Sunday, December 2, 2012

Quick Sales Tip: PostWire.com for Sales Prospecting

I am always looking for new ways of improving the way that I prospect, especially when it comes to qualifying opportunities. I came across PostWire earlier this year and have to say I really like it. The way we sell has certainly evolved and contrary to many “sales experts” cold calling is not dead, it's actually just gotten easier. In the past we just had the yellow pages /other directories and a telephone. Then the Internet changed the way we live our lives – both personally and business wise. There are great ways to passively engage and qualify prospects without having to always be in direct communication with them via phone or email.

PostWire is a web service that allows me to send content like videos, files, web links, sales/marketing collateral etc to prospects, and has a comment wall to allow for collaboration.  









Here is how I use it:
  • After I get in contact with and qualify a prospect, I tell them that I will be sending them a “PostWire page”, which “contains all sorts of content like videos, case studies, blog posts, etc”.
  • Postwire allows me to share the page with as many email addresses I want. As part of the sharing process, I am able to attach a customized message to the recipients.
Sharing this PostWire page is valuable for a few reasons. Of course, it allows me to share great content with my prospects that will be helpful with further educating them as opposed to sending multiple emails back and forth. Sharing these pages allows me to create actions. The sharing of the page can be a quick and easy “next step”, and action on my part. Postwire has a killer feature that sends me an email when someone has viewed the page. This not only gives me some indication that they are remotely interested but it becomes quite interesting when they access the page multiple times. You can also set the privacy settings to allow anyone with the URL to be able to access the page. The caveat is that PostWire will not able to identify who is visiting the page yet will still send you an email that “someone” has visited your page. My colleague and Chief Marketing Office at PunchTab Angela Sanfilippo, describes PostWire as "Pinterest meets marketing collateral". 

As you can see there are plenty of useful ways that PostWire can help salespeople more effectively communicate with and share collateral with prospects. According to the PostWire team they will be adding great CRM integration features in the coming months. Things like Salesforce.com integration for example.

Here is more information regarding PostWire:




Wednesday, September 12, 2012

Entrepreneurship is a Commitment to the Journey

I always joke around about how I have been torturing myself for nearly 10 years by being in the startup game as an entrepreneur. When I first started my career, I guess thats what you call it -- "a career", I swore I'd be rich and famous by 22, then it was 23, then it was; well, you get the point. Today, I'm 31 years old and happier than ever as an entrepreneur. Have I made $20 million dollars, nope. Do I have the mansion on the beach in Miami (my hometown), negative. Have I had a tremendously successful exit, no. So why am I happier than ever you may ask yourself?

Well, its because I understand what this whole entrepreneurship thing is all about now. For the overwhelming majority of us, its not a quick road to financial success. And in fact, if you are doing it for the glamour and fame, you are better off moving to Hollywood and trying to be an actor. For me its been a life journey. My life as an entrepreneur has grown and evolved in the way that I have grown and evolved as a human being. I was once a child and now I am an adult. At one point I thought that my drive to be a entrepreneur was all about the money; yes, I'll admit it. I consider this my youthful days of my entrepreneurial life. I thought it was a quick road if I worked hard enough and that patience was for losers. Again, part of my youthful days. You see, there is no doubt that financial success is meaningful and I still strive for it, yet money is not something that motivates long term and patience is a discipline that enables you to manage both the wins and the loses. You realize over time that this is who you are -- you are an entrepreneur. You are not crazy and must accept that this is who you are, and thats its ok to want to build your own castle as opposed to living in someone else's. You must also understand that this is not an overnight process. You will climb the mountain and run out of energy, resources, spirit, etc, -- many, many times; most call this failure. 

Entrepreneurship is a life decision. A commitment to live your life the way you want to. And for others that means being an accountant, doctor, police officer, etc, etc - and thats perfectly fine. For this whole thing called life and society to work, it requires everyone fitting into the role that they are passionate about. Yet, for you people like us, this is a life full of ups and downs. And just as in all growth processes, over time you become accustomed to these changes and although "failure" will always sting, wisdom is achieved and your spirit becomes stronger and less penetrable.  

Happiness and Balance

My friend Steli Efti Founder and CEO of Elastic Sales, talks a lot about being a happy entrepreneur. I couldn't agree more. Look its tough; very tough. Yet that cant allow you to become a bitter cynical person when things dont work out the way to planned they would. Entrepreneurship is a journey as is life. And although I am incapable of explaining to you why horrible things happen in life on a daily basis, I can assure you that focusing on these awful things doesn't help anyone. And in business, you should learn from your mistakes and difficult moments and make the decision to chalk them up as a opportunities for growth. Focus on the good that has occurred even if its hard sometimes to see it. You must fight for this clarity. After my previous startup failed, I was so depressed and discouraged that I could not see the good that it had brought. Today I am so thankful for having gone through that experience. Each venture grows your network, teaches you valuable lessons, and makes you that much more ready to run a successful company and be a good leader. 

Steli also spoke about adding meditation to his life and not working himself to complete exhaustion. I also agree with this. I too used to work myself to the point that my brain would just shut off. And although, doing a startup requires an immense amount of dedication and time spent working, it's important to focus on the things that matter and know when your effort needs to be redirected. I believe that in order to be at your best, make sound decisions, and be a great leader, you need to be able to develop the discipline needed to know when you need a break for personal development and nurturing. If you think about it, what does it all matter if you have destroyed your health, both mental and physical, in the process? -- Since I have committed to working equally as hard on my personal development including physically, mentally, and spiritually, I have not only become a better person yet have seen my career improve 10x. 

Opportunities for Growth or Growth Moments

Lastly, I want to talk to you about what I call growth moments. These are challenging moments in our lives where things might be going terribly wrong. Whether its in our personal lives or with our startup, these are moments where our character and spirit is put  to the test and many times knock us down to the floor barely hanging on. Does this sound familiar? -- If It does I am here to say that you have made it through ok. And if you are currently dealing with this, I can assure you that this too shall pass. These are what I call opportunities for growth or growth moments. The caveat is that we have to make the decision to be open to growth. Whether you have lost an important business deal, cant seem to raise capital, or experienced a startup failing, these are all opportunities to grow. Now, Im not saying its gonna be easy. Most growth comes with a little and sometimes a lot of resistance, yet I can assure you that this is merely part of your journey. Its part of the process that we all must go through as entrepreneurs. Accept it now and move forward. 

So for now, take a deep breath and enjoy the journey. This is a bumpy yet road amazing road we are on NOW and what lies ahead will come in due time...

Tuesday, September 4, 2012

Sales4StartUps - Teaching B2B Startups all about Sales


In late 2011, we decided to host our first Sales4StartUps event at Crittercism's office in SOMA, SF. To our surprise we had 80 + attendees and people seemed to really love what we were doing. As a result, we decided to formally launch Sales4StartUps as a way to help teach B2B tech startups how to sell. We do this through events, seminars, and online content. Although Sales4StartUps.org is still under development, we have successful conducted and scheduled 10 + events/seminars across the U.S and Mexico. 

We've partnered with countless startups including Pipedrive, LaunchRock, and NimbleCRM and work with organizations like Wilson Sonsini Goodrich Rosati, 500 Startups's Mexican.VC, Capital Factory, Microsoft Nerd Center, and more. 

Check Out Our Upcoming Events:


Highly Recommended: 
September 12, 2012 in Palo Alto, CA -- Great for learning how to improve your sales presentations. 
http://sales4startupspaloalto2.eventbrite.com/

See ALL Live Events:

Sunday, January 22, 2012

Angelpad's Thomas Korte is a Great Guy to Have in Your Corner

It doesn't take a rocket scientist to know that most incubator programs fund and work with way more companies than they can possibly develop meaningful relationships with. In fact, you hear it all the time -- founders complaining about the fact that they didnt get the personalized attention that they expected. And in the defense of the programs its pretty difficult to connect with everyone; especially your Y-Combinators of the world, who have large staffs and like 100 + founders per class.

The one thing I can say about Angelpad and specifically its founder Thomas Korte, is that he actually really knows your name. He actually gives a crap about you and your team. Its been about a year since I participated and I still feel the connection to Angelpad. Whether its the happy hours or great conversations about life in general, Thomas Korte is genuinely a good guy, who cares about his founders; irrespective of whether their start up succeed or not.

Im summary:

Thomas Korte = Great Guy

Angelpad = If you get in, great opportunity to get the visibility needed to get a chance in the dot.com/start up big league of fund raising. And perhaps, even better you become a part of a fraternity of great business minds.