Well now that the leaves are falling in hoards, surely you know it’s that time of year again. The time you test your patience with an Exacto knife and pumpkin. I’ve gathered the most inspiring technology and startup related pumpkins (did you even know there was such a thing!? pumpkin marketing rocks!) for you to use as a roadmap when envisioning the masterpiece that will grace your (and your office’s) front stoop this Halloween.

1. The Steve Jobs Pumpkin via Rock Health

2. The Quora “Up-Vote” Pumpkin via Fahd Butt

3. The Twitter Fail Whale Pumpkin via Luke Bornheimer

4. Tell Apart’s Pumpkin via Tell Apart

5. The Foursquare Pumpkin via Jennifer Hodge

6. The Zaarly Pumpkin via Zaarly

7. The Pinterest Pumpkin via Justin Edmund

8. The Facebook Pumpkin via IT Business

9. The Android Pumpkin via IT Business

10. Artfinder’s Pumpkin via Mrlerone

11. And the scariest pumpkin of all, for startup web designers- the Comic Sans Pumpkin via Jesse Harding

Will your startup be pumpkin carving this year?

So we all know that analyzing data can help grow your business; the caveat is that it only works if you know what you need to measure. I think it’s important to set your goals first and tie trackable metrics to each step, rather than gathering all the data you possibly can and then trying to decide what to do with it. It sounds so simple but so many people rush to track everything and then get overwhelmed with the data, unable to make any decisions based upon what they’ve found.

Our goal is to increase sales to startups, specifically by increasing the number of purchase campaigns and giveaway campaigns completed each week. So we’ve been tracking data that will help us monitor those specific actions. However I’m finding that data in the B2B marketing environment can be particularly tricky to gather and interpret. For example:

1. Purchasing decisions are usually made by a bunch of people together. So finding a correlation between an individual’s unique marketing exposure and the purchase decision of the group is hard.
2. Sales cycles tend to be longer. Which means that months could go between the time someone sees a marketing message then makes a purchase, which makes it difficult to figure out the cause and effect over time.
3. Because of generally longer sales cycles, decision makers tend to get exposed to a number of different marketing messages before making a purchase- so it’s a challenge to tell which specific message promoted them to buy.
4. And the sales force tends to play a big role in closing (or not closing) the deals which makes it challenging to observe the direct impact of marketing on the B2B revenue.

If you’re targeting a B2B market as well, how have you overcome these problems in the past? I’d love to know!

We recently gave Twitter ads (their new DIY platform) a whirl for the first time and so far I’m not thrilled with the lack of transparency or the results.  We’ve tried both Promoted Account advertising (where they suggest folks follow your account under “Who to follow”) and Promoted Tweets advertising (where they display a Tweet of your choosing in other people’s feeds).

Promoted Accounts

I was pretty excited about Promoted Accounts because in our B2B sales cycle things typically take 3-6 months before the possibility of a sale exists. So interacting with someone regularly on Twitter, by being included in their Tweet stream (after they followed our Promoted Account) would seem to be a good way to stay top of mind. But to be honest, we have yet to woo any new followers from Promoted Accounts. Currently Twitter is suggesting a $1.88 minimum bid and I’m not sure a Twitter follower is worth that to us. For the fairly short amount of time that we’ve been tracking, we’ve only had 2 very qualified leads register on our site as a result of hundreds of tweets. And just because someone follows you doesn’t mean they’ll even see all of your tweets, because their stream could be going by too fast or they might not even be on Twitter at the time you send it out.

That minimum bid also seems high particularly because I can’t see the type of companies or people that our account is being promoted to. Are they showing it to our followers’ followers or to tech companies or what? I’d love to be able to narrow my targets according to interests, or keywords in profiles, or types of company’s they work for or follow- anything really would help. Of course because I’ve set my bid so low, our account has been promoted to only a couple of people, none of whom have decided to follow us, so we haven’t been charged anything either- meaning at least we’re getting a bit of branding exposure for free. Though maybe not even to the correct target market.

Promoted Tweets

The Company

Zendesk is the leading provider of proven, cloud-based customer service software. More than 20,000 companies such as Gilt Groupe, Box, and Disney are using Zendesk to lower their support costs, raise productivity, and increase customer satisfaction. Loved by both service teams and their customers for its beautifully simple interface, Zendesk is easy to try, buy, implement, and use.

The Philosophy

Zendesk moved into their 40,000+ square foot office at Sixth and Market in San Francisco in August 2011 as part of Mayor Ed Lee’s headline-making Mid-Market revitalization plan. The spacious, bright, open space encourages teamwork, social interaction and impromptu dance-offs. Boasting two fully stocked kitchens, a game room, theater space, free in-office yoga, and weekly themed happy hours, the always-present Zen theme encourages a relaxed and friendly atmosphere for employees and visitors alike.

The Space

The Features

• Completely open floor plan with standing desks, numerous lounge areas, and views of the heart of San Francisco
• Large fully stocked kitchens including espresso machines, fresh fruit delivered twice a week, and plenty of adult beverages
• Over 20 conference rooms named after objects their beloved mascot, Buddhy, might carry around, such as Satchel, Tea and Lantern
• Theater space for over 100 people featuring a stage, spotlights and a giant flat-screen for holding community forums or watching employees present at weekly lunch-and-learns
• Creative area for the creative team: think whiteboard and cork walls, idea-inspiring music and a huge felt curtain
• Customer service-themed library featuring authors from their Zen Masters webinar series
• Centrally located with quick, easy access to public transportation

What We Love

• Relaxed atmosphere with Zen pervading
• A healthy lifestyle is encouraged with their frequent yoga and fruit
• Impromptu dance-offs?! No need to say more, we’re huge Zoolander fans
• FIRE WITCH, the awesome marketing team fish, featured on the standup desk above
• The library for continued education
• Amazing location in San Francisco

What a gorgeous office in an exciting city! Do you have a favorite part of their space?

(Would you like your company to be featured? Drop us a line at realperson@printfection.com.)

Another day, another startup shirt. But some clearly standout from the rest. Check out these awesome startup threads, found through a quick search on the Internet this week:

1. Loggly’s t-shirt via Loggly. Love how this shirt shows their true fun character and features a catchy saying.

Because this shirt doesn’t just feature a boring logo, people are stoked to wear it. Loggly even had this to say, “We are proud to say that people actually wear our swag out and about, track us down at events specifically to get their hands on it, and tweet at us to ask about how they can get it. We’ve even been offered money for the shirts off our backs, no joke.”

2. Wander‘s t-shirt via Keenan Cummings. Great illustration, particularly set against the beautiful blue shirt too.

“Here is the final Wander T-Shirt. I’m not much of a t-shirt guy so the bar was set at ‘would I wear this?’. Happy with how it turned out.”

3. Foodspotting’s t-shirt via Foodspotting. This shirt is cool because it’s all about the person wearing it- you can show off your passion.

4. Tikly‘s tees via Silicon Prairie News. This shirt caught my interest because I had to do a double-take and re-read it.

5. 9Clouds t-shirt via Silicon Prairie News. Love the playful adorable clouds on this shirt.

6. Don’t Panic Labs tees via Silicon Prairie News. Wow! Love the colors and the design- a great way to stand out from the crowd.

7. (Warning shameless self-promotion ahead) The Denver Startup Week tshirt, available now for only $5 (model and sunset not included). Sharp-lookin’ contrast between the logo and charcoal coloring of the shirt. And it speaks to the customer’s passion and location.

Do you have a favorite? Please share any startup t-shirts you’ve spotted!

Will work get done, or will everyone start slacking off?

I’m excited to say that more work has been completed! Our 40 hour work week is long gone. Instead we’re operating based on flexible schedules, so people can work when they’re at their best. Plus these flexible hours allow us to easily work with contractors whom hold down 9-5 jobs, because we’re always free to work around their time constraints.

Will we still interact with each other socially or turn into hermits?

I’m ashamed to admit that we might have actually turn into hermits during our first few months. Many times we would realize that we’d not left our houses for days. “Groceries? What are those?” As it turns out, we really do need to have face to face time, so we started meeting up again once per week in a local coffee shop for bigger discussions. Right now, we’re actually discussing getting a work space so people can voluntarily work there when they’re seeking good ol’ human interaction and feedback.

How can we maintain our culture without a physical meeting space?

Our culture is still great and thriving, though there are some definite pros and cons to working virtually. With two large company planning events per year, that gather all employees together in the same space we’ve been able to maintain our cohesion. In addition sporadic activities like bowling, happy hours, and startup conferences provide great excuses to get together and build on our culture.

Moral of the story- we’re happy and thriving. Though perhaps the ideal set up is a mix between working virtually several days a week as well as working from an office (or shared space) the other days. As we potentially head down that road, we’ll keep you posted!

Highlights of the week include

• Kick-off Luncheon with renowned social media expert Gary Vaynerchuk, Mayor Hancock, and some of Denver’s best entrepreneurs talking about their startup journeys.
• A special Ignite Denver bringing 15 seconds, 20 slides, and an attitude to Denver’s startup community.
• Tech Cocktail, a national startup and tech media company and event planner, will be holding their first ever event in Denver.Startups, social, and a great party.
• 60+ community organized events across tech, business, design, and social entrepreneurship.

Don’t forget your swag

Like most people you’ve probably received a piece of promotional merchandise from a completely random company at some point, even if it was only a pen. If your experiences have been anything like mine, you’ve never given the merchandise or more importantly the company, a second thought if it wasn’t relevant to you.  As with any sort of marketing it’s crucial to identify people who actually impact your business before investing in them!

Customers

The Company

Name.com is an ICANN accredited domain name registrar and web hosting company. Their easy-to-use website makes getting online simple. They offer a wide variety of domain extensions as well as shared and VPS web hosting, a drag & drop website builder, search engine optimization tools, security features and more.

The Philosophy

They believe in working with dedication, inspiration and innovation. For the sake of karma, mojo, and the good of giving, they do whatever they can for the betterment of the earth and the internet.

The Space

The Features

• Floor to ceiling windows run the entire length of the office.
• Huge lounge/meeting area – including a Ping Pong table.
• Fully stocked kitchen – Breakfast? Lunch? Dinner? You name it!
• Open, modern layout that is fun, but is also highly functional.
• Multiple conference rooms with moving walls can scale to any meeting size.

What We Love

• Beer – they’ve got an always stocked and employee made kegerator in the lounge!
• Tons of natural light floods the open office floor-plan.
• Flat screen TV’s positioned thought the office for easy information sharing (and the occasional youtube sensation.)
• Super convenient location in a great Denver neighborhood.
• Did we mention the beer?

What a beautiful office in our hometown! What’s your favorite part of their space?

(Interested in having your company featured? Drop us a line at realperson@printfection.com.)

I think there’s a bit of an impulse to be cheap when it comes to buying swag. Of course you’re worried about costs spiraling, and you’re thinking, well if I’m giving this away for free everyone’s going to take it. Which is true- people will grab pretty much anything that’s free but they’ll probably never use it if you’ve created a uncomfortable shirt just featuring your grainy company logo. Or if they do, it will be in a way you never intended or wanted. For example here are the most common ways people treat a t-shirt they own that they got for free that isn’t quality:

1. Wear it to bed.
2. Wear it to paint.
3. Use it as a cloth for cleaning.
4. Give it away to Goodwill or worse yet, throw it away.

And you know I’m not kidding, because you’ve probably grabbed a lame shirt yourself and ended up doing one of those things.

So if that’s what’s going to happen to you shirt, you probably shouldn’t have even bothered with the investment. What I’m saying is you need to do it right or not at all.

When you do it right by creating a comfortable shirt with a great design that people can relate to, people will love wearing your shirt throughout daily regular life and it will be exposed to a ton of people helping you reach new audiences. For example here are the most common ways people treat a t-shirt they own that they got for free that is quality:

1. They actually wear it out and about, frequently- to work, to a bar, to networking events, to the store, etc.
2. They take pictures wearing it and tweet it because they’re proud of it.
3. They tell their friends about the shirt.
4. Once they’ve worn it through, they might even ask for another shirt.

It’s truly worth putting the time and money into creating a great design and putting it on a quality t-shirt.