by Cindy Kelly
President / Founder| Media Fusion

 Technology has forever changed the way business conduct business. Gone are the days of consumers thumbing through a phone book to search for a company. Today’s consumer heads to Google instead. Technology has changed our sales process. Traditionally, salespeople were the first to educate a consumer on their product. Today, most consumers are often more educated than the salespeople because they’ve already done their research online. This technological shift, known as Inbound Marketing, affects everyone and is transforming the advertising and marketing industries as we know it.

Inbound Marketing in  a Nutshell

The word “Inbound” describes a process that brings customers to you. The word “Outbound” describes you reaching out to your customers. Traditionally, marketers have always interrupted their prospects with their message. This has been done in the form of TV ads, radio ads, billboards etc. As technology has evolved, consumers have shown their lack of interest in advertising. They’ve purchased DVR players to watch their favorite shows without interruption, turned to their iPods for music (no ads there) and people can barely stop texting and driving much less pay attention to a billboard. This presents start-ups with many challenges when deciding what methods of marketing and advertising to use to make the most impact.

Make Inbound Marketing the Backbone of Your Startup

You’ve got the business plan, funding and product, now it’s time to market to your audience. You may be considering online ads or pay-per-click (PPC) campaigns to enhance your visibility on Google. While this does get you instant exposure, it can also be very costly if it’s your only method for online visibility. Pay-per-click is just what the name implies, you pay for every click, regardless of the end result. Pay-per-click is a form of advertising and your search engine visibility will disappear if you decide to stop paying. That is unless you’ve earned that position organically. This is where Inbound marketing comes in.

Inbound marketing helps you enhance your visibility naturally. This is accomplished by understanding what your audience is interesting in, creating great content to support that, sharing that content on social media channels and getting others to talk about it. As you can imagine, there is not a quick solution for this. It takes a great strategy and many hours to accomplish however, the long-term benefits will be worth it. I like to think of PPC as “renting real estate” and Inbound Marketing as “buying real estate”. 

Building Your Inbound Marketing Toolbox

To be great at inbound marketing, you have to work with a set of tools. Here are a few basic tools you’ll need to get started 

Website: Regardless of the methods you chose for marketing and advertising, there’s no doubt your website will be the hub of all information. For this reason you’ll want to make sure your website is consistent with your brand, has a clear message and professional image.

Blog: A blog is simply an extension of your website. It’s a platform typically built into your website, meant to house educational content. Your blog will help position you as an expert in your field.

Content: Content the foundation of inbound marketing, without it you won’t get very far. Think like a writer. Think beyond articles. What could you provide people that is different? An ebook, checklist, how-to-guide, video? The list goes on.

Social Media: Love it or hate it, social media isn’t what all the kids are doing, it’s what all the businesses are doing. Not all social media platforms will be a good fit for your business. Think about the audience first, then think of the social media platform that your audience uses. You’ll use social media to promote your content, not sell.

Analytics: What gets measured, gets done. How are your marketing programs performing?  You should never stop measuring your marketing. You’ll want to monitor things like website traffic,  leads, new customers, etc.

Inbound marketing is a new approach that markets to the modern consumer. According to HubSpot, companies that implement Inbound marketing experience a cost per lead 61% less than those using outbound marketing. I’ve only begun to scratch the surface with the tools and techniques discussed in this post.

To learn more about inbound marketing, please join us for an enlightening, educational and engaging digital workshop specifically to help you market your startup at Tampa Bay WaVE on May 15th from 6:00-7:00 (http://www.eventbrite.com/event/6433501777)

For more information, please contact Gracie Leigh Stemmer at gracie@tampabaywave.org.

Some of you may know what CoFoundersLab is. For those of you who don’t, get ready to be excited. 

CoFoundersLab is a social network for Entrepreneurs. Now if you are thinking Facebook, think again. CoFoundersLab is more like a match.com for Founders. It helps entrepreneurs find the co-founders they are looking for. When signing up for the site you are asked a series of questions that help you seek out the perfect match for your startup. The site then allows you to browse other’s profiles to search for what you are looking for. When you think you’ve found someone compatible you send them a message and wait for a reply.
This video explains more.

So CoFoundersLab is an online platform to connect entrepreneurs to the team members they are seeking. But that’s not all! CoFoundersLab also have their own events to connect entrepreneurs in person and not just online. This is what is coming to Tampa Bay!
The event will be Thursday, November 8th, at CoWork Tampa. 

To attend the event you must create a profile on CoFoundersLab.com; then you must RSVP here. When RSVPing you must provide the URL of your CoFoundersLab profile, so be sure to sign up first!

If you are planning on attending StartUp Weekend Tampa (which you should be) this event is encouraged. The event will be a fun way to find team members prior to your participation, and thus, more likely for you to succeed in the Global Startup Battle!

I look forward to seeing you all at CoWork Tampa, Thursday, November 8th @ 6:30pm!
 Sign Up for StartUp Weekend Tampa! This years event is shaping up to be Epic, as Tampa Bay’s Startups will fight to the death in the Global Startup Battle this year! Be Sure to Register!
 

***The Next CoFoundersLab Event in Tampa will be February 27th at 6:30pm***
 Be sure to join the meetup.com group for updates on the next event!

On Friday, October 12, 2012 WaVE welcomed it’s 100th member with open arms! We’ve come a long way in four years. We used to just be a meetup for web venture entrepreneurs at the Bungalow. Now we’ve reached 100 members and our guess is that it’s not stopping there. This year has been a big year for us with two awards, 100 members, and a $1 Million grant; and the year isn’t even over yet! 

 We have so much to be Thankful for and couldn’t do it with out all the support. Thank you to all of our members, sponsors and community partners who allow Tampa Bay WaVE to keep growing.

In June 2008 a group of 20 tech entrepreneurs gathered in a conference room at Foley & Lardner's Tampa office to meet local peers, share their personal stories, and find solutions to the challenges that can be unique to tech startups.

Four years later, WaVE has

• Grown to than 80 members and tech startups
• Become recognized as a 501c(3) public charity by the IRS
• Established a coworking and innovation center in downtown Tampa to provide affordable office space for tech startups and a collaborative work space for the tech community
• Been named "2012 Entrepreneurial Organization of the Year" by USF Alumni Society of Entrepreneurship and honored with a "2012 Urban Excellence" award by Tampa Downtown Partnership
• Been named to founding board of Startup Florida for Startup America Partership (launched at the White House by President Obama in 2011)

Did you know….

• Our members' tech ventures range from initial development stage all the way up to post revenue stage (some with millions of users, revenue and/or funding)
• The average age of our tech venture founders is between 35 and 40 years old
• Five of the six Gazelle Lab startups, the local TechStars network accelerator, were also WaVE member ventures
• Many WaVE member ventures are also members of TBTF and Tampa Bay Innovation Center
• One of our members' ventures, Wufoo, was acquired last year for $35 million, and the most outside capital they took in was $118,000 (not a bad return, huh?)

Recently, a group of WaVE members were asked what is WaVE's proudest accomplishment?  It was not easy to answer, especially since there were so many to choose from.

As you may know, our initial meeting back in 2008 was simply a gathering of peers, like-minded tech entrepreneurs who not only had challenges in their startups to tackle but also were eager to share their personal experiences and pearls of wisdom for the benefit of other tech startup founders.  Yep, it was that simple.  There was no other agenda, and certainly no expectation that an organization would be formed.

However, as the years progressed, these passionate founders stuck together, forming bonds that will last a lifetime.  It was more than just a community, more like a fraternity or family.

In 2010, WaVE decided to launch a website simply to give its members and their ventures a little more exposure.  We knew our members were working on the area's future break-out tech companies, and we did not want to keep it a secret any longer.  Soon after, people did start to take notice, and opportunities to provide more benefits to our members began to emerge.

Thus, in 2011, it became clear that formally organizing as a non-profit would allow us to do even more for our members, their ventures and the greater local community.  That was February 4, 2011.

What a pivotal decision that was.

Since then, our membership has more than doubled – each member being a founder of another great local tech venture (the next Facebook? next Groupon? next Foursquare? You name it…).  

"I am constantly amazing at the variety of tech ventures that make up Tampa Bay WaVE," said Linda Olson, Chair and Executive Director of Tampa Bay WaVE.  "There is almost no industry or application our members' ventures do not touch: healthcare tech, restaurants, local shopping & coupons, pets, parenting, telecomm, pay-per-click analytics, virtual worker matching services, recruiting and HR, education, dating, etc.  Tampa Bay is truly a hotbed of innovation."

So what do the next four years look like for WaVE?

It's hard to say.  There is tremendous momentum right now, so we expect big things. 

Stay tuned… a little birdie tells us there is some very exciting news for Tampa Bay WaVE on the horizon too!

Happy 4th Birthday, WaVE!

Here at WaVE we are all about solving problems. Well what some may call a problem has arisen but leave up to us to find a solution.

401 S. Florida Ave
Tampa, Fl 33602

Every now and then Premier Parking decide to start charging $10-20 to park in the dirt lot right next to our building where we normally park. Now if this is not a problem for you, great. There is no need for you to read the rest of the page. Have a great day. If it is, about 100ft away is a $2.50 all-day lot. Still not free, but better than the alternative.

Not only is this Wednesday another CoWork Wednesday, but it is also a Mayor's Food Truck Fiesta Day! Yummm, I'm hungry just writing this blog post.

Every first Wednesday of the month is the fiesta, just blocks from Tampa Bay WaVE, and every fiesta I endulge. Every month they have different trucks and differnt food to try. Last month I had a 'to-die-for' Buffalo Shrimp PoBoy from the  Keep'n It Reel truck.

This Month's line Up:

Head of Lettuce @ Tampa Bay WaVE

+ All these Food Trucks @ the Fiesta +

Unforgettable Cupcakes – NEW

Lykes Gaslight Park

Between E. Kennedy Blvd. & Maddison Ave.
Between Tampa St. & Franklin St. 

Tampa Bay WaVE
401 S. Florida Ave.
2nd Floor
Tampa, Fl 33602

For more information about Tampa Bay WaVE and/or our coworking space visit tampabaywave.org or email hello@tampabaywave.org

Wednesday, May 30th

CoWorking: 10am-5pm 
Head of Lettuce: 11am-3pm

To sign up for a 30 minute time slot to get some one-on-one time with Antony Francis & Head of Lettuce, email events@tampabaywave.org. 

This week CoWork Wednesdays feature Antony Francis, CEO of Head of Lettuce Media.  

In 2009, Antony started Head of Lettuce Media to help companies in the Tampa Bay Area become successful at social media. Only a few years later and he has made a huge impact on the community and created quite a client list. 

Antony will be here from 11am-3pm. PLUS! Don't forget this is a Mayor's Food Truck Fiesta day as well. So come get some social media advice for you company and then enjoy some local food truck fun!

Tampa Bay WaVE
401 S. Florida Ave.
2nd Floor
Tampa, Fl 33602

For more information about Tampa Bay WaVE and/or our coworking space visit tampabaywave.org or email hello@tampabaywave.org

Wednesday, May 30th
CoWorking: 10am-5pm 
Jeff: 12pm-4pm

To sign up for a 30 minute time slot to get some one-on-one time with Jeff, email events@tampabaywave.org. 

This week CoWork Wednesday features one of our own members Jeff Juszczak. 

Jeff is co-founder & CEO of 13 Guys Named Ed, LLC, a web design company for small business. 

Jeff has also recently launched his new company MatterCode, a professional timekeeping and billing solution. 

Jeff has experience in the SEO field from 13 Guys Named Ed. There he coaches his clients on how to preform SEO best practices, and get their web pages seen. At 13 Guys Named Ed, they stress staying away from the dark side of SEO, such as hiden rerouted links and ghost pages.  

"Search engines want to provide their users with relevant results and are always improving their ability to separate the good stuff from the junk. We help our clients focus on creating good content and curation to improve their position for long-term benefit." – Jeff J. 

Tampa Bay WaVE
401 S. Florida Ave.
2nd Floor
Tampa, Fl 33602

For more information about Tampa Bay WaVE and/or our coworking space visit tampabaywave.org or email hello@tampabaywave.org

We have so many WaVE Ventures that will demo their products this year at TBTF's CoolTECH event, we can't wait to announce them!

WaVE's CoolTECH participation would not be possible without the generous support of our CoolTECH sponsors,  
GrayRobinson and Absolute Mobile Solutions.

On behalf of all our members, WaVE Thanks You!

"Entrepreneurs are the lifeblood of our economic future and we should all be doing everything we can to support them." – Brent Britton, Partner at Gray-Robinson.

“I really wish that there had been an organization like Tampa Bay Wave when we were getting Absolute off the ground back in 2000. I hope that our support inspires others to join the important mission of Tampa Bay Wave.” – Alfred Goldberg, Founder and CEO of Aboslute Mobile Solutions.

Fourteen (14) of our members will showcase their innovative technologies at CoolTECH on June 22nd.

Stay Tuned for stories on all of these great early-stage tech companies in the weeks and days leading up to CoolTECH.  Get the "inside scoop" from WaVE: 

911 Emergency Assist
Carvoyant
CourseLogic
goPMO
KiteDesk
Loco
Mattercode
Mobex
SavvyPhone, LLC
SelfPayMRI.com
SiteWit
Teberu, Inc.
vWorker

Christine Mendonça, Managing Director at Shore to Shore Advisory, LLC and Tampa Bay WaVE board member will be offering office hours this Monday, May 21st from 2pm-5pm. Christine is focused on impact investing, and working with investors and the startups they invest in to ensure they achieve financial, environmental, and social objectives. 

Christine will be available from 2pm-5pm for individualy reserved 30 minute time slots. To reserve a slot email events@tampabaywave.org (2:00-2:30 already taken) 

Christine will also be sticking around to provide her insight to our WaVE members at our Monthly Roundtable meeting. She will be joined by Kirstie Chadwick, and the two will discuss what ventures need to know to get Angel & VC Funding. This portion is for members only, however if you have questions about this see the links below. 

Tampa Bay WaVE
401 S. Florida Ave.
2nd Floor
Tampa, Fl 33602

For more information about Tampa Bay WaVE and/or our coworking space visit tampabaywave.org or email hello@tampabaywave.org.