I've helped dozen of startups multiply their revenue. AMA🔥

Nadezhda Kuzmenko
55 replies
I'm an experienced marketer with a passion for startups and big Ideas. I've developed marketing strategies for dozens of projects in different fields and worked with paid ads, PR, bloggers, social networks, marketplaces, email marketing, and more. Feel free to ask me anything about your business growth, and I'll try to give you some tips!

Replies

Aaron O'Leary
Awesome! Thanks for doing this, Nadezhda. How do you start a marketing strategy, I always find putting find pen to paper, the hardest part.
Nadezhda Kuzmenko
@aaronoleary actually, I don't even take a pen at all:) I start from talking to a company founders / product managers, surfing web and reading what people talk about the product, which people say that, who are the competitors and so on. And in the middle of doing this, ideas of what to do, come to my mind, and here is the exact moment when you need a pen
Abid Unnisa
@vse_horoscho how would you do it if the product is still in GTM stage?
Nadezhda Kuzmenko
@abid_unnisa you can do everything I mentioned apart from "what people say", you can learn more how similar products are promoted and you also can make customer development interviews to learn what they think exactly about your product.
Ozan Yalçın
Thank you for the post Nadezhda, I would like to ask that, we are a company that is respect people's personal data. We don't even have cookies on our website. So what would you advise for generating leads for this kind of company?
Nadezhda Kuzmenko
@ozan_yalcin1 Hi Ozan, I think I'm not informed enough abuot this field so you have to answer my questions first:)) is this respectation of the data a core of your company / product? Or is it just one of the property? Anyway, companies usually ask for approval to use the data but make it maximally smooth, may be you could make this process more visible if it's important to demonstrate the respect to data safety?
Nadezhda Kuzmenko
@ozan_yalcin1 Hi Ozan, I've launched a new project and need support, please help! https://www.producthunt.com/post...
Krishna Kumar
Thanks in advance @vse_horoscho. What would be your advice for a product whose users and influencers can be found on Twitter, but not necessarily the decision makers or the budget holders?
Nadezhda Kuzmenko
@kkumarkg and where are the decision makers and budget holders?:) you can make your communication in Twitter in the way to make potential users your "sales managers" who talk and sell to desicision makers. At first, you should make them want using your product and then give them arguments which they can transfer to desicion makers and explain why the desicion makers need the product too. Does it help?
Nadezhda Kuzmenko
@kkumarkg So, you can talk to them directly in parallel too: for ex., via direct messages, paid ads, content distribution, event making
Nadezhda Kuzmenko
@kkumarkg hi there, now I need your help! Please support my new project: https://www.producthunt.com/post...
Tornike Phkhovelishvili
Thanks for doing this, Nadezhda! We are at the stage where our users love our product, and we are getting good feedback, but I am still unable to find a constant way of getting new traffic. We launched around 2 weeks ago, but still. Any tips? About the project: knowledgehunt.co curates the best startup-related free resources around the web so that users can have a one-stop-shop solution for their knowledge-related needs. Our target is startup enthusiasts, founders, and people working in Startups. Thanks.
Nadezhda Kuzmenko
@tornike_phkhovelishvili Hi Tornike! Intriguing product:) I believe to get a constant traffic you need a relatively long-term plan of activities, at least for a month. Do you have one? For example: this week we publish an article in the media X, the next week we start paid ads on Facebook (btw it's a constant traffic itself as long as you pay for it), the third week we make a collaboration with a blogger, one more week - launch on Product Hunt and so on
Tornike Phkhovelishvili
@vse_horoscho I think in my case problem is that I have too many activities and don't know what to focus on (also my marketing budget is not significant). In case you are interested here is the list of channels I am trying for the next month or so (PH messed up formatting a bit but still): 1. Twitter 1. Ads 2. Daily content 3. Outreach by likes of ProductHunt 4. Answering the questions 2. LinkedIn 1. Ads 2. Daily content 3. Outreach by likes of a certain post 4. Answering the posts 3. Quora 1. Answering quetsions 2. Submitting posts 4. Reddit 1. Submitting posts 2. Answering the posts 3. Ads 5. Indiehackers 1. Submitting posts 2. Answering 6. ProductHunt 1. Submitting posts 2. Answering 7. Gumroad 1. Seeing all startup related conent for 0$ > outreach to author 8. Submit on directories 9. Find micro-influencers 10. Newsletter sponsorship 11. SEO 12. Medium blog writers 13. Youtube influencers 14. [https://news.ycombinator.com/](h... posting
Nadezhda Kuzmenko
@tornike_phkhovelishvili not bad:) what is the problem with focusing on? don't you see how much traffic comes from each channel?
Jenkins Joseph
hey nadezhda, this discussion is really beautiful, thanks so much i'm about to start a design studio, what would you say is a good way to get leads and close clients?
Nadezhda Kuzmenko
@amjosephjenkins Hi Jenkins, thank you! You know, I believe in networking here the most of all. You can work in all the same channels to build your brand and so on but you'll more likely get leads directly from your personal communication with the market players so (a couple of examples): you need to be active on Linkedin (or another relevant platforms), participate in relevant events and speak there, take part in discussions about design in media, communities and social nets, etc.
Nadezhda Kuzmenko
@amjosephjenkins hi Jenkins, now I need your help! Please support my new project: https://www.producthunt.com/post...
Edward Cederlund
Hi Nadezhda! We have built MicroMove, a Chrome extensión including guided 1-minute micro exercises to improve posture etc for those of us who spend long hours at our computers :) We offer a free version incl. 1 breathing exercise per day for anyone to get started, and a premium version with unlimited breathing, body and mind exercises. The extension has a reminder that appears on any tab you are on to help you take micro breaks and complete your daily exercise goals. Given your experience and with this information, what activities would you recommend focusing on for maximum growth when we roll it out to the public? We have had 100 beta testers while building the product and have found that the perfect persona is someone spending most of their workdays sitting down at their computer, and somewhat interested in wellness. 🙏
Nadezhda Kuzmenko
@cederlund You know, I believe you can use all the standard channels from paid ads (maybe you saw such Facebook \ Instagram ads that say "Take a break for a min and breath") to bloggers and PH launch. But actually, I wouldn't like to repeat here "use paid ads" as genius advice every time so let's think about something not so standard. How about trying to make your beta testers your influencers? You can probably make a referral program for them or integrate advertising posts to their own blogs if they respond to certain conditions (amount of followers for example). They can be mini and even micro bloggers but should drive you in some way if launched all at once. What do you think?
Edward Cederlund
@vse_horoscho appreciate the comment! I understand paid ads, PH launch and a potential referral program. But what do you mean specifically when you say bloggers? Is that a channel you recommend how would you best execute it in our position? 🙏
Nadezhda Kuzmenko
@cederlund I can't recommend and nobody can:) you should test and see how it works for you. What I mean: find the bloggers who potentially have audience that could be interested in your product, give them a try of it and ask to promote it among their audience, it can be paid or not. Which bloggers could it be? For example, those one who write or make videos about wellness and selfcare, psychologists, doctors — it's just a first step. Then you can ask yourself which topics could be interesting for people who spend too much time in front of a computer and find bloggers who talk about it. Actually, I think it's almost every topic because while people read or watch bloggers it's those exact moment when they need your exercises:))
Nadezhda Kuzmenko
@cederlund please take a look at my new project and support if possible: https://www.producthunt.com/post...
Mark Lamb
whats your top 3 do's and donts for PLG, and whats your thoughts of pure PLG vs mixing it with account based sales?
Nadezhda Kuzmenko
@highgroundio Honestly, I prefer to consider a certain situation and certain products / businesses, not any marketing / business theories in vacuum, so I prefer not to answer your question in such a format, sorry:) I believe every business is unique and more details about it we know, more accurate "rules" (or dos' and donts) we could create for it
Peter Fischer Flórez
I am developing a SaaS that will track income and expenses for the vacation rental industry. Any help welcome
Naveed Rehman
thank you for offering yourself as chatgpt of Marketing 😊 where can we find your portfolio and some of your work in action? thanks
Nadezhda Kuzmenko
@naveed_rehman not sure if it's a good title:) you can learn more about me and my projects here: https://aware-comb-7bd.notion.si...
Business Marketing with Nika
What were the social media channels you used? What are the projects you are proud of the most?
Nadezhda Kuzmenko
@busmark_w_nika it depends on the product / business, I use those channels where the audience potentially are. It can be Discord when we have a project about gaming or crypto, for example, and it can be Instagram when we promote nail studio, it can also be Linkedin if I'm looking for professional audience. When I choose channels I just look through different platforms and see where people I need can hang out.
Nadezhda Kuzmenko
@busmark_w_nika regarding the projects... very cool questions, thank you! The most of all, I'm proud of my work for Anisoprint, a manufacturer of industrial 3D printers. Together, we became one of the leaders of the niche worldwide started from being a small local startup. You can find more info about it here, case #3: https://aware-comb-7bd.notion.si...
kash Gunaretnam
Hey, I just launched my MVP and any tips on getting the right message across to the users?
Nadezhda Kuzmenko
@kash_gunaretnam too common question, sorry, It depends on what you want your users to hear and then do after reading your message
Richard Gao
Do you find optimizing for conversions with website design, etc is more important, or is marketing and getting more eyeballs on your product more important when starting out? Mainly asking for my own startup evoke-app.com, since most traffic has been from just me promoting on social media
Nadezhda Kuzmenko
@richard_gao2 I beleive it's important to constantly improve all the stages of your marketing/sales funnel. You need marketing activities to get more people to your website but then you need a good website to generate this traffic into leads. These are all links of one chain
Kyle Tummonds
What are some tips that you could provide for those that are in a pre-launch phase? Before a product is released.
Nadezhda Kuzmenko
@kyle_tummonds I would recommend pretenting that it's already live! I mean, in my opininon, it's necessary to start building brand and attracting potentially interested people right away. Start talking about it, looking for a positioning, make customer development interviews, learn your competitors, count money — do everything according to a marketing stratedy building plan, it will help understand how to sell the product in the future, and create an amount of followers who will be ready to buy it when it's launched
Kyle Tummonds
@vse_horoscho I love the advice. We are currently doing this at the moment, so its good to hear that we are on the right track!
Aleksander Frankowicz
Hi, I am preparing MVP version of PLG. Now it is in alpha phase, but I am wondering about how to prepare perfectly to PH launch. What should I do or achieve before, to know we are ready?
Nadezhda Kuzmenko
@ofrankowicz Hi Aleksander, there are two main parts: the content of your listing and looking for support. Regarding the first one, I can't say anything new, you should just google and use the best practices of people who launched before (I did the same). And what about the channels where to ask for support, I believe you should check them in advance and prepare messages for them, you can read which channels we used here: https://www.producthunt.com/disc...
Axel B
Hi, I want to build a Saas product with multi-tenant architecture that will need to scale, do you have any suggestions to help me find the right cloud host? I only know Vercel and don't know what the alternatives are. Thank you :)
Brajendra Kumar
Hey Nadezhda, thank you for the AMA! Wanted to learn more about your thoughts on comparison between a pay as you go model v/s subscription model for a startup in the SAAS industry. What do you think makes more sense as a company as well as a business client?
Nadezhda Kuzmenko
@brajendra_kumar2 sorry, I can't answer such question:) it's necessary to test different approaches and see how it works for a certain business
Nadezhda Kuzmenko
Hey folks, today my team has launched a new product, Chatfuel AI, a chatbot builder based on revolutionary ChatGPT. Please support us here: https://www.producthunt.com/post...