paulsingh

Any recommended tools for monitoring keyword positions?

Ok, so I've got ~15K pages on my site now (it's a directory for mobile notary publics) - how long would you wait in between page-level tweaks?

(I notice that Google crawls about 500 pages per day... So, should I be waiting at least 30 days in between tweaks to let them crawl everything?)

So, from what I understand, it's a period of months... rather than weeks or days? If so, what do you do in the meantime?

Not yet. I think it needs to be comparable to Clicky, Chartbeat, etc but I'm still working the numbers on costs, internal processes, etc.

I've been thinking about doing this for a while -- this thread (http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1649211) convinced me to put up my MVP and see where this goes.

Would love any feedback I can get!

Actually, I've been thinking about doing this for a while -- this thread convinced me to put up my MVP to see what happens.

While I'm waiting for DNS to propogate, here's a sneak peek: http://img.skitch.com/20100831-kf41k4mpc4gd612jyhdcbtyxgh.jp...

edit: it's now available at http://dashboard.io -- would love any feedback I can get. :)

MailFinch: on demand direct mail (www.mailfinch.com)

NotaryCRM: simple software for mobile notaries (notarycrm.com)

OK, that's fair... maybe they can decide at a later phase. I guess I take issue with this being presented as a way to "apply to 25+ startups" instead of a more "mixer-like" approach.

Pardon my ignorance, but I don't get it.

Why would you want to hire someone that "sprays" their application across 25+ companies?

Right now, four major things on my plate. Most of my organization is with standard pen/paper.

Tangents don't usually come up... unless you're a paying customer or you've committed to paying me if I build a specific feature for you.

Yes, definitely -- this was my favorite line as well. Though, I do have to admit that watching metrics in real-time can be fun. :)

Yep, I plan on a freemium model that I actually want to roll out ASAP to make this "real" in my own mind. Basically, they'll be able to "manage" their notary business for free. If they want to use us to invoice their customers and track payments, they'll pay. If they want to build teams of signing agents and manage them, they'll pay more. My key action item is to get a pricing page up immediately - thanks for that.

Nope, just Twitter. This weekend I've begun compiling a list of contacts from my wife and mom - I'll start cold calling next week.

Yeah, Philtro and MailFinch are in the last 2 years. Been doing startup stuff for the past 10 though.

Great feedback, I'll add this to my list!

Sorry if I implied that I made $100K from a few hours of work -- that wasn't my intent.

NotaryCRM users are tracking $100K of their money in my system.

Subtle, but important difference. :)

This is great feedback. I'll start working on that today and see what I can knock out today.

There's no point in looking for another job if you were planning to leave this one for the book anyways.

Why not pull your timeline forward and use the book as the excuse?

Regardless of the reason you end up using, I'm in favor of doing whatever it takes to leave on a good note. Think long term. Always.

I can't help but wonder what their BHAG is for all this money. It seems like it's got to be an awfully big target.

For the past 2-3 years, I've been using Salesforce almost exclusively... once I feel like I need a CRM, that is.

Prior to that stage, I stick to email and Google Docs. Highrise doesn't really work for me and I guess I just like my personal process better.

SFDC may be expensive, but:

1. Every (good) sales person you hire was probably using it at their last job. 2. It's one less thing you need to manage -- trust me, you don't want to risk losing your customer/lead data. 3. Why innovate on the sales process? SFDC may be clunky, but the lead -> opportunity -> account process is pretty straightforward.

Feel free to ping me directly if you want to discuss further. I've walked a bunch of companies through this process over the past few years, happy to help if I can.

Clickable: https://www.mailfinch.com/thanksbp

Exactly what I needed to know - thank you, thank you, thank you. :)

Good feedback. What sort details would be interesting?

Are there any in specific that you'd be really interested in? I'm the master of cold-calling (if I don't have some warmer way of getting my foot in the door)! :)

Fantastic advice, I'll work on getting that rolled into the next one.

I bet he was responding to a DM that came in via SMS on his iPhone. I've done this before:

You get a text notifying you of the DM. You immediately reply to the text thinking that it'll automagically send it back as a DM.

I joined a local MasterMind group that meets for dinner every other Tuesday night -- the results have been mixed so far. We generally tend to move forward on things but we're pretty relaxed on documenting things so I'm sure stuff is slipping through the cracks.

I'll email you shortly about your new service, I'd be interested in serving on the coach/mentor side. <shameless plug>Outside of MailFinch, my latest startup, I do some consulting for early stage startups on issues related to their back office (billing, provisioning, invoicing, etc) operations and generally keep them accountable through monthly "Board" meetings, if they want.</shameless plug>

By the way, the name has been changed to MailFinch -- I explain why in the interview.

Chris, thanks for posting this!

This. is. awesome.

And timely too. I was planning to sit down to add some affiliate stuff into MailFinch but I'd be willing to try this out. Just signed up for the beta.

I love this. I don't usually have to fax stuff but, when the need arises (usually 4-5 times a year), this is how I'll send them.

I've used a few of the other online services before but canceling a monthly plan was like pulling teeth. I love the idea of being able pay by the page.

Without titles, how do you ensure that you got a fair deal when you sign up?

(Assumption: If you end up with a "Director of Engineering" title, you can easily ask your peers, startup blogs, salary.com to determine the right mix of cash/equity.)