Between launching StartupToDo, and immediately finding myself in need of a new subscription processing system, MicroISV Digest will return next Monday.
Share this:
- Home
- MicroConsult“As someone trying to get my self-funded startup going, both time and money are at a premium. I tried a MicroConsult with Bob Walsh because he had an outstanding reputation and I honestly did not have the time to read through hundreds of pages of potential useless or redundant material. Bob’s advice got me on the fast track to meeting my goals. Once I work through the checklist that he and I created, I plan on scheduling another session in order to help me get to the next stage in my startup’s life.” Justin James, founder of RatCatcher — Sometimes you get stuck, lose traction, become unfocused, get lost among all the possible things you could do, you should do, to make your software business successful. In the past, you could have hire me or any number of great startup consultants like Andy Brice who understand your world and can help you in many different ways. Problem was, such consulting costs more than what most bootstrapping startups can afford. So let’s take a new approach to the problem: MicroConsult with Bob Walsh. How’s it work? You buy a single hour of my time for $147 USD. For that hour via Skype/phone you and I will focus on defining and identifying specifically what you need to do and how to do it to successfully market your app, productively run your one-person software company, improve your web site or what other pain you are feeling as a micropreneur or microISV. I’m going to help you get control of 8 to 10 things that will make a difference. If your pain is how to more successfully market your app, we will focus on what the next set of specific actions will make that happen. If you’re spending long days working, but don’t see the results, we’ll tear into your workflow and describe, define, make doable, the first set of changes that will really make a change. The objective is simple: nail down the top tasks that will make your startup/microISV pain go away. Then I nag you via email to get that checklist done, ahem, help you stay focused on that checklist of tasks until you’ve completed it. There are too many distractions, crisises of the moment, fires to put out – you need someone to remind you, bug you, encourage you, briefly answer questions when you get stuck and keep you focused on getting that list done so you get the results you want and need. What can I get help with? If you need help raising equity funding, launching your internet marketing get rich overnight site or coding, I’m not the right consultant for you. But if you’ve seen what I have seen, if you are stuck trying to define and research your market, if tech support is taking all of your development time, if you feel like wasting days on things that don’t make a difference, I’m your guy. I can work with you to define eight to ten specific, measurable tasks that will help, and politely but firmly hold your feet in the fire until you’ve gotten them done and moved your software business forward. And I can do it in an hour of your time. If I’ve hit a nerve in what you’ve just read, why not give it a try? Just pick a time that works for you from the calendar below or on the sidebar, and let’s get to it! Cheers, Bob The MicroConsult FAQ: Question: What’s it cost? Answer: $147 USD via PayPal, before we talk. Question: What if you don’t think I’ve gotten my $147 worth? Answer: I refund your money, there and then. Question: What if I finish all this work we thought would make the pain go away, and it didn’t? Answer: If you finish the Checklist, and you want your money back, I’ll refund it. Question: How do I book a MicroConsult with you? Answer: Find a time slot in the booking widget on this page, or in the blog sidebar, that works for you, click it, fill in the pre-consultation questions, pay your $147 and we are set. Question: What do I specifically get for my money? Answer: One hour consultation with me via Skype or landline/mobile focusing on creating a specific Action Plan of eight to ten tasks that we agree will move you forward and reduce the specific pain you want addressed. Brief email followups from me to remind you to complete the Action Plan, point out a few actionable resources along the way, briefly answer questions you may have, review changes you’ve made in the Action Plan, and mark off your progress. Six month free scholarship to StartupToDo.com (retail price, $105), if you are not already a member, when you complete your MicroConsult Action Plan. Question: I’ve got a question not covered here, what’s the fastest way to get an answer? Answer: Click the green help button on the side of this browser window. If I’m online, we’ll be chatting directly. If I’m offline, I will get back to you within one business day, or less.
- WordPress for Startups
- Podcast
- Blog
- The Y Project
- BooksJuly, 2009: The Web Startup Success Guide is out and selling! (Looking for the PDF Version?) Below is a PDF of the Table of Contents to give you a more specific idea of what’s in The Web Startup Success Guide: (If you don’t see a PDF above this line, please let me know!) Older books A little background on the first two (physical) books I’ve written: Back in March 2005 I’d launched my microISV, Safari Software, Inc. and my first product, MasterList Professional. I quickly realized that while the initial programming was done, I needed to learn and do a whole slew of other things if I wanted to make money; everything from the basics of marketing a commercial product, to handling tech support, to dealing with the money to doing a product blog. Micro-ISV From Vision to Reality Having been a reporter before getting into programming, I decided since I couldn’t find a book, I’d write one. Micro-ISV: From Vision to Reality is that book, and from the Amazon ratings to the the emails I get, I know I not only scratched my itch, but contributed a valuable resource to the community. Here’s what’s inside Micro-ISV: From Vision to Reality: Book Summary Chapter 1: Having a Vision Points: Find a problem people will pay to have solved in the Long Tail. How we got here: shareware no more. Find a problem: A systematic approach. Find a problem: Joel Spolsky’s find the pain. Find a problem: Mike Johnson, chief executive officer (CEO) of BigAtticHouse Software: “What’s your damnit?” Interviews: Eric Sink, Software Craftsman, Sourcegear Joel Spolsky, CEO, Fog Creek Software Chapter 2: Developing the Micro-ISV Way Points: Designing the micro-ISV app: paper use cases, prototype, decision log, Painless software schedules explained. A micro-ISV development infrastructure: source control, VMware, testing. Strategies and tools for quality code. Organizing your Beta Program. Interviews: Eric Sink, Software Craftsman, Sourcegear Nigel Chanter, chief operating officer (COO) of Perforce Kevin Epstein, VMware’s vice president for marketing Atanas Stoyanov, Chief Scientist and CEO, Automatedqa Chapter 3: Presenting the Product Points: Marketing basics for micro-ISVs: get on the Cluetrain. Naming your product and company. Good looks matter. Online demos and screenshots of your product done right. Quickie Web Design for non web designers: get a template. Getting a good domain name. The parts of a good micro-ISV web site. Getting Paid. Blogging for micro-ISV success. Interviews: Danny Altman, CEO and founder, A Hundred Monkeys Mike Rohde, Design Director, Makalumedia David Ridgway, Manager, Glyfx Konrad Musial, Ceo and Founder, Yessoftware Dmitry Chestnykh, Founder and CEO, Difolders Software Alan Homewood, CEO and Founder, 2checkout.Com Mithel Veys, Director of Products, Verisign sPayment Products Mena Trott, Cofounder, Six Apart: “A small company can really leverage bloggers in the sense that bloggers out there are very interested in small companies; they are interested in underdogs, [and] they are interested in people out there doing interesting things. And you can get your customers who are bloggers to be advocates for your product because they are writing about things that interesting to them. Having that sort of connection with your customers is extremely important.” Chapter 4: Business Is Business Points: Business types in the US, UK and Australia: balancing paperwork and liability. Getting Things Done in Your micro-ISV. GTD Overview. David Allen interview re micro-ISV issues: email, information overload, the proactive side of GTD, staying focused. Interviews: David Allen, Author, Getting Things Done: Q. On that note, if you are doing a start-up business, should you allow time to go wrap up all those open loops from your previous employment or way of doing business? A. Well, open loops just create drag on the system. It doesn’t mean you’re not moving or that you can’t do it. It’s kind of like, how important is it to get rid of drag on the system? Sometimes you don’t have time to get rid of drag on the system; you just got to work with a draggy system. But when in doubt, clean a drawer, because crap is occurring as we speak. Things change, so they change their nature, [and] today’s newspaper is tomorrow’s fire starter. So as time marches on, so does residue accrue. Anybody who is trying to ignore that they need to from time to time stop and clean up the open loops and renegotiate them are kidding themselves. But then it’s just a matter of how clean do you like to stay? I have a bias towards being as close to zero as possible, because it’s easier to deal with surprise with a lot less stress. If you get surprised with 3,000 e-mails, that’s one thing; if you get surprised with an empty In basket — hey, new opportunity. Patrick Cunningham, Attorney Teri Takahashi, the training manager for the Florida Atlantic University Small Business Development Center Chapter 5: Focusing on the Customer Points: Marketing for micro-ISVs: tools and templates. SIMS, MAP and more. Dealing with email: retail and wholesale. Technical Support as a competitive micro-ISV advantage. Discussion boards and forums: what works, what doesn’t. How your customers find you. You and Google Adwords. Downloads.com and the Microsoft Office Marketplace. The Influencers: Mainstream media and the online tech press. Interviews: Raj Khera, CEO of MailerMailer Michael Pryor, president and cofounder of Fog Creek Software Emily White, Adwords Manager, Kelly Morrison, Director, CNET Download.Com Jeanette Fisher, Business Development Manager, Microsoft Office Online Leslie Brooks Suzukamo, Telecom And Technology Reporter, St. Paul Pioneer Press Rob Vamosi, Senior Editor, CNET Networks Chapter 6: Welcome to Your Industry Points: What about Microsoft? Microsoft Empower Program. Microsoft Buddy Program. The Other Microsoft. Microsoft Digital Locker Program. Office MarketPlace Program. Microsoft Wants You! (Maybe.) Keeping an Eye on Microsoft. Business Intelligence for the micro-ISV. The Micro-ISV Community: Joel on Software, Association of Independent Software Industry Professionals (AISIP), Association of Shareware Professionals (ASP). Interviews: Avi Sagiv, Program Manager, Microsoft Buddy Program Nigel Parker, Development Advisor, Microsoft NZ Raj Biyani, Product Director, Windows Marketplace Labs/ Digital Locker Don Dodge, Emerging Business Team, Microsoft Corp. Rosemary West, Past President And Webmaster, ESC Chapter 7: What Happens Next? Points: Interviews with 25 emerging, growing or wildly successful micro-ISVs: advice and suggestions. Interviews: Andy Brice, Founder, Oryx Digital Ltd Andrey Butov, President, Antair Corp Boris Yankov, Founder/Owner/CEO, Virtuoza Brian Plexico, Founder, Cloudshack And Microisv.Com Gavin Bowman, Director, V4 Solutions Ltd Graham Asher, Owner, Cartography Ltd. Ian Landsman, President, Userscape, Inc. Kirby Turner, Founder, Whitepeaksoftware, Inc. Rudolf F. Vanek, Founder & Executive Director., Quanticus S.A. De C.V Andy Miller, Owner, Structured Solutions Brian Nottingham, Vice -President, Interapptive Clay Nichols, President, Bungalow Software David Michael, Owner, Davidrm Software Ben Richardson, Co-Founder, Switch I.T. Pty Ltd Keith Casey, CEO, Caseysoftware, Llc Mike Schoeffler, President, Profitdesk Phil Wright, Founder, Crownwood Software Sanjay Bhatia, Founder, Izenda Tony Edgecombe, Founder, Frogmore Computer Services Ltd Vladislav Ukhov, Founder, Cetera Dharmesh Shah, Founder, Hubspot James Shaw, Founder, Dozing Dogs Mark Hoffman, Chief Technical Officer, Autorevo Byron Matheson, Founder And CEO, Clearnova Joel Spolsky, Co-Founder, Fog Creek Software Clear Blogging: How People Blogging Are Changing the World and How You Can Join Them My second book, Clear Blogging, grew out of something I noticed as I wrote my first book: hour for hour blogging is the most effective marketing activity a microISV or software startup can engage in. What’s more, blogging is literally changing the world as it breaks down traditional, pre-internet rules and conventions. This is major stuff: whether it’s using a blog as an alternative to traditional career-building and job hunting to being able to connect with everyone from CEO’s of powerful companies to the guy that runs the restaurant you and your work buddies hang out at, blogging is opening up new channels of powerful communication. Clear Blogging is not a technical book. In fact, I think there’s exactly one line of javascript code in the entire book. It’s all about the all the pieces you need to assemble and implement that are already out there waiting to be tapped to create your version of successful blog. My publisher for both these books, Apress, has kindly made available a free chapter from Clear Blogging you can download by clicking this link: Successful Blogging. This chapter is all about effective techniques for finding things to blog about, and to find out who’s talking about your product or company in the blogosphere. -30-
- Ask Bob
- AboutBob Walsh Bob Walsh is the author of The Web Startup Success Guide, co-hosts the Startup Success Podcast and founded http://startuptodo.com (a training/productivity community for startups and microISVs). Over the years Bob has written 4 other books for microISVs and startups including Micro-ISV: From Vision to Reality, presented at both European Software Conference and the Software Industry Conference, and co-moderates the Joel On Software Business of Software forum. His ebook, MicroISV: Sites that Sell! is the definite guide for microISVs who want to improve their web site. Bob started in IT many years ago, developing custom desktop applications for medium and large companies. In 2004 he launched his first startup product, MasterList Professional, for Windows desktop, which he later sold to another company. Since at the time he knew zip about all things you need to know to sell commercial software, he researched and wrote Micro-ISV: From Vision to Reality. Discovering he’d rather spend his time helping microISVs, microprenuers, ultralights, mISVs, and startups succeed he hung out his consultant shingle, while undertaking learning Ruby on Rails in order to build StartupToDo.com. His blog, 47hats, covers topics interesting to microISVs and startups. Bob provides consulting services to startups and microISVs via his MicroConsult with Bob Walsh service, and also consults on web site copywriting, market positioning, social media and product strategies.
Loading ...
Please tell about your subscription issues, I’m looking for one now…
I’m interested in what you find for handling subscriptions, and why you’re switching from the current one (Spreedly?).
Have you looked at the SaaS Rails Kit? (http://railskits.com/recurring_billing/)
Chargify looks kind of interesting as well, but still in beta. (http://chargify.com/)
I thought you were using Spreedly. How are they not working out for you? I’m interested to hear as I’ve been planning using them soon.
I feel really badly for Bob – he’s had a tough couple of weeks fighting with PayPal. What it boils down to is that Spreedly requires a certain risk level of PayPal account to work, and while most of our clients have either started out at the necessary level or have been able to achieve it through talking with PayPal, for whatever reason they stubbornly refused to extend it to StartupToDo.
I totally understand why he’s looking for other solutions, and wish him the best of luck in finding one that works for him. At the same time I can tell you that Spreedly’s working without issue for scores of other clients, and in the rare case other businesses have run into this issue with PayPal they’ve been able to get around it by going with a different gateway.
FYI I am in discussions with PayPal about both making this issue more visible to their customers (the risk level is completely hidden at this point), as well as lowering the barrier and make the necessary controls accessible to more accounts. Unfortunately it’s going to be too little, too late for StartupToDo, for which we’re very sad.
Thanks for giving us a fair shake, Bob – we wish you the best! And if anyone has any followup questions, don’t hesitate to fire them off to support@spreedly.com.