“Money, it’s a gas

Grab that cash with both hands

And make a stash”

- Pink Floyd

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Cha-ching, what a wonderful sound.

At Sincerely, we constantly survey our customers to see how we are doing. Sincerely creates a suite of mobile apps that allow customers to send photos from their phone as real, physical postcards, as well as curated gift sets. We focus on finding customers that are similar to our best customers. We ask questions like, “How would you feel if Postagram did not exist?” and “How did you find out about Postagram?”. Our best customers respond to our surveys with answers like “I would be extremely sad if this product didn’t exist” and “I couldn’t live without this product”. How they find out about Postagram though, is all over the board.

Traditionally, most companies experiment with various marketing channels to reach said customer. You’ll find marketing/growth teams across the country looking into ad networks, PR, comparing CPIs (cost per install), optimizing their site’s SEO, creating content strategies, running contests, attempting to make videos go viral, etc. The marketing spend is varied but with one goal in mind, for every dollar you spend, you return a value equal to or higher than the spent dollar. When you find the marketing channel that delivers customers that can return high long-term-value (LTV), you then hammer that channel to death. In the mobile world we’ve seen companies manipulate app store rankings, offer their apps on free app of the day offers, and of course buy tons of inventory on ad networks.

Most of those tactics need a war chest that Captain Jack Sparrow would envy. Startups are resource constrained, Sincerely included, so we need to be creative with our marketing. We need to make every dollar count and make sure when spent, it delivers value. What if we don’t have money? Is there a way for us not to spend money and get marketing value? Why not have people pay us? So instead of a marketing spend, we often think about marketing revenue. Essentially working with companies that give us their marketing dollars.

Our Marketing Revenue Strategy

1) Identify potential partners that find value in the products you’ve created.

2) Figure out how to get in front of them and offer an experience that is unique, engaging, and valuable to them and their customers.

3) Create an outcome that is a win-win for everyone.

So let’s put this into practice.

For us, we have a few products that makes it ideal to work with pretty much any company in any industry that has a marketing budget that they need to spend. We’ve worked with car companies, fashion brands, search engines, airports, car share companies, comic books, real estate agents, artists, car salesmen, e-commerce companies, non-profits (before Apple told us to stop), hotels, and most recently a sun tan lotion company. We provided value by allowing customers to send branded postcards using Postagram, Ink, and even curated gift sets with Sesame.

Vote by Shepard Fairey with Ink Cards

In all these partnerships, we thought about the value of their audience, the value of the cash we could make, the development time and most importantly weighed that against the costs of distraction and opportunity of not working on other projects.

Some of the deals we created started out as minimum viable products (MVPs) that usually made above break even. After launching the MVP, we would try to sell the product to other brands. If we could sell more deals, we would then dedicate more development time to improve the product using the money from the new partnership. We were fortunate in that we never built anything without a launch partner usually acquired through an inbound or outbound request. Having launch partners will help you get through the customer development cycle fast and ensure that you have a check made out for the development work.

Experimenting with Sponsored Mobile Photo Teams

For example, we made a product called Postagram Engage. It was a product that allowed mobile photo teams to work at events by taking pictures of guests and then sending said guest a Postagram. It was way more engaging than a typical photo booth at an event and it had high post event activation with a postcard arriving in the mail a few days later. There was positive nostalgia with the brand when it was associated with a photo they care about. Direct mail has a less than 1% open rate. In our Engage campaigns, we had over 70% opt-in. People want good mail and we gave it to them through our Engage partnerships.

Engage was a ton of fun but ultimately it didn’t scale and we deadpooled it. In terms of cash, we broke even on building and managing the product. But the real value we got was being able to take the team onworkcations to Park City and Hawaii, going to really awesome events like Comic-Con and Outside Lands, representing awesome partners at their event booths (not having to pay the crazy booth fees), and marketed Postagram to a whole new group of customers that we wouldn’t normally have had access to. Cha-Ching.

Experimenting with Direct Mail via Facebook Apps

We learned a lot from Engage, namely that direct mail is a valuable channel that needs to scale with good mail. We ended up in conversations with Gap and their need for allowing their customers to create branded holiday cards leveraging social media. So we created a new product called Postagram Direct and launched it over the holiday season. Direct allows brands to create a custom Facebook App that allows customers to send branded Postagrams to their friends and family using their Facebook photos. If they share this experience to their wall, they get another free card. Over 50% of the people that made a postcard, shared the experience on the wall (yay, virality). It’s a scalable product, associates the brand with a customer’s photos, and they get visibility on customer’s Facebook wall. Our partners are happy and we are too. Direct campaigns usually gain us a ton of co-marketing through the brand’s email list, social media outreach, and even some press. Direct was a success and we continue to spin up campaigns for brands that want to be on refrigerators and desks across the country.

So how can we take this a step further and really make good mail available for everyone? We’ve been able to get marketing at events, marketing on social media, and I believe we were ready to take on marketing within our own app.

Experimenting with Creating our own Ad Unit

For a while now, we’ve allowed new customers to send 5 free Postagrams to their friends and family. It’s a way for the customer to try out the product, see the value, and hopefully get a lifelong customer. Each one of these free cards costs us money though and there is no guarantee they would be a lifelong customer. How could we continue to offer these free cards and not incur the costs? What if we could have brands sponsor these cards? We would then eliminate the cost that we would need to bear and we would make money through selling this advertising opportunity.

So we created an in-app promo unit and sold the summer inventory to Coppertone. It’s a wonderful sponsorship using an advertising unit we created. Coppertone gets on fridges all over the country during their most important season with positive association with their customers’ memorable summer moments. For Sincerely, we also get Postagram on more fridges, continue to offer free cards to our customers, and instead of incurring marketing costs, we get to make some money.

Coppertone in-app Postagram promo

Moving Forward

So take a look at your products, take stock of what you provide for your customers, see if there is a way to have partners pay you for getting in front of your customers or if you can help them with a tool you’ve built. Speak with your customers and these brands and figure out how you can create win-win situations for everyone. There may be a way to make money from your marketing.

Cha-Ching.

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Huge thanks to Matt Brezina (CEO) & Sylvia Yam (our VP of Business Development) on crafting these deals and our engineering team for building them.

TL;DR Giving away some of your products to your engaged customers will have a positive effect on them, the people in their vicinity, and their impression of you.

My wife, Steph, is a food blogger and soon to be chef. She’s created one of the best food blogs on the planet, Lick My Spoon. It’s a place for all things delicious, where her hungry readers consume food porn and the amazing stories she has captured, given her access to restaurants, chefs, and really delicious food.

Sunday night we had a “media dinner” at The Slanted Door, a modern Vietnamese restaurant at the Ferry Building in San Francisco. The food was delicious, staff was super friendly, and the ambiance was inviting and classy without being too fancy.

For those that don’t know what a “media dinner” is, it is basically a dinner where Steph and I eat for free (but always leave a generous tip). If the experience is great, she snaps photos and writes about the experience. If the experience is not so great, Steph doesn’t write anything (if you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say it at all). It’s a perfect example of a symbiotic relationship.

It’s become the norm for us to have things brought to the table “on the house” or “compliments of the chef”. Usually this is a way for the chef to show off a few other dishes that we ignored on our ordering. Either way, it’s fantastic because we get to try something new and we feel special.

At The Slanted Door, I noticed that servers were discretely giving out dishes to other guests of the restaurant as well, not just food bloggers. It dawned on me how amazing that strategy is and here’s why:

1. Guests are happy and genuinely delighted with a nice surprise. I know I was when the uni arrived at our table (see picture above).
2. The happy energy from the guests is passed onto other guests thus raising the overall ambiance and energy of the restaurant.
3. New guests sitting down or walking through to their seat, get to see what is on the table and will most likely “have what the other guest is having”.
4. Servers make more on tips (one example of where mo’ money doesn’t equal mo’ problems).
5. “On the house” desserts make paying the bill a bit more enjoyable.

I’m willing to bet that the impression the customers leave with is a happier one and more likely to become a loyal customer.

At Sincerely, we have an app called Sesame (think, Open Sesame…followed by a magical experience), which allows customers to send beautifully curated themed gift sets. Recently, we sent some of our best and most recent Sesame customers a free cookie box. We just wanted to thank them for taking a chance on us and allowing us to help make their world a more thoughtful one. I mean isn’t it time for the gift givers to get something nice? We’ve already gotten a bunch of positive feedback, repeat orders, and we couldn’t be happier.

As a final note, I’ll leave you with a piece of simple advice from one of the thought leaders in the hospitality and restaurant space and one of my role models, Danny Meyer:

You get more when you give more.

If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go with a team. - African Proverb

If you asked any person, “Hey, are you a team player?”, I bet 99% of people will emphatically say “yes”. It’s standard to work in a team and unless you are a renaissance wo(man), you need the help of others.

Though it’s standard to work in a team, I don’t believe everyone understands that being in a team is not the same as playing with and contributing to the team. Here are a few things I keep in mind in any team or project that I am a part of.

Check your Ego

Everyone in a team will have an opinion and perspective on how things should be done. Healthy discussion and debate is essential in flushing out problems and coming up with solutions. Being open to everyone’s feedback and actively listening greatly enhances a team’s communication and circle of trust.

Check your ego and know that you don’t know everything. There are multiple ways to get things done.

Vent up

In any team there are problems and challenges. It’s completely normal to be frustrated, feel pressure, and at times get pissed off. Often times, it feels good to to release that pressure by offloading on a fellow co-worker, but I’ve found that it isn’t a good idea. It creates a negative environment and is not helpful. Instead, “vent up”, meaning speak with your boss about your frustrations. If they are a good boss, they will listen and give guidance on what you should do.

Know your role and execute

In most professional sports teams, there are specific positions that are in charge of specific responsibilities. Whether being a shortstop on a baseball team, a point guard in basketball, a user experience designer in an app company, or product manager for your team, it’s important to recognize your role and deliver the results expected of you.

Communicate

IMHO, this is one of the most important traits of being a team player. You can’t expect a fellow teammate to read your mind and you can’t assume what they expect either. Poor communication can be detrimental to a project and cause a ton of frustration. A couple of best practices that I adhere to is to take some time to scope out the project beforehand, make sure everyone has their responsibilities, and then give updates if you are having trouble or just to check in. After a project is complete, we do a post-mortem to see how we did and where we could improve.

I’ve never had someone tell me they had a problem with me overcommunicating but I’ve had issues when I haven’t communicated enough.

No Drama

I know it is extremely frustrating that your neighbors keep you up with their late night debauchery and that your dog isn’t getting along with the other dogs at the dog park but sometimes it borders on TMI. As a fellow compassionate team mate, I’ll listen to your problems but sometimes, it’s best kept to yourself. Everyone has problems but it’s better to check them at the door so we can keep our work environment positive and drama free.

Do the Dishes

In any company there are things that some people don’t want to do but must be done. Whether it is doing the dishes, answering the customer service line, or staying a few hours later to fix a bug, a team player rises to the occasion and gets it done, otherwise it’ll be left for another team member to do. I love this motto from the Boy Scouts:

Leave this world a little better than you found it. - Robert Baden-Powell

Give without expecting anything in return

When I was in high school, I asked my wrestling coach, who had been successfully married for 23 years, “What makes for a successful marriage?”. He answered, “To give to the other person without expecting anything in return.”

That really stuck with me and is a part of the foundation in my marriage but also with my other relationships whether they are friends or co-workers.

One of the great joys in my life is to work in a team where everyone is running at full speed and is completely in sync with each other and their contributions to the project.

Hopefully these thoughts can make you a better team player. If you have other tips, I’d love to hear them.

TL;DR Use every opportunity to get better, to improve the effectiveness of your position, to up-sell with care, and have fun.

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My family owns a Chinese restaurant called the Golden Dragon. It just hit its 30th year in existence, older than me by a few months. I spent a majority of my childhood running through the aisles, playing with my cousins and sister in the kitchen, and eating a ton of Chinese food.

When I was of working age, 10 years old, I was put on dish duty. It really didn’t feel like work, I was actually happy to help out. I would spend my days washing the dishes and then stacking them back onto the shelves. My cousin Steven and I turned it into a game to see who could finish stacking a freshly cleaned rack the fastest. That game quickly ended as the number of broken dishes hit an all time high. Days turned into years and as I got better, I was given other responsibilites like peeling shrimp, preparing snow pea pods, string beans, etc. Around this time, I also started to get paid for my efforts, $20 a day, look out, Richie Rich!

It wasn’t until I hit high school that I got to work the “front of the house” manning the cash register and answering the phones. My family said I was ready, but as I think about it now, it was probably because I finally reached the legal working age and could be outside with the customers.

At first, I would answer the phone, take orders, collect money and say “thank you”...pretty standard stuff.

As I got to know the menu better, improved my “phone voice”, and had a relative idea on our profit margin, I decided to step up my game. One day, I started with a simple goal that I would try to get an egg roll added to every order. I didn’t really have any qualms about it, since our egg rolls are freaking delicious (shameless plug). We made them from scratch and once a person had a taste, they would keep coming back for them. Eventually, an extra egg roll turned into adding on wonton soup, to adding on entrees — our General Tso’s Chicken is the best (shameless plug). I was able to upsell the menu and increased the average order size on pretty much every call.

When they came and picked up the order, I made it a point to know the entirety of what they had ordered and accepted their money with a smile. With credit cards, I read their name on the card as I swiped it and thanked them using their first name. It’s a nice little touch that goes a long way. Needless to say, order size increased and tips were good so I rarely was put back on the dishwasher station.

By the way, if you ever are in Conshohocken, PA, stop by the Golden Dragon, and be sure to try an egg roll.

Helpful Links:

Yelp

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Walking over to the local Blue Bottle in downtown San Francisco, I run into more founders than hippies in the Haight.

Nowadays, it seems that anyone can be a founder. However, as a company grows beyond the founders, they also become the boss. As a company continues to grow beyond that, the bosses hire/promote other bosses to manage people. Just as there can be bad and good companies, there can be bad and good bosses. I’d be willing to wager that most good companies have a high correlation with good bosses.

Here are some of the tips I’ve learned on being a boss:

Listen

A good boss often engages in conversation with their co-workers and actively listens. Actively listening involves eye contact, not checking your phone, and asking follow up questions. Listen, internalize and look for opportunities to help but balance with it on being a good listener. Sometimes, people just need a place to vent and not someone to solve their problems.

Help plan for their future both professionally and personally

Your people want to grow at and outside of work. They want to build on their skills, expand their network, and be taken care of financially. A good boss should send their employees to meetups, conferences, and provide resources and tools for them to learn. There may be cases where an employee outgrows their role or wants to try a new position they are unqualified for. Invest in the materials or mentors that can help this person become qualified.

I often ask about their personal life and if there is anything I can help with. Sometimes it’s a spouse or a relative of theirs that want an intro, other times it’s a restaurant suggestion. It’s a good idea to acknowledge people are more than what they are at work and see where you can help.

Give them a clear runway long enough so they can takeoff

A good boss helps clear the path for their employees of any obstacles that may be “blocking” their performance. A “blocker” to me is something that is beyond their capability of handling or is something that would take you a minimal amount of time whereas it would take them a massive amount of time. However, it shouldn’t go as far as removing the challenge from the job. There is a fine balance that will take some time to calibrate with your employees, but once it is reached your employees will be more independent and will know that they can reach out to you for help when needed.

Go on a walk

A good boss doesn’t just spend all their time in the office or a conference room. I like to go on walks, grab coffee (even though I really don’t drink the stuff), and grab dinner. It’s a great opportunity to get to know one another outside of the office.

Have resources but enable them to be resourceful

There are plethera of tools, educational materials, and resources that employees want. A good boss will provide them but I believe it’s important to check whether it is a “nice to have” or a “need to have”. I believe there are creative ways around some of the “nice to haves” that can be an opportunity for your employees to be resourceful.

Transparency

A good boss is transparent with what is happening in the company. With transparency, comes better communication and information for everyone to make decisions. Keith Rabois has a great talk about thishere.

Ultimately, if you want people to make smart decisions, they need context and all available information. - Keith Rabois

Inspire and Excite

A good boss doesn’t need to use the carrot or the stick. A good boss understands the motivations of their employees and ignites a fire in them to “go get it”. Along that journey, a good boss is part cheerleader, part nurse (fix ‘em up and send them back out to battle), and part Tony Robbins.

If you want to build a ship, don't drum up people to collect wood and don't assign them tasks and work, but rather teach them to long for the endless immensity of the sea. - Antoine de Saint-Exupery

It’s impossible for this to be an exhaustive list but I hope it sheds some light on what it means to be a good boss. Please feel free to share your thoughts and tips on being a boss or from the bosses you’ve had.

Thanks :)