, you get real preparation. Some of the web-sites offer really hazardous fakes.

The post Tweet checklist From the founder of Twitter appeared first on NY French Geek.

Empty Wall : Drained from Social Media Week and Fashion Week just started…

JUICY AGENCY

The post Empty Wall : Drained from Social Media Week and Fashion… appeared first on NY French Geek.

From the New York Botanical Garden today:

nybg:

It’s an absolutely stunning day here at the Garden, thanks to this beautiful snowfall we’ve gotten.

JUICY AGENCY

Some young couples who are facing various health problem, these individuals can buy remedies from the Web without any problem. Unconditionally, one of the wonderful place where buyers can purchase medicines is Internet. One of the best treatment for inability to get or keep an hard-on is Viagra. Today sundry articles were published about viagra substitute. You may have heard about “where to buy viagra“. Various companies describe it as “how to get viagra“. Sure, for a lot of guys, bringing up the problem in the first place is the toughest step. The most common possibly serious side effects of such medications like Viagra is headache. Contact your doctor if you have any dangerous side effect that does not go away. The so important point make sure that when you buy medicines like Viagra online, you get real preparation. Some of the web-sites offer really hazardous fakes.

The post From the New York Botanical Garden today: nybg: It’s an… appeared first on NY French Geek.

Untold hours of productivity are lost every month due to simple misunderstandings and communication breakdowns. For some reason, many people seem to have a tough time organizing their thoughts and communicating their desires to their co-workers and employees.

I’m constantly amazed at the number of people who seem to have forgotten the basics of composing a written thought. Even some college grads have no grasp on how to speak/write in a way that moves a project forward.

If you are looking for a way to increase productivity and decrease stress, learning to communicate effectively can be the first step towards smoother workflows, faster turnaround times, and fatter bottom lines. Here are a handful of tips that will get you started.

1. Use clear, concise sentences.

Your goal, whether speaking aloud or composing an email, should be to make yourself instantly and completely understood. To that end, you should avoid using big words, steer clear of run-on sentences, and avoid any unclear phrasing.

You don’t need to use fancy vocab, Latin phrases, corporate buzzwords, or business acronyms to impress your colleagues…and nine times out of ten, using words like that won’t make you any friends. If a smaller, shorter word will do, then by all means, use that instead of whatever $ 5 word you just looked up in your thesaurus.

Avoid long sentences with multiple clauses and herds of commas. The longer a sentence is, the more confusing it becomes. Always keep that in mind when writing directions or project details for a colleague.

And for the love of God, make sure your phrasing is clear. There’s nothing worse than getting an email from a co-worker that’s so vaguely worded you have no idea what you’re supposed to do with it. If you aren’t sure that an email is clearly worded, step away from your computer for five minutes, and then look it over with a fresh perspective.

2. Keep a written record

Sometimes communicating effectively involves reminding people of what they’ve already told you, and when. Having a written record of all conversations related to a current or past account can be very helpful.

This is easy with email: just make sure never to delete old emails, and use filters for effortless organization. For meetings/calls, make sure you keep clean, easy to read notes that also include the time and date. Audio recording is also an option.

3. Make every comment actionable

Inevitably, there is a time in every person’s career where they get together with a group of colleagues to discuss a project or proposal, and give feedback as a group. It’s important that when you give feedback on a project, you give actionable directions…particularly you are at the top of the foodchain. Otherwise, the project can stagnate and people on your team can lose momentum.

It’s the difference between

“Someone needs to speak with our design team about using a new font.”

and

“Marcy, could you touch base with Jim in Design about our font preferences?”

This ties in with my next point…

4. Make all criticism constructive

“Constructive criticism” is one of those feel-good buzzwords we learn to loathe after high school English class. Nevertheless, learning to give helpful feedback to a colleague will not only improve your interpersonal relations, but also will help to improve the quality of your work.

Constructive criticism is more than just a nicer way of talking to people. By giving clear, focused feedback instead of vague, general notes, people you speak with can really learn to improve their methods and practices in the future.

It’s the difference between:

“This website is a disgrace.”

and

“I see a number of issues here, including the dark green background that makes the text hard to read, and punctuation issues in the first two paragraphs.”

5. Make sure you’re using the right word

Take a moment and review this list of commonly misused words and phrases.

See anything on there that relates to you? If so, you’re not alone.

So consider this: if you’ve been using the wrong words in your personal and business communications, how can you expect anyone to know what you really want? Spell check, grammar check, and the dictionary are your friends.

When in doubt, use them. If you aren’t in doubt, use them anyway.

Conclusion

Communication can be daunting. Many people are afraid of public speaking, for example, showing a link between fear of speech and ineffective communication. However, if you make a conscious effort to put some of these basic principles into practice, I’m sure you will see results very quickly.

So the next time you are crafting an email or preparing for a status meeting with your team, make sure that you are doing your utmost to communicate clearly and effectively. When everyone can understand what you are trying to say, you will find that your working life goes a lot more smoothly.

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What’s up at Producteev?

Some young couples who are facing different soundness problem, these individuals can buy remedies from the Web without any problem. Unconditionally, one of the wonderful place where buyers can purchase medicines is Internet. One of the best treatment for inability to get or keep an erection is Viagra. Today sundry articles were published about viagra substitute. You may have heard about “where to buy viagra“. Various companies describe it as “how to get viagra“. Sure, for a lot of guys, bringing up the problem in the first place is the toughest step. The most common potentially serious side effects of such medications like Viagra is headache. Contact your physician if you have any dangerous side effect that does not go away. The extremely important point make sure that when you buy medicines like Viagra online, you get real drug. Some of the web-sites offer really hazardous fakes.

The post Enhancing Productivity By Communicating Effectively – 5 easy tips from Stepcase Lifehack appeared first on NY French Geek.

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NYC, Startups, Clippings & Musings

Some young couples who are facing varied health problem, these individuals can buy remedies from the Web without any problem. Unconditionally, one of the wonderful place where buyers can purchase medicines is Internet. One of the best treatment for inability to get or keep an erection is Viagra. Today sundry articles were published about viagra substitute. You may have heard about “where to buy viagra“. Various companies describe it as “how to get viagra“. Sure, for a lot of guys, bringing up the problem in the first place is the toughest step. The most common potentially serious side effects of such medications like Viagra is headache. Contact your physician if you have any dangerous side effect that does not go away. The extremely great point make sure that when you buy medicines like Viagra online, you get real drug. Some of the web-sites offer really hazardous fakes.

The post Shabbat shalom from Quebec! appeared first on NY French Geek.

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FloCo’s posterous

Some young couples who are facing varied heartiness problem, these individuals can buy remedies from the Web without any problem. Unconditionally, one of the wonderful place where buyers can purchase medicines is Internet. One of the best treatment for disability to get or keep an erection is Viagra. Today sundry articles were published about viagra substitute. You may have heard about “where to buy viagra“. Various companies describe it as “how to get viagra“. Sure, for a lot of guys, bringing up the problem in the first place is the toughest step. The most common potentially serious side effects of such medications like Viagra is headache. Contact your doc if you have any dangerous side effect that does not go away. The very significant point make sure that when you buy medicines like Viagra online, you get real drug. Some of the web-sites offer really hazardous fakes.

The post Metrodome Roof Collapse Video From the Inside Metrodome appeared first on NY French Geek.

Back: Judi Huck community manager, Julien Rousseau web designer, Stephane Kryzywoglowy product manager, Ilan Abehassera CEO & co-founder
Center (on computer monitor): Thomas Bonnin developer
Front: Ismael Henchi developer, Aric Lasry lead developer & co-founder

From our team to yours, Happy Holidays!

2010 was a great year for us. We hired four new team members, and in 2011 we’re looking to hire more! We’ll also be releasing features and languages that you requested in the coming year!

We hope you have an amazing holiday season with all of whom you love. Cheers, everyone!

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What’s up at Producteev?

Some young couples who are facing different soundness problem, these individuals can buy remedies from the Web without any problem. Unconditionally, one of the wonderful place where buyers can purchase medicines is Internet. One of the best treatment for failure to get or keep an erection is Viagra. Today sundry articles were published about viagra substitute. You may have heard about “where to buy viagra“. Various companies describe it as “how to get viagra“. Sure, for a lot of guys, bringing up the problem in the first place is the toughest step. The most common possibly serious side effects of such medications like Viagra is headache. Contact your doc if you have any dangerous side effect that does not go away. The much great point make sure that when you buy medicines like Viagra online, you get real preparation. Some of the web-sites offer really hazardous fakes.

The post Season’s Greetings from Producteev Headquarters appeared first on NY French Geek.

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What’s up at Producteev?

Some young couples who are facing varied soundness problem, these individuals can buy remedies from the Web without any problem. Unconditionally, one of the wonderful place where buyers can purchase medicines is Internet. One of the best treatment for inability to get or keep an hard-on is Viagra. Today sundry articles were published about viagra substitute. You may have heard about “where to buy viagra“. Various companies describe it as “how to get viagra“. Sure, for a lot of guys, bringing up the problem in the first place is the toughest step. The most common potentially serious side effects of such medications like Viagra is headache. Contact your physician if you have any dangerous side effect that does not go away. The very much important point make sure that when you buy medicines like Viagra online, you get real drug. Some of the web-sites offer really hazardous fakes.

The post Producteev followers & fans tell why they made the switch from Remember the Milk appeared first on NY French Geek.

We came. We saw. We partied.

3 Days at TechCrunch Disrupt wore us out, but we began some amazing partnerships! All in all, we had a blast at the conference and we look forward to the next giant startup party!

We asked 15 startups what they thought of Disrupt, and above are their video interviews. We promise, this will be the last re-living of the event until next year.

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What’s up at Producteev?

Some young couples who are facing different soundness problem, these individuals can buy remedies from the Web without any problem. Unconditionally, one of the wonderful place where buyers can purchase medicines is Internet. One of the best treatment for failure to get or keep an erection is Viagra. Today sundry articles were published about viagra substitute. You may have heard about “where to buy viagra“. Various companies describe it as “how to get viagra“. Sure, for a lot of guys, bringing up the problem in the first place is the toughest step. The most common possibly serious side effects of such medications like Viagra is headache. Contact your doctor if you have any dangerous side effect that does not go away. The so important point make sure that when you buy medicines like Viagra online, you get real preparation. Some of the web-sites offer really hazardous fakes.

The post 15 startups present their takeaways from TechCrunch Disrupt 2010 SF appeared first on NY French Geek.

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NYC, Startups, Clippings & Musings

Some young couples who are facing different health problem, these individuals can buy remedies from the Web without any problem. Unconditionally, one of the wonderful place where buyers can purchase medicines is Internet. One of the best treatment for inability to get or keep an hard-on is Viagra. Today sundry articles were published about viagra substitute. You may have heard about “where to buy viagra“. Various companies describe it as “how to get viagra“. Sure, for a lot of guys, bringing up the problem in the first place is the toughest step. The most common potentially serious side effects of such medications like Viagra is headache. Contact your physician if you have any dangerous side effect that does not go away. The so important point make sure that when you buy medicines like Viagra online, you get real drug. Some of the web-sites offer really hazardous fakes.

The post Totally AWESOME hip hop medley from Justin Timberlake and Jimmy Fallon!! Only in the US appeared first on NY French Geek.