1
1. Your profile is a landing page. Optimize copy, images, the pinned answer for the action.
2. Don't spam. It'll just result in your account getting downgraded/blocked.
3. Format your content so it’s easy to read.
4. Update answers that are important for you from time to time.
5. Link to reputable resources (not ONLY your website) in your answers.
6. Don't put a link to your website in every answer.
7. For every “marketing question” answer at least 3 general ones, like “What irritates you?”.
8. Put the name of the company in the first paragraph of the answer to get attention from users that just skim through them.
9. Use custom credentials for different answers.
10. If you have well-known competitors, answer the questions, where users look for their reviews or alternatives. Those are highly convertible topics.
11. Don’t trash your competitors. The community would not appreciate this.
12. Answer questions that rank in Google.
13. Buying upvotes is a short-term game. You can do it, but in the long run you’ll lose your positions.
14. Ask friends, who are active on Quora, to boost your answers. Join communities where Quora users support each other.
Not the most white-hat methods, but I don’t think we would be able to get as many leads without no boost from the friends/community.
15. Answer Wiki is the first thing that users see, add your information there but don’t be spammy.
16. If you see that some answers are performing well, boost them through the Quora ad network. They have great targeting tools. The only thing we were not able to figure out was their conversion tracking, so it’s a spray and pray game for us.
I hope this was helpful. I'll be sharing a weekly update via email on our journey. I’ll talk about our experiments, the troubles we get into, the wins, numbers, Buffer style. https://sharingalemon.substack.com/
Feel free to ask any questions.
What blogs and media do you read? Even (especially) small ones matter.
Appreciate the answers.
Here are my thoughts:
If I was 12 years ago, I would join a rocketship. Next step I would join some behemoth for a couple of years to build a network, learn how companies operate and what kind o problems exist and then start my own thing.
What would be your one career advice?
But let’s say you have to hire and start delegating. First 10 hires will form a company culture and define the future.
Below, I’m sharing some tips, that I’ve learned hard way.
- Step 0 is to create a job posting. Make it as short as possible. List only top skills and top tasks. Make the description simple, as you are explaining to a 10-y old kid
- Before posting any ads online, do the search in your network. Ask yourself: “who is the smartest person you know?” This will save you a lot of time and bring higher quality candidates.
- As a founder, you should not have time to speak to every candidate. Chat with them via email first (not the messenger). See how well they behave, form their thought, format the text. And 90% of candidates disappear or show poor ethics.
- Ask for a few references. Talk to 2 - 3 people who were their employers, co-workers or even employees. Ask them open questions and let them talk.
- Do a project with them. We usually do a test that takes 2 - 5 days of work. We pay on hourly bases. This is a crucial part, that will show their ability to communicate and collaborate, be creative and actually execute.
- Take them out to dinner or drinks. The informal situation can uncover unexpected qualities.
- Make sure they want to take your job. For example, during the interview, I ask for what other positions they are interviewing. It’s better to uncover now, that their dream is to become a growth marketer or to work at Google when your position is sales in a healthcare startup.
Flag people who: - Say YES to everything. Sometimes it’s a part of the culture. - Seem arrogant - Talk bad about their previous employers, co-workers, clients or anyone else - Worked long in the companies with bad cultures
I hope these tips are useful. I’ll gladly answer any question.