Startup Marketing Presentation by Dharmesh Shah, Founder of HubSpot

Great presentation by Dharmesh Shah, founder of HubSpot, and blogger at OnStartups.com, about Marketing 101 for startups. 

Shah explains that besides complex technology that might be difficult for a competitor to replicate, the easiest way to build a large "barrier to entry" is in marketing. Specifically, in getting the message to the target customer as efficiently and quickly as possible.

Rather than traditional "outbound marketing" which is budget-dependent using communication channels owned by 3rd parties (email, TV, PPC, Radio, etc.), Shah's theseis is centered around the concept of "inbound marketing". 

Inbound marketing is about using online media to "get found" by your buyers/targets and the creative means to do this cost-effectively.

Key takeaways:

• Every entrepreneur needs to know basic SEO. using tools like grader.com you can analyze SEO performance. "On-page SEO" is within your control -- page titles, header tags, meta tags, etc. -- minimal effort with large returns.
• Focus on first-page ranking for keywords that have high search volume but aren't dominated by stronger, more well established web properties. Relevant terms, high volume, greenfield opportunities.
• Don't write a business plan, write a blog.  This point is to take advantage of social media presence, drawing early PR, authority, and building a following.
• Don't wait to get started, take advantage now.  Even if you're months or years away from starting your company, building a site now will help you earn PageRank and links.