Season 1
You’re Doing
Growth
Wrong
For startup founders and marketers tired of learning about growth the hard way
![[S1E6] Katie Deloso: “Don’t sell them, just listen to them”](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/510fa084e4b060f86e73735a/1715775983206-ZFEMHVKO6WZV4W3UAD49/s1e6_katie_deloso.png)
![[S1E5] Diane Wiredu, Lion Words: Not everyone gets to be the Liquid Death of B2B SaaS — and that’s OK.](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/510fa084e4b060f86e73735a/1713973205124-O9LRCFXRLVPHZ8PWKJ2K/s1e5_diane_lion_words_cover_image.png)
![[S1E4] Alan Albert: “We tend to think our first ideas are the best ones, and we run with them. But sometimes they're not the best ideas.”](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/510fa084e4b060f86e73735a/1712317041820-7REKYWD6VBAVE0XF7BK3/S1E4_Alan_Albert.png)
![[S1E3] Talking about (most common) early-stage startup mistakes with Lucy Heskins. Because nobody should have to *cry in marketing* alone](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/510fa084e4b060f86e73735a/1710334587500-CKPRUSWGG9J1GP3HM5M9/lucy_episode_cover.png)
![[S1E2] Heather Lawver: branding is not what you think it is. Plus: how to create pitch decks that get you funding.](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/510fa084e4b060f86e73735a/1709123657877-MRPV1JGYV2YWCW315DVF/heather_episode_cover.png)
![[S1E1] Jocelyn Brady: Hustle culture is killing us](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/510fa084e4b060f86e73735a/1707918293882-SYW2O8S33XBX19FL058T/Jocelyn_pod_episode_cover.png)
Choose your own adventure by scrolling through published posts:
Adding power words to your B2B SaaS website headlines won't fix conversions. Do this instead.
I’ve reviewed dozens of early-stage startup websites and worked with Series A and bootstrapped companies on their web copy and messaging, and in all cases, tweaking hero section headline was not the answer.
The answer was figuring out why the website was actually underperforming — and how to fix that.
The “how” will depend on your product and your audience. But the website sections that are neglected are almost always the same.
When what you don’t know hurts your conversion rates
You can’t scale effectively without answering these questions:
“What do we say to our audience?”
“How can we position ourselves in a way that makes sense to our audience?”
“How do we differentiate ourselves from other solutions?”
“How can we stand out — and present our product in a way that makes our prospects want to find out more?”
“How can we persuade our prospects to reach out?”
And very often, as I start answering these questions for my clients, this is where we uncover those potential issues that would otherwise have stayed invisible.
A rocketship launch or a leap of faith?
Trying to speed up your startup growth may be slowing it down. If you’re focusing on quick fixes and not pattern-finding.
When my prospects say: “We have no time for this,” “We already know everything about our customers,” “We’ll just A/B test it,” or “Can you just write it?” — what I hear is: “We’re flying blind and kinda like it that way.”
(I have yet to work on a project where all of the research data lined up neatly with assumptions and guesses about conversion drivers for a specific target audience. Never ever has it happened — which is why we need the research phase in the first place.)
5 signs your B2B SaaS startup isn't ready to scale — and how to fix it
Unpopular opinion: moving faster is easier when you have a solid foundation.
It runs contrary to the “move fast and break things” motto — but as you go from startup to scaleup, moving fast and breaking your ad funnels costs conversions without opening up new opportunities.
For the purposes of this post, we’re assuming that you already have happy customers, found MPF and have developed a growth strategy.
If not — running fast and lean experiments makes a world of sense.
But if you’re at the point when it’s all about growth, then read on to find out about a (tragically undervalued) document that’ll take your growth foundations from shaky to rock-solid — and help you scale faster and without driving CAC through the roof.
4 underutilized ways to ignite conversions with copy and content
Not every blog reader is going to become a customer. Not every blog reader is going to become a subscriber. But that doesn't mean that you shouldn't try to convert as many of your blog visitors as possible into subscribers or into customers.
These 4 tweaks can help fast-moving startups convert as many of blog visitors as possible into subscribers or into customers.
How to instantly boost your startup's credibility with external proof
When you think of authority-building content or webpage elements, most likely you find yourself thinking about proof bars with client logos, or about testimonials and case studies. But what if you're building a product that's disrupting an existing category or creating a new one?
You might be struggling with a different problem: how to help your prospective users understand what you do — and why. To do that, you may find yourself relying on external proof points, such as studies, quotes from authority figures, or data.
If you're doing this, here are some ideas on how to leverage external proof points.