Startup Blog

Mike Volpe

Mike Volpe is a startup advisor and angel investor based in Boston.
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Recent Posts

Startup Marketing Tips from 3 Years at HubSpot

Posted Mike Volpe on 6/29/10 12:30 PM

At the Atlassian Starter Day I had a chance to share some of my thoughts on startup marketing based on doing marketing at HubSpot and helping to grow the company from 5 people to over 160 people and nearly 3,000 customers over the past 3+ years.

Why Email Marketing and Images Don't Mix

Posted Mike Volpe on 6/23/10 12:04 PM

Email marketing is a powerful tool, when used correctly.  But below is an example of not using email marketing correctly.  Please, please, please, don't use large images in email.  Why?  Because the majority of the time, people won't see your images. Outlook and Gmail block images.  Devices like Blackberries usually don't download them.

email marketing images don;t mix

Building a Business in the Cloud - List of Tools

Posted Mike Volpe on 6/13/10 7:20 PM

Next week I am the day 2 keynote speaker at the Internet Technology Summit in Orlando where they have asked me to talk about how we have built HubSpot to 160 employees and 2,800 customers using the latest technology tools.  I am going to talk especially about how the vast majority of our company activity is conducted in the cloud, and the cultural implications of that.  I have blogged way back in January 2007 about the disruptive effects of Google Docs, and do feel that the availability of tools like these affects how you should start and build a company.

Lawyers Shut Down IMU?

Posted Mike Volpe on 6/2/10 2:01 PM

EDIT: Please note that this post is associated with an Alternate Reality Game -- it is not real, it's for fun! Find out more here. We hope you will play along and solve the mystery. 

IMU Shutdown letter

Thoughts on the Pampers Social Media Marketing Disaster

Posted Mike Volpe on 5/21/10 2:22 PM

To catch up, read the article Why Pampers Diaper Fail is a Lesson in Marketing Transparency to get the back story and the updates in the article Pampers Steps up Digital, Social Media Efforts.  Here are my thoughts...

Most Creative and Effective Billboard Advertisement Ever

Posted Mike Volpe on 5/17/10 5:14 PM

Apparently public service workers in the Netherlands get beat up all the time... and everyone just watches and does nothing to stop it.  How do you change this behavior?  Create an alternate reality where it happens right in front of you, and then tell people how they should react.

Customer 2.0 and Inbound Marketing - Webinar

Posted Mike Volpe on 5/11/10 12:53 PM

I am a guest speaker on a webinar (right NOW) with InsideView and Customer Think and "Customer 2.0" and the role of inbound marketing with customer 2.0.

Using Twitter to Get Your Next Job

Posted Mike Volpe on 5/3/10 12:14 PM

I have hired 2 people that I first communicated with on Twitter so far.  Here is a video from local Fox News with some tips on using Twitter to find your next job - featuring David Gallant (HubSpot employee) and other local Boston marketing celebrities including Dan Schawbel who has been interviewed on the HubSpot blo.

 

New Data: Twitter As Popular as Facebook, But Lags in Usage

Posted Mike Volpe on 4/29/10 2:01 PM

If you read this blog at all you know that I love marketing data.  There is a new study by Edison Research with data on Twitter out that I was fortunate enough to get a a preview of.  The most interesting stats to me were theones about awareness and usage for Twitter and Facebook (I really wish they had included LinkedIn...).

twitter facebook awareness marketing data

What's the top challenge for B2B marketing?

Posted Mike Volpe on 4/27/10 11:21 AM

Lead generation, specifically quality leads, is the top challenge for B2B marketers.  It always has been, and it always will be.  Leads are like a drug, once your sales team has some, they want more - and they always ask for higher quality until you start handing them signed purchase orders.  So it didn't surprise me that this MarketingSherpa study showed that quality lead generation was the top challenge.  What surprised me was how much lead generation was ahead of the other categories... check it out: 69% of marketers said quality lead generation was the top challenge, and all the other categories were in the 30's.  Remarkable.  Notice too that just a large volume of lead generation is also on the list at 35%.

b2b marketing challenge

Free Marketing Graphs and Charts for Keynote Speaking and Workshops

Posted Mike Volpe on 4/22/10 12:30 PM

I speak a lot at different marketing events, and am always looking to add data to my presentations.  Data helps tell a story and provide proof points for what you are presenting.  But, I also found that good data and charts on marketing topics were not easy to find in one place.  The data existed, it was just hard to find quickly and easily.  Knowing that we had a lot of data at HubSpot, I compiled a presentation of over 50 marketing graphs and charts from all the different reports and blog articles we have created.   You can see the presentation below, and you can download the original file of marketing charts and graphs as well.

Why You Should Forget About Twitter

Posted Mike Volpe on 4/21/10 10:00 AM

This is a guest post by Nick Gundry, who is a co-founder of Smartagious.com, co-founder of Social Media Club Fresno, web strategist and social media enthusiast. He has been working professionally in the web industry for over 12 years in various positions round the world and is currently residing in Fresno, CA.

forgetting about twitter

A Potentially Viral Video - Foursquare Cops

Posted Mike Volpe on 4/13/10 5:38 PM

We created a new video.  Actually 20 of them.  Four of them are in a series called Foursquare Cops.  I think the first one has a lot of potential to be somewhat viral.  Check it out.

Building Your Brand With Blogging and Email Marketing - Webinar

Posted Mike Volpe on 3/18/10 4:30 PM

I had an opportunity to do a guest webinar with Greg Cangialosi from Blue Sky Factory today about "Building Your Brand With Blogging and Email Marketing".  We discussed inbound marketing and outbound marketing, how email fits into inbound marketing, the importance of content in marketing today, how to create content, optimize content, promote content, as well as some conversion tips and how to use email to drive sales and as part of your blog.

Editing for Sanity and Clarity

Posted Mike Volpe on 3/16/10 9:30 AM

This is a guest post written by Barbara Govednik, a Chicago-based writer, writing coach and communication strategist. She is also the owner of 423 Communication, writes the blog Being Well Said and contributes to the communication skills blog on Communitelligence.

blog writing editing

New Data Shows Twitter Becoming More International

Posted Mike Volpe on 3/9/10 9:03 AM

New data from the HubSpot State of the Twittersphere report shows that Twitter is growing in use outside of North America.

twitter growing internationally

Developing an Authentic Social Media Personality for Your Brand

Posted Mike Volpe on 3/2/10 10:00 AM

Photo 12 biggerThis is a guest post from Kristin Dziadul, a recent college graduate with a marketing major, she is the 2009 New England Direct Marketing Association scholarship recipient, and has a strong passion for marketing and social media and blogs at www.KDmedianow.com. She is also a big Boston sports fan!

Lead Generation, Conversion, Measurement and Marketing ROI

Posted Mike Volpe on 2/24/10 10:24 AM

Earlier this week at Woot Con, in addition to the keynote presentation, I gave a presentation about Lead generation, Lead Conversion and ROI.

Inbound Marketing Keynote at W00t! Con (video & ppt slides)

Posted Mike Volpe on 2/22/10 2:15 PM

Today I had the pleasure of delivering the keynote address at W00t! Con in Bakersfield, California.  I used my new iPhone 3Gs to stream the presentation live on Qik (my old phone was just an iPhone 3G and did not do video).  You can watch the presentation in full (until my battery died during th Q&A) or just see the slides.

How to use great story-telling to engage prospective buyers

Posted Mike Volpe on 2/11/10 9:00 AM

This is a guest post by Jeff Ogden is a demand generation expert and sales leader, as well as the President of Find New Customers, a lead generation company, which helps businesses create lead generation campaigns and continually publishes the best lead generation ideas, so his readers can determine the best lead generation strategy to find new customers. 

create compelling content for marketing

Measuring the New World

Posted Mike Volpe on 2/10/10 11:00 AM

This is a guest blog post by Wayne Kurtzman, who is a senior marketing analyst for an international telecom company and has led knowledge management and web analytics practices for startups and larger companies including Intel. Wayne is also the social media consultant for Destination ImagiNation, a not-for-profit organization that fosters teamwork, innovation and creative problem solving skills in students.

What is the value of a sponsored Tweet?

Posted Mike Volpe on 2/8/10 11:00 AM

This is a guest post by Chris Englund who writes "Chris is an MBA navigating Social-Mediaville. Follow him on Twitter: @cgenglund".

Mariani Wine Pope

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