The solo-bootstrapped SaaS sales challenge | Hacker News Reader

The solo-bootstrapped SaaS sales challenge

linguaquote.com

74 pointsluxpir10 comments

Less focus on quantity, more focus on quality might yield a substantially higher conversion rate: 5 a week or even 2-3 well done articles a week may be a much better goal, especially if he can hunt for more enterprise accounts that create recurring revenue. A mix of media (e.g. podcast, short videos, webinars, e-book, etc...) and formats (e.g adding case studies, interviews of customers, panels of freelancers, business and process self-assessments, etc...) may have a bigger impact than 500 short articles.

I posted this 3 hrs ago, didn't want to respond too early in case it killed any potential conversation. But I think it's probably run its course by now.

Thanks very much for the thoughtful comment. I did originally have 5 a week in as a target, but it didn't feel substantial enough. But I know you're right in that my most popular 'hits' (no conversion at all, but widely read) were the most in-depth pieces.

I'm not convinced that a multimedia shower will convert better than the equivalent articles, I have no data on that at all. I presume you've seen some indicators pointing to mixed media working effectively so I'll take your word for it and definitely incorporate it where possible/relevant.

Hopefully I'll have some interesting data of my own to report at the end of the challenge. Or sooner if it works better than expected. If you've any cases in mind of others doing similar things, with their results, I'd be all ears.

Voice (podcast / video) builds trust faster than print/text; text is better for detailed technical information. Especially for Enterprise accounts this is a complex sale not an impulse purchase and you need to establish trust and credibility. Stanford credibility guidelines are also useful: https://credibility.stanford.edu/guidelines/ your site fails many of these tests.

Reading this reminds me of Tech in Asia. At least a couple of articles everyday, without fail, where most is recycled content, reads almost like Buzzfeed actually. But sometimes there are gems that give real insight to a market that otherwise would be harder to find elsewhere (Asian tech news outlets are numbered fewly). And that's enough for me to check it every day.

I hear you. The difference here is that I have been working on this business for years and I am fully motivated by circumstance and whatever else fuels motivation to execute. Perhaps not the case on the site you mention.

There'll be more from me on this, so do check back from time to time :)

As others have pointed out, spending more time on quality content would probably serve you better. Unless you're a gifted, uncanny writer, you're going to inevitably write thin content if you produce the amount that you're talking about writing in the next year.

And thin content = very, very high bounce rates. You'll probably struggle to hit your conversion topics.

In the vast tsunami of content, your potential users are looking for detailed, relevant and actionable content - not a short, dashed off article.

That's my gut feeling anyway. Regardless, good luck with your efforts. Keep us updated.

Instead of going for the quick take, spend your time writing one article a week that's higher quality with the intent of virality

> mainly sales calls and content writing system

Goes on to list strategy for only content writing system. No mentions of strategy on sales calls.

"If you want action don’t write. Go and tell the guy what you want." -- David Oglivy

That's pretty much because I'm going to be rolling out cold-calls 101. The only 'advanced' stuff I might try is pre-warming prospects with emails or similar. Otherwise it's just finding likely prospects, me, the phone and the law of averages. And of course lots of attention to objections, what works, what doesn't etc.

The post was just publicly setting myself the challenge. After a few hundred calls I'll post up some information on how it's going and hopefully a strategy of sorts will have developed. Don't expect much more than 'I called many people, was attentive, and some bought' in the best case scenario.

Thanks for the Ogilvy quote. I think that's just as valid as it was in the 20th century (I presume that's when he said it). Perhaps moreso.

If you haven't read predictable revenue take a look at that. It'll help you develop a cadence of outreach touches to warm prospects through the process. One of my favorite tips he recommends is the "referral down".

1. Connect with leader of organization on Linkedin. 2. Wait 3 days. 3. Send one line email to leader of organization politely requesting a referral down to the decision maker and stakeholder you'd like to speak with. 4. Have initial qualifying conversation with stakeholder.

This leads to a much higher connect rate than just calling in cold.

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