Issue 021: How Groove Used Influencer Marketing to Get 535 Leads Without Spending a Dime, Jeff Bezos' 70% Rule for Making Smarter Decisions, and More

We also talk about costly website messaging mistakes that hold startups back, and how to create a brand that has people lining up from day one.

February 05, 2025 | #021 | 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 Groove got 535 leads without spending a dime

✍️ Costly website messaging mistakes that hold startups back

🛍️ Jeff Bezos’ 70% rule for making faster, smarter decisions

🪙 How to create a brand that has people lining up from day one

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How Groove Used Influencer Marketing to Get 535 Leads Without Spending a Dollar

Groove is a customer helpdesk app. When the company was new, founder Alex Turnbull decided to start a blog to attract an audience and get leads.

But he faced a common problem: he had great content but no readers. Instead of spending money on ads, he turned to influencer marketing. But in a way that didn’t cost him a dime.

This approach helped him gain over 5,000 subscribers and 535 trial signups in just 5 weeks.

You can use the same strategy to generate leads for your nee business. Here’s how:

Step 1: Build your influencer list

You need to do this one/two months before you launch.

Make a list of influencers who already have the attention of your ideal customers. Don’t go after the biggest names. instead, focus on those who actively engage with their audience.

Step 2: Engage with them

Every content creator loves to know that their content is making an impact. So, engage with them. Leave thoughtful comments on their posts, share their content and tag them.

You need to be noticed by them at least 5/6 times before you move to the next step.

Step 3: Ask for feedback, not a favour

Reach out to them directly but don’t ask them to promote your product. Instead, tell them you’re launching a new company and would love their advice.

Ask if it’s okay to send them a link to your website. Most will say yes. Their feedback is valuable, and it also builds a real relationship.

Step 4: Launch with momentum

Because you’ve built trust, influencers are much more likely to share your product when you launch. Reach out and ask if they’d be willing to post about it. Many will.

That’s how Groove landed 500+ leads in just one month. All without spending a dime.

If you follow this approach, you can do the same.

5 Costly Website Messaging Mistakes That Hold Startups Back

Your product might be great. But without strong messaging, it won’t stand out. If your ideal customers don’t immediately see how your solution helps them, they’ll move on to a competitor.

Powerful product messaging is the backbone of a successful marketing strategy.

In a recent post on the MKT1 newsletter, startup adviser Allyson Letteri highlighted seven common website messaging mistakes that startups make:

1. Not enough transformation: When a website is just a long list of features with no clear promise of results, prospects think “so what?” Your ideal customers care a lot more about the change you’ll create in their lives than about your product’s technical details.

To fix this, show how your product helps customers overcome their challenges and reach a better outcome. Highlight the before-and-after, not just what your product does.

2. Not enough customer specificity: Many websites combine too many use cases and talking points, trying to appeal to a range of customer segments. This dilutes the messages and makes it harder for your ideal customers to see that your product is right for them.

To maximize conversion, your website needs to speak to one specific persona. Directly address a specific audience’s pain points, highlight appealing results, and overcome their concerns.

3. Not enough credibility: Many websites have lofty statements, unbelievable claims, and promises without credible proof points.

To fix it, include strong customer success stories, influencer endorsements, case studies, press mentions, awards, and any other third-party validation to increase your startup’s credibility.

4. Not enough personality: Too many websites sound like they’ve been copied and pasted straight from AI.

Your brand personality should come through in your tone of voice, the words on your website, and the descriptions of your value props and proof points. An authentic and unique brand personality goes a long way in differentiating your brand.

5. Not enough intrigue: You only have a few seconds to capture attention, and most homepage visitors bounce. This is often due to the website’s hero module not creating enough interest or intrigue.

You need to use captivating hooks throughout your messaging and website to motivate your audience to keep reading.

Letteri shares a few more insights in the full article. It’s worth checking out if you’re looking to create a high-converting website.

Jeff Bezos' 70% Rule for Making Faster, Smarter Decisions

Amazon founder Jeff Bezos has a simple principle for when you need to make any decisions –

The 70% rule.

If you follow it, it stops you from overthinking, delaying decisions, and stressing yourself out.

So what is the 70% Rule?

“Most decisions should probably be made with somewhere around 70 per cent of the information you wish you had,” Bezos wrote in an annual shareholder letter. “If you wait for 90 per cent, in most cases, you’re probably being slow.”

So take action when you have:

70% of the information you need
70% confidence
70% readiness

Why does it work?

Because it helps you start and finish tasks faster.

With the 70% standard, you don’t need to wait until you are 100% ready. And that’s rarely needed in our day-to-day work.

It’s also backed by The Law of Diminishing Returns. The more time and effort you invest beyond a certain point, the less extra value you get.

So, do your best. But don’t overdo it!

How do you apply it?

Next time you need to make a decision, ask yourself these three questions:

1️⃣ Do I have 70% of the information I need?

If yes, start now.

If not, ask: What’s one thing I can do to get closer to 70%?

2️⃣ What’s one small step I can take right now?

For example, instead of stressing over writing an entire report, start with an outline.

3️⃣ If I don’t start now, what problem will it cause?

Sometimes, a little fear is a great motivator. Visualise the consequences of procrastination.

📖 Book of the Week: Book of the Week: Obsessed by Emily Heyward

This week, I want to highlight Obsessed: Building a Brand People Love from Day One by Emily Heyward.

Heyward is the co-founder of Red Antler, a branding agency. She has worked on brand strategy for the likes of Hinge, Ramp, Casper, Burrow, and more.

In the book, she provides an insider’s look at the creation process for some of today’s most popular new brands. She also shares what it takes to create a brand that has people lining up from day one.

Red Antler’s approach to brand strategy begins with a crucial question. In their initial conversation with founders, they don’t ask how their business works, or who their competition is. Instead, they ask what problem they are solving for people.

“Ninety-nine times out of one hundred, they don’t answer with the problem they’re solving—they answer with a description of their business and its benefit. Someone launching a new gym concept will answer, “Getting consistent quality training at an affordable price.” Or someone launching a platform for small-business owners will say, “Visibility and ownership of their data.” Notice these are not problems, these are solutions,” writes Heyward.

Heyward and her team use an exercise to help clients uncover the core problem and emotional need their product is solving for customers.

She illustrates this with a fictional example:

Q: Why does it matter to people that their horses are slow?

A: “It takes me too long to get places and I can’t travel very far.”

Q: And why does that matter?

A: “I spend more time getting myself places than enjoying my life and accomplishing things.”

Q: And why does that matter?

A: “Because I’m going to die pretty soon and I have so much I need to achieve first! I can’t waste my short life on the back of this horse!”

“The why test always ends with fear of death! Fear of death is the indicator that you’ve reached the end of the “why” chain. That’s because everything we do as humans, whether we know it or not, is ultimately motivated by knowledge of our own mortality,“ Heyward writes.

Thanks for reading. I hope you have found at least some of these tips helpful.

Until next week!

Sayed Bin Habib

Co-Founder, Startup Blitz

Follow me on LinkedIn / Website

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