Promoting a startup, how?

If a startup is good — and it even do not need to advertise, just to show friends — the rest will come on their own. Thus one can avoid garraffello, which in most cases leads to epic fail.

"everyone came up to us" - surprise now a startup is very difficult, and any domestic startup (CIS) is a reconsideration (often negative) of the implemented Western ideas.

If you have built the tool that someone needs to use it, the only way to force the people to use it is to give it to them to try in every way to cajole and to undermine it for their requirements.
From the point of view of marketing - email newsletter, minimally Intrusive, but the most persistent. It can be digest, project news, and so on. You come up with buns from the competition? Do not rush to bring them in prod. Steep audience. Let the people you feel, touch and see no difference from the analog, or do not see the obvious benefits. Boiling point is defined in terms of artazov. Sent 1000 emails - it's 800 - poked twisted 300. Repeat until happened situationally 1000 - it's 100 - poke 1 - 5 wrote an angry, pismo support with the requirement to delete from the database. The client is angry at you - the client knows you. The one who is angry - he preset. Prikruchivayte buns and send welcome letter style "You like - we did." From love to hate and back one step and you will get customers (not the audience, namely the customers).

No matter how corny it sounds, be best promoted by the promoters. Really helped us decide what we sell, colleagues from nwcomm.ru. They in a short time, we found more customers than we were able to Spud.

The cornerstone of the promotion of the project — necessity of the project. If the "MEGASYSTEM exchange smells from under the armpits over the Internet" nobody needs, and to promote it will not work.

I think it all depends on what your project does, for example, is an online service for Yuriko or physicists.
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1. sending to all friends and please pass it on
2. if you have something new to write — to write the news and send in the media
3. publishing links in different groups in the VC, etc.
4. Buy, if you have money, the advertising, it is better not banners and links, and even better to pay for the action — registration, downloading, filling out questionnaires, etc.
5. sending email newsletters, not spam, for example there are paid options, advertising the services of the type Spaylog or HotLog. If the service has no such option — invite them to do, you will be the first customers (assuming that the database of contacts of their clients they have )
6. SEO
7. video SEO
8. participation in competitions, rankings
9. contests for attracting attention and audience to play out the new iPhone 4 for those who will lead new friends and Ave.
10. more
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I do not agree that good service does not need to advertise. All the advertise themselves, but for different and Facebook and Google, and Porsche and Mercedes and Coke.

Yes, that's right, the promotion of a startup depends a lot on startup. Well, the most important is to clearly define the target audience. To sell skateboards in a nursing home - failure idea. Well, if exhausted the domestic market - move international: localization, completion features under the requirements of the new market. For example to go to Korea with mobile game, which can not boast great graphics, at least, is not promising. In General, if you do not know what to do next, contact the specialists. They'll look, appreciate, say something and where not.

Here is a good article on habré