In our contemporary and globalized world, the rapid innovation of the technology industry has allowed the startup revolution to become much… much more accessible. As a result of this, levels of competition in the startup industry have drastically evolved, and “gaining the upper hand” has never been so intrinsic to startup success. So our creative team at Desygner would like to assist you in gaining your upper hand… through design. Are you excited yet? Good! Let’s explore some of the ways in which you can use design to increase your chances of success as a startup in 2017.
Business Cards Make All The Difference.
Have you ever been approached by an important contact at a networking event that you really wanted to impress such as a venture capitalist or mentor? Only to be embarrassed when asked for your business card which you don’t actually have? Unfortunately, this can damage your credibility as a serious entrepreneur, so we need to fix that right away. Let’s get you sorted so that you don’t miss out on those golden opportunities again. If you aren’t the most design savvy entrepreneur, don’t worry! Desygner has hundreds of professional business card templates to choose from, and you can even create your own designs so that your business card is unique to you and your startup.
TIP: Try to make sure that the design on your business card is consistent with the design style of your startup.
Utilize your business card as an accessory for your brand. If your brand’s chosen color scheme is blue and orange, it might be best practice to refrain from making your card yellow and green. The key here is to have a consistent design throughout all your contact points so that you can reinforce your brand. It is much more likely for someone to remember your brand if they have been exposed to its name and logo multiple times, so be sure to incorporate your logo and a succinct description of your startup on all of your cards. Having a business card handy could mean the difference between you scoring a coffee chat with ‘that investor’ next week or leaving a networking event empty handed!
Give your Pitch that “WOW Factor”!
There’s nothing worse than having to sit through a startup pitch presentation that is boring, loaded with text, and incredibly non-visual. It makes it hard for your audience to maintain their concentration when they aren’t being completely captivated by your presentation, particularly when it comes to discussing your financial forecasts. Luckily, we have a solution. Using the Desygner software and presentation templates available on our site, you can create a memorable pitch which is sure to catch the eyes of investors.
After seeing hundreds of pitches, it is of utmost importance that your pitch stands out from the crowd and leaves your audience wanting more. Venture capitalists often seek out entrepreneurs with an eye-for-detail and dazzling creativity, and nothing demonstrates that better than a beautifully presented and well-organised pitch. Chance Barnett over at Forbes.com has written an article all about creating the perfect pitch according to widespread investor demands. In the article he mentions that when constructing your pitch, the structure of it should almost always go something along these lines:
Slide 1: Vision / Elevator Pitch
Slide 2: Traction / Validation
Slide 3: Market Opportunity
Slide 4: The Problem
Slide 5: Product / Service
Slide 6: Revenue Model
Slide 7: Marketing & Growth Strategy
Slide 8: Team
Slide 9: Financials
Slide 10: Competition
Slide 11: Investment ‘Ask’
TIP: In order to make your pitch unforgettable, provide just enough details to give investors hope but leave enough details out to arouse curiosity. This will increase your chances of being prompted for a one-on-one conversation post-pitch, and this my dear entrepreneurial friend is where your business cards will come in handy!
Barnett’s article also provides a downloadable pitch deck template in which the contents and structure of an effective pitch (as listed above) are further discussed. If you have never pitched before in your life, we highly recommend checking out the article for yourselves: The Ultimate Pitch Deck to Raise Money for Startups.
Generate hype for your product launch!
One of the most exciting parts after all the months and potentially years of hard work comes down to the day when you finally get to launch your product. It is important to begin generating buzz about your product and it’s launch date as early as possible. By doing so you can “test before you invest” with different marketing strategies without having to worry about any serious repercussions (because let’s face it, you will have very low reach in the beginning). So what are you waiting for? Go out there and create some astonishing social media content to inform your consumers that your revolutionary product will be available to them soon! And make sure to emphasize your launch date on every post!
TIP: Set a specific and realistic launch date and stick to it. Changing your launch date at the last minute may lead to a horde of angry consumers and public backlash (particularly if they have already handed you their money).
When your product is ready to launch, why not send out a mass email to all of those who have subscribed to your mailing list? Be sure to make this email big! Make it exciting! But most of all, make it special, and you can do this by utilizing an email header!
Social Media Cover for Startups.
Think of your social media cover photo as a free billboard. Not only can you change it at any time free of charge, but it is also one of the first things your visitors will see after landing on your page. You would be absolutely crazy not to make excellent use of it! Take advantage of it to tell your customers all about your startup so that those who visit your page will know everything about it within seconds. A great way of doing so is by creating a cover picture which showcases your startup’s vision. Doing so demonstrates brand transparency and thus, promotes credibility and generates trust.
Your social media cover can also be used as a strategic extension of your marketing campaign/s. This allows you to achieve a level of synergy with your other media channels in terms of your advertising message, which makes for an excellent launch campaign. This cross-platform synergy is what marketers refer to as image transfer, and it’s extremely powerful for reinforcing your message.
When it comes to your company’s profile picture, it should almost always be your logo. It is okay however to sometimes change up your logo or add graphics to it to celebrate special occasions and events such as Christmas, New Year’s and the Olympics. These seasonal cover changes can be advantageous when promoting holiday offers and sales, and what better time is there than a sale to get new customers trialing your product or service?
At this point, you are probably thinking, “How much time am I going to have to spend updating my cover photo?” Don’t worry, Desygner’s software makes managing your social media as easy as spreading room temperature butter on warm toast. Conveniently, we are constantly releasing new design templates to inspire and nurture your creative spirit. To put it briefly, you are in good hands.
In the end, startup success comes down to you!
As both an early stage startup now and as an established company later on, you will never stop running into difficult and challenging times. These moments will push you to your limits and really test your desire to succeed. But you mustn’t give up that easily. A great way to remain focused and motivated to push through these tough times is to use vision boards! Creating your own vision board can be highly effective when it comes to maintaining your entrepreneurial drive because it’ll allow you to visualize your goals and it serves as a fantastic daily reminder to keep your aspirations nice and high. Place one on the wall next to your bed so that it is the first thing you see every day when you wake up. Can you smell that? It’s the sweet smell of startup success in the morning!
If you wish to read more about vision boards and see how some of the icons of our generation such as Oprah Winfrey and Arnold Schwarzenegger use vision boards to stay motivated, we have a full article on them as well as templates you can use to create your own on our website. Check out the article for yourself: Benefit from using a vision board.
FINAL TIP: Always keep your end goal in mind and remind yourself every day what you want to achieve in this life. Because we all know we only get one. So live exceptionally!
Published by Dylan Birot
