10 Ways to Market Your Awesome Start-Up

For aspiring entrepreneurs, taking a concept from inception to launch can happen faster an cheaper than ever before. You just launched a shiny new site, and your product has been thoroughly tested and debugged — and now you’re in the hot seat (either from investors, co-workers, or yourself) to ramp up your almost non-existent marketing efforts.

Here are 10 relatively lightweight efforts (in no particular order) that just might get you on the cover of your favorite magazine before you know it:

10. Network / Hustle / Get After It: Sure, social tools have facilitated your digital hustle, but there’s no substitute for making great connections in person. Leverage your network to get bloggers, writers, creatives, and fellow entrepreneurs to write about you, think about your work, or at least like you enough to help you out down the road.

9. Add yourself to CrunchBase, which is an publicly editable Wikipedia of tech companies, people and investors.

8. Add yourself to YouNoodle, which is a place to meet other likeminded individuals.

7. Apply and participate in University or city/org sponsored business plan competitions. Keep in mind what the real value is here, it’s not necessarily the 10 or 20k prize money… but the random collection of angel investors, press, and talented technologists/creatives that hang around these events (even on other teams).

6. Add yourself to StartupWeekend’s Startup Database

5. Get to know your local StartupDigest leaders/editors

4. Get to know any local startup aggregators, like Proudly Made In DC or We Are NY Tech

3. Sponsor and attend events like Tech Cocktail or your local BarCamp

2. Apply for incubator/accelerator programs… see #7 for a similar value proposition.

1. Be excellent and build awesome stuff that people talk about.

Are we missing something? Undoubtedly so… let us know below!