This is some stuff I’ve learned using Roll20 (my best practices) plus a little free GM advice. Basically my gaming group had to transition to this quickly when Covid struck, but this has really allowed me to get my weekly game in and I’ve learned a few things that might help you do the same.
My tech setup: Laptop, $20 Craigslist 2nd monitor, ancient Bamboo Graphics Tablet/ Mouse, Roll20 free account, Discord for Voice, Pinterest for monster tokens/maps
Discord Setup I create 2 channels in Discord: general and an information one with links to cheat sheets, any google drive content etc.
If you plan a long running information heavy campaign with lots of places, characters, plots, items etc setting up a Wiki on something like DokuWiki can be very helpful. This DOES mean you and players need to maintain it, however. (Also, don’t be grandiose if you are a first time DM, run a single session with the option to renew LATER, go ahead and be coy about it - this will save you the headache of committing to do 52 weeks of unpaid labor you come to resent AND kick people out of your game who are lousy players or you just don’t like - I cannot stress this enough - manage expectations up front, it prevents a lot of hurt feelings and awkward or confrontational conversations later)
I have Roll20 open on the 2nd monitor in chrome as well as Pinterest, A google doc with names for NPCs, Interesting sounding places, items etc - this is my Improv tool for DungeonWorld, but I use it for all games because no one I ever met can make up names on the fly.
If you have people who like to eat chips into the mic or have a lot of background noise tell them to enable “Push to Talk” in settings or tell all players to enable this BY DEFAULT.
Roll20 There are a ton of videos on getting to know roll20 on youtube.
Manage your game settings - these are presets before you even create a map, etc. I use a default page size of 40 wide x 25 tall to mirror screen aspect ratio. I also like a 30% grey as default map color - easier on the eyes than bright white. Fog of war is enabled - more on this later. With DnD the default character sheet is nice, you might want to know the “always roll with advantage” check box is in there - it confuses a lot of people that it is on by default.
Once you have a game set up, go into it and go to settings on the right (gear) I recommend: • Set voice + Audio options to NONE • Set your display name (save) • Check Enable 3d dice • Dropdown “Scroll to Zoom” (you can pan with a right mouse click) • Player Video/Avatar set to “Name Only”
Give out your link to Roll20 for players at 1-7 days in advance. Getting a character sheet with a functioning token set up can take a little bit - you do NOT want to be stressing over this wasting 4 other people’s time on game day, though it is inevitable to a point in your first game. They will need to set up the same settings or you will suffer terrible audio feedback. To help this, the first board they enter on login is a blank map with these instructions pasted as a graphic in the middle of the screen (hard to miss). If players have DnD Beyond there is a Chrome Extension called Beyond 20 to import characters a lot of people like, though I personally have not used it.
I tell players to also put there name as follows in settings:
“Drizzt (Bob) AC 15”
This saves me having to ask their AC over and over in game. If you want you can also have them put “Elf Ranger” at the end or anything else you find helpful.
Getting Players I tried Roll20 boards and other websites to find gamers. Facebook groups were most effective by a long shot. A lot of RPG gaming systems have Discord groups as well, which is nice because those people are already fans of the game system. It’s a good idea to build in expectations as much as possible if you are doing this (6-9pm CST weekly for 3 weeks, grimdark game tone...etc). I like to identify who my solid players are too - a mix of some people I know and like and maybe a few newbs. That way you are always meeting new people, and if you have a few new ones that you can’t count on you don’t need to call off the game because you have 3 solid players.
Minimum Viable Setup Some people think you need 15 full color maps, spell effects, etc. This is not true - while those can be impressive and evocative, this is a game of IMAGINATION, and sometimes having those beautiful graphics in my opinion detracts from the active use of imagining the action. The key point of maps is so everyone knows who they are standing next to, threatened by, where they can move, etc.
The smallest, fastest set up is a SINGLE page with hastily drawn maps pointing out key items - most rooms will be squares. I have the advantage of having a very old Bamboo graphics tablet, and can quickly draw on the fly (it helps to go into settings and have it map to a single monitor - the one I am using for Roll20).
I think the roll20 initiative tracker takes forever for the GM to manage, so instead I use a graphic strip for 5e - at the top is 25 (then 20, 15, 10, 5, 0) at the bottom -5. Once you have player tokens set up, you can duplicate them and have the PLAYERS manage their own initiative by placing their 2nd token on the strip in order of initiative (you can copy a monster to track yours on there too). This is MUCH faster in my experience and maintains more excitement when you say “Roll for initiative!”
I use Pinterest to get all my token pics, there are a fair amount of great map boards on there as well, though in my experience you are better off being inspired by a map and building your encounter around it than conceptualizing the perfect encounter and then trying to find a perfect map for it. I have a degree in design and am quite skilled in photoshop and could modify found maps, and I have yet to find a situation where it is worth my time - it most likely is not worth yours either. I have drawn things on graph paper in the past scanned but it is a pain to scan and align. Lately for basic custom maps I’ve been using https://dungeonscrawl.com/, which is amazing.
As a side note, sometimes when I’m stuck on ideas, just flipping through monsters or fantasy art on Pinterest inspires a fun encounter.
If you are ever uninspired, remember 3 dollars gets you a helluva lot on DMs Guild - pick a 5 star adventure and go. I think a lot of new DMs want to be writers and world builders and view writing a custom adventure as part of the fun, which is fine. But if you’ve never read a good adventure in your life, how do you expect to do this? Watch a few movies before you decide to become a director. Run a few great adventures before you decide to become an adventure designer.
For token creation, I try to do a closeup on faces - I do NOT try to get the whole body, though might for something like a horse and carriage which is more important as a map item in a fight. It helps to know how to screengrab Windows+Shift+S on a PC, keep your selection as SQUARE as possible. You can then paste into Photoshop, Paint etc and save a token. Irfanview is a free program for viewing graphics that I use for this. If you are using a map, it’s better to just right click the image and “save as…” to your desktop. Sometimes they list dimensions on maps (23 x 22) I try to save this in the file name as it is VERY useful to set up in Roll20 later. You only get so much space on Roll20 for graphics, so don’t save 20 MB image tokens, no one will see them anyway. My goal for a 1 square token is a few hundred KB tops. If you want to have all the players see the gruesome closeup of the zombie when it appears in game, click it and hit Shift+Z to pop it up on their screen (they can click it off to continue to play). I have never exceeded my image space on Roll20
What is an Adventure? To me 5e is a high prep game. That means the players OWE the DM to either go along with his plot or tell him their plans a week in advance. This is not railroading, it is courtesy to the person doing more work than anyone else in the game. If people don’t like it, they should play something that is lower prep, like DungeonWorld or Fate.
We typically play for 3 hours (6:30 to 9:30, people log on Discord and chat a bit starting at 6). My goal is to have 2-3 combat encounters centered around a plot. With low levels and few players things go fast so I might plan 4-5, at high levels with lots of players I would plan 2 fights and a role play scene or skill challenge. This means my prep is:
Roll plot around in my head for 6 days - What do they expect? What is fun? What would be surprising or shocking? What would happen in a movie or TV show? What character moments would be fun? What would be most dramatic? Can I actually do this idea in a 5e game? Examples of things that do NOT work well: Hostage situations, chase scenes, players deciding to kill goblin babies, torture…
The night before I round up maps and tokens. I paste monster stats and spells into a google doc (once again, google and screen grabs are great for this, you can also create 2 columns in a google doc by inserting a 2 cell table). I also write up short lead in descriptions for encounters. In my experience a lot of GMs try to do this on the fly, but often forget an important feature important to the encounter. 3 sentences summing up the scene, what they see and setting the tone usually works better. I also write up any important bullet points of fun things villains or NPCs might say, or important things they know and tell the PCs after the encounter that will lead to the next encounter or advance the story. If this is the end of an important arc, I write up a dramatic “cut scene”. The key is to have 30% more content than I need in case they tear through prepped material but to NOT overprep. The game the next week will almost always be better if I react to events this week, what players seemed interested in, what they seemed bored with, etc.
Page/ Map Setup As mentioned previously, I usually have a 40x25 page with fog of war enabled. The page should already have an initiative strip and player tokens on it. If it is a dungeon that I will reveal as they go, the monsters should be placed, and I use the 3 circles to enter the AC/ HP in advance. If it is more of an “ambushed by enemies” situation I have the entire map visible (or just draw a few trees and road) and have a fog of war strip on the right hand of the map 3-4 squares wide where I hide my monsters. It is very easy to copy and paste monsters so I usually have 2x what i need JUST in case. I also don’t want to have to construct a goblin army from a single goblin while the players sit bored. A nice thing is you can copy/ paste all the player tokens and initiative strip BETWEEN pages, so those are pretty fast to set up on all your pages.
Table Rules I think it’s a pain in the ass to punch in monster stats into Roll20 for 5e (it was easy though for Shadow of the Demon Lord, hats off to Schwalb) so I roll actual dice for most of the game on my desk. I will roll on Roll20 for something very dramatic (a villain saving throw or something) but usually I keep it fast with real dice. Players on the other hand will ALWAYS be expected to roll using Roll20 as a default and that expectation is built in. You can loosen this up if it’s your trusted group for 10 years, but it’s worth addressing up front especially with a new group you don’t know well. Why even give someone the temptation to fudge a roll? Save yourself a difficult conversation later...
Game Day Schedule
6pm (players log in to discord, BS, chat, catch up)
6:30 I read a short recap, summing up what happened last week, reminding them the context of the plot, what quest they were on etc. I have seen people post these, but 90% of the time players don’t read it, and reading this helps focus people and stops me from wanting to murder players an hour in when they can’t remember why the hell they broke into the Thieves’ Guild last week.
6:40-8:30 play
8:30 this is about where I should start the last encounter. If there are a lot of moving pieces (fighting a goblin army of 30) I might drop half the monsters just so they can chew through it faster.
9:30 end of game.
Thanks for Reading
I hope this is valuable to some and would love any feedback or to hear your experiences. RPGs have become my best social outlet during the last many months. I already loved them as a lifelong GM, but they have really kept me from cracking up in my apartment as well as my players I suspect. Having watched the tools to do online gaming I will say we are blessed to live in a time where this is viable, I feel the technology just wasn’t there 10 years ago. It can take some fiddling but once you have a few games under your belt it’s almost as good as meeting the old group down at the game store every Wednesday, and you don’t even need to drive home after!

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Home Recipes Cooking Style Comfort Food 75 Incredible 5-Star Pasta Recipes Advertisement Caroline StankoUpdated: Jan. 19, 2021 We've gathered up our most-loved pasta recipes all in one place. From cheesy and hearty to fresh and seasonal, these dinners showcase just how versatile noodles can be. 1 / 75 One-Pot Bacon Cheeseburger PastaTaste of Home One-Pot Bacon Cheeseburger Pasta When the weather’s too chilly to grill burgers, I whip up a big pot of this cheesy pasta. Believe it or not, it tastes just like a bacon cheeseburger, and it’s much easier for my young children to enjoy. —Carly Terrell, Granbury Texas
(Here’s a handy guide to how much pasta you need per person.) Go to Recipe
2 / 75 Sue’s Spicy Tomato Basil TortelliniTaste of Home Sue’s Spicy Tomato Basil Tortellini
A friend remarked about a similar baked tortellini dish at a restaurant, so I wanted to try re-creating it for her at home. My stovetop version makes it weeknight easy. —Cynthia Gerken, Naples, Florida Go to Recipe
Advertisement 3 / 75 Chicken Parmesan Stuffed ShellsTaste of Home Chicken Parmesan Stuffed Shells
When chicken Parmesan meets stuffed shells, it's love at first bite. The texture of the chicken holds up in the deliciously creamy and cheesy mixture. —Cynthia Gerken, Naples, Florida Go to Recipe
4 / 75 Peas Please Asian NoodlesTaste of Home Peas Please Asian Noodles
My Asian-inspired pasta salad doubles up on the peas for some serious crunch and sweetness. —Catherine Cassidy, Editor, Taste of Home Go to Recipe
5 / 75 Sausage LasagnaTaste of Home Sausage Lasagna
The idea for this sausage lasagna recipe comes from my mother-in-law, who always makes it for my three boys on special holidays. I've put an easy twist on Carole's classic dish, and it's become one of my go-to dinners as well! —Blair Lonergan, Rochelle, VA Go to Recipe
6 / 75 Cashew-Chicken Rotini SaladTaste of Home Cashew-Chicken Rotini Salad
I’ve tried many chicken salad recipes over the years, but this is my very favorite. It’s fresh, fruity and refreshing, and the cashews add wonderful crunch. Every time I serve it at a potluck or picnic, I get rave reviews—and ( always come home with an empty bowl! —Kara Cook, Elk Ridge, Utah Go to Recipe
7 / 75 Pizza SpaghettiTaste of Home Pizza Spaghetti
This recipe came to me when I saw someone dip a slice of pizza into a pasta dish. My wife and kids love it and so do my friends! —Robert Smith, Las Vegas, Nevada Go to Recipe
8 / 75 Asparagus Ham DinnerTaste of Home Asparagus Ham Dinner
I've been making this low-fat ham dinner for my family for years, and we always look forward to it. With asparagus, tomato, pasta and chunks of ham, it's a tempting blend of tastes and textures. —Rhonda Zavodny, David City, Nebraska Go to Recipe
9 / 75 Beef Burgundy Over NoodlesTaste of Home Beef Burgundy Over Noodles
I got this delightful beef burgundy from my sister-in-law many years ago and have used it ever since. Whenever I serve it to guests, they always request this beef burgundy recipe. The tender beef, mushrooms and flavorful sauce are delicious over noodles. —Margaret Welder, Madrid, Iowa Go to Recipe
10 / 75 Ravioli LasagnaTaste of Home Ravioli Lasagna
When you taste this casserole, you'll think it came from a complicated, from-scratch recipe. Really, though, it starts with frozen ravioli and has only three other ingredients. —Patricia Smith, Asheboro, North Carolina Go to Recipe
11 / 75 Creamy Salmon Linguine Creamy Salmon Linguine
Extra Pesto Grilled Salmon gives this creamy pasta toss a luxurious taste and texture. We love it as is, but you could easily sub in any veggies you have on hand for the broccoli. —Jacob Kitzman, Seattle, Washington Go to Recipe
12 / 75 Rich Baked Spaghetti Rich Baked Spaghetti
It takes a little longer to make baked spaghetti, but the difference in taste, texture and richness is well worth the time. I serve this lasagna-style dish with a tossed green salad and breadsticks for a hearty, healthy meal. —Betty Rabe, Mahtomedi, Minnesota Go to Recipe
13 / 75 Monterey SpaghettiTaste of Home Monterey Spaghetti
I'm a working mother with two young boys. Our family leads a very active life, so I make a lot of casseroles. It's so nice to have a hearty side dish the kids will eat. Topped with cheese and french-fried onions, this tasty spaghetti casserole recipe is a hit at our house. —Janet Hibler, Cameron, Missouri Go to Recipe
14 / 75 Exps18490 Fm153592c03 10 1b 3 Chicken Broccoli Shells
This cheesy entree is a make-ahead dream. Just assemble it ahead of time and put it in the oven when company arrives. I round out the meal with a tossed salad and warm bread. —Karen Jagger, Columbia City, Indiana Go to Recipe
15 / 75 Mexican Pasta BakeTaste of Home Mexican Pasta Bake
This casserole makes a delicious change of pace from ordinary pasta casseroles. The corkscrew noodles? They make it fun! —Joy Smith, Bigfork, Minnesota Go to Recipe
16 / 75 Asparagus 'n' Shrimp with Angel HairTaste of Home Asparagus 'n' Shrimp with Angel Hair
We’ve all heard that the way to a man’s heart is through his stomach, so when I plan a romantic dinner, this shrimp asparagus pasta with angel hair is one dish I like to serve. It’s easy on the budget and turns out perfectly for two. —Shari Neff, Takoma Park, Maryland Go to Recipe
17 / 75 Sausage Spinach Pasta BakeTaste of Home Sausage Spinach Pasta Bake
I’ve swapped in other meats—such as chicken sausage, veal or ground pork—and added in summer squash, zucchini, green beans and mushrooms, depending on what’s in season. Also, fresh herbs really perk up the flavors. —Kim Forni, Laconia, New Hampshire Go to Recipe
18 / 75 Creamy Sausage-Mushroom RigatoniTaste of Home Creamy Sausage-Mushroom Rigatoni
In Rome, we dined near the Pantheon. The amazing restaurant is now history, but its memory lives on in this tasty pasta with mushrooms and sausage. —Barbara Roozrokh, Brookfield, Wisconsin Go to Recipe
19 / 75 Lemon Chicken with Orzo
Here's a dish that's light and summery but still filling. My kids love all the veggies...for real! If you like a lot of lemon, stir in an extra splash of lemon juice just before serving. —Shannon Humphrey, Hampton, Virginia Go to Recipe
20 / 75 Sausage ManicottiTaste of Home Sausage Manicotti
This classic Italian entree comes together in a snap, but tastes like it took hours. It's so easy to fix, and my family always enjoys it. —Carolyn Henderson, Maple Plain, Minnesota Go to Recipe
21 / 75 Mediterranean Shrimp LinguineTaste of Home Mediterranean Shrimp Linguine
This picture-perfect linguine is a feast for the eyes and, with a hint of heat, a treat for the palate. —Megan Hidalgo, Quarryville, Pennsylvania Go to Recipe
22 / 75 Rigatoni Chard Toss Exps75825 Sd2847494c02 14 3bc Rms 2 Rigatoni Chard Toss
I had to get my firefighter husband to eat more fruits and veggies to lower his cholesterol and triglycerides. Fresh chard and tomatoes add a lot of fiber and vitamins to our diets, but we love this recipe for the flavor. While he would never admit to eating "health food" around the firehouse, this dish is one of many that made his trips to the doctor much more pleasant! —Carolyn Kumpe, El Dorado, California Go to Recipe
23 / 75 Traditional LasagnaTaste of Home Traditional Lasagna
My family first tasted this rich, homemade lasagna recipe at a friend's home on Christmas Eve. We were so impressed that it became our own holiday tradition as well. I also prepare it other times of the year. This classic lasagna recipe is requested often by my sister's Italian in-laws—I consider that the highest compliment! —Lorri Foockle, Granville, Illinois Go to Recipe
24 / 75 Thai Beef Stir-Fry
A distinctive peanut sauce complements this colorful combination of tender sirloin strips, cauliflower, carrots, broccoli and mushrooms. I like to dish it up over spaghetti, but you could use fried noodles instead. —Janice Fehr, Austin, Manitoba Go to Recipe
25 / 75 Broccoli-Pasta Side DishTaste of Home Broccoli-Pasta Side Dish
I love to fix new recipes for my husband, Robert, and our children. With garlic and cheese, this broccoli pasta is a tasty way to get kids to eat their veggies. —Judi Lacourse, Mesa, Arizona Go to Recipe
26 / 75 Tortellini CarbonaraTaste of Home Tortellini Carbonara
I've made this bacon, cream and Parmesan cheese pasta sauce for so many years and have always called it a carbonara. Low-and-behold, I recently found out it's actually more like an Alfredo sauce. In either case, it's absolutely heavenly and a great option for company! —Cathy Croyle, Davidsville, Pennsylvania Go to Recipe
27 / 75 Cheesy Spinach-Stuffed ShellsTaste of Home Cheesy Spinach-Stuffed Shells
This is my own personal recipe. I'm very proud of it because I am still a beginner cook and it was the first recipe I created. You can adjust it to your liking by doubling the spinach or adding some meat. —Laci Hooten, McKinney, Texas Go to Recipe
28 / 75 Exps129221 Th153341d11 18 3b 5 Artichoke & Lemon Pasta
While sailing in the Mediterranean, we tasted a lemony artichoke pasta. I developed my own version of it that our guests love. Try it with shrimp and kalamata olives. —Peter Halferty, Corpus Christi, Texas Go to Recipe
29 / 75 Vegetarian LinguineTaste of Home Vegetarian Linguine
Looking for a tasty alternative to the usual meat-and-potatoes meals? Try this colorful pasta dish. My oldest son came up with the scrumptious supper that takes advantage of fresh mushrooms, zucchini and other vegetables as well as basil and provolone. —Jane Bone, Cape Coral, Florida Go to Recipe
30 / 75 Thai Lime Shrimp & NoodlesTaste of Home Thai Lime Shrimp & Noodles
The flavors just keep popping in this quick dinner! Use as much lime zest and chili paste as you like. My family is into spicy foods, but I kept the heat moderate in this version. —Teri Rasey, Cadillac, Michigan Go to Recipe
31 / 75 Thanksgiving Stuffed ShellsTaste of Home Thanksgiving Stuffed Shells
Leftover turkey, dressing and sweet potatoes make terrific stuffing for jumbo pasta shells. We add cheese and use turkey gravy as the sauce for this crowd-pleaser. —Robin Haas, Cranston, Rhode Island Go to Recipe
32 / 75 Spinach-Basil Lasagna
In the kitchen, my husband and I like to use classic ingredients in new ways. I came up with this lasagna one day and haven't made another type since. We love it! —Charlotte Gehle, Brownstown, Michigan Go to Recipe
33 / 75 Easy Meatball StroganoffTaste of Home Easy Meatball Stroganoff
This recipe has fed not only my own family, but many neighborhood kids! They come running when I make this supper. It's one of those things you throw together after work on a busy day because you know it works. —Julie May, Hattiesburg, Mississippi Go to Recipe
34 / 75 Artichoke Florentine Pasta Artichoke Florentine Pasta
Pasta loaded with artichokes and creamy cheese is everything a Sunday dinner should be: rich, tasty and memorable. Add cooked chicken, shrimp or crab if you like. —Nancy Beckman, Helena, Montana Go to Recipe
35 / 75 Chicken Sausage & Gnocchi SkilletTaste of Home Chicken Sausage & Gnocchi Skillet
I had a bunch of fresh veggies and combined them with sausage, gnocchi and goat cheese when I needed a quick dinner. Mix and match your own ingredients for unique results. —Dahlia Abrams, Detroit, Michigan Go to Recipe
36 / 75 Gingered Spaghetti SaladTaste of Home Gingered Spaghetti Salad
We love this chilled chicken salad brimming with colorful veggies. Make it meatless by omitting the chicken and tossing in more edamame. —Cindy Heinbaugh, Aurora, Colorado Go to Recipe
37 / 75 Creamy Spinach & Rigatoni Bake Creamy Spinach & Rigatoni Bake
Macaroni and cheese is one of the ultimate comfort foods. My recipe gives it an Italian twist. —Tammy Rex, New Tripoli, Pennsylvania Go to Recipe
38 / 75 Wheely-Good Pasta SaladTaste of Home Wheely-Good Pasta Salad
Red pepper pieces accent this yummy side dish, and the pasta wheels really drive the theme home. —Amber Kimmich, Powhatan, Virginia Go to Recipe
39 / 75 Sausage Spaghetti SpiralsTaste of Home Sausage Spaghetti Spirals
My family loves this flavorful casserole with hearty chunks of sausage and green pepper. The recipe makes a big pan, so it's nicely sized for a potluck. —Carol Carolton, Wheaton, Illinois Go to Recipe
40 / 75 Sausage & Swiss Chard LasagnaTaste of Home Sausage & Swiss Chard Lasagna
Rustic and comforting, I found this rich and cheesy lasagna to be a great way to get kids to eat healthy greens—it's such a tasty casserole they'll never know the Swiss chard is there! —Candace Morehouse, Show Low, Arizona Go to Recipe
41 / 75 Quick Chicken ParmesanTaste of Home Quick Chicken Parmesan
My mother inspired me to develop my first pasta sauce. It's tangy, simple and really satisfying. The longer it simmers, the better it gets, so keep that in mind if you have time to spare. —Danielle Grochowski, Milwaukee, Wisconsin Go to Recipe
42 / 75 Chicken Pesto with PastaTaste of Home Chicken Pesto with Pasta
Prepared sauce accents this warm chicken pesto pasta. Keep pesto in the freezer for the next time you have leftover chicken. —Taste of Home Test Kitchen Go to Recipe
43 / 75 Creamy Skillet Noodles with PeasTaste of Home Creamy Skillet Noodles with Peas
I’ve made this creamy noodle side for years. Since kids and adults go for it, I keep the ingredients on hand at all times. —Anita Groff, Perkiomenville, Pennsylvania Go to Recipe
44 / 75 Beef & Spinach Lo MeinTaste of Home Beef & Spinach Lo Mein
If you like a good stir-fry, this dish will definitely satisfy. I discovered the recipe at an international luncheon, and it's now a favorite go-to meal. —Denise Patterson, Bainbridge, Ohio Go to Recipe
45 / 75 Four-Cheese Turkey Pasta BakeTaste of Home Four-Cheese Turkey Pasta Bake
Leftover turkey combines with penne and cheeses to make a classic comfort food. The pasta bake works with chicken, shrimp or beef, too.—Mary Cokenour, Monticello, Utah Go to Recipe
46 / 75 Four-Cheese Chicken FettuccineTaste of Home Four-Cheese Chicken Fettuccine
As a cattle rancher, my husband's a big fan of beef. For him to comment on a poultry dish is rare. But he always tells me, "I love this casserole!" I first tasted it at a potluck; now, I fix it for my family (we have a 3-year-old daughter) once or twice a month, and I'm asked to take it to most every get-together. —Rochelle Brownlee, Big Timber, Montana Go to Recipe
47 / 75 Linguine with Broccoli Rabe & PeppersTaste of Home Linguine with Broccoli Rabe & Peppers
Broccoli rabe is one of my favorite veggies. Since it cooks right with the pasta, you can multitask. Before you know it, dinner is served. —Gilda Lester, Millsboro, Delaware Go to Recipe
48 / 75 Thai Pasta with Spicy Peanut SauceTaste of Home Thai Pasta with Spicy Peanut Sauce
We love how the whole wheat pasta and crisp, raw vegetables blend with the rich and creamy peanut sauce. The addition of fresh lime juice really brightens the flavor of the dish. Some eat it hot, but my husband and I prefer to wait until it's closer to room temperature. —Donna McCallie, Lake Park, Florida Go to Recipe
49 / 75 Hay and StrawTaste of Home Hay and Straw
This recipe is not only quick and easy to prepare, it's pretty, too. This colorful pasta dish combines julienned ham, Parmesan cheese, peas and linguine.—Priscilla Weaver, Hagerstown, Maryland Go to Recipe
50 / 75 Rosemary Butternut Squash LasagnaTaste of Home Rosemary Butternut Squash Lasagna
I came up with this recipe when our garden was brimming with butternut squash. This is now our favorite way to use it. —Christine Wood, Tipton, Iowa Go to Recipe
51 / 75 Shrimp Tortellini Pasta TossTaste of Home Shrimp Tortellini Pasta Toss
No matter how you toss 'em up, shrimp and thyme play nicely with any spring-fresh vegetable. —Taste of Home Test Kitchen Go to Recipe
52 / 75 Rustic Summer Vegetable PastaTaste of Home Rustic Summer Vegetable Pasta
My veggie pasta proves you can’t have too much of a good thing. Feel free to change it up with whatever fresh veggies are in the garden or farmers market. —Bryn Namavari, Chicago, Illinois Go to Recipe
53 / 75 Pepperoni Penne CarbonaraTaste of Home Pepperoni Penne Carbonara
Sun-dried tomatoes and turkey pepperoni lend fantastic flavor to this creamy, hearty pasta dish. It's a great change of pace from everyday spaghetti. —Taste of Home Test Kitchen Go to Recipe
54 / 75 White Seafood LasagnaTaste of Home White Seafood Lasagna
We make lasagna with shrimp and scallops as part of the traditional Italian Feast of the Seven Fishes. Every bite delivers a tasty “jewel” from the sea. —Joe Colamonico, North Charleston, South Carolina Go to Recipe
55 / 75 Easy Ziti BakeTaste of Home Easy Ziti Bake
I enjoy making this baked ziti recipe for family and friends. It's easy to prepare, and I like to get creative with the sauce. Sometimes I might add my home-canned tomatoes, mushrooms or vegetables. —Elaine Anderson New Galilee, Pennsylvania Go to Recipe
56 / 75 Southwestern CasseroleTaste of Home Southwestern Casserole
I've been making this mild family-pleasing southwest casserole recipe for years. It tastes wonderful, fits nicely into our budget and, best of all, makes a second one to freeze and enjoy later. —Joan Hallford, North Richland Hills, Texas Go to Recipe
57 / 75 Artichoke Chicken PastaTaste of Home Artichoke Chicken Pasta
Here's a colorful, delicious chicken dish that's easy enough for weeknights, yet special enough for guests. Oregano, garlic and a light wine sauce add lovely flavor. —Cathy Dick, Roanoke, Virginia Go to Recipe
58 / 75 Favorite Baked Spaghetti Favorite Baked Spaghetti
This yummy baked spaghetti casserole will be requested again and again for potlucks and family gatherings. It's especially popular with my grandchildren, who just love baked spaghetti with all the cheese. —Louise Miller, Westminster, Maryland Go to Recipe
59 / 75 Shrimp Orzo with FetaTaste of Home Shrimp Orzo with Feta
Tender, hearty and flavorful, this recipe is one of my favorites! Garlic and a splash of lemon add to the fresh taste and heart-healthy benefits of shrimp. —Sarah Hummel, Moon Township, Pennsylvania Go to Recipe
60 / 75 Greek-Style RavioliTaste of Home Greek-Style Ravioli
Here's a flavorful Greek twist on an Italian classic. It’s an easy weekday meal that’s become one of our favorites. My husband and I enjoy it with garlic cheese toast. —Hetti Williams, Rapid City, South Dakota Go to Recipe
61 / 75 Pizza Pasta CasseroleTaste of Home Pizza Pasta Casserole
Kids will line up for this zippy pizza-flavored dish. The recipe makes two casseroles, so you can serve one to your family right away and keep the other in the freezer for another night. —Nancy Scarlett, Graham, North Carolina Go to Recipe
62 / 75 Baked Mac and Cheese Baked Mac and Cheese
Even people who have had their own homemade baked macaroni and cheese recipe for years ask for mine when they taste this crumb-topped version. For the best baked mac and cheese, use extra-sharp white cheddar cheese for more flavor. —Shelby Thompson of Dover, Delaware Go to Recipe
63 / 75 Angel Hair PrimaveraTaste of Home Angel Hair Primavera
I love to make this when summer is in full swing and the vegetables are at their very best. You can substitute almost any vegetable when in season and at my house, this dish is almost never the same. —Tre Balchowsky, Sausalito, California Go to Recipe
64 / 75 Pumpkin-Chorizo Bow TiesTaste of Home Pumpkin-Chorizo Bow Ties
Chicken sausage is such a convenient way to add flavor to healthy dishes. If your family doesn't like spicy food, skip the red pepper flakes and use a mild-flavored sausage. The pumpkin really stands out that way. —Sharon Ricci, Mendon, New York Go to Recipe
65 / 75 Pesto Pasta & PotatoesTaste of Home Pesto Pasta & Potatoes
Although this healthy pasta dish is pretty simple to begin with, it's made even easier because you can throw the green beans and pasta into one big pot to cook. —Laura Flowers, Moscow, Idaho Go to Recipe
66 / 75 Mushroom Bolognese with Whole Wheat PastaTaste of Home Mushroom Bolognese with Whole Wheat Pasta
A traditional Bolognese sauce is meat-based with everything from pork to pancetta. Skipping the meat, I loaded this pasta dish with baby portobellos and veggies. —Amber Massey, Argyle, Texas Go to Recipe
67 / 75 Asian Veggie Glass NoodlesTaste of Home Asian Veggie Glass Noodles
My mom immigrated from the Philippines, so we would often eat Filipino pancit, a well-known glass noodles dish. I took her version and added my own touches to make it easier and a little healthier. —Jasmin Baron, Livonia, New York Go to Recipe
68 / 75 Three-Cheese Meatball MostaccioliTaste of Home Three-Cheese Meatball Mostaccioli
When my husband travels for work, I make a special dinner for my kids to keep their minds off missing Daddy. This tasty mostaccioli is meatball magic. —Jennifer Gilbert, Brighton, Michigan Go to Recipe
69 / 75 Bacon Tortellini BakeTaste of Home Bacon Tortellini Bake
I stirred up this easy tortellini bake and figured if we all like it, others might, too. Broccoli and bacon add color and crunch to this creamy casserole. —Amy Lents, Grand Forks, North Dakota Go to Recipe
70 / 75 Best Ever Mac & CheeseTaste of Home Best Ever Mac & Cheese
To make this amazing mac, I make a sauce loaded with three different cheeses to toss with the noodles. When baked, it's gooey goodness with a crunchy topping that...don't get me started! —Beth Jacobson, Milwaukee, Wisconsin Go to Recipe
71 / 75 Slow-Cooker Cheesy White LasagnaTaste of Home Slow-Cooker Cheesy White Lasagna
Here’s my best version of my favorite food—lasagna! The recipe is a winner, so it’s worth the extra prep. You’ll have plenty of time to plan side dishes while the main dish is cooking. —Suzanne Smith, Bluffton, Indiana Go to Recipe
72 / 75 Baked Ziti with Cheese Baked Ziti with Cheese
This pasta dish, made with Alfredo sauce, is deliciously different from typical tomato-based recipes. Extra cheesy, it goes together quickly and is always popular at potlucks. —Lisa Varner, El Paso, Texas Go to Recipe
73 / 75 Slow-Cooker Spaghetti & MeatballsTaste of Home Slow-Cooker Spaghetti & Meatballs
I’ve been cooking for more than 50 years and this dish is still one that guests ask for frequently. My No. 1 standby slow-cooker meatballs recipe also makes amazing hero sandwiches, and the sauce works for any pasta. —Jane McMillan, Pensacola, Florida Go to Recipe
74 / 75 Gnocchi with White BeansTaste of Home Gnocchi with White Beans
Here’s one of those no-fuss gnocchi recipes you can toss together and cook in one skillet. Ideal for a busy weeknight, it’s also good with crumbled Italian chicken sausage if you need to please meat lovers. —Julianne Meyers, Hinesville, Georgia Go to Recipe
75 / 75 Artichoke Blue Cheese Fettuccine Artichoke Blue Cheese Fettuccine
Store-bought Alfredo sauce speeds along this flavorful, meatless entree. I use dry pasta, but you can use refrigerated fettuccine to make this recipe even faster. —Jolanthe Erb, Harrisonburg, Virginia Go to Recipe
Originally Published: October 25, 2018 Caroline Stanko Caroline Stanko As an Associate Digital Editor, Caroline writes and edits all things food-related and helps produce videos for Taste of Home. When she’s not at her desk, you can probably find Caroline cooking up a feast, planning her next trip abroad or daydreaming about her golden retriever, Mac.
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Hi Ladies - !
We're making a monthly sticky to address any issues people are having with the website sign up.
If you filled out a membership application on the website in the last 30 days, you should have received an email from us:

Rejecting your application and suggesting alternative forms of verification
Reminding you to sign up with your 8 or 9 digit code
Informing you we were unable to direct message you your code on your platform of choice

If you applied prior to 8/1 and did not receive an email from us - we have purged your data for security purposes and you will need to sign up using our new membership form here: Sign Up Form
Thank you for bearing with us through all the changes we’ve been making on the site!
If you have any questions for us - please post them in the comments below!
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
As of September 1st, 2020 The sign up - process is:

Enter your desired login username, password, and email address in the Sign Up Form
Choose one platform from the drop down menu to verify your account (Instagram, Reddit, Facebook, or Twitter) and enter your social media user details
Click ‘Sign Up’
You will receive an automated email after signing up verifying we received your application
Send FDS a direct message from your social media account on your platform of choice (Instagram, Reddit, or Twitter)
FDS will reply to your message with a 9 DIGIT CODE
Reply to your automated verification email with the 9 digit code sent to your social media account
FDS moderators will review and activate!

A FEW NOTES:

We are only accepting 9 digit code requests through the website. If you PM me or any of the mods on Reddit, Instagram or Twitter we will be redirecting you to the website. This helps us keep track of all the requests in one place. Click here to request an 9 digit code.
Use Instagram, Facebook, or Twitter for an expedited approval process. Our reddit requests are backlogged and many of you are far too new for us to verify your account on the website. For expedited sign up, please apply with your instagram or twitter accounts.
Please make sure you can receive DMs on your platform of choice. There were some people we tried to send codes to who had their Direct Messages disabled, so we had to pass. If you are unsure, please DM the official FDS twitter or instagram accounts so we can respond.
Please be patient! Due to demand, We are on about a 5 day lag on sending out 9 digit codes. If you are not an existing sub member or someone we can easily identify as female from your social media, OR we can't reach you, you will likely be passed over for someone else in the queue and not revisited until the end of the month.
If you do not sign up within 60 days of receiving your code, you will be bumped from the approval queue completely and will have to start over. We have some members who we've sent codes to who as of yet have yet to create an account. Please do so ASAP!
Our website is now available via the Wix app! It can be dowloaded for iPhone and Android! Use the code "WZBOVG" to join the app page AFTER you have requested and received your 9 digit code. If you join through the app without the 9 digit code, it will be rejected.

FORUM:

Once you are approved, please log in and say hello in the Forum! We just want to make sure it is working for everyone. All new members are restricted to one post per day for their first week of membership to make moderation easier for us while we get the website off the ground.
Please change your default username! Your username will default to your email address. To change it,follow the instructions here.
The Strategy subforums and Sex subforum on the website are for members only - this is to protect the privacy of our members who want to ask sensitive questions.
If you are not logged in as a member, you can read the posts in most of the subforums, but you cannot comment. You will not be able to read posts in the Strategy or Sex Forum at all.

SOCIAL MEDIA:
We've archived our Facebook page due to security concerns (facebook LEACHES data), but we have just launched a new Pinterest and Tumblr!
Here are links to all our social media accounts if you wish to follow us!
Website - https://www.therealfemaledatingstrategy.com/
Twitter - https://twitter.com/FemDatStrat
Pinterest - https://www.pinterest.com/TheRealFemaleDatingStrategy/boards/
Tumblr - https://female-dating-strategy.tumblr.com/
Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/therealfemaledatingstrategy/
Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/The-Real-Female-Dating-Strategy-109118567480771/
Youtube - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCiEtlkgMHsPhGLqmffpaFCA/playlists
Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/playlist/2tQGzxeUeuVVFYgiExaaoo
Wix App - iPhone and Android!
Thanks again!!

Hi Ladies - !
We're making a monthly sticky to address any issues people are having with the website sign up.
If you filled out a membership application on the website in the last 30 days, you should have received an email from us:

Rejecting your application and suggesting alternative forms of verification
Reminding you to sign up with your 8 or 9 digit code
Informing you we were unable to direct message you your code on your platform of choice

If you applied prior to 8/1 and did not receive an email from us - we have purged your data for security purposes and you will need to sign up using our new membership form here: Sign Up Form
Thank you for bearing with us through all the changes we’ve been making on the site!
If you have any questions for us - please post them in the comments below!
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
As of September 1st, 2020 The sign up - process is:

Enter your desired login username, password, and email address in the Sign Up Form
Choose one platform from the drop down menu to verify your account (Instagram, Reddit, Facebook, or Twitter) and enter your social media user details
Click ‘Sign Up’
You will receive an automated email after signing up verifying we received your application
Send FDS a direct message from your social media account on your platform of choice (Instagram, Reddit, or Twitter)
FDS will reply to your message with a 9 DIGIT CODE
Reply to your automated verification email with the 9 digit code sent to your social media account
FDS moderators will review and approve!

A FEW NOTES:

We are only accepting 9 digit code requests through the website. If you PM me or any of the mods on Reddit, Instagram or Twitter we will be redirecting you to the website. This helps us keep track of all the requests in one place. Click here to request an 9 digit code.
Use Instagram, Facebook, or Twitter for an expedited approval process. Our reddit requests are backlogged and many of you are far too new for us to verify your account on the website. For expedited sign up, please apply with your instagram or twitter accounts.
Please make sure you can receive DMs on your platform of choice. There were some people we tried to send codes to who had their Direct Messages disabled, so we had to pass. If you are unsure, please DM the official FDS twitter or instagram accounts so we can respond.
Please be patient! Due to demand, We are on about a 5 day lag on sending out 9 digit codes. If you are not an existing sub member or someone we can easily identify as female from your social media, OR we can't reach you, you will likely be passed over for someone else in the queue and not revisited until the end of the month.
If you do not sign up within 60 days of receiving your code, you will be bumped from the approval queue completely and will have to start over. We have some members who we've sent codes to who as of yet have yet to create an account. Please do so ASAP!
Our website is now available via the Wix app! It can be dowloaded for iPhone and Android! Use the code "WZBOVG" to join the app page AFTER you have requested and received your 9 digit code. If you join through the app without the 9 digit code, it will be rejected.

FORUM:

Once you are approved, please log in and say hello in the Forum! We just want to make sure it is working for everyone. All new members are restricted to one post per day for their first week of membership to make moderation easier for us while we get the website off the ground.
Please change your default username! Your username will default to your email address. To change it,follow the instructions here.
The Strategy subforums and Sex subforum on the website are for members only - this is to protect the privacy of our members who want to ask sensitive questions.
If you are not logged in as a member, you can read the posts in most of the subforums, but you cannot comment. You will not be able to read posts in the Strategy or Sex Forum at all.

SOCIAL MEDIA:
We've archived our Facebook page due to security concerns (facebook LEACHES data), but we have just launched a new Pinterest and Tumblr!
Here are links to all our social media accounts if you wish to follow us!
Website - https://www.therealfemaledatingstrategy.com/
Twitter - https://twitter.com/FemDatStrat
Pinterest - https://www.pinterest.com/TheRealFemaleDatingStrategy/boards/
Tumblr - https://female-dating-strategy.tumblr.com/
Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/therealfemaledatingstrategy/
Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/The-Real-Female-Dating-Strategy-109118567480771/
Youtube - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCiEtlkgMHsPhGLqmffpaFCA/playlists
Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/playlist/2tQGzxeUeuVVFYgiExaaoo
Wix App - iPhone and Android!
Thanks again!!

Updates on The Real Female Dating Strategy's Official Website!
Hi Ladies - !
We are still getting requests to sign up for, TheRealFemaleDatingStrategy.com, and we are overwhelmed by the response - thank you!!
Thank you for bearing with us through all the changes we’ve been making on the site!
To make the sign up process smoother - we have consolidated the 8 digit code request form and the sign up form into one single form!
As of August 1st, 2020 The new sign up - process is:

Enter your desired login username, password, and email address in the Sign Up Form
Choose one platform from the drop down menu to verify your account (Instagram, Reddit, or Twitter) and enter your social media user details
Click ‘Sign Up’
You will receive an automated email after signing up verifying we received your application
Send FDS a direct message from your social media account on your platform of choice (Instagram, Reddit, or Twitter)
FDS will reply to your message with a 9 DIGIT CODE
Reply to your automated verification email with the 9 digit code sent to your social media account
FDS moderators will review and approve!

If you were given one of our old 8 digit codes and have not yet signed up, then please follow the instructions above and reply back to your automated email with the 8 digit code you were given
A FEW NOTES:

We are only accepting 9 digit code requests through the website. If you PM me or any of the mods on Reddit, Instagram or Twitter we will be redirecting you to the website. This helps us keep track of all the requests in one place. Click here to request an 9 digit code.
Use Instagram or Twitter for an expedited approval process. Our reddit requests are backlogged and many of you are far too new for us to verify your account on the website. For expedited sign up, please apply with your instagram or twitter accounts.
Please make sure you can receive DMs on your platform of choice. There were some people we tried to send codes to who had their Direct Messages disabled, so we had to pass. If you are unsure, please DM the official FDS twitter or instagram accounts so we can respond.
Please be patient! Due to demand, We are on about a 5 day lag on sending out 9 digit codes. If you are not an existing sub member or someone we can easily identify as female from your social media, OR we can't reach you, you will likely be passed over for someone else in the queue.
If you do not sign up within 60 days of receiving your code, you will be bumped from the approval queue completely and will have to start over. We have some members who we've sent codes to who as of yet have yet to create an account. Please do so ASAP!
Our website is now available via the Wix app! It can be dowloaded for iPhone and Android! Use the code "WZBOVG" to join the app page AFTER you have requested and received your 8 digit code. If you join through the app without the 8 digit code, it will be rejected.

FORUM:

Once you are approved, please log in and say hello in the Forum! We just want to make sure it is working for everyone. All new members are restricted to one post per day for their first week of membership to make moderation easier for us while we get the website off the ground.
Please change your default username! Your username will default to your email address. To change it,follow the instructions here.
The Strategy subforums and Sex subforum on the website are for members only - this is to protect the privacy of our members who want to ask sensitive questions.
If you are not logged in as a member, you can read the posts in most of the subforums, but you cannot comment. You will not be able to read posts in the Strategy or Sex Forum at all.

SOCIAL MEDIA:
We've archived our Facebook page due to security concerns (facebook LEACHES data), but we have just launched a new Pinterest and Tumblr!
Here are links to all our social media accounts if you wish to follow us!
Website - https://www.therealfemaledatingstrategy.com/
Twitter - https://twitter.com/FemDatStrat
Pinterest - https://www.pinterest.com/TheRealFemaleDatingStrategy/boards/
Tumblr - https://female-dating-strategy.tumblr.com/
Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/therealfemaledatingstrategy/
Facebook (archived) - https://www.facebook.com/groups/685539095599373/
Youtube - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCiEtlkgMHsPhGLqmffpaFCA/playlists
Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/playlist/2tQGzxeUeuVVFYgiExaaoo
Wix App - iPhone and Android!
Thanks again!!

I am 33 years old, am currently making $62,400 (it was $78,000 before a COVID-related pay cut) live in Albany, NY and work as a Marketing Manager.
I submitted another Money Diary 4 months ago that you can view here. Since then, all employees at my job took a pay cut, dependent on salary. There has been no word on when our salaries will be restored. Below are my assets and debts, with changes since my last diary in bold.
Assets and Debt
Retirement Balance - $25k, I put in 4% and my company matches.
Equity - We took out a mortgage of 269k a little over 2 years ago. This is our second home, so we used the profits from the first as a downpayment. We have about 50k equity.
Savings account balance - $9k. I should probably do something with this.
Checking account balance $9k. Again, should not have this much in there.
Joint Checking: $12k
Credit card debt - None. I did have some in my early 20s as a result of being poor in college in an expensive city, but I paid it off over a couple of balance transfers.
Student loan debt - None. I had about $20k in loans. 2 years into my degree, my school gave free rides to students who’s families made under 50k, which my family did at the time. I paid it down to about 5k myself, and when my husband inherited some money, his family urged him to use it for my loans. His family is very anti-debt.
Finances as a couple: My husband and I have a joint checking account and a credit card. We pay our mortgage and other bills from that account, and we both direct deposit a set amount into it. We also put joint purchases on our credit card and split the bill. I use my own money to pay for my personal expenses. It takes a little work to divvy up bills, but it works for us because we spend money very differently. I never want to have to consider him if I want to buy clothes or makeup or go out with my friends. In this diary, I have indicated what is a shared expense vs. personal. Shared expenses are listed as the total amount and then divided by 2.
In addition to the accounts I’ve noted, my husband has his own personal savings and checking accounts, but I do not know the balances. It’s not a secret, but not something I feel the need to look into. He has no credit card debt. In addition to our house, he owns two other houses in our hometown that he rents out. He makes a few hundred a month extra doing this.
Income
Monthly Take Home: ~~$4145~~ $3274.14
$1733.33 of my income each month goes into our joint checking. This covers daycare, mortgage, taxes, insurance, electric bill and car and homeowners insurance with some additional buffer for savings. The rest goes into my personal checking account.
401k $386.50
Health Insurance for myself and my son (my husband pays me for half of my son’s part) $215.95
Vision Insurance (dental is included) $3.10
Dependent Care Assistance - This one is complicated. I'm eligible for $5000 of my income to be taken from my paycheck pre-tax and reimbursed to me. $192.30 is taken from my paycheck pretax and then reimbursed to me, until I get $5000.
Husband’s income: He makes 90k a year from his job, plus a few hundred a month from his apartments, which he saves for inevitable repairs.
Section Three: Expenses
Mortgage: $1261/2= $630.50
Homeowner’s Insurance: $84.3/2 = $42.15
Electric: Varies, but averages $125/2 = $62.5
Internet - $75.79/2 = $37.90. My husband insists on the fastest internet possible, as he works from home a lot. (lol this definitely comes in handy now)
Cellphone - $161.52/2= $80.76. This includes service for my husband and me, as well as service and phone payment for my Mother in Law. She loaned us money for some home repairs a few years ago and we agreed to pay her back via phone. iPhone Loan - $39.50, it’s my phone, so I pay.
Hulu; $11.99/2=$5.99 on our joint account - no commercials for me! We don’t have cable, so we use our friend’s cable logins to watch some programs and HBO Go.
Disney plus: $7/2 = $3.50
Netflix - $13.99/2 = $7
Trash Removal - $20.52/2=$10.27
Daycare: $1148.33/2=$574.15 (narrowly less than our mortgage)
~~Orangetheory: $89 for 8 classes~~ Currently frozen
~~Another gym: $40.49. My insurance gives me $250/year for fitness expenses, so I end up paying $19.70.~~ Currently frozen
Peloton digital subscription: $12.99 (so smart of me to get a Schwinn bike before this pandemic)
Car payment: Lease, $289/month
Car Insurance: $712 for 6 months. I pay half ($356)
Money Diary:
Monday. July 13
7:45am - My baby alarm is babbling. I throw on my robe, then go to greet him (K). I just recently stopped breastfeeding (he will turn 1 at the end of the month), so our routine looks a little different now. I bring him downstairs to the kitchen with me. I unthaw some frozen breastmilk for his morning bottle, as well as for the two bottles he’ll get at daycare. Then, we sit on the couch while he drinks his milk and I drink my coffee and answer some work emails. My husband N wakes up and takes the baby to get dressed. Then, I get dressed and bring him to daycare.
9am - Baby has been dropped off. I go to Panera - I signed up for their summer free coffee subscription and since it’s really close to my house, it’s convenient. Today, I also get a salad for lunch and a salad for my friend. I’m taking the afternoon off to go on her boat. $22.02
9:15am - Get home and head to the home office to do some work. I bang out a few projects. Then, N wants to go test drive cars. I drive separately so that I can leave after the drive and not have to sit around while he talks numbers.
11:00 - Back home. I change and get ready, then have a call at 11:30 to have my resume critiqued. It’s a really informative call.
12:00pm - My friend arrives to pick me up. We wait for the third in our group and then head up to the lake. Once we get there, I give my friend money to buy ice. $10
4pm - What a beautiful day. It’s perfect. We spend a few hours on the boat hanging out and swimming before it’s time to head in.
6pm - Home again home again. N has collected K from daycare and is about to feed him dinner when I arrive. We eat outside on the patio.
7pm - K has a bottle of breastmilk, then I change him and get him ready for bed. The three of us hang out in the nursery before I read him a book and put him down.
820 - We have no food, so I head to the grocery store for a full restock. $145.15/2 = $72.58
900 - Unpack the groceries and have a snack before heading to bed and reading a book.
Daily Total: $104.60
Tuesday, July 14
7am - K is up. N delivers him to me, bottle in hand. I chill in bed with K while he drinks, and then get him dressed and changed. The three of us hang in the nursery for a while. N is still talking about cars, and I fold laundry. Then, I get dressed and N takes K downstairs.
8:30 - Make myself coffee and drop K off at daycare.
9am - Home and in front of the computer. I bounce around work tasks, and also place an order on Amazon. I’m in a Reddit group for my baby’s birth month and we’re doing a gift exchange. I get a wooden toy for my secret baby and ship it off to Minnesota. $21.48
10:55am - Grab some overnight oats from the fridge. Work work work.
12:30pm - Start on lunch. I make myself a bomb salad (with beets, fresh mozz, walnuts, white beans, cukes, tomatoes, and wonton strips) and three more for the rest of the week. I also start the slow cooker with some honey garlic chicken for dinner.
2pm - Have a brainstorm session with my coworker on some ideas for the second half of the year.
430pm - N’s on a call that’s running late so I go get K. I stop at Panera for a free iced coffee.
530pm - We play outside because dinner is already made. N makes some rice, then we all head in and eat.
7pm - Bottle time for baby, then N gives him a bath. Then, bedtime.
830 - I didn’t get to work out earlier, so I do now. I signed up for Pelothon 2020, and the first challenge is to take a class from 5 different instructors. I do a 20 minute spin, 10 minute arms, and 5 minute stretch to knock out 3 of them.
9pm - Shower and read my book a bit for bed.
Daily Total: $21.48
Wednesday, July 15
6:45am - K is up, and it’s not a good look. I never go get him before 7 because I don’t want him to get in the habit of waking early. N makes him a bottle and I lay with him in bed while he drinks. I can tell he’s still tired, so I keep the lights down and I’m lucky that he cuddles up against me and falls back asleep on my chest. These days are few and far between, so I relax and enjoy it.
8:45 - Little guy is up again. I get him dressed and N whisks him off to daycare. I make coffee and get to work. Later on, I have an Acai bowl from Revive Superfoods - I signed up for a 50% off subscription a month or so ago but have since cancelled it.
12:30pm - Lunch - my prepped salad. I add ranch today because I’m feeling wild.
2:00 - Snack, work, snack, work.
4:00pm - Time to finish week 1 of Pelothon. I do a 10 minute strength and a 30 minute strength class. Woof. This is my first class with Jess Sims and she is tough!
5:15pm - Get out of the shower just as N arrives with K in tow. We head down to the basement to play with the toys down there.
6pm - Dinner time. Leftovers it is. After I clean up, K plays for a bit more before his bottle. Then N does pajamas and I tuck him in.
830 - Clean up the kitchen and listen to the Rabbit Hole podcast before finishing my book and heading to bed. While browsing, I see that Julep is having a big sale so I buy some cleansing wipes, face wash and other odds and ends. $41.90
Daily Total: $41.90
Thursday, July 16
6:41am - Baby stirs but goes back to sleep. By 8:30, he’s awake in his crib but just laying there. I feel you, bro. I go in and give him his bottle, get him dressed and ready for the day while N makes his bottles and then drops him off. I make a coffee and get to work.
11:00am - Revive smoothie with protein and watch Schitt’s Creek while working.
1:00pm - Salad for lunch.
3:00pm - N comes home with a new car - he finally settled on a Subaru Forester, which I knew he would because his last three cars have been Subarus. Can take the boy out of Vermont... I immediately steal it to go run some errands. I pick up some prints at Staples - I’m making some crafts of baby’s face as cupcake toppers for his birthday in a couple of weeks. $3.17. I also go to CVS to pick up some photos I printed. I made a photo book of our family for K to look at. $1.23 = $4.40
4:00pm - I check in on work emails and things are quiet, so I go for a walk and listen to the Rabbit Hole podcast. Then I pick up the little one from daycare.
5:00pm - Hang out and play until dinner. I made Tuscan Chicken in the crockpot. Then, the usual play, bottle, bath, bed.
8:30pm - Do a recovery stretch on the Orangetheory app. That strength workout yesterday messed me up.
9:00 - Work on my little cupcake topper craft project for awhile, then head to bed.
Daily Total: $4.40
Friday, July 17
7:50am - Baby is up. N makes him a bottle, I get him ready and do drop off, then swing by Panera for free coffee.
10:20. Smoothie time.
12:15 - Lunch
1:15 - Feeling unmotivated. I take a 30 minute nap and then make myself an iced tea for some caffeine. The groundhog day aspect of remote work is setting in hard.
4pm - Start dinner in the instant pot. I have been using this and the crockpot a lot because it’s hard to cook dinner once K is home, and it’s too hot to use the oven.
5:15 - Ding dong the baby’s home. We play for a bit before dinner. I try to teach him to use a fork with pretty poor results.
6:30 - Hang more before bottle and bedtime.
8:30 - Do a Peloton workout, then shower. Then, I help N install a new car seat in his new car before working on my craft project for a bit. I place an Amazon order for two toys for K and a self tan applicator for my back. $20.04
11:00pm - Friday night doesn’t seem any different than a normal weekday. I guess the pandemic is partially to blame, but no matter what day it is, my little friend gets up at the same time, so bedtime can’t be too late.
Daily Total: $20.04
Saturday, July 18
8:00am - And so begins another day. I bring K downstairs and make him a bottle. I love to watch the new episode Ru Paul’s Drag Race on Saturday mornings, or as much of it as I can get through (Am I Team Shea or Team Jujubee? I can't decide). I give K yogurt with peanut butter and berries for breakfast, and I make oatmeal for myself.
12:00pm - I leave K in N’s capable hands and head over to my friend’s for a few hours to hang out at her pool. I stop at the Panera for lunch ($14.85), and then also at the liquor store. My friend AirBNB’s her house and recently had someone destroy it, so I bring her over a couple bottles of champagne for mimosas to ease her wounds. ($21.49)
3:40pm - The sun is out and the water feels great. We listen to Ja Rule Pandora and I can almost pretend I'm young and carefree and fun again. Eventually, reality sets in and I head home to the boys (and lady dog). We hang out and I heat up leftovers for dinner.
8pm - While I put K to bed, N goes to get ice cream (he pays). We sit on the patio eating and watch a little bit of the Yankees-Mets exhibition game. I’m glad baseball is back, even if it does feel different. Then, we finish The Last Dance. Are we the only ones that weren’t enamored by it? I just found the jumping around of years/seasons difficult to keep up with.
Daily Total: $36.34
Sunday, July 19
10:20 - It’s my day to sleep in. Woo! N gets off easy, because K doesn’t wake up until 8:45am. When I get up, I make some coffee and have some cereal. Our dog, Mya (do we need to do initials for dogs too?) has a heart condition and her medicine hasn’t shipped in time. N arranged for our vet to give us a week’s supply. We agree that I’ll drive out and get it, as it’s 30 minutes away and N is somehow overwhelmed by the prospect. The meds are more expensive than getting them online, which is still expensive. She’s lucky we love her. I listen to the Pod Save America series on the upcoming VP pick during the drive. $35.30/2 = $17.65
12:00pm - Stop and get gas. $27.62/2 = $13.81
12:30pm - Back back back again. I heat up more leftovers for lunch for K and I while N tinkers around in the yard. Then K naps and I finish up my craft project. The cupcake toppers turned out really cute, even though they took way longer than I thought they would. Being a Pinterest Mom is tough.
3pm - It’s a tepid 90 degrees out, so N fills up the kiddy pool and K and I both stew in it. Mya is convinced it’s a dog bowl.
4:00pm - Someone posts in a Mom Facebook group that The Montessori Toddler Kindle book is $1.99 today, so I buy it. I’m interested in Montessori style education, but also a little skeptical. It seems like the “in” thing to do, but I’m interested in learning about it and trying to implement some of the ideas in a budget friendly way. $1.99
5:00pm - N heads out to do some errands, so I place a mobile order from B. Good so that he can pick it up on the way home. I get a sandwich for him, a salad for me, and a kid’s hamburger for K. I have a coupon and it comes to $19.63/2 = $9.82
6:00pm - Spend some time organizing and picking up K’s room before bedtime. Then, I go grocery shopping. This might actually be the lowest our grocery bill has been since March. $129.56/2=$64.78
9:00pm - Put the groceries away, and go for a walk for 40 minutes or so. I finish listening to the Pod Save America series. Then I shower, read a book (Girl Gone Viral), and head to bed.
Daily Total: $108.05
-
Weekly Total: $336.81
Food + Drink: $205.54
Fun / Entertainment $0
Home + Health $17.65
Clothes + Beauty $48.90
Transport $13.81
Other $50.91
Reflection: Not surprised to see that most of my money is spent on food. In addition to inflated prices at the grocery store, a big shift for me in having a baby (almost toddler) is that I'm forced to have three set meals a day. It's great for my health and my routine, but it involves a lot of cooking. It's true that as an adult, you're always cleaning your kitchen. Even more true in a pandemic. Since taking a pay cut, one of the things I've really tried to cut back on is spending money on clothes, makeup and other beauty products. That used to be a big area of spending for me and is admittedly easier to cull when I have nowhere to go.

Magento, an open source platform has become quite trustworthy over the past few years. Its craze can be readily seen among the business entrepreneurs who regard Magento as nothing short of one of the trendiest and powerful e-commerce platforms ever present. As any Magento development company would tell you, this feature-rich platform provides its users tons of plugins, themes and extensions to boost the functionality of any e-commerce store and help gain a competitive edge in the market.
Do you also wish to boost your e-commerce sales as well as improve your website’s overall performance? Don’t worry, we have got you covered. Below goes the list of 8 such extensions along with their benefits that cover everything from conversion rate optimization to order fulfilment to management in order to help you smoothen out your sales journey.
1) Magento Power Pack
As the name suggests, Magento power pack is an efficient and cost-effective, action-packed collection of 5 most demanded plugins such as-
a) Easy AJAX Cart(adds products directly to cart with one click)
b) FB Discount (display “F like” button, enable/disable or change FB discount)
c) Out-of-stock Notification (Email notification for stock availability)
d) Facebook Social (login through FB account, posting on user’s FB wall)
e) One-Step Checkout (apply promotion/coupon code, auto update address)
2) MagentoWordPress Integration
This extension is free and easy to install/upgrade and allows full integration of WordPress into your Magento theme. It requires no file modification not even change of URL address and is perfectly compatible with all Magento versions.
3) Follow-Up Email Extension
Follow-up email extension works by following up on customers who for various reasons, leave the cart abruptly without making a purchase. It sends emails automatically within minutes to help rekindle the customer’s interest.
4) Sweet tooth Integration
Sweet tooth is basically a loyalty and reward extension that allows you to create loyalty programs based on their history such as sign-ups, referrals, purchases ZETC Bollywood order to rewards your customers in the form of discounts, coupons etc.
5) Magento Blog Extension
Blog extension for Magento gives you an opportunity to create a two-way communication platform to interact with your regular customers and casual visitors along with sharing information on upcoming products, store news, promotions etc.
6) Social Media Integration
Since Facebook, Google+, Pinterest, and Twitter independently serve as perfect advertising platforms in themselves, it only seems viable to integrate this one social media bundle plugin to deliver all their combined features with just one installation.
7) Magento Live-Chat Plugin
Magento chat is an extension that allows the online retailers that operate via Magento support to provide alive-chat option to their customers in order to improve engagement and the overall experience by offering real-time support.
8) Helpdesk Extension
This extension utilizes ticket system and brings you a time saving and organised workflow by keeping track of all your customer requests, queries, complaints, emails, offline chat messages stored in one place for easy reviewing.
Bonus Tip: It is highly recommended to check the ratings and reviews of the product before testing as extensions with little or no ratings have a nasty habit of doing more damage than good to your e-commerce store.

DISCLAIMER: Really long educational content for people trying to get x10 more traffic and sales from a platform better than Instagram
Yes you read that right, Instagram is a great visual platform but let's be real how many sales can you generate monthly from an account with less than 10k followers?
A few sales? Well, let's talk about link clicks, how many do you generate to your store using IG?
50? 100?
Like I said Instagram is a great visual platform for sales but not for your ecommerce business because you need to generate as many High Quality clicks as you can and this is difficult as you can only use one click-able link on IG.
Telling people “Click the link in bio for xyz” is a good strategy, but we both know you're losing a lot of potential buyers because people want fewer clicks to purchase.
So what's the option? Here's the option and how to do it properly:
🔺 Pinterest 🔻
Yes, that's the solution, I used to be sceptical and ask “what does this social platform do” until I decided to get on the platform, fail, fail, fail, learn, and find an easy to replicate formula that can provide you at least 600 high quality link clicks
BUT before we go into that, what is Pinterest?
Is Pinterest a social media platform? No!
Then what is Pinterest? Well, Pinterest is the world's first social search engine because it's like a Google search for ideas which are called “pins”, and this means the traffic you'll be getting from Pinterest is 100% search traffic, crazy huh? 😲
📚 Common Terms On Pinterest
✏ Pin
A pin is a “post” that is saved to a board, pins are the most important part of your Pinterest content strategy as a well-designed pin will get you thousands of impressions while a poorly designed one will just be “meh”
This isn't IG, regular “pretty pics” won't get you link clicks, it's value over pretty here.
✏ Board
A board is a category where you save or repin pins, a board is similar to a blog category but on Pinterest you'll be posting(pining) photos (ideas) instead of 500-word articles
You can have a fashion account, and create different boards for different things such as “Jewellery”, “Dresses”, “Sunglasses” etc
You see it's better than IG because it gives your followers and non followers the chance to sort your posts and find what they want quickly?
✏ Repin
A Repin is like a share, when your “Repin” someone's “pin” to your “board” your followers will see this “repin/share” as your own pin, and they can also “repin” it.
It's like you share a post on Facebook and your friends share that shared post, the shared post now has a “viral” effect.
✏ Monthly viewers
People say this is a “Fluke” stat but it's actually the most important statistic on Pinterest because it helps you understand the momentum your account has gained in a month.
On Instagram this statistic is called “profile visits”, but it's slightly different on Pinterest because followers are not important on Pinterest and the “monthly viewers” statistic is the number of unique users that have seen your pins or repins.
✏ Impressions
This is the number of “TIMES” your pins or repins have been seen on Pinterest
Uhmm what else? I think these are the important terms, OK let's go to setting up your Pinterest account to drive traffic to your store.
💰 Setting Up Your Pinterest Account 💰
📝 Get a pen and paper or use a notepad
📝 Download the Pinterest app
📝 Login to Pinterest with your Gmail account (don't worry we won't use this account, it will only be our research account)
📝 Keyword Research Time
Type in the name of your product in the search bar, you'll get a few suggestions by Pinterest (the type of suggestion you get when trying to search a video on YouTube)
It is important to note these suggestions as they're what others are searching for.
Let's assume I've got a home improvement store and I sell indoor water fountains, when I input “indoor water fountain” into the search bar, Pinterest may suggest.
“indoor water fountains ideas”
“Indoor water fountains small”
and “indoor water fountains for kids”
Now, copy the top 3 suggestions
REMEMBER: Copy the suggestions that appear before you hit the search button
Repeat this step for all your products/product categories until you have 7 – 9 keywords, save these “suggestions into your notepad”
⚗ Time to Create your account
🔗 Go to business(dot)Pinterest(dot)com
Replace (dot) with.
🔗 Create a business account
🔗 Input your business info
🔗 When asked “do you want to advertise?” click I'm not sure
🔗 Add your business logo
🔗 Add business link and verify
🔗 Now go to edit and in account name add one of those suggestions you copied to your account name
Let's assume my indoor fountain business name is Fontana, I'll name my Pinterest account :
Fontana | Indoor water fountain ideas
BUT why are we doing this? Remember I told you Pinterest is a search engine, so we're adding keywords to our brand name, so we can appear on Pinterest search results ⌨
🔗 Now go to your description and write a good description that includes one or two keywords you saved during your Pinterest research
Mine for this example is:
The Best Indoor fountain ideas and indoor fountain for kids design.
REMEMBER: Don't sell with your description
📋 Let's Create some boards
📓 Tap on the ➕ icon in the app and click on create board
📓 Now create board titles with the “keywords” we copied during our research
📓 Use one keyword as a title for each board until you create 7 – 8 boards
🎑 Creating Attention Grabbing Content
🖌 Go to Canva(dot)com or hire a Designer on Fiverr (will cost you a lot tho)
I've got a team ready to help you with design if you wouldn't mind expert help, 2 store owners only!
🖌 Use the default Pinterest dimension on Canva
🖌 Place your product in the frame
🖌 Write a good offer caption
🖌 add a good call to action at the bottom of the photo, a simple “click now to get 30%” off will do wonders to increase your link clicks
🖌 Hire a writer and post how to content on your Shopify blog, then create graphics to post on Pinterest (for ecom)
REMEMBER: Creating high quality pins is the best investment you can make, Canva can do the job or hire a designer on 5ver.
🚀 Momentum Building 🚀
I've told you how to create good pins that'll help you get a lot of clicks, but don't start pining your own content just yet
BUT why?
Pinterest rewards engagement with more engagement and this means it's easier for your own content to go viral when you interact with other people's content through repining, commenting, and following others.
This process is called momentum building, can surfers surf without waves? Nah! Bigger waves = Better surfing (I don't surf but this example just came to me, hope it applies 🤣🤣🤣)
So the steps to moment building include:
🚀 Repin the pins of others to your boards, this can be done by tapping on your board, clicking more ideas, and adding similar pins to your boards
🚀 Repeat this step for all your boards
🚀 It's a numbers game so the more pins you add to a board daily determines how fast you build momentum
🚀 I advise 60 – 80 repins to each board daily, but don't Repin 60 or 80 pins at once, you can do 30 in the morning and 40 in your free time.
🚀 Leave relevant comments on posts (optional)
🚀 Follow others
The number of followers you have doesn't matter, any well-designed and ranked pin will perform once you've got momentum
🚀 Do the momentum building tactics for 15 – 20 days before you begin to pin your own designed content
📌 Pining Your Own Content 📌
Now here's the sweet part, doing this right will get you results and doing this wrong won't have a positive effect
📌 Do the necessary keyword research, and add a few keywords to your pin title and description
📌 Write title descriptions longer than 22 words
📌 Do not engage in keyword stuffing
📌 Don't use sales terms in your titles
It's that easy
REMEMBER: Pay attention to keyword research and pin 3x daily for best results
EXTRA TACTICS
📋 Will Group Boards Help You?
Group boards are like Facebook groups with “board contributors” and these contributors can post to these groups.
It's easy to make posts go viral easily once you use group boards
🙌 Pinterest Influencers
Working with Pinterest influencers gives you the chance to skip the part of setting up your own account, and building momentum.
Working with Pinterest influencers is highly profitable, and they're really humble.
👩 Hiring a Pinterest VA, Yes or No?
Pinterest VA's help you create, schedule, and engage with pins, it's important to hire one of you need time to focus on other parts of your business.
THE ONLY FLAW OF PINTEREST
Yes its a great platform, almost the best but they need to work on their spam filters as a lot of good and non spammy accounts get easily suspended due to error from their bots
If you get your account suspended you may get it back after a few weeks and a lot of emails crying and trying to “present your case”
Yessssss, we finally got to the end!
I'll update this post regularly with the latest Pinterest growth hacks, feel free to ask any questions below.

Here is the summary of the book Traction: How any startup can achieve explosive growth.
I hope that you find it useful!

Traction is a sign that your startup is taking off. If you charge, it means customers are buying. If your product is free, it means your user base is growing.
If you have traction, all your technical, market, and team risks become easier to handle. It becomes easier to fund-raise, hire, do press, partnerships, and acquisitions.
Traction trumps everything.

How to think about Traction?

Almost every failed startup has a product. What failed startups don’t have is enough customers.
You should spend your time in parallel, both constructing your product and testing traction channels.
This is what we call the 50 percent rule: spend 50 percent of your time on product and 50% on traction. This rule seems simple but it’s hard to follow because the pull to spend all your attention on the product is strong. You’re probably making a startup because you want to build a particular product. You have a vision, but a lot of traction activities are unknown and outside your vision and comfort zone. So you try to avoid them. Don’t.
Doing product and traction in parallel has these benefits:

You get knowledge from traction efforts, so you’ll build the right product for your customers.
You get to experiment and test different traction channels before you launch anything. This means when your product is ready, you can grow rapidly.

Before trying to get traction, you’ll need to define what traction means for your company. You need to set a traction goal. Maybe your current startup goal is to raise funding or become profitable. How many customers do you need and at what rate? You should then focus on marketing activities that result in a significant impact on your traction goal. It should move the needle.
Your startup has 3 phases:

Phase I: Make something people want

In phase 1, your product has the most leaks, it really doesn’t hold water. You shouldn’t scale up your efforts now, but it’s important to send a small amount of water through the bucket so you can see where the holes are and plug them. \ Your goal in phase 1 is to get your first customers and prove your product can get traction. You focus on building your initial product and getting traction in ways that don’t scale: giving talks, writing guest posts, emailing people you know, attending conferences, and doing whatever you can to get in front of customers.

Some founders believe that startups either take off or don’t. Actually startups take off because the founders make them take off!

– Paul Graham

Phase II: Market something people want

Once you hone your product, you have product-market fit and customers are sticking around. Now is the time to scale up your traction efforts. You fine-tune your positioning and marketing messages.

Phase III: Scale your business

As your company grows, smaller traction strategies stop moving the needle, so you’ll start to scale.
In phase 3 you have an established business model and significant position in the market, and you’re focused on scaling to further dominate the market and to profit.

Traction for funding

When pursuing funding, first contact individuals who understand what you’re working on. The better your investors understand what you’re doing, the less traction they’ll need to see before they invest. Also, try friends and family who may not need to see any traction before investing as they’re investing in you personally.

To pivot or not to pivot

Many startups give up way too early. The first thing to look for is evidence of real product engagement, even if it’s only a few dedicated customers. If you have such an engagement, you might be giving up too soon. Look for the bright spots in your customer base and see if you can expand from that base.

How to get traction? The Bullseye framework

The Bullseye framework helps you find the channel that will get you traction. Most businesses actually get zero distribution channels to work. If you can get even a single distribution channel to work, you have a great business. If you try for several but don’t nail one, you’re finished.
You’re aiming for bullseye: the one channel at the center of the target that will unlock your next growth stage. Here are the 3 Bullseye framework steps:

Find what’s possible: The outer-ring

The first step in Bullseye is brainstorming every single traction channel. It’s important not to dismiss any channel in this step. Think of at least one idea for each channel. For example, social ads is a traction channel. Running ads on Facebook or Twitter is a channel strategy within social ads. You could research what marketing strategies worked in your industry as well as the history of companies in your space.

Find what’s probable: The middle-ring

Go around your outer-ring and promote your best and most exciting ideas to your middle-ring. For each traction channel in your middle ring, now construct a cheap traction test you can run to find if the idea is good or not. These tests need to answer the following questions:

What’s the cost of acquiring customers?
How many customers are available?
Are they the right type of customers for you now?

You want to design small scale tests that don’t require much up-front cost or effort. For example, run 4 Facebook ads instead of 40.

Find what’s working: The inner-ring

The final step in Bullseye is to only focus on one channel that will move the needle for your startup: your core channel. At any stage of your startup, you should have one traction channel that you’re focusing on and optimizing.
Most founders mess this up by keeping around distracting marketing efforts in other channels.
If search engine marketing is significantly better for you than other channels, you should focus all your efforts on this core channel and uncover additional strategies and tactics within it.
If no channel seems promising after testing, the whole process should be repeated. If you tried several times with no success, then your product may require more tweaking and your bucket might be still leaky.

How to test traction?

Middle-ring tests: You should be running several cheap tests that give you an indication of how successful a given channel strategy could be.
Inner ring tests:
You’re doing two things:

Optimize your chosen channel strategy to make it the best it can be.
Discover better channel strategies within this traction channel.

There is always a set of things you can tweak. For targeting blogs, you can tweak which blogs to target, type of content, call to action, etc. For search engine marketing, you can tweak keywords, ad-copy, demographics, and landing pages.
A common approach is to use A/B testing, where A is the control group and B is the experimental group. The purpose of it is to measure the effectiveness of change in a button color, an ad image, or a different message on a web page. If the experimental group performs significantly better, you can apply the change, get the benefits, and run another test.
You can use tools such as Optimizely, Visual Website Optimizer, and Unbounce.
Over time, all marketing channels become saturated. To combat this, you should always be trying to discover new strategies and tactics within your channel and conduct small experiments. Also, experiment with new marketing platforms while they’re still in their infancy.

Tools

To track your tests you could start with a simple spreadsheet or use an analytics tool with cohort analysis. You’ll need to answer these questions:

How many people landed on the website?
What are the demographics of my best and worst customers?
Are customers who interact with my support team more likely to stay?

A basic analytics tool like Clicky, Mixpanel, or Chartbeat can help you with these questions. You can use a spreadsheet as the tool to rank and prioritize traction channel strategies. You should include columns like how many customers are available, conversion rate, the cost to acquire a customer, lifetime value of a customer for every given strategy.

How to focus on the right traction goals? The critical path framework

Define your traction goal

You should always have an explicit traction goal you’re working towards. This could be 1,000 paying customers or 100 new daily customers, or 10% of your market. You want a goal where hitting the mark would change things significantly for your company’s outcome.
Once that is defined, you can work backward and set clear time-based subgoals. Such as reaching 1,000 customers by next quarter.
The key is to follow the critical path towards that goal and exclude all features and marketing activities that don’t help you reach your goal. Everything you decide to do should be assessed against your critical path.

Avoid traction biases

Your competitive advantage may be acquiring customers in ways your competition isn’t. That’s why it’s critical to avoid have traction biases. Stop your urge to refuse channels like speaking engagements, sales or affiliate marketing, business development, or trade shows just because you hate talking on the phone or you find the channel annoying or time-consuming.

Targetting blogs

Targeting blogs that your prospective customers read is one of the best ways to get your first wave customers.
Mint’s initial series of tests revealed that targeting blogs should be its core channel. They asked users to embed an “I want mint” badge on their personal blogs and rewarded them with a VIP access before other invitations were sent out. They also directly sponsored blogs. They sent bloggers a message with “Can I send you $500” as the subject and told them a bit about the product.
To find smaller blogs in your niche:

Google “top blogs for x” or “best x blogs.”
Search for your product keywords on YouTube.
Use tools like FollowerWonk and Klout to find top twitter accounts in your industry.
Use social mention to find sites with the most frequent mentions for your keywords.
Talk to people to figure out what your target audience is really reading online.

You can also target link-sharing communities like Reddit, Product Hunt, and Hacker News.
Dropbox, Codecademy, Quora, and Gumroad all got their first customers by sharing their products on HackerNews because their products were a good fit for users on that site.

Publicity

Starting out, an article in TechCrunch or The Huffington Post can boost your startup in the eyes of potential customers, investors, or partners. If you have a fascinating story with broad appeal, media outlets will want to hear from you.
It’s easier to start smaller when targeting big media outlets. Sites like TechCrunch and Lifehacker often pick up stories from smaller forums like Hacker News and subreddits. Instead of approaching TechCrunch, try blogs that TechCrunch reads and get story ideas from. It’s easier to get a smaller blog’s attention. Then you might get featured on TechCrunch and then The New York Times which reads TechCrunch!
What gets a reporter’s attention?

Milestones like raising money, launching a new product, breaking a usage barrier.
A PR stunt.
A big partnership.
A special industry report.

A good press angle makes people react emotionally. If it’s not interesting enough to elicit emotion, you don’t have a story worth pitching.
A good first step is using a service like Help A Reporter Out (HARO), where reporters request sources for articles they’re working on. It could get you a mention in the piece and help establish your credibility. Also, you could offer reporters commentary on stories related to your industries.
You can use Twitter to reach reporters online; almost all of them have Twitter accounts and you’d be surprised how few followers many of them have, but they can be highly influential with their content.
Once you have a solid story, you want to draw as much attention to it as you can:

Submit the story to link-sharing sites like Reddit and HackerNews
Share it on social networks
Email it to influencers in your industry for comment.
Ping blogs in your space and tell them you have a story that’s getting buzz.

Once your story has been established as a popular news item, try to drag it out as long as you can. Offer interviews that add to the story. Start “How We Did This” follow-up interviews.
As your startup grows you may consider hiring a PR firm or consultant.

Unconventional PR

Nearly every company attempts traditional publicity, but only a few focus on stunts and other unconventional ways to get buzz.

The publicity stunt

Half.com renamed (Halfway, Oregon) to Half.com and launched it on the Today show with the mayor of Halfway, Oregon.
Richard Branson made his press conferences as outlandish as possible (dressing like a woman, driving a tank through the streets) to get the media talking about whatever Virgin was launching.
WePay (a PayPal competitor) placed a 600-pound block of ice at PayPal’s conference entrance.
DuckDuckGo bought a billboard in Google’s backyard highlighting its privacy focus.
Blendtec created a series of videos called “Will It Blend?” where they blended items like a rake, golf balls, and even an iPhone.
When Grasshopper did a rebrand, they sent chocolate-covered grasshoppers to 5,000 influential people.

Customer Appreciation

Be awesome to your customers. Shortly after Alexis Ohanian launched Hipmunk, he sent out luggage tags and a handwritten note to the first several hundred people who mentioned the site on Twitter.
Holding a contest is also a great repeatable way to generate publicity and get word of mouth. Shopify has an annual Build a Business competition.
Great customer support is so rare that, if you make your customers happy, they’re likely to spread the news of your awesome product. Zappos is one of the best-known examples of a company with incredible customer service and they classify support as a marketing investment.

Search Engine Marketing (SEM)

SEM is placing ads on search engines like Google. It’s sometimes called “pay-per-click” because you only pay when a user clicks on an ad.
SEM works well for companies looking to sell directly to their target customer. You’re capturing people who are actively searching for solutions.
Click-Through Rate (CTR) The percentage of ad impressions that result in clicks to your site.
Cost per Click (CPC) The amount it costs to buy a click on an ad.
Cost per Acquisition (CPA) How much it costs you to acquire a customer, not just a click. If you buy clicks at $1 and 10% of people who hit your site make a purchase. This makes your CPA at $10.
CPA = CPC / conversion percentage

SEM to get early customer data

You can use SEM as a way to get early customer data in a controlled and predictable way. Even if you don’t expect to be profitable, you can decide to spend a certain amount of money to get an early base of customers and users to inform you about important metrics such as landing page conversion rates, average cost per customer, and lifetime value.
Archives.com used AdWords to drive traffic to their landing pages, even before they built a product, to test interest in a specific product approach. By measuring the CTR for each ad and conversions, they determined which product aspects were the most compelling to potential customers and what those people would actually pay for. When they finally built their product, they built something they knew the market would want.

SEM strategy

Find high-potential keywords, group them into ad groups, and test different ad copy and landing pages within each ad group. As data flows in, remove underperforming ads and landing pages and make tweaks to keep improving results.
Use tools like Optimizely and Visual Website Optimizer to run A/B tests on your landing pages.

Keyword research

Use Google’s keyword planner to discover top keywords your target customers use to find products like yours. You could also use tools such as KeywordSpy, SEMrush, and SpyFu to discover keywords your competition is using.
You can refine your keyword list by adding more terms to the end of each base term to create long-tail keywords. They’re less competitive and have lower search volumes which makes them ideal for testing on smaller groups of customers.
SEM is more expensive for more competitive keywords, so you’ll need to limit yourself to keywords with profitable conversion rates.
You shouldn’t expect your campaigns to be profitable right away, but if you can run a campaign that breaks even after a short period of time, then SEM could be an excellent channel for you to focus on.

Writing ads

Write ads with titles that are catchy, memorable, and relevant to the keywords you’ve paired with it. Include the keyword at least once in the body of your ad and conclude with a prominent call to action like “Check out discounted Nike sneakers!”
Each of your ads and ad groups will have a quality score associated with it. A high-quality score will get you better ad placements and better ad pricing. Click-through rate has the biggest influence on quality score, so you should tailor your ads to the keywords. Google assigns a low-quality score to ads with CTRs below 1.5%

Tactics

Consider expanding your ads to the content network of non-Google sites.
Consider luring people back to your site by retargeting through Google AdWords or other sites like AdRoll or Perfect Audience. These ads often convert better as they’re aimed at prospects who have already visited your site. (Be warned that it may feel creepy to certain people)
Consider using Google’s Conversion Optimizer to automatically adjust your ads to perform better.
Use negative keywords to prevent ads from showing for certain keywords you don’t want to target.
Consider using programming scripts to manage your ads.

Social and Display Ads

Display ads are banner ads you see on websites. Social ads are ads you see on social sites like Facebook and Twitter.
Large display campaigns are often used for branding and awareness, much like offline ads. They can also elicit a direct response such as signing up for an email newsletter or buying a product.
Social ads perform exceptionally well is when they’re used to build an audience and engage with them over time, and eventually convert them to customers.

Display ads

The largest display ad networks are Google Display Network, BuySellAds, Advertising.com, Tribal Fusion, Conversant, and Adblade. Niche ad networks focus on smaller sites that fit certain audience demographics, such as dog lovers or Apple fanatics.
To get started in display advertising, you could start to find out types of ads that work in your industry. You could use tools like MixRank and Adbeat to show you ads your competitors are running and where they place them. Alexa and Quantcast can help you determine who visits the sites that feature your competitors’ ads.

Social ads

Social ads work well for creating interest among potential new customers. The goal is often awareness oriented, not conversion oriented. A purchase takes place further down the line. People visit social media sites for entertainment and interaction, not to see ads.
An effective social ad strategy takes advantage of this reality. Use ads to start conversations about your products by creating compelling content. Instead of directing people to a conversion page, direct them to a piece of content that explains why you developed your product or has other purposes than immediately completing a sale. If you have a piece of content that has high organic reach, when you put paid ads behind that piece, magic happens. Paid is only as good as the content you put behind it. You should employ social ads when you know that a fire is starting around your message and you want to put more oil on it.
Major social sites you may consider are LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, StumbleUpon, Foursquare, Tumblr, Reddit, YouTube, and many others.

Offline Ads

Even today, advertisers spend more on offline ads than they do online. When buying offline ads, You should try to advertise to demographics that match up with your target audience. Ask for an audience prospectus or ad kit.
Not sure if magazine ads are a good channel for you? Buy a small ad in a niche publication and give it a test. Want to see if newspapers would be good? Buy a few ads in a local paper. You can also try radio ads and billboards.

You can save money by signing longer ad contracts.
Look for remnant ads which are ad space that’s unused; publications accept almost any price when selling empty ads near print deadlines.
You could track ad effectiveness by using unique web addresses and promo codes. You could also try adding “How did you hear about us” to your sign up process.

Magazine ads

A compelling magazine or newspaper ad will have an attention-grabbing header, an eye-catching graphic, and a description of the product’s benefits. Also, you should have a strong call to action, like an offer to get a free book.

Direct mail

You could also try direct mail by searching for “direct mail lists” and find companies selling such information. (Beware that it can be perceived as spammy)

Provide a self-addressed envelope.
Use handwritten envelopes and cards.
Have a clear call to action.
Investigate bulk mail to get reduced pricing.

Local print

You could also try local print ads like local fliers, directories, calendars, church bulletins, community newsletters, coupon booklets, or yellow pages. These work really well for cheap if you want to get early traction for your company in a specific area.

Outdoor advertising

If you want to buy space on a billboard, you could contact companies like Lamar, Clear Channel, or Outfront Media. Billboards aren’t effective for people to take immediate action, but it’s extremely effective for raising awareness around events, like concerts and conferences.
DuckDuckGo bought a billboard in Google’s backyard and it got big attention and press coverage.
Transit ads can be effective as a direct response tool. You can contact Blue Line Media to help you with Transit ads.

Radio and TV

Radio ads are priced on a cost per point (CPP) basis, where each point represents what it will cost to reach 1% of the station’s listeners. It also depends on your market, when the commercial runs and how many ads you’ve bought.
TV ads are often used as branding mechanisms. Quality is critical for it and production costs can run to tens of thousands. Higher-end ones can cost $200K to make. You’ll also need an average of $350,000 for actual airtime. For smaller startups, you could try local TV spots which is much cheaper.
Infomercials work really well for products in categories like Workout equipment, household products, health products, and work-from-home businesses. They can cost between $50,000 and $500,000, and they’re always direct-response.

Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

SEO is improving your ranking in search engines in order to get more people to your site.
The most important thing to know about SEO is that the more high-quality links you have to a given site or page, the higher it will rank. You should also make sure you’re using the keywords you want to target appropriately on your pages, like in your page titles and headings.
There are 2 strategies to choose from: fat-head and long-tail.
Fat-head: These are one and two-word searches like “Dishwashers,” and “Facebook.” They are searched a lot and make about 30% of searches and are called.
Long-tail: These are longer searches that don’t get searched as much but add up to the majority of searches made. They make up 70% of searches.

“Wooden toys” is fat-head.
“Wood puzzles for 3-year-olds” is long-tail.

When determining which strategy to use, you should keep in mind that the percentage of clicks drops off dramatically as you rank lower. Only 10% of clicks occur beyond the first page.

Fat-head strategy

To find out if fat-head is worthwhile, research what terms people use to find products in your industry, and then see if search volumes are large enough to move the needle. You can use the keyword planner tool for that. You want to find terms that have enough volume such that if you captured 10% for a given term, it would be meaningful.
The next step is determining the difficulty of ranking high for each term. Use tools like Open Site Explorer. If a competitor has thousands of links for a term, it will likely take a lot of focus on building links and optimizing to rank above them.
Next, narrow your list of targeted keywords to just a handful. Go to Google Trends to see how your keywords have been doing. Are they searched more or less often in the last year? You can further test keywords by buying SEM ads against them. If they convert well, then you have an indication that these keywords could get you strong growth.
Next, orient your site around the terms you’ve chosen. Include phrases you are targeting in your page titles and homepage. Get other sites to link to your site. Links with exact phrase matching from high-quality sites will give you a significant boost.

Long-Tail strategy

Because it’s difficult to rank high for competitive fat-head terms, a popular SEO strategy for early-stage startups is to focus on long-tail. If you bundle a lot of long-term keywords together you can reach a meaningful number of customers.
Find out what are search volumes for a bunch of long-tail keywords in your industry? Do they add up to meaningful amounts? Also, take a look at the analytics software you use on your site or google search console to find some of the search terms people are already using to get to your site. If you’re naturally getting a significant amount of traffic from long-tail keywords, then the strategy might be a good fit. Also, check if competitors use this strategy. If they have a lot of landing pages (search for site:domain.com in google), then it’s a sign that this strategy works for your market. Also, check Alexa search rankings and look at the percentage of visitors your competitors are receiving from search.
If you proceed with a long-tail SEO strategy, you’ll need to produce significant amounts of quality content. If you can’t invest time in that, you can pay a freelancer from Upwork to write an article for every search phrase you want to target.
Another way is to use content that naturally flows from your business. Ask yourself: what data do we naturally collect or generate that other people may find useful. Large businesses like Yelp, TripAdvisor, and Wikipedia all gained most of their traffic by producing automated long-tail content. Sometimes the data is hidden behind a login screen and all you need to do is expose it to search engines, or aggregate it in a useful manner.

How to get links?

Don’t buy links, you’ll be penalized by search engines for it. Instead, you can do:

Publicity - Get covered by a publication.
Product - Produce shareable web pages.
Content marketing - Create strong shareable content. Content that’s highly shareable include infographics, slideshows, images, and original research.
Widgets - Give site owners useful things to add to their sites which link back to yours.

Content Marketing

Companies like Moz and Unbounce have well-known company blogs that are their biggest source of customer acquisition.
Unbounce started a blog and an email list from day one. They used social media to drive readers to your blog. They pinged twitter influencers to ask for feedback, gave away free infographics, and e-books. These actions don’t scale but they push them to a point where their content will spread on its own.
OkCupid is a free online dating site. They intentionally wrote controversial posts like “How your race affects the messages you get” to generate traffic and conversation.

Tactics

Overcome writer’s block by writing about the problems facing your target customers.
Use infographics because they are shared 20x more.
Show your readers that they have a problem they didn’t know about.
Engage in online forums where your target customers are, and try to contribute.
Do guest posting on other popular blogs.
Keep a regular content schedule.

Email Marketing

Email marketing is a personal channel. Messages from your company sit next to emails from friends and family. That’s why email marketing works best when personalized. It can be used to build familiarity with prospects, acquire customers, and retain customers you already have.

Email marketing to Find customers

Build an email list of prospective customers through your other marketing efforts.
At the bottom of your blog posts and landing pages, simply ask for an email address.
Create a short free course related to your area.
Consider advertising on email newsletters.

Email marketing to Engage customers

If a customer never gets the value of your product, how can you expect them to pay for it or recommend it to others?

Determine the steps necessary for customers to get value from your product
Create targeted emails to make sure people complete these steps.
You can use tools like Vero and Customer.io to automate these messages.
Send an automated personal email 30 minutes after they signup to ask they if they need help.

Email marketing to Retain customers

Email marketing can be the most effective channel to bring people back to your site. Twitter sends you an email with a weekly digest of popular tweets and your new notifications.
More business-oriented products usually focus on reminders, reports, and information about how you’re getting value from the product. Mint sends a weekly financial summary to show your expenses and income over the previous week.
You can also use it to surprise and delight your customers. Planscope sends a weekly email to customers telling them how much they made that week. Photo apps will send you pictures you took a year ago.

Email marketing to Drive revenue

You can send a series of emails aimed at upselling customers.
WP Engine sends prospects an email course about Wordpress, and near the end of the email, they make a pitch to signup for its premium Wordpress hosting service.
If one of your customers abandoned a shopping cart, send her a targeted email a day or two later with a special offer for whatever item is left in the cart.
You can use email to explain a premium feature a customer is missing out on and how it can help them in a big way.

Email marketing to get referrals

Groupon generates referrals by incentivizing people to tell their friends about discounts.

Tactics

Use an email marketing provider that helps ensure deliverability like MailChimp.
Use A/B tests for every aspect including subjects, formats, images, timing, and more.
Send emails between 9 AM and 12 PM in your customers’ time zone or schedule them at the time they registered for your email list.
Learn copywriting techniques by checking resources like copy hackers.

Viral Marketing

Viral marketing is getting your existing customers to refer others to your product. It was the driving force behind the explosive growth of Facebook, Twitter, WhatsApp, Dropbox, Instagram, Snapchat, and Pinterest.
It’s so powerful that even if you can’t achieve exponential growth with it, you can still get meaningful growth. If your customer refers a new customer within the first week, you’ll go from ten customers to twenty and double every week without any additional marketing.
The oldest form of virality occurs when your product is so remarkable that people naturally tell others about it — pure word of mouth.
Inherent virality occurs when you can get value from a product only by inviting other customers, like Skype, Snapchat, and WhatsApp.
Others grow by encouraging collaboration like Google Docs.
Some embed virality like adding “Get a free email account with Hotmail” or “Sent from iPhone” to default signatures. Mailchimp and other email marketing products add branding to free customers’ emails.
Some incentivize customers to move through a viral loop, like Dropbox giving you more space if you invite friends to sign up. Airbnb, Uber, and PayPal give you account credits for referring friends.
Some add embedded buttons and widgets to grow virally, like Reddit and YouTube.
Some broadcast users activities on their social networks, like Spotify posting on Facebook when you play a song, or Pinterest when you pin content.
The viral coefficient K is the number of additional customers you can get for each customer you bring in. It depends on i, the number of invites sent per user, and conversion percentage (who will actually sign up after receiving an invite)
K = i * conversion percentage
Any viral coefficient above 1 will result in exponential growth. Any viral coefficient over 0.5 helps your efforts to grow considerably.
You can increase the number of invites per user i by including features that encourage sharing, such as posting to social networks. You can increase the conversion percentage by testing different signup flows. Try cutting out pages or signup fields.
Viral cycle time is how long it takes a user to go through your viral loop. Shortening your cycle time drastically increases the rate at which you go viral. You can do it by creating urgency or incentivizing customers to move through the loops.

Tactics

Measure your viral coefficient and cycle time from the start
Run as many A/B tests as you can. Focus on big changes that would result in a 5-10x improvement in a key metric, like a new email autoresponder or website design or onboarding flow. Then optimize smaller stuff.
You need a constant stream of new customers entering the viral loop. This is called “seeding.” You could use SEO and online ads for that.
Copy those who have done it before.

Engineering as Marketing

You can build tools like calculators, widgets, and educational microsites to get your company in front of potential customers.
HubSpot has Marketing Grade, a free marketing review tool. It’s free, gives you valuable information, and provides HubSpot with the information they use to qualify you as a potential prospect.
Moz has two free SEO tools, Followerwong and Open Site Explorer. They’ve driven tens of thousands of leads for Moz.
WP Engine has a speed testing tool that asks only for an email address in exchange for a detailed report on your site’s speed.

Provide something of true value.
Make the offering extremely relevant to your core business.
Put microsites and tools on their own domains. It makes it easier to share and does well with SEO when people search for your tool.

Business Development

With business development, you’re partnering to reach customers in a way that benefits both parties.
Google got most of its initial traction from a partnership with Netscape to be the default search engine and an agreement with Yahoo to power its online searches.
Business development can take the form of:

Standard partnership, like Apple and Nike producing Nike+ shoe that communicates with the iPhone.
Joint ventures: Two companies working together to produce a new product. Like bottled Starbucks Frappuccino produced by Pepsi.
Licencing: Spotify licensing music from record labels.
Distribution deals: Groupon works with a restaurant to offer a discount to Groupon’s mailing list.
Supply partnership: Deals between suppliers and Walmart.

You should have already defined your traction goal and milestones, and you shouldn’t accept any partnership that doesn’t align with it. Many startups waste resources because it’s tempting to make deals with bigger companies.

Create an exhaustive list of all your possible partners.
Send it to your investors and friends for warm introductions.
Approach potential customers with a value-focused proposition that outlines why they should work with you.
Make sure to find out who is in charge of the metric you’ve targeted, and contact them directly.
Make the negotiation and term sheet as simple as possible

Sales

Sales is the process of generating leads, qualifying them, and converting them into paying customers. It’s particularly useful for expensive and enterprise products.

Structuring the sales conversation

Situation questions. Ask one or two questions per conversation. The more you ask situation questions, the less likely they’re going to close.

How many employees do you have?
How is your organization structured

Problem questions. Use sparingly.

Are you happy with your current solution?
What problems do you face with it?

Implication questions. Meant to make a prospect aware of the large implications that stem from the problem.

Does this problem hurt your productivity?
How many people does it impact?
What customer or employee turnover are you experiencing because of it?

Need-payoff questions. Focus attention on your solution and get buyers to think about the benefits of solving the problem.

How do you feel this solution would help you?

Cold calls

Be judicious about the people you contact. You want someone who is one-two levels up in the organization. They have enough perspective on the problem and some authority for decision making. Avoid starting at the top unless you’re calling a very small business.
Try to get answers about:

Process: How does the company buy a solution like this?
Need: How badly does the company need a solution for this?
Authority: Which individuals can make the purchase happen?
Money: Do they have the funds? How much not solving the problem cost them?
Timing: What are budget and decision timelines for purchase?

Tactics

It’s better to gain traction through a marketing channel first, then use sales as a conversion tool to close leads. The next stage is lead qualification: determine how ready a prospect is to buy. Once you’ve qualified the leads, you should lay out exactly what are you going to do for the customer. Set up a timetable for it and get them to commit with a yes or no whether they’re going to buy. Closing leads can be done by a sales team who does a webinar or product demo and has an ongoing email sequence that ends with a purchase request. In other cases, you may need a field sales team that actually visits prospective customers for some part of the process.
A checklist that can help you with sales:

Remove the need for IT installs
Free trials
Channel partners
FAQs
Demo videos or Webinars
Testimonials or case studies
Email campaigns
Low introductory price (less than $250/mo for SMB, $10,000 for enterprises)

I removed the last sections because of the post character limit. Here are two:

Here is the summary of the book Traction: How any startup can achieve explosive growth.
I hope that you find it useful!

Traction is a sign that your startup is taking off. If you charge, it means customers are buying. If your product is free, it means your user base is growing.
If you have traction, all your technical, market, and team risks become easier to handle. It becomes easier to fund-raise, hire, do press, partnerships, and acquisitions.
Traction trumps everything.

How to think about Traction?

Almost every failed startup has a product. What failed startups don’t have is enough customers.
You should spend your time in parallel, both constructing your product and testing traction channels.
This is what we call the 50 percent rule: spend 50 percent of your time on product and 50% on traction. This rule seems simple but it’s hard to follow because the pull to spend all your attention on the product is strong. You’re probably making a startup because you want to build a particular product. You have a vision, but a lot of traction activities are unknown and outside your vision and comfort zone. So you try to avoid them. Don’t.
Doing product and traction in parallel has these benefits:

You get knowledge from traction efforts, so you’ll build the right product for your customers.
You get to experiment and test different traction channels before you launch anything. This means when your product is ready, you can grow rapidly.

Before trying to get traction, you’ll need to define what traction means for your company. You need to set a traction goal. Maybe your current startup goal is to raise funding or become profitable. How many customers do you need and at what rate? You should then focus on marketing activities that result in a significant impact on your traction goal. It should move the needle.
Your startup has 3 phases:

Phase I: Make something people want

In phase 1, your product has the most leaks, it really doesn’t hold water. You shouldn’t scale up your efforts now, but it’s important to send a small amount of water through the bucket so you can see where the holes are and plug them. \ Your goal in phase 1 is to get your first customers and prove your product can get traction. You focus on building your initial product and getting traction in ways that don’t scale: giving talks, writing guest posts, emailing people you know, attending conferences, and doing whatever you can to get in front of customers.

Some founders believe that startups either take off or don’t. Actually startups take off because the founders make them take off!

– Paul Graham

Phase II: Market something people want

Once you hone your product, you have product-market fit and customers are sticking around. Now is the time to scale up your traction efforts. You fine-tune your positioning and marketing messages.

Phase III: Scale your business

As your company grows, smaller traction strategies stop moving the needle, so you’ll start to scale.
In phase 3 you have an established business model and significant position in the market, and you’re focused on scaling to further dominate the market and to profit.

Traction for funding

When pursuing funding, first contact individuals who understand what you’re working on. The better your investors understand what you’re doing, the less traction they’ll need to see before they invest. Also, try friends and family who may not need to see any traction before investing as they’re investing in you personally.

To pivot or not to pivot

Many startups give up way too early. The first thing to look for is evidence of real product engagement, even if it’s only a few dedicated customers. If you have such an engagement, you might be giving up too soon. Look for the bright spots in your customer base and see if you can expand from that base.

How to get traction? The Bullseye framework

The Bullseye framework helps you find the channel that will get you traction. Most businesses actually get zero distribution channels to work. If you can get even a single distribution channel to work, you have a great business. If you try for several but don’t nail one, you’re finished.
You’re aiming for bullseye: the one channel at the center of the target that will unlock your next growth stage. Here are the 3 Bullseye framework steps:

Find what’s possible: The outer-ring

The first step in Bullseye is brainstorming every single traction channel. It’s important not to dismiss any channel in this step. Think of at least one idea for each channel. For example, social ads is a traction channel. Running ads on Facebook or Twitter is a channel strategy within social ads. You could research what marketing strategies worked in your industry as well as the history of companies in your space.

Find what’s probable: The middle-ring

Go around your outer-ring and promote your best and most exciting ideas to your middle-ring. For each traction channel in your middle ring, now construct a cheap traction test you can run to find if the idea is good or not. These tests need to answer the following questions:

What’s the cost of acquiring customers?
How many customers are available?
Are they the right type of customers for you now?

You want to design small scale tests that don’t require much up-front cost or effort. For example, run 4 Facebook ads instead of 40.

Find what’s working: The inner-ring

The final step in Bullseye is to only focus on one channel that will move the needle for your startup: your core channel. At any stage of your startup, you should have one traction channel that you’re focusing on and optimizing.
Most founders mess this up by keeping around distracting marketing efforts in other channels.
If search engine marketing is significantly better for you than other channels, you should focus all your efforts on this core channel and uncover additional strategies and tactics within it.
If no channel seems promising after testing, the whole process should be repeated. If you tried several times with no success, then your product may require more tweaking and your bucket might be still leaky.

How to test traction?

Middle-ring tests: You should be running several cheap tests that give you an indication of how successful a given channel strategy could be.
Inner ring tests:
You’re doing two things:

Optimize your chosen channel strategy to make it the best it can be.
Discover better channel strategies within this traction channel.

There is always a set of things you can tweak. For targeting blogs, you can tweak which blogs to target, type of content, call to action, etc. For search engine marketing, you can tweak keywords, ad-copy, demographics, and landing pages.
A common approach is to use A/B testing, where A is the control group and B is the experimental group. The purpose of it is to measure the effectiveness of change in a button color, an ad image, or a different message on a web page. If the experimental group performs significantly better, you can apply the change, get the benefits, and run another test.
You can use tools such as Optimizely, Visual Website Optimizer, and Unbounce.
Over time, all marketing channels become saturated. To combat this, you should always be trying to discover new strategies and tactics within your channel and conduct small experiments. Also, experiment with new marketing platforms while they’re still in their infancy.

Tools

To track your tests you could start with a simple spreadsheet or use an analytics tool with cohort analysis. You’ll need to answer these questions:

How many people landed on the website?
What are the demographics of my best and worst customers?
Are customers who interact with my support team more likely to stay?

A basic analytics tool like Clicky, Mixpanel, or Chartbeat can help you with these questions. You can use a spreadsheet as the tool to rank and prioritize traction channel strategies. You should include columns like how many customers are available, conversion rate, the cost to acquire a customer, lifetime value of a customer for every given strategy.

How to focus on the right traction goals? The critical path framework

Define your traction goal

You should always have an explicit traction goal you’re working towards. This could be 1,000 paying customers or 100 new daily customers, or 10% of your market. You want a goal where hitting the mark would change things significantly for your company’s outcome.
Once that is defined, you can work backward and set clear time-based subgoals. Such as reaching 1,000 customers by next quarter.
The key is to follow the critical path towards that goal and exclude all features and marketing activities that don’t help you reach your goal. Everything you decide to do should be assessed against your critical path.

Avoid traction biases

Your competitive advantage may be acquiring customers in ways your competition isn’t. That’s why it’s critical to avoid have traction biases. Stop your urge to refuse channels like speaking engagements, sales or affiliate marketing, business development, or trade shows just because you hate talking on the phone or you find the channel annoying or time-consuming.

Targetting blogs

Targeting blogs that your prospective customers read is one of the best ways to get your first wave customers.
Mint’s initial series of tests revealed that targeting blogs should be its core channel. They asked users to embed an “I want mint” badge on their personal blogs and rewarded them with a VIP access before other invitations were sent out. They also directly sponsored blogs. They sent bloggers a message with “Can I send you $500” as the subject and told them a bit about the product.
To find smaller blogs in your niche:

Google “top blogs for x” or “best x blogs.”
Search for your product keywords on YouTube.
Use tools like FollowerWonk and Klout to find top twitter accounts in your industry.
Use social mention to find sites with the most frequent mentions for your keywords.
Talk to people to figure out what your target audience is really reading online.

You can also target link-sharing communities like Reddit, Product Hunt, and Hacker News.
Dropbox, Codecademy, Quora, and Gumroad all got their first customers by sharing their products on HackerNews because their products were a good fit for users on that site.

Publicity

Starting out, an article in TechCrunch or The Huffington Post can boost your startup in the eyes of potential customers, investors, or partners. If you have a fascinating story with broad appeal, media outlets will want to hear from you.
It’s easier to start smaller when targeting big media outlets. Sites like TechCrunch and Lifehacker often pick up stories from smaller forums like Hacker News and subreddits. Instead of approaching TechCrunch, try blogs that TechCrunch reads and get story ideas from. It’s easier to get a smaller blog’s attention. Then you might get featured on TechCrunch and then The New York Times which reads TechCrunch!
What gets a reporter’s attention?

Milestones like raising money, launching a new product, breaking a usage barrier.
A PR stunt.
A big partnership.
A special industry report.

A good press angle makes people react emotionally. If it’s not interesting enough to elicit emotion, you don’t have a story worth pitching.
A good first step is using a service like Help A Reporter Out (HARO), where reporters request sources for articles they’re working on. It could get you a mention in the piece and help establish your credibility. Also, you could offer reporters commentary on stories related to your industries.
You can use Twitter to reach reporters online; almost all of them have Twitter accounts and you’d be surprised how few followers many of them have, but they can be highly influential with their content.
Once you have a solid story, you want to draw as much attention to it as you can:

Submit the story to link-sharing sites like Reddit and HackerNews
Share it on social networks
Email it to influencers in your industry for comment.
Ping blogs in your space and tell them you have a story that’s getting buzz.

Once your story has been established as a popular news item, try to drag it out as long as you can. Offer interviews that add to the story. Start “How We Did This” follow-up interviews.
As your startup grows you may consider hiring a PR firm or consultant.

Unconventional PR

Nearly every company attempts traditional publicity, but only a few focus on stunts and other unconventional ways to get buzz.

The publicity stunt

Half.com renamed (Halfway, Oregon) to Half.com and launched it on the Today show with the mayor of Halfway, Oregon.
Richard Branson made his press conferences as outlandish as possible (dressing like a woman, driving a tank through the streets) to get the media talking about whatever Virgin was launching.
WePay (a PayPal competitor) placed a 600-pound block of ice at PayPal’s conference entrance.
DuckDuckGo bought a billboard in Google’s backyard highlighting its privacy focus.
Blendtec created a series of videos called “Will It Blend?” where they blended items like a rake, golf balls, and even an iPhone.
When Grasshopper did a rebrand, they sent chocolate-covered grasshoppers to 5,000 influential people.

Customer Appreciation

Be awesome to your customers. Shortly after Alexis Ohanian launched Hipmunk, he sent out luggage tags and a handwritten note to the first several hundred people who mentioned the site on Twitter.
Holding a contest is also a great repeatable way to generate publicity and get word of mouth. Shopify has an annual Build a Business competition.
Great customer support is so rare that, if you make your customers happy, they’re likely to spread the news of your awesome product. Zappos is one of the best-known examples of a company with incredible customer service and they classify support as a marketing investment.

Search Engine Marketing (SEM)

SEM is placing ads on search engines like Google. It’s sometimes called “pay-per-click” because you only pay when a user clicks on an ad.
SEM works well for companies looking to sell directly to their target customer. You’re capturing people who are actively searching for solutions.
Click-Through Rate (CTR) The percentage of ad impressions that result in clicks to your site.
Cost per Click (CPC) The amount it costs to buy a click on an ad.
Cost per Acquisition (CPA) How much it costs you to acquire a customer, not just a click. If you buy clicks at $1 and 10% of people who hit your site make a purchase. This makes your CPA at $10.
CPA = CPC / conversion percentage

SEM to get early customer data

You can use SEM as a way to get early customer data in a controlled and predictable way. Even if you don’t expect to be profitable, you can decide to spend a certain amount of money to get an early base of customers and users to inform you about important metrics such as landing page conversion rates, average cost per customer, and lifetime value.
Archives.com used AdWords to drive traffic to their landing pages, even before they built a product, to test interest in a specific product approach. By measuring the CTR for each ad and conversions, they determined which product aspects were the most compelling to potential customers and what those people would actually pay for. When they finally built their product, they built something they knew the market would want.

SEM strategy

Find high-potential keywords, group them into ad groups, and test different ad copy and landing pages within each ad group. As data flows in, remove underperforming ads and landing pages and make tweaks to keep improving results.
Use tools like Optimizely and Visual Website Optimizer to run A/B tests on your landing pages.

Keyword research

Use Google’s keyword planner to discover top keywords your target customers use to find products like yours. You could also use tools such as KeywordSpy, SEMrush, and SpyFu to discover keywords your competition is using.
You can refine your keyword list by adding more terms to the end of each base term to create long-tail keywords. They’re less competitive and have lower search volumes which makes them ideal for testing on smaller groups of customers.
SEM is more expensive for more competitive keywords, so you’ll need to limit yourself to keywords with profitable conversion rates.
You shouldn’t expect your campaigns to be profitable right away, but if you can run a campaign that breaks even after a short period of time, then SEM could be an excellent channel for you to focus on.

Writing ads

Write ads with titles that are catchy, memorable, and relevant to the keywords you’ve paired with it. Include the keyword at least once in the body of your ad and conclude with a prominent call to action like “Check out discounted Nike sneakers!”
Each of your ads and ad groups will have a quality score associated with it. A high-quality score will get you better ad placements and better ad pricing. Click-through rate has the biggest influence on quality score, so you should tailor your ads to the keywords. Google assigns a low-quality score to ads with CTRs below 1.5%

Tactics

Consider expanding your ads to the content network of non-Google sites.
Consider luring people back to your site by retargeting through Google AdWords or other sites like AdRoll or Perfect Audience. These ads often convert better as they’re aimed at prospects who have already visited your site. (Be warned that it may feel creepy to certain people)
Consider using Google’s Conversion Optimizer to automatically adjust your ads to perform better.
Use negative keywords to prevent ads from showing for certain keywords you don’t want to target.
Consider using programming scripts to manage your ads.

Social and Display Ads

Display ads are banner ads you see on websites. Social ads are ads you see on social sites like Facebook and Twitter.
Large display campaigns are often used for branding and awareness, much like offline ads. They can also elicit a direct response such as signing up for an email newsletter or buying a product.
Social ads perform exceptionally well is when they’re used to build an audience and engage with them over time, and eventually convert them to customers.

Display ads

The largest display ad networks are Google Display Network, BuySellAds, Advertising.com, Tribal Fusion, Conversant, and Adblade. Niche ad networks focus on smaller sites that fit certain audience demographics, such as dog lovers or Apple fanatics.
To get started in display advertising, you could start to find out types of ads that work in your industry. You could use tools like MixRank and Adbeat to show you ads your competitors are running and where they place them. Alexa and Quantcast can help you determine who visits the sites that feature your competitors’ ads.

Social ads

Social ads work well for creating interest among potential new customers. The goal is often awareness oriented, not conversion oriented. A purchase takes place further down the line. People visit social media sites for entertainment and interaction, not to see ads.
An effective social ad strategy takes advantage of this reality. Use ads to start conversations about your products by creating compelling content. Instead of directing people to a conversion page, direct them to a piece of content that explains why you developed your product or has other purposes than immediately completing a sale. If you have a piece of content that has high organic reach, when you put paid ads behind that piece, magic happens. Paid is only as good as the content you put behind it. You should employ social ads when you know that a fire is starting around your message and you want to put more oil on it.
Major social sites you may consider are LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, StumbleUpon, Foursquare, Tumblr, Reddit, YouTube, and many others.

Offline Ads

Even today, advertisers spend more on offline ads than they do online. When buying offline ads, You should try to advertise to demographics that match up with your target audience. Ask for an audience prospectus or ad kit.
Not sure if magazine ads are a good channel for you? Buy a small ad in a niche publication and give it a test. Want to see if newspapers would be good? Buy a few ads in a local paper. You can also try radio ads and billboards.

You can save money by signing longer ad contracts.
Look for remnant ads which are ad space that’s unused; publications accept almost any price when selling empty ads near print deadlines.
You could track ad effectiveness by using unique web addresses and promo codes. You could also try adding “How did you hear about us” to your sign up process.

Magazine ads

A compelling magazine or newspaper ad will have an attention-grabbing header, an eye-catching graphic, and a description of the product’s benefits. Also, you should have a strong call to action, like an offer to get a free book.

Direct mail

You could also try direct mail by searching for “direct mail lists” and find companies selling such information. (Beware that it can be perceived as spammy)

Provide a self-addressed envelope.
Use handwritten envelopes and cards.
Have a clear call to action.
Investigate bulk mail to get reduced pricing.

Local print

You could also try local print ads like local fliers, directories, calendars, church bulletins, community newsletters, coupon booklets, or yellow pages. These work really well for cheap if you want to get early traction for your company in a specific area.

Outdoor advertising

If you want to buy space on a billboard, you could contact companies like Lamar, Clear Channel, or Outfront Media. Billboards aren’t effective for people to take immediate action, but it’s extremely effective for raising awareness around events, like concerts and conferences.
DuckDuckGo bought a billboard in Google’s backyard and it got big attention and press coverage.
Transit ads can be effective as a direct response tool. You can contact Blue Line Media to help you with Transit ads.

Radio and TV

Radio ads are priced on a cost per point (CPP) basis, where each point represents what it will cost to reach 1% of the station’s listeners. It also depends on your market, when the commercial runs and how many ads you’ve bought.
TV ads are often used as branding mechanisms. Quality is critical for it and production costs can run to tens of thousands. Higher-end ones can cost $200K to make. You’ll also need an average of $350,000 for actual airtime. For smaller startups, you could try local TV spots which is much cheaper.
Infomercials work really well for products in categories like Workout equipment, household products, health products, and work-from-home businesses. They can cost between $50,000 and $500,000, and they’re always direct-response.

Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

SEO is improving your ranking in search engines in order to get more people to your site.
The most important thing to know about SEO is that the more high-quality links you have to a given site or page, the higher it will rank. You should also make sure you’re using the keywords you want to target appropriately on your pages, like in your page titles and headings.
There are 2 strategies to choose from: fat-head and long-tail.
Fat-head: These are one and two-word searches like “Dishwashers,” and “Facebook.” They are searched a lot and make about 30% of searches and are called.
Long-tail: These are longer searches that don’t get searched as much but add up to the majority of searches made. They make up 70% of searches.

“Wooden toys” is fat-head.
“Wood puzzles for 3-year-olds” is long-tail.

When determining which strategy to use, you should keep in mind that the percentage of clicks drops off dramatically as you rank lower. Only 10% of clicks occur beyond the first page.

Fat-head strategy

To find out if fat-head is worthwhile, research what terms people use to find products in your industry, and then see if search volumes are large enough to move the needle. You can use the keyword planner tool for that. You want to find terms that have enough volume such that if you captured 10% for a given term, it would be meaningful.
The next step is determining the difficulty of ranking high for each term. Use tools like Open Site Explorer. If a competitor has thousands of links for a term, it will likely take a lot of focus on building links and optimizing to rank above them.
Next, narrow your list of targeted keywords to just a handful. Go to Google Trends to see how your keywords have been doing. Are they searched more or less often in the last year? You can further test keywords by buying SEM ads against them. If they convert well, then you have an indication that these keywords could get you strong growth.
Next, orient your site around the terms you’ve chosen. Include phrases you are targeting in your page titles and homepage. Get other sites to link to your site. Links with exact phrase matching from high-quality sites will give you a significant boost.

Long-Tail strategy

Because it’s difficult to rank high for competitive fat-head terms, a popular SEO strategy for early-stage startups is to focus on long-tail. If you bundle a lot of long-term keywords together you can reach a meaningful number of customers.
Find out what are search volumes for a bunch of long-tail keywords in your industry? Do they add up to meaningful amounts? Also, take a look at the analytics software you use on your site or google search console to find some of the search terms people are already using to get to your site. If you’re naturally getting a significant amount of traffic from long-tail keywords, then the strategy might be a good fit. Also, check if competitors use this strategy. If they have a lot of landing pages (search for site:domain.com in google), then it’s a sign that this strategy works for your market. Also, check Alexa search rankings and look at the percentage of visitors your competitors are receiving from search.
If you proceed with a long-tail SEO strategy, you’ll need to produce significant amounts of quality content. If you can’t invest time in that, you can pay a freelancer from Upwork to write an article for every search phrase you want to target.
Another way is to use content that naturally flows from your business. Ask yourself: what data do we naturally collect or generate that other people may find useful. Large businesses like Yelp, TripAdvisor, and Wikipedia all gained most of their traffic by producing automated long-tail content. Sometimes the data is hidden behind a login screen and all you need to do is expose it to search engines, or aggregate it in a useful manner.

How to get links?

Don’t buy links, you’ll be penalized by search engines for it. Instead, you can do:

Publicity - Get covered by a publication.
Product - Produce shareable web pages.
Content marketing - Create strong shareable content. Content that’s highly shareable include infographics, slideshows, images, and original research.
Widgets - Give site owners useful things to add to their sites which link back to yours.

Content Marketing

Companies like Moz and Unbounce have well-known company blogs that are their biggest source of customer acquisition.
Unbounce started a blog and an email list from day one. They used social media to drive readers to your blog. They pinged twitter influencers to ask for feedback, gave away free infographics, and e-books. These actions don’t scale but they push them to a point where their content will spread on its own.
OkCupid is a free online dating site. They intentionally wrote controversial posts like “How your race affects the messages you get” to generate traffic and conversation.

Tactics

Overcome writer’s block by writing about the problems facing your target customers.
Use infographics because they are shared 20x more.
Show your readers that they have a problem they didn’t know about.
Engage in online forums where your target customers are, and try to contribute.
Do guest posting on other popular blogs.
Keep a regular content schedule.

Email Marketing

Email marketing is a personal channel. Messages from your company sit next to emails from friends and family. That’s why email marketing works best when personalized. It can be used to build familiarity with prospects, acquire customers, and retain customers you already have.

Email marketing to Find customers

Build an email list of prospective customers through your other marketing efforts.
At the bottom of your blog posts and landing pages, simply ask for an email address.
Create a short free course related to your area.
Consider advertising on email newsletters.

Email marketing to Engage customers

If a customer never gets the value of your product, how can you expect them to pay for it or recommend it to others?

Determine the steps necessary for customers to get value from your product
Create targeted emails to make sure people complete these steps.
You can use tools like Vero and Customer.io to automate these messages.
Send an automated personal email 30 minutes after they signup to ask they if they need help.

Email marketing to Retain customers

Email marketing can be the most effective channel to bring people back to your site. Twitter sends you an email with a weekly digest of popular tweets and your new notifications.
More business-oriented products usually focus on reminders, reports, and information about how you’re getting value from the product. Mint sends a weekly financial summary to show your expenses and income over the previous week.
You can also use it to surprise and delight your customers. Planscope sends a weekly email to customers telling them how much they made that week. Photo apps will send you pictures you took a year ago.

Email marketing to Drive revenue

You can send a series of emails aimed at upselling customers.
WP Engine sends prospects an email course about Wordpress, and near the end of the email, they make a pitch to signup for its premium Wordpress hosting service.
If one of your customers abandoned a shopping cart, send her a targeted email a day or two later with a special offer for whatever item is left in the cart.
You can use email to explain a premium feature a customer is missing out on and how it can help them in a big way.

Email marketing to get referrals

Groupon generates referrals by incentivizing people to tell their friends about discounts.

Tactics

Use an email marketing provider that helps ensure deliverability like MailChimp.
Use A/B tests for every aspect including subjects, formats, images, timing, and more.
Send emails between 9 AM and 12 PM in your customers’ time zone or schedule them at the time they registered for your email list.
Learn copywriting techniques by checking resources like copy hackers.

Viral Marketing

Viral marketing is getting your existing customers to refer others to your product. It was the driving force behind the explosive growth of Facebook, Twitter, WhatsApp, Dropbox, Instagram, Snapchat, and Pinterest.
It’s so powerful that even if you can’t achieve exponential growth with it, you can still get meaningful growth. If your customer refers a new customer within the first week, you’ll go from ten customers to twenty and double every week without any additional marketing.
The oldest form of virality occurs when your product is so remarkable that people naturally tell others about it — pure word of mouth.
Inherent virality occurs when you can get value from a product only by inviting other customers, like Skype, Snapchat, and WhatsApp.
Others grow by encouraging collaboration like Google Docs.
Some embed virality like adding “Get a free email account with Hotmail” or “Sent from iPhone” to default signatures. Mailchimp and other email marketing products add branding to free customers’ emails.
Some incentivize customers to move through a viral loop, like Dropbox giving you more space if you invite friends to sign up. Airbnb, Uber, and PayPal give you account credits for referring friends.
Some add embedded buttons and widgets to grow virally, like Reddit and YouTube.
Some broadcast users activities on their social networks, like Spotify posting on Facebook when you play a song, or Pinterest when you pin content.
The viral coefficient K is the number of additional customers you can get for each customer you bring in. It depends on i, the number of invites sent per user, and conversion percentage (who will actually sign up after receiving an invite)
K = i * conversion percentage
Any viral coefficient above 1 will result in exponential growth. Any viral coefficient over 0.5 helps your efforts to grow considerably.
You can increase the number of invites per user i by including features that encourage sharing, such as posting to social networks. You can increase the conversion percentage by testing different signup flows. Try cutting out pages or signup fields.
Viral cycle time is how long it takes a user to go through your viral loop. Shortening your cycle time drastically increases the rate at which you go viral. You can do it by creating urgency or incentivizing customers to move through the loops.

Tactics

Measure your viral coefficient and cycle time from the start
Run as many A/B tests as you can. Focus on big changes that would result in a 5-10x improvement in a key metric, like a new email autoresponder or website design or onboarding flow. Then optimize smaller stuff.
You need a constant stream of new customers entering the viral loop. This is called “seeding.” You could use SEO and online ads for that.
Copy those who have done it before.

Engineering as Marketing

You can build tools like calculators, widgets, and educational microsites to get your company in front of potential customers.
HubSpot has Marketing Grade, a free marketing review tool. It’s free, gives you valuable information, and provides HubSpot with the information they use to qualify you as a potential prospect.
Moz has two free SEO tools, Followerwong and Open Site Explorer. They’ve driven tens of thousands of leads for Moz.
WP Engine has a speed testing tool that asks only for an email address in exchange for a detailed report on your site’s speed.

Provide something of true value.
Make the offering extremely relevant to your core business.
Put microsites and tools on their own domains. It makes it easier to share and does well with SEO when people search for your tool.

Business Development

With business development, you’re partnering to reach customers in a way that benefits both parties.
Google got most of its initial traction from a partnership with Netscape to be the default search engine and an agreement with Yahoo to power its online searches.
Business development can take the form of:

Standard partnership, like Apple and Nike producing Nike+ shoe that communicates with the iPhone.
Joint ventures: Two companies working together to produce a new product. Like bottled Starbucks Frappuccino produced by Pepsi.
Licencing: Spotify licensing music from record labels.
Distribution deals: Groupon works with a restaurant to offer a discount to Groupon’s mailing list.
Supply partnership: Deals between suppliers and Walmart.

You should have already defined your traction goal and milestones, and you shouldn’t accept any partnership that doesn’t align with it. Many startups waste resources because it’s tempting to make deals with bigger companies.

Create an exhaustive list of all your possible partners.
Send it to your investors and friends for warm introductions.
Approach potential customers with a value-focused proposition that outlines why they should work with you.
Make sure to find out who is in charge of the metric you’ve targeted, and contact them directly.
Make the negotiation and term sheet as simple as possible

Sales

Sales is the process of generating leads, qualifying them, and converting them into paying customers. It’s particularly useful for expensive and enterprise products.

Structuring the sales conversation

Situation questions. Ask one or two questions per conversation. The more you ask situation questions, the less likely they’re going to close.

How many employees do you have?
How is your organization structured

Problem questions. Use sparingly.

Are you happy with your current solution?
What problems do you face with it?

Implication questions. Meant to make a prospect aware of the large implications that stem from the problem.

Does this problem hurt your productivity?
How many people does it impact?
What customer or employee turnover are you experiencing because of it?

Need-payoff questions. Focus attention on your solution and get buyers to think about the benefits of solving the problem.

How do you feel this solution would help you?

Cold calls

Be judicious about the people you contact. You want someone who is one-two levels up in the organization. They have enough perspective on the problem and some authority for decision making. Avoid starting at the top unless you’re calling a very small business.
Try to get answers about:

Process: How does the company buy a solution like this?
Need: How badly does the company need a solution for this?
Authority: Which individuals can make the purchase happen?
Money: Do they have the funds? How much not solving the problem cost them?
Timing: What are budget and decision timelines for purchase?

Tactics

It’s better to gain traction through a marketing channel first, then use sales as a conversion tool to close leads. The next stage is lead qualification: determine how ready a prospect is to buy. Once you’ve qualified the leads, you should lay out exactly what are you going to do for the customer. Set up a timetable for it and get them to commit with a yes or no whether they’re going to buy. Closing leads can be done by a sales team who does a webinar or product demo and has an ongoing email sequence that ends with a purchase request. In other cases, you may need a field sales team that actually visits prospective customers for some part of the process.
A checklist that can help you with sales:

Remove the need for IT installs
Free trials
Channel partners
FAQs
Demo videos or Webinars
Testimonials or case studies
Email campaigns
Low introductory price (less than $250/mo for SMB, $10,000 for enterprises)

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How to achieve explosive startup growth!

Phase I: Make something people want

Phase II: Market something people want

Phase III: Scale your business

Traction for funding

To pivot or not to pivot

Find what’s possible: The outer-ring

Find what’s probable: The middle-ring

Find what’s working: The inner-ring

Tools

Define your traction goal

Avoid traction biases

The publicity stunt

Customer Appreciation

SEM to get early customer data

SEM strategy

Keyword research

Writing ads

Tactics

Display ads

Social ads

Magazine ads

Direct mail

Local print

Outdoor advertising

Radio and TV

Fat-head strategy

Long-Tail strategy

How to get links?

Tactics

Email marketing to Find customers

Email marketing to Engage customers

Email marketing to Retain customers

Email marketing to Drive revenue

Email marketing to get referrals

Tactics

Tactics

Structuring the sales conversation

Cold calls

Tactics

Free marketing guide for startups: How to achieve explosive growth!

Phase I: Make something people want

Phase II: Market something people want

Phase III: Scale your business

Traction for funding

To pivot or not to pivot

Find what’s possible: The outer-ring

Find what’s probable: The middle-ring

Find what’s working: The inner-ring

Tools

Define your traction goal

Avoid traction biases

The publicity stunt

Customer Appreciation

SEM to get early customer data

SEM strategy

Keyword research

Writing ads

Tactics

Display ads

Social ads

Magazine ads

Direct mail

Local print

Outdoor advertising

Radio and TV

Fat-head strategy

Long-Tail strategy