From Zero to $10M ARR: My Organic Content Playbook

Welcome back to issue #3 of the Zero to $10M ARR newsletter. Things are moving quickly at Helply, which gives me a lot to update you on. Today, we’ll be covering: - Customer interview updates - Product development updates - My organic content strategy playbook. ​ So let’s dive in. Business updates: When announcing Helply earlier this month, we set an ambitious goal to conduct 500 customer interviews in year 1. As of today (4 weeks in), we have conducted 100 customer interviews. This number has more than doubled from last week, averaging 2-3 interviews every single day. I believe this is the single most important activity for any new startup founder to take on. 400 more interviews to go! Check out [today's LinkedIn post](=) where I break down our takeaways from conducting 100 customer demos for Helply over the last 3 weeks. I'd love to hear what you think in the comments :) Product development: We have finally launched our MVP of Helply and are currently using it internally at Groove to answer customer support queries in real-time. This is the beauty of starting a new business that compliments your existing successful, cash-flowing one—you can test your new software in real-time with your current business. My organic content strategy playbook: In other news, I have ramped up my content production. One of my big bets in bootstrapping Helply to $10 million in ARR over the next three years is to increase my content creation. For those who didn’t know, one of the main reasons I was able to scale Groove so quickly back in the day was primarily because of my “Imperfect Startup” series on YouTube and Twitter. It was the playbook that many are now using on social media to build their businesses in public. Look at what folks like Adam Robinson at RB2B are doing now—it’s what I was doing 5-6 years ago. So, in this issue I wanted to get tactical. Let’s break down my social growth playbook: - Why I am reviving my social content strategy - What I expect and am already seeing from this strategy - How I am creating high-quality content consistently Why I am reviving my social content strategy It boils down to marketing 101. - Who are we trying to sell to? - Where do these people consume content? - How do I create content on these channels to grab their attention and push them to Groove? ​ Our target audience consists of early-stage entrepreneurs, customer support leaders, and e-commerce founders—all famously active on social media, specifically LinkedIn. That’s why I am creating content again. Instead of running ads or sending cold emails, creating content will be our way of getting the right eyes on the Helply product. Now, you may ask "what data do I have to prove that this works?” It’s early days—I have only started producing consistent content over the last week, but it has already resulted in 20 interviews for Groove, directly attributable to one post. That’s a pretty good ROI already. I am also using a tool called Taplio to continuously track both soft and hard metrics such as follower count, post engagement, and directly attributable leads. So, how am I ensuring that this content happens on a consistent basis? It’s a simple formula. Every two weeks, I record a one-hour interview recapping everything that has happened in the business. These are then transcribed and turned into LinkedIn posts. From this one hour, we typically get between 12-14 posts, both text and video. These are then cut up and used for LinkedIn, and the interviews are uploaded to YouTube. They also inform the content you read in this newsletter. This is all interconnected—meaning I include my newsletter link in my LinkedIn posts and encourage everyone who reads this newsletter to check out my LinkedIn. It’s a constant flywheel of great content that keeps me and Helply top of mind. What is total cost for this strategy, which I believe will ensure a constant stream of top-of-funnel leads? Not much at all: ​ ​-I use Riverside to record interviews (around $20 a month) -ConvertKit to run my newsletter (around $700 a month) -Some additional video editing and copywriting done by freelancers, costing around $3k a month. You’re talking under $4,000. Compare this to a funded startup’s marketing budget, which spends hundreds of thousands of dollars each month on advertising and sales reps. We are doing things the smart, efficient way. And it’s a win-win for all. You get great, insightful content for free. I get more attention and, hopefully, revenue for Groove. The “Imperfect Startups” and the content I produced all those years ago were major components that helped me scale Groove to $5 million in revenue as a bootstrapped solo founder. I believe this new content journey will be critical in bringing Helply to $10 million ARR in even less time. Things are continuing to move fast on this end. Excited to continue delivering my playbooks, tactics, strategies, and learnings like this every week. Until next time! Alex CEO & Founder, [Groove](=) & [Helply]()​ P.S. I’ll also be posting on LinkedIn seven days a week, 365 days a year. I’d love to hear your feedback on the new newsletter in the comments of my latest post. Check out [today's LinkedIn post](=) where I break down our takeaways from conducting 100 customer demos for Helply over the last 3 weeks. ​ Let me know what you think in the comments. I read and reply to every single one. P.P.S If you’d like to learn more about my strategy for building Helply in public, [check out ep. 4](=) of the Zero to $10M ARR podcast. ​ ​ ​ on Youtube. ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ Don't want to hear from us? You can [unsubscribe here](.