Traction: A Startup Guide to Getting Customers

by Gabriel Weinberg

the biggest mistake startups make when trying to get traction is failing to pursue traction in parallel with product development.

Targeting blogs is one of the most effective ways to get your first wave of customers. There are a variety of tools you can use to uncover relevant blogs including YouTube, Delicious, StumbleUpon, Twitter, search engines, Google Alerts and Social Mention. You can run tests on a variety of smaller blogs to see what type of blog and blog audience resonates best with your product and messaging. Small blog sponsorships (especially to personal blogs) can be an effective tactic. Another is providing influential bloggers early access or offering early access in exchange for spreading the word. When launching, link-sharing communities can be an effective tool to generate traffic, feedback, and buzz.