On a side note, I have seen questions in Quora asking if they can outsource growth hacking. Like, the only feature which has any value in the early startup and you would like outsource it? I am wondering what could go wrong.

But the question is still here, we know our startup has no value without users, but how to get them. And the even more important question, when to get them. Should we build the app first and then push to users or should be get users first and them build the app.

And any startuper (with not enough experience) would say, there is no question, we need to build it first, polish, make it shiny and great and then users will come. Unfortunately not. You might heard stories about Instagram and how they get 100k users overnight, however they were struggling, writing and rewriting for months. And it only flew high when they had a list of waiting customers and finally built what customers want.

OK, we have talked about why and when. But how?

There are few channels you can get to your users:

- Blogs (CodeAcademy and Reddit have done it with blogs);

- Community building (Wikipedia and Stack Exchange are famous for that approach);

- Viral marketing (dude, everyone talks about viral, but how to make it for yourself is the very BIG question, however you can pickup something from Andrew Chen of 500 Startups and we will talk about it later);

- Content marketing (blogs, blogs, blogs. OkCupid and Unbounced had done it that way);

- Email marketing (you might think it is dead, but Customer.io doesn’t think so);

- Existing platforms (Evernote had concentrated their efforts on Apple iStore and got millions of customers);

- Affiliate programs (why work yourself when you affiliates will do it for you. DigitalOcean and GoDaddy has proved it);

- Engineering as Marketing (HubSpot have built its empire with its Marketing Grader)

And of course don’t forget the more traditional approaches like

- Search Engine Marketing (@archives.com did it before it was acquired);

- Social adds (Youtube is one of the most powerful backlinks provider);

- Business development (KAYAK early partnership with AOL.COM);

- Speaking engagement (famous Eric Ries hit the bestseller list in weeks through those engagements).

We will get in details in later installments

And see how we are doing at https://www.virgo360.com

#startup #growthhacking #growthchannels

Last time we have talked why growth hacking is so important. was originally published in VirGO360 on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Not because we can’t do ourselves. However.

What is that mysterious “growth hacking” job. I have decided to do a series of posts how to do it — for myself and for you to follow up.

First, let’s talk about why we do it. The price of every young startup is in fact just the expectation of the future revenue/profit. I have talked to numerous aspiring founders and they are usually puzzled, what is the valuation of the startup in the beginning.

Duh! Simple, dude. The valuation of the startup today if what it will make next year and year after that and so on. That what is known as discounted future cash flow at business schools. But it is easy (huh!) for a business student, there is a cash flow today, projections, etc. What do you know about your startup next year? Basically nothing!

Wrong! You have your user growth, this is your most important metric for today. And this is why we will talk about growth hacking. We can do it and you can too.

#growthhacking #startup #growth #valuation

Growth Hacking for Startups was originally published in VirGO360 on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Always try to see from the other side of you screen. Remember, you are doing it for your viewers/readers, not yourself.

360 panoramic photography is still a novelty, but there is a constant stream of new 360 cameras coming to the market every few months. And that number will go only up. The traditional camera’s market is exhausted, the rat race for the greater MPXs is not bringing new customers anymore.
On the other side the ever increasing number of interactive displays, VR headsets and simple google cardbooards (already used as promotional tools at exhibitions) brings viewers for your content.

Think strategically.

The tool that makes audience awe has a great potential. And 360 photography is exactly that tool. But it can not be used bluntly. You always have to think how does it look from the other side of the screen.

Don’t do simple 360 photography that can be easily substituted with 2d photography, do something immersing. Remember, you customer wants to see what is on the left. The capabilities of 360 panoramas have powerful applications in many industries, including real estate, retail and tourism. A 360-degree view has a better chance of selling a house than a static image.

The novelty of 360 is wearing fast. But the real power of 360 is the story of the immersion.

We make it happening ViRGo360 #makeithappening

#360photo #360panorama #virtualreality

360 photography. Should you? was originally published in VirGO360 on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

So what we can do??? We decided to make it easier for you to hear and be heard. Today’s build brings the new feature — push messages. You know, the small thingy that pops in the corner of your browser and says ‘You’ve got mail’.

From now on you can receive new notifications about new VR 360 tours and new comments in your own tours. Just say yes when we ask you if we can send you a notification or two.

And if you want to mute it, you always can get to your profile and mute it for some time or indefinitely.

Can you hear me now?

I like to push it push it was originally published in VirGO360 on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

And every question has it’s own answer inside that question. If you have posted it to GoogleStreets, is there any easy way to share it on FB? Or if you have posted it on FB, can you have create 360 tour, not just a standalone panorama? Can I hear you? Please, anybody? No one ?

And what about sound? You know, a human being has more than 1 way to feel the world around, and FB and Google do not provide a way to include your sound.

So, what about other 3rd party services? We have checked them out and in our opinion, all of them are missing something important. Some do not provide a way to store panoramas and reuse them in different tours (or just store), some do not have maps, some are simply outdated and still using Flash (ouch!). So, yeah, we said YEAH, we want something BETTER.

And this is how it had started. Do you want to see if we are better? Try! And let us know. And, btw, the PRO account is going free till the end of the month.

Try it here

VirGO 360

#VR #360 #panoramic #360panoramic

Why? Seriously, why? was originally published in VirGO360 on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

If you shoot with your 360 camera, you probably have gps enabled there. Just don’t do change anything and upload the panorama as is. When you create a tour, the gps from the panorama will be used in the tour. And then we update it with the address for these coordinates.

Don’t want to show your exact address? Just update gps so it would be only 2 digits after the point.

#VR #360panorama #panoramic #360tour

https://www.virgo360.com/worldtours

GPS and map was originally published in VirGO360 on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Please enjoy!

Fast Track VR 360 tour from 360 panorama was originally published in VirGO360 on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

There is a new way you can share your 360 pics in FB, just login to VirGO360 with your FB account and click share icon. You will share the 360 panoramic picture on FB.

(sorry, FB doesn’t support 360 tours or sound on a picture yet. We do!)

FB login and share was originally published in VirGO360 on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

“Is your PRO account is free?”

Yes! Because we think that the pioneer should get it all.

Sign up on VirGo360: www.virgo360.com, create a tour, and get free PRO account*.
Enjoy high-quality panoramas, your logo on the tours, opportunity to guide a tour, and more advanced features.

VirgGO360 is a real service for creating virtual tours.

*limited time, see more on www.virgo360.com

PRO account for Free! was originally published in VirGO360 on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

We have brand new share feature. Now you can share the tour together with 360 panorama from it on FB.

This is still in testing and available for selected users only. If you would like to participate in the FB sharing test you need to let us know at Contact. For that you need to connect your FB account in Profile (or simply login with FB) and then send us a message with your FB name

Share your 360 to FB was originally published in VirGO360 on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.