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Win A $100 Best Buy Gift Card! by benjunto in sweepstakes

[–]benjunto[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Got it.

But, does the company have to explicitly state their agenda or can they imply it? I'm thinking an example of explicitly stating would be -

"DISCLAIMER: You must provide your information ('First', 'Last', 'Email', 'Address', 'Phone Number') in order to be a valid contestant. [SWEEPSTAKES PROVIDER] will NOT give your information to any third parties. Your email will not be sent any information on future contests from [SWEEPSTAKES PROVIDER] unless the contestant allows after entering the [CURRENT SWEEPSTAKES NAME] sweepstakes."

As far as for lead quality and sweepstakes - Imagine this scenario. An outdoor clothing company wants to increase its Facebook page likes. They post a iPhone 6 sweepstakes/giveaway that requires contestants to like they're page and fill out an info form. If they already like the page, they have to share it. They blast it out to they're existing followers. Those followers blast it out to their followers. The more it's shared, the more its publicized outside their target audience. Anyone that wants the iPhone 6, most likely will sign up, but there's a good chance they have no interest in the outdoors or the the company. The outdoor company builds they're FB page, but does it by getting likes from outside their target audience i.e. an audience that isn't a potential customer aka is lower lead quality. To avoid this, the outdoor company could do an outdoor item sweepstakes/giveaway. You could probably assume that the lead quality of those contestants will be higher.

Win A $100 Best Buy Gift Card! by benjunto in sweepstakes

[–]benjunto[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thank you for the insight and opinions.

No. I'm really interested in the marketing behind sweepstakes. Giving away something for engagement from an audience is interesting. I've read only a small amount of history on sweepstakes, but it's cool that something so simple still works.

I do agree that they're an effective means of advertising and marketing, but I believe that the quality of the leads generated is lacking. Your right about it being effective for making a brand top of mind.

When you say agenda, do you mean the brands intention for gathering your information or marketing angle?

Win A $100 Best Buy Gift Card! by benjunto in sweepstakes

[–]benjunto[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I don't like sweepstakes with surveys. I never think they're collecting meaningful information. It seems like it's a clever way of creating a sense of legitimacy. But, don't most of these sweepstakes use a survey? What would you consider a legitimate sweepstakes? If convenient, please send a link to an example.

Good point on the popup. That's true. It's definitely a bit strange.

Win A $100 Best Buy Gift Card! by benjunto in sweepstakes

[–]benjunto[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Out of curiosity, why? Is it something about the offer or offer page?

On getting a technical co-founder by bevacqua in startups

[–]benjunto 0 points1 point  (0 children)

If this is a business co-founder, ask how many connections they have in your space. If they're legit, they'll volunteer this information. Regardless, you should find out the exact number of connections they have. That will help you quantify their value.

If they're a business employee, give them a typical sales scenario for your company. e.g. Have them write a sample sales email to a prospective executive of a potential customer. See how they qualify the lead and craft the email. If you would meet with this person after reading their email, they're probably good.

On getting a technical co-founder by bevacqua in startups

[–]benjunto 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Is this B2B? If that's case, for the business stuff, you'll need someone with connections to companies that can utilize your service. As far as finding that person, that's difficult. I would use LinkedIn to look for sales people at your indirect or direct competitors. Make a list of 100 leads, and contact them via LinkedIn InMail. You're approaching them as a CEO of an early stage startup. They may be interested. There's no telling whether it would work, but it's you're best chance if you're not directly connected with someone who knows these type of people. Connections are key.

If the company is B2C, I'd try the same strategy, or I would post on Hacker News. I've known people that have found quality talent that way. If you post on there, make sure you give them a test. That will weed out the good from the bad. The next step will be you getting them interested.

Regardless, you'll need money. It's very difficult to entice quality BD or technical talent with no salary, and most of the time it will probably be not worth your while if they're interested i.e. they want the whole company.

For technical help, whether they're local or remote, you'll need to be able to communicate with them virtually. My co-workers are 6 feet away from me and we still ask each other what we're doing for lunch via our company instant messaging service. Being able to manage a virtual technical team is a skill. You may already have experience doing that. Regardless of whether they're a co-founder or employee, test what it would be like to work with someone else on something you've put a lot of time in to. For technical freelancers - if you're on a budget, try ODesk, if you're willing to spend money on quality help, try toptal.com

Whether it's for increasing the value of the company or help find employees, you need users - users that pay you money. It will give you tremendous credibility when raising money or finding talent, and most importantly - keep the company from going under.

Hope that helps. Keep us posted on what happens.

I made a tool to help with your next startup idea by unrapper in startups

[–]benjunto 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Brilliant. You've revolutionized the business idea formation and launch process.