BuySellAds.com - $0 to $1.5 million in 11 months while working a 9 to 5 (Todd Garland)

$0 - $1.5 million in 11 months(while working a 9 – 5)

Todd Garland@toddotodd@buysellads.com

Background

Founder, BuySellAds.com Early employee at HubSpot Freelance web designer / developer Mindfire.com

We help aliens buy and sell ads online Acquired domain for $2,160 Sold our first ad February 2008 1 man show for first 8 months, nights and weekends $0 --> $1.5mm by end of 2008 (11 months) $0 spent on sales & marketing

The BAD News

The GOOD News

… it IS out there

Your Product

“Silver bullets don’t exist… unless you build your own – it’s called

your product.” via @toddo #MicroConf

Potentially Insightful Tweet Bait #1

I’m relatively unsophisticated

DISCLAIMER

Testing

Amazon.comGoogle

MicrosoftPlaydom (Disney Interactive)

ZyngaeBay

(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A/B_testing)

(http://stopdesign.com/archive/2009/03/20/goodbye-google.html)

“Yes, it’s true that a team at Google couldn’t decide between two blues, so they’re testing 41 shades between each blue to see which one performs better. I had a recent debate over whether a border should be 3, 4 or 5 pixels wide, and was asked to prove my case.”

- Douglas Bowman

“Figure out what works for YOUR business.

Testing is useful, but instincts and intuition are more important”

via @toddo #MicroConf

Potentially Insightful Tweet Bait #2

FEAR

6 Months

You overcome

fear by doing

“He who is afraid of making mistakes is afraid to succeed.” via @toddo’s dad

#MicroConf

Potentially Insightful Tweet Bait #3

The dreaded 9 to 5

If you have a 9 to 5…

You have an EXTREMECompetitive Advantage

You become more efficient

Typical day…6am – 8am: work on BSA8am – 8:15: shower8:45-ish: arrive at HubSpot6pm: return home from HubSpot7pm: Dinner

Option A:

9pm – midnight: work on BSA

Option B:

Hang out with wife, pull the “fake sleep” move, and then work on BSA from ~ 11:30 – 2:30

Let’s break down the $1.5 million

125K / month4K / day

40 orders per day1 order every 36 minutes

It’s not easy,but you can build a REAL business

while working a 9 to 5

If users ask about your odd hours…

Just tell them you’re Australian

“Constraints breed creativity. Embrace

your constraints and use them to your advantage.”

via @toddo #MicroConf

Potentially Insightful Tweet Bait #4

Family

Don’t work long hours

Work SMART hours

“Americans live to work, and

Europeans work to live”

That’s not healthy

“The first rule in any company

should be family first. Without family we have nothing.”

via @toddo #MicroConf

Potentially Insightful Tweet Bait #5

AutomateEverything

AutomateEverything

AutomateEverything

AutomateEverything

AutomateEverything

Why are you in the software business?

No one-offs

“2 rules: Automate everything, and NO

one-offs. This is the key to scaling your revenue

per employee.” via @toddo #MicroConf

Potentially Insightful Tweet Bait #6

How did we get our first users?

We Invited Them

People don’t like being sold to

Hi Joe,

I run a company called BuySellAds.com. I’d love to have your site included in our inventory. You would be in good company, and we’ll work really hard to help you sell more ads. Here’s an invite code if you are interested & thanks for your time:

http://buysellads.com/?invite=KJs87sH

Cheers,Todd

We focused on the non-consumers

“Don’t overlook the non-consumers. They

are waiting for the OPPORTUNITY to buy.” via @toddo

#MicroConf

Potentially Insightful Tweet Bait #7

Invest inCustomer

Happiness & Good Vibes

Asynchronous Ad Code

“WOWing your customers has to be

authentic. It isn’t transactional. It’s a

way of life.” via @toddo #MicroConf

Potentially Insightful Tweet Bait #8

Branding

Incredibly hard for small

companies to measure the

effects of branding efforts

It’s OK to invest in stuff

that’s not measurable

“Don’t underestimate the

value of branding.” via

@toddo #MicroConf

Potentially Insightful Tweet Bait #9

Momentum

Where are we today?

MAY 2011

average ads sales (in dollars) per day, month over month

FEB

2008

Where should we stop?

Should we try to grow forever?

What if you don’t have momentum?

“If you're not working on your best idea right now, you're

doing it wrong.”- David Heinemeier Hansson

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XDGHxO6N3Ms

(free t-shirts)

Questions?