Issue 017: How a Founder Grew Her Comapny to $100m ARR With an Unique Strategy, the 4 Ps of Marketing, and More

We also talk about the most underrated page on your website, the best kind of scarcity tactics, and how to build multigenerational wealth.

January 08, 2025 | #017 | Free Version

Hi friend and happy Wednesday!

Welcome to Startup Blitz, a weekly newsletter full of timeless ideas and insights you can use in your online business.

This week, we discuss –

🪙 How Tracy Young grew PlanGrid to $100m ARR with a unique strategy

🏷️ Which scarcity tactics increase profit the most

📞 How to create Contact Us pages that make people actually want to contact you

💰 One thing that stops entrepreneurs from building generational wealth

👨‍🎓 MBA concept of the week: The 4 Ps of marketing

Not subscribed? Learn more and sign up.

How Tracy Young Grew PlanGrid to $100m in Annual Recurring Revenue (ARR)

Tracy Young was the co-founder and CEO of PlanGrid. The company created a construction productivity software for construction workers.

Young led the business for nearly 10 years. Under her leadership, it grew to $100 million in Annual Recurring Revenue. Then she sold the company for $875 million.

In a recent conference, Young revealed how she acquired the first few hundred customers. Her strategy was simple: meet customers face-to-face and show them the app.

Young and her marketing team went to over 300 events and conferences each year. These included national and regional trade shows. They also went to smaller gatherings like breakfast events, golf tournaments, and union meetings where construction workers met.

In the early days, PlanGrid couldn’t afford expensive trade show booths. So they got creative. They bought regular visitor tickets and walked the conference floor. They would bump into people, apologise and say, “Do you want to see something cool?”

The team would then show a two-minute demo of the app on an iPad. Attendees were often intrigued. The team followed up by saying, “Let me get your card. I can show you a full demo later because we do much more than this.”

Almost everyone would give their card.

They also went to events wearing suits and gowns made from building blueprints. This made them stand out. People regularly stopped to ask about the outfits. These conversations naturally led to discussions about PlanGrid.

The PlanGrid team also visited construction sites with boxes of fresh donuts. Construction workers are on their feet all day. So they are always hungry. The team would give them the box with a card inside.

The card read, “If you want better food, call us. We’ll come back during lunch with whatever food you want and show you our app.”

This approach also worked really well. About 20% of people called and invited PlanGrid back to see the full product demo.

These personal and inventive strategies helped PlanGrid connect with their customers. As a result, they grew to $100M ARR and became an industry leader.

🎓 Scientific Research: Which Scarcity Marketing Tactic Works Best?

“Only 2 left in stock.”

“Up to 50% off until 4/30.”

“Limited edition item.”

These are examples of scarcity marketing. They promote the idea of limited supply to drive purchases.

The scarcity principle, coined by Dr. Robert Cialdini, states that the rarer or harder a product is to obtain, the more valuable it feels. When we think something will soon be unavailable, we’re more likely to buy it.

Scarcity marketing works because people want what they can’t easily have. It taps into the fear of missing out (FOMO).

🏷️ You can implement scarcity in three main ways:

Supply-based scarcity – “It’s a limited-edition product. Only a few are available.”
Demand-based scarcity – “It’s selling fast! Buy it before we’re out of stock!”
Time-based scarcity – “Available only this winter” or “Sale ends this Friday!”

But which tactic works best? Which one should you use to increase your profit the most?

🔬 Researchers in Australia analysed 131 studies on scarcity marketing. Here’s what they found:

– Demand-based scarcity works best for everyday products. These are products that meet basic needs or serve a practical purpose, like clothes, groceries or stationery.

– Supply-based scarcity works best for experiential products. These are items purchased for experiences, like concert tickets, boat rides or a fancy dinner.

– Time-based and supply-based scarcity works best for high involvement-products. These are products that require a lot of thought and consideration before a purchase is made. For example, hotel rooms during vacations or real estate.

– Supply-based scarcity also works well for luxury goods. Highlighting exclusivity increases their appeal and drives purchase intentions.

How to Create Contact Us Pages That Make People Actually Want to Contact You

The Contact Us page is one of the most underrated pages on your website.

If you get it right, you can turn cold visitors to hot leads. If you get it wrong, even the most interested prospects may go away.

To help you find creative inspiration, Ingrid Adames compiled an extensive list of Contact page examples that nail all the essential elements.

But before we see some of them, let’s first revise what these elements are.

Adames says each Contact Us page should be visible on the navigation bar and needs to have:

A clear call to action (CTA) – contact us, reach out, give us a call, etc.
Easy navigation and user experience.
A clear message that aligns with your brand and resonates with visitors.
Readable text with no redundant information.
Elements like phone numbers, email links, and social media buttons.

Now let’s move to a few of our favourite examples.

1. Peloton: The contact page is also a support page, with the knowledge base search bar taking centre stage.

The combination of images, helpful icons, and the design and positioning of responsive buttons all make for a smooth experience that leads you to your desired destination.

2. Freehand Goods: This page is a nice example of a small business doing simplicity right.

The simple black-on-white background provides all the info you need: contact information with retail address, social media buttons, and finally, a huge, visible CTA at the forefront.

3. Kohl’s: Similar to Peloton, Kohl’s contact page is also a help centre.

What’s different is that you can see a few more interesting buttons added to the page, like tracking order status and checking gift card balances.

Sometimes adding more elements can create a feeling of uniqueness and exclusivity to your website visit.

That’s not all. There are 41 more great examples on Adame’s list that could get your designer juices flowing – and your customers converting.

📖 Book of the Week: The Ultimate Investment - A Roadmap to Grow Your Business and Build Multigenerational Wealth

In this book, Mark B. Murphy, CEO of a wealth management firm, shares the tried and tested guidance and tips he provides to his top-tier clients. With over 30 years of expertise, Murphy offers actionable advice that will transform your mindset into that of a seasoned entrepreneur.

One key takeaway? The importance of building a reliable support system. It is something many entrepreneurs overlook to their detriment.

“It’s important to assemble the best team for your needs in the moment and beyond. When I was in my thirties and my business was still new, I wanted to be around great business developers. In my forties, when my business was growing, I needed a good lawyer. Now that I’m in my fifties, the most important thing is my health because if I lack energy or get sick or hurt, it will affect my ability to perform. So now I surround myself with the best doctors. These different resources make up what I like to call my proverbial “kitchen cabinet.”

“So now my question to you is, who makes up your “kitchen cabinet”? What I mean is, who are the folks you’ve assembled around you that you not only respect but also fully trust? Who can give you the right advice when you need it most?

“Not everybody feels comfortable assembling a team. I have clients who like to keep their cards close to the vest; they don’t establish relationships they’ll need when the going gets tough. They don’t trust anybody, and perhaps that’s because they’ve been burned before. Or perhaps, like most entrepreneurs, they’re simply too busy building their businesses through blood and sweat, toiling up to one hundred hours a week with just themselves to rely on. With so many hours constantly spent on their business, they often don’t have time to cultivate and assemble a team, even if they want to. But a team is essential to surviving the downturns of business and life.”

“When you have strong support and experience behind you, it can be like a turbocharger in your life that propels you to places you never thought you could possibly go.”

👨‍🎓 MBA Concept of the Week: The 4 Ps of Marketing

In a competitive market, consumers have lots of choices about what to spend money on. So you have to be very thoughtful about how to make your offering attractive to them.

The 4 Ps is simply a framework to help you think through the key elements of the marketing mix:

Product/Service: What features will consumers find attractive?
Price: How much will consumers be prepared to pay?
Place: Through what outlets should we sell it?
Promotion: What forms of advertising should we use?

At its heart, the 4 Ps is about market segmentation. It involves identifying the needs of a particular group of consumers. Then you put together an offering (defined in terms of the 4 Ps) that targets those needs.

The 4 Ps are used primarily by consumer products companies. In B2B (where one business is selling to another business), the 4 Ps are less applicable. There is typically a much greater emphasis on the direct relationship between the seller and buyer in B2B. Product and price are still important here, but place and promotion are less so.

How to Apply This

Start by choosing the product or service that you want to analyse. Then go through the four elements of the marketing mix, using the following questions to guide you.

Product/service

What needs does the product or service satisfy? What features does it have to help it meet these needs?
How does it look to customers? How will they experience it? What sort of brand image are you trying to create?
How is it differentiated from the offerings of your competitors?

Price

What is the value of the product/service to the consumer?
How price-sensitive is the consumer?
How are competitors’ offerings priced? Will you price at a premium or discount to competitors?
What discounts or special deals should be offered to trade customers?

Place

Where do buyers usually look for your product/service?
Through what media or channels will you make it available?
Do you need to control your own distribution or even your own retail experience for this product/service?
How are your competitors’ offerings distributed?

Promotion

Through what media, and with what sort of message, will you seek to reach your target market?
When is the best time to promote your product/service? Are there certain times of the day or week that are better? Is there seasonality in the market?
Can you use free PR (public relations) to reach your target market?

It is useful to review your marketing mix regularly. Some elements will need to change as the product or service evolves, and as competitive offerings become available.

Make sure your answers to the questions above are based on sound knowledge and facts. Many entrepreneurs make decisions based on untested assumptions about what consumers need.

Thanks for reading. Wishing you success in your business journey.

Sayed Bin Habib

Co-Founder, Startup Blitz

Follow me on LinkedIn / Website

You are receiving this email because you subscribed to Startup Newsletter. You can Unsubscribe from here.

More Newsletter Editions

Get the weekly email full of actionable ideas and insights you can use at work and home.

↑

Startup Blitz