Presented by Jay Meattle at 'Triggr The Web' on 9th April, 2011

1. Zero -> Million Users: Acquiring customers and building a brand on a shoe-string budget April 2011 Jay Meattle jay@shareaholic.com

2. My Background Competitive Site Analytics (B2B site);zero to million unique visitors per month within 20 monthsfrom launch Ad Network;zero to 4 billion ad impressions per month within 18 months Social Sharing Platform; zero to 200 million unique visitors per month within 16 months

3. Shareaholic by the Numbers: browser extensions: 2,000,000+ downloads Recommended for Firefox, Chrome, Internet Explorer, Opera publisher tools: 850,000+ downloads Top-5 WordPress plugin. Reach of 200+ million unique visitors per month share API: 1,000+ developers

4. How Fast Are We Growing?: +34% Growth in 1 Month 18,816,374 pageviews/day 13,986,821pageviews/day

5. Four User AcquisitionLessons We Learned at Shareaholic:

6. #1: Take Part in Competitions

7. #1: Take Part in Competitions Taking part is usually a lot of work. But if you win it can instantly alter your product’s growth trajectory: Instant Credibility Free Promotion / Distribution In our case, Platform owner will suddenly really care about you(ex. Google, Mozilla, Microsoft, Apple) Worth the effort. Even if you don’t win the final, at least you’re now on the radar. Shareaholic won the Grand Prize for best Firefox and Firefox Mobile Extension’s in world-wide contests organized by the Mozilla Foundation.

8. #2: Leverage App Directories

9. #2: Leverage App Directories Most Large Platforms have an App Directory. They drive a lot of high quality free traffic / leads / downloads / Users. (ex. Google Apps Plugins Directory, Apple App Store) Important to rank high and be on “featured” lists Easier to get featured if you’re early; very tough if directory crowded with similar products Shareaholic is top ranked / featured by Mozilla, Google, Opera, Microsoft, WordPress

10. #3: Partnerships with Bigger Brands

11. #3: Partnerships with Bigger Brands Partnering with big brands brings a lot of credibility by association. Getting the first one is the hardest, but not impossible. Don’t be afraid to ask! Easier to partner with up and coming teams within large organizations as they tend to be more entrepreneurial. Shareaholic has been a launch partner for Google Buzz, Goo.gl, Microsoft, etc

12. #4: Make Journalists/Bloggers Care

13. #4: Make Journalists/Bloggers Care You (not your PR firm) should be constantly talking to and building relationships with journalists. Authenticity is key. Start building relationships before you need them. Press Releases are a waste of time! They won’t get you covered by top journalists. We wrote a Press Release once, and quickly learnt our lesson. Make your product easy to write about: Ride a hot trend (ex. social, mobile, local) Much easier if your product is one that a blogger/journalist would find useful Make the journalist look good (ex. give exclusives on big company news) Shareaholic has never employed a PR firm. Been covered by NY Times, BBC, TechCrunch, WIRED, PC Magazine, etc.

14. Bonus #5: Open Your APIs(make other developers care about you)

15. Overarching Take Away: Make People Care About You(users, platforms, partners, press, developers)

16. jay@shareaholic.com http://twitter.com/meattlehttp://www.shareaholic.com Thank You! ps. we’re hiring.