Rpitch2U

0.000675%

2011-09-22T08:32:00.000-07:00

Back in January 2011 I wrote a follow-up to my original post in August 2010 describing how anemic LinkedIn's Facebook Fan Page 'Likes' stats were, especially given their claim of 75 Million members. At the time, only 30,000 people (out of 75 Million) took the time (1 second) to 'Like' the company on the world's largest social network. A statistical improbability given the nature of their business (social media) and the industry standard ratio of 4-10% (Likes vs. Users). LinkedIn's ratio is currently .000675%. That's 6 ten-thousandths of one percent...

Is it me, or is something not adding up?

Fast forward 9 months, the company continues to claim ridiculous growth rates (1 million new members per week) for a total of 120 Million users worldwide. Yet, months after the pre and post IPO hype machine and 50 million new users, LinkedIn's total 'Like's' increased by only 50,000 for a total of 81,000. To put this number in perspective, LinkedIn's Likeability rests somewhere between that asshole Spencer Pratt (voted one of the top 5 most hated people in America) and British Petroleum.

To me, this can only mean one of two things.

LinkedIn isn't giving their users anything to 'Like'
LinkedIn isn't being honest about how many users they really have.

Check out these comparisons of LinkedIn vs. other leading Internet properties:

LinkedIn = 81,000 'Likes' (0.000675% 'Like' ratio)

Google = 4 Million Likes
Twitter = 4 Million Likes (200 Million users = 2% 'Like' ratio)
Foursquare = 700,000 Likes (10 Million users = 7% 'Like' ratio)
Google+ = 200,000 Likes already (launched in July 2011)
Groupon = 1.5 Million Likes

Believe what you want... but one things for certain... there's apparently not much to 'Like' about LInKEdIn. :)

Bill

Playin' Hooky

2011-09-13T13:17:00.000-07:00

Today I kept my oldest son home from school to give him a little break from his daily grind. Between the everyday football and baseball practices in 90 degree heat and hours of homework... I could see it in his eyes when he woke up this morning that it was as good a time as any to play some hooky. So, like any other concerned parent I did what was best for him. I brought him into the Fast Pitch office and put him to work!

Armed with a Canon Eos and a laptop, his job this morning was to take pictures of our office and share them with the world via our blog. S0 here it is... Fast Pitch headquarters at 9AM as seen through the lense of an 11-year old.

Bill

A Change Is Gonna Come

2011-09-08T11:27:00.001-07:00

Thank you to everyone who took part in our customer feedback survey last week. Your voice has been heard! Here's a sneak peak at some of the changes we're making to Fast Pitch in the coming days.

Stay tuned...

Bill

Pro's vs. Joe's

2011-08-25T06:38:00.000-07:00

Earlier this week I decided to change the name of our upgraded membership level from Platinum to PRO+. Over the years, I've always wanted to integrate more sports themes into our marketing. With a name like Fast Pitch there are literally hundreds of directions we can go with sports themed marketing. However, I've always been hesitant for fear of confusing our members (not everyone watches baseball or softball and knows the lingo). Plus, it's hard enough educating our members on all of the new social media / web 2.0 phrases being tossed around anyway. There's no sense in adding another layer of confusion to the thought process, right?

The decision to use a sports theme for our upgraded level of membership is two-fold:

PRO is about as powerful a term as there is to describe someone's role in a profession. Whether it's describing a career in sports or a person selling insurance, we all want to be considered a pro, right?
The opposite of being a Pro is being an Average 'Joe'. This is a perfect yet subtle way to differentiate between members who are serious about Fast Pitch and those who perhaps aren't.

So, PRO+ it is...

For those of you not familiar, the PRO+ membership is now our only upgraded level of membership. If you're not a PRO+ member, you are what we call a 'Basic' member. Basic members cannot access any of our premium features and they receive minimal exposure across the network.

About 25% of our total membership population have become PRO+ members at one time or another. PRO+ members typically spend far more time using the network (obviously) and connecting to one another. So much so that they've become their own community within the community... reaping all of the benefits of the increased exposure and opportunity provided with PRO+ membership.

There's competition happening on our network. It's Pro's vs. Joe's... and much like the t.v. show, the Pro's are winning.

Bill

The Evolution of Fast Pitch

2011-07-27T11:41:00.000-07:00

As mentioned in a prior post, Fast Pitch is celebrating its 5th birthday this month. Technically however, what most people don't realize is that Fast Pitch is also closing in on it's 8th birthday in September. Wait... What?

Prior to becoming an online social network, Fast Pitch was a sole-proprietorship (owned by yours truly). For nearly three years I hosted and promoted networking events around the country from 2003 - 2006. Then, after becoming burned out with the event business and facilitating events for close to 10,000 people from Miami to Los Angeles and everywhere in between, Fast Pitch changed directions and became what it is today... an online social network for small business professionals.

On behalf of the 5th (and upcoming 8th) birthdays, I thought I'd take a stroll back in time and post some screen shots that demonstrate the evolution of the Fast Pitch homepage over these eight years. Enjoy.

(October 2003 - Fast Pitch announces the first of 200+ networking events from 2003-2005. Unfortunately, many of the images on the archived page no longer exist)

(January 2006 - Fast Pitch begins offering online networking events using a proprietary web based system to host and manage events remotely. These events spawn the birth of the Fast Pitch Profile).

(March 2006 - Fast Pitch begins to use the profile to help people be found on Google)

(June 2006 - The Fast Pitch Online Business Network goes Live! Members can now connect to one another and post a variety of content to their profile.)

(December 2006 - A newer version of our logo makes it's first appearance)

(June 2007 - We're growing and adding more features)

(June 2008 - A new logo and a more serious layout)

(December 2008 - The homepage begins to take the shape of today's Fast Pitch)

(January 2010 - Present)

Bill

LinkedOut?

2011-07-22T09:55:00.000-07:00

BREAKING NEWS: CEO at over-valued social network attacks competitors social network.

Did anyone else see the comment made by LinkedIn CEO, Jeffrey Weiner earlier this week when asked about the potential of Google+? If you missed it, here was his answer:

"Nobody has any free time. Unlike social platforms and TV, which can coexist, you don't see people using Twitter while they're using Facebook, or using Facebook while they're using LinkedIn. Now you introduce Google+... where am I going to spend that next minute or hour of my discretionary time? I have no more time."

Wow. Sounds like someone struck a nerve! I'm guessing this is why...

Google+ is about to put a serious dent in LinkedIn's over-valued, under-used professional network.

LinkedIn has bet its future on eyeballs (i.e. selling ads). If impressions and engagement time per user on LinkedIn decline as a result of people becoming more interested in Google+ (regardless of whether that interest is social or business)... LinkedIn's ad revenues will decline... followed eventually by their overpriced stock. The potential stickiness of Google+ directly impacts LinkedIn's ad supported business model by becoming a one-stop-shop (which already includes business tools such as Gmail, Google Docs, Calendar, Maps, Places, Picassa, etc...).

Now, in Weiner's defense what he did say is factually correct. People's discretionary time is becoming more and more limited when it comes to using social networks. Additionally, from a business perspective I personally believe that people are beginning to question the value of networks that over promise and under-deliver (How many of you have actually gotten results from using LinkedIn? What about Facebook Ads?). Bottom line, in the world of professional (social) networking... if you can't deliver tangible results, people will move on. LinkedIn in my opinion, has made the mistake of failing to add value to their platform for the average user.

I personally think Google+ has Facebook in its cross-hairs... but does anyone think that LinkedIn isn't in that scope as well? How long will it take for Google+ to add a simple resume feature, making LinkedIn all but irrelevant at some point. My guess is about 10 minutes of coding time. That's how long it took us. :)

Don't get me wrong, as the owner of a professional network myself, I understand where Weiner is coming from. The success of Google+ can also be seen as an indictment of Fast Pitch. However, I can honestly say I'm not nearly as insecure about the prospects of Google+ becoming a Fast Pitch killer. For one, I'm already battle tested. We've been fighting this 'discretionary time' fight with Facebook, LinkedIn, Myspace for nearly five years now. And guess what... "I'm still standing, huh!" (in my best Tony Montana voice). Come to think of it, didn't we outlast Myspace?

Part of the reason I'm confident in Fast Pitch is that we've always positioned ourselves differently than other networks. Rather than trying to be everything to everyone... We're a tool that focuses on a niche market that compliments those other networks. For example:

1. People You Know vs. People You Don't Know

By tapping into their existing user base of 300M Gmail users, the majority of the connections being made on Google+ are with people you already know (people you've already communicated with inside of Gmail). This is a clear difference from the Fast Pitch approach where the focus is all about connecting you to people you do not already know. For small business owners who are interested in generating targeted, localized leads by connecting to other small business owners in specific industries, etc... Fast Pitch is the 'community' for doing this.

2. Creating Content vs. Sharing Content

Google+ does a nice job of allowing you to quickly share content from other sources. However, Google+ doesn't necessarily give you a platform for creating original content. One of the ways Fast Pitch will continue to attract users is with our intuitive press release feature - that allows you to create your own highly professional press release (for free) which can then be shared with other audiences on platforms like Google+!

3. Spam vs. Email Marketing

Have you ever tried to send more than 500 messages per day using Gmail? You can't. I'm guessing Google+ will be no different. Fast Pitch provides an alternative option (Fast Pitch MAIL) - a tool that allows our members to do large scale email marketing. Email Marketing is critical for small businesses. Google could care less.

4. One Size Fits All vs. Niche

Have you ever tried using LinkedIn, Google+ or Facebook to search for other small business owners in your area who are interested in networking? It's not easy. Fast Pitch is a niche professional network designed by small business owners for small business owners. For most small business owners, one size doesn't fit all.

4. Professional SEO

We're very good at getting ALL of your professional content (profile, press, etc.) ranked high on Google... and we do it entirely in a business context. When people come across your press release, it links to your professional profile on Fast Pitch, which links to your blog, your other press, etc... People have no other choice than to form a more serious opinion about you. With Google+, my guess is that your public profile will be what it is... a combination of social vs. business. Which isn't always a good thing.

In short, LinkedIn's problem going forward is that they took their eye off the ball and stopped innovating around 2008. Beyond the functionality they offer for recruitment (who's hiring?), they've given the average user very little reason to spend significant time on their network. Particularly the amount of time it takes to convince major advertisers to spend the kind of dollars LinkedIn investors require for the stock price to continue to go up.

When you add it all up, Weiner has plenty of reason to be insecure. Or maybe he's just having a bad week because one of his underwriters just downgraded his stock.

Bill

1 Million Emails!

2011-07-21T18:57:00.000-07:00

Today, our new Fast Pitch MAIL tool delivered it's 1 millionth email. That's an impressive milestone considering we just went live with the feature a little over 1 month ago. Currently Fast Pitch MAIL has a few hundred Fast Pitch members actively using the tool - which allows you to Create, Send and Track your own email marketing campaigns for free as part of your Platinum Membership on Fast Pitch.

The response to the product from members has been nothing short of positive. Below are some of the testimonials we've already received:

"Fast Pitch MAIL is a very intuitive product even for new email marketers like myself."
"Fast Pitch MAIL is free with my membership? Time to cancel my account with ____Contact!"
"The support team did a great job helping me create my first campaign. Everything from importing my lists to creating my newsletter template."

Now what will be really cool is... 1 Billion Emails!

Muahahahahahah!

Bill

NEWsletters

2011-07-19T07:47:00.001-07:00

This week many of you should begin receiving at least one (if not more) micro newsletters from Fast Pitch. The new micro newsletters focus on a specific feature offered on the Fast Pitch network. Which newsletter(s) you receive is largely dependent upon what you have been doing on our network over the past few months. For example, if you've signed up to use our Fast Pitch MAIL tool, you should be receiving an e-newsletter that currently offers some basic tips for how to create an effective email marketing newsletter for your business.

Unlike the more general newsletter you have been receiving over the years, these micro newsletters are meant to be concise and informational in nature. We're tapping into our collective experience here at Fast Pitch headquarters each week and passing that knowledge on to you free of charge!

In addition to these new micro newsletters, we will continue to send out our traditional weekly newsletter which provides you with the typical headline announcing a new feature or promotion as well as localized content highlighting new members in your region, relevant press releases, events, and more.

Lastly, if you are a Platinum Member and have an interest in becoming a 'Guest Author' on any of our newsletters, email us at info@fastpitchnetworking.com. We're always interested in providing quality content in return for the exposure it can bring you!

Bill

Survey Says...

2011-07-13T08:02:00.001-07:00

Earlier this week we ran an informal survey to many of our newest members (as of May 2010) to learn more about their business as well as their initial impression of Fast Pitch. Surprisingly, over 300 of you responded... giving us a large enough sample size to report our findings. Below are some of the highlights from the survey (with more to follow).

Summary: In short, most of you are small business owners with limited marketing budgets who rely primarily on word-of-mouth marketing. As a result, you tend to have a strong interest in using Fast Pitch to make new connections (i.e. network) with other members. Additionally, it appears that we (Fast Pitch) may need to take a closer look at our overall navigation to improve your level of engagement with our network.

1. I recently created a profile on Fast Pitch because...

37% I am interested in Networking
25% I was referred by a trusted colleague
22% I am interested in using the Marketing tools
10% I am not sure why I joined

2. Since creating my profile I have logged into Fast Pitch ___ times.

31% < 3 times
29% 4-10 times
11% 11-20 times
29% 20+ times

3. Navigating Fast Pitch is...

40% Very Simple
44% A Little Confusing
15% Very Confusing

4. Which is your favorite feature?

17% Free Email Marketing Tool
23% Free Press Release Service
31% Unlimited Networking
5% Higher Ranking on Fast Pitch
10% Higher Ranking on Google
14% Other

5. What is the primary way you market your business?

37% Word of Mouth
22% Email Marketing
3% Direct Mail
11% Other Social Media (i.e. Facebook)
8% Direct Sales (call center)
19% Other

6. What is your monthly marketing budget?

65% < $500
12% $500 - $1,000
13% $1,000 - $5,000
10% $5,000+

Thank you to everyone who took the time to respond to the survey request. As always, we appreciate your feedback.

Bill

Fast Pitch Turns 5!

2011-07-11T11:19:00.000-07:00

This month, Fast Pitch officially turns five years old.

Unlike years past, this particular 'birthday' is bittersweet as many small businesses (our primary clientele) have struggled to stay afloat during some challenging economic times. Although we're excited to have made it to year five (most small businesses fail within the first two years) we're conscious of the fact that many of you are trying to figure out how to make it to month five.

Much like many large businesses and governments around the world, you too are looking for ways to cut costs and 'keep the lights on'. We're aware of this... which is why we've decided to extend our $49 Annual Platinum Membership Special for another month. Although it's our birthday, we've decided to extend the gift to you!

Consider what a $49 Annual Membership means:

For less than $5 per month (there's that number '5' again)... we've estimated that you will save your business $500+ per month ($6,000 per year). For example, did you know that prior to joining Fast Pitch, most Fast Pitch Platinum members used to spend...

$50 per month on email marketing (e.g. Constant Contact)
$300 per month on SEO with a local SEO firm
$200 per month on press distribution (e.g. PR Web)
$50 per month for online networking (e.g. LinkedIn)

Now, with a Fast Pitch Platinum Membership thousands of businesses around the world are saving hundreds of dollars each month by using our one-stop-shop to do all of these things (and more) for less than $5.

Help us... Help your business... reach its next birthday!
Become a Platinum Member and start saving.

Visit: http://www.fastpitchnetworking.com

Oh, and congratulations to the Fast Pitch staff... and to all of our members who have been with us since 2006! Here's to the next five years...

Bill

We're in Florida Trend! (again)

2011-07-05T09:07:00.000-07:00

Thank you to Florida Trend Magazine for giving Fast Pitch a nice little plug in the July 2011 issue.

Now, put us on the cover and I'll tell you everything you want to know! :)

Bill

Special 'Guest' Post: Why The HuB Works

2011-06-15T06:21:00.001-07:00

As mentioned in prior posts, Fast Pitch, Inc. has its headquarters located at The HuB - a creative incubator located in the Rosemary District of downtown Sarasota. The HuB was launched by Fast Pitch Co-Founder, Rich Swier about two years ago in an effort to bring together what he calls 'the creative class' of Sarasota.

Rich recently posted to his own blog - which I've decided to copy/paste below for your own reading pleasure. This particular post does a nice job of not only giving you some insight into the culture in which Fast Pitch operates, but also some of the philosophy I share with Rich about how to start and manage a business. Enjoy.

----------------------------------------------------------

A little over two years ago I came up with the idea of the HuB. At the time - it was more of a philosophy than an idea. I certainly did not have a plan - in fact that was the "plan" - NOT to have one. For years, as an entrepreneur and also as an angel investor it seemed like I spent 80% of my time writing a plan or reviewing a plan. And as much I would like to believe you can plan your way to success... I am almost certain that the time we spend on planning is not just overrated, but completely a waste of time.

Before I go into the basic principles of my argument, let me give you some background into the HuB. Before I started the HuB, I spent a lot of time with entrepreneurs developing their ideas, businesses and eventually watching them succeed or fail. I started to see a trend forming over the years. The trend is not scientific, but it is certainly recognizable (perhaps more in a gut feeling) when working with entrepreneurs. I use the word "momentum" a lot when describing why a venture is successful, but more important than momentum is the creativity of the entrepreneur. It was this aspect that I decided to focus on when starting the HuB - CREATIVITY.

I wanted to build a community that embraced creativity over and above any other aspect to building businesses (or for that matter building communities). In order to do this - I knew we have to embrace the creative process when developing the HuB - which meant embracing these basic principles:

1. GROW ORGANICALLY - This principal is a difficult one to explain to an entrepreneur (and especially an investor). Essentially, what we demand is that a business grow organically without the assistance of unnecessary (manufactured) capital. We realize every venture requires capital to start and grow, but we believe it can destroy a business quicker than any other factor. It is critical for anything to grow at it's own natural pace, and only leverage capital when it is based on demand (e.g. new customers, need new product designs, etc) and NOT on some manufactured plan and spreadsheet projecting growth on no real factual data. Many people call this bootstrapping or starting out of your "garage", which I tend to agree with - but its also speaks to the idea that "plans are useless".

2. BE CREATIVE - This is the core principal of the HuB. Too many entrepreneurs focus on the wrong aspects of their business, and instead of being creative on how they can get a product to market - they tend to find themselves in a holding pattern waiting on an investor or taking too long to develop the perfect version of their product. Anytime we look at a business opportunity, we ask the question - "How can we make this idea happen with the resources we have right now?". If the answer is "We can't" - then it forces us to be creative. We find new paths to make the idea happen. Sometimes we can't and we abandon the idea... but many times we do find alternate paths. Entrepreneurs who are creative will succeed. Unfortunately when we demand entrepreneurs spend countless hours developing a plan - they feel like they can't be creative once the plan is written down - and thus - this typically leads to failure. Don't plan. Be Creative.

3. EVERYONE IS AN ENTREPRENEUR - What makes the HuB different than a tech-incubator, a university or even a start up company - is that we want to create entrepreneurs. We don't want employees. This is a challenge, because most people are programmed to look for a "job" - not to create one. Every person who works at the HuB is an entrepreneur. This is not an easy thing to accept if they have had a job all their life. There is a big difference between having a paycheck and manager - to being 100% responsible for the success of your venture each and every day.

It is these three principles that have been the reason I feel the HuB has been so successful. We embrace the chaos knowing that it is part of the process. Everytime a new creative entrepreneur joins the HuB we expect things to change and we hope it adds another element of energy and excitement for everyone else.

The great thing about NOT having a plan.... is every day is unexpected. And that is the way it should be for an entrepreneur

Rich

Just Released! Fast Pitch MAIL

2011-06-09T06:51:00.000-07:00

After just two weeks of coding, our development team has done it again! We've integrated a faster, more intuitive email marketing tool into our laundry list of features available to our Platinum members.

Fast Pitch MAIL is an email marketing tool designed specifically for Fast Pitch Members (small business owners, marketers, sales executives) that allows them to easily Create, Send, and Track thousands of email newsletters and announcements each month (for free) as part of their Platinum Membership. Platinum Members can upload up to 2,000 contacts and send up to 20,000 messages per month. Additionally, there are further upgrade options available to power users in need of a larger plan. Rates range from $20 - $60 per month (less than 50% of the cost of other leading email marketing tools).

To Get Started Set Up a Free TRIAL at: http://www.fastpitchmail.com

Not already a Platinum Member? No problem. Upgrade your Fast Pitch Account for as low as $6 per month, and get instant access to Fast Pitch MAIL... AND... all of the other advanced features that come with being a Platinum Member (unlimited connections, post and distribute press, get your company listed all over Google, advanced ranking on all Fast Pitch searches, and more).

It's time to start communicating to your clients more... for less!

Bill

Press Distribution Pricing: How It Works

2011-05-19T07:55:00.000-07:00

One of the more common questions asked about Fast Pitch is how our press distribution pricing works. It's real simple:

Basic Members - Can post unlimited press releases to your profile ONLY.
Basic Membership is Free.
Platinum Members - Have all of your press releases promoted throughout the network and optimized for Google. Post unlimited releases and see who visits your press release. Add video to your press release.
Platinum Membership costs $10 per month and includes all of the other benefits including: unlimited networking, SEO boost for profile and content, free email marketing, and more.
Distributed Press - All of the advantages of Platinum Membership AND Have each press release sent to 20 media outlets, 50,000 members, and have it featured on our Facebook and Twitter Pages for a day.
Cost is $35 per press release.

Now, compare those pricing options to what you would spend posting a single press release on a press distribution website such as PR Web (click here). As you'll see, with PR Web you pay over $100 per press release and receive less benefit than what you receive for posting unlimited press releases on Fast Pitch each month.

Best of all, as a social (professional) network, Fast Pitch provides you with an actual audience of readers who are guaranteed to view your press release (isn't that the point???). PR Web is a 'wire' service whose press releases quite frankly get ignored by 99.999% of the media outlets they supposedly 'wire' your release to.

If you don't believe me, post a release on PR Web, pay the $100 and let me know how that works out for you. :)

Good Luck!

Bill

Putting On The Breaks

2011-04-27T11:07:00.000-07:00

Below is a timely re-post of a blog I wrote almost three years ago to the day. As gas prices continue to rise with no end in sight, the value of social networks like Fast Pitch! are becoming more obvious each passing day. It's now time to reconsider your approach to networking.

(from May 6, 2008)
Hybrid Networking

Gas prices in the United States recently reached $4 per gallon in most parts of the country. For many small business professionals, the rapid increase in gas prices has become a serious business concern, particularly for companies whose sales and support staff rely on face-to-face interaction with customers. Many companies are now evaluating the ROI of each type of 'trip' being made by employees to determine their cost-effectiveness. Daily commutes, individual sales calls and networking functions are all being scrutinized, and in many cases removed from budgets as the speculation of increased fuel costs continue.

For many professionals living in the suburbs the cost of driving their SUV (at least until they purchase a more fuel efficient car) has become a rude awakening as gas costs can often exceed $1,000 per month. Because of this, many people are beginning to take a closer look at more efficient ways of doing business. For many, working at home has become an obvious way to curb monthly fuel costs.

Additionally, many companies are beginning to rely more and more on web conferencing software tools to facilitate sales meetings. Look no further than a 3-month stock chart of Citrix (maker of GoTo Meeting) to see where this is headed. (Update: check out the chart since 2009). In fact, recent studies suggest that less people are attending networking events, tradeshows, expos and conferences as the cost of travel (gas) continues to rise.

From my vantage point, I think what we're now witnessing is the beginning (Update: resurgence) of what I call HYBRID NETWORKING - a blending of two forms of networking (online and offline). Much like a Hybrid Car, most of us aren't ready to completely abandon gas (offline networking) altogether, however we realize we need to become more efficient by using technology (online networking). Similarly, for many of us in business, we cannot completely ignore the importance of offline (face to face) networking, yet we also realize that as the ROI of traveling continues to decrease, the need to discover alternative ways to communicate (online networking) will increase.

Fast Pitch! is clearly in a position to benefit from Hybrid Networking as we continue to offer more features than any other online network in the world. As I mention time and time again, we've designed Fast Pitch! to allow people (particularly small business owners) the ability to network and market their business in a more open and cost-effective way.

So, the next time you hop in your car to drive 30 miles to a networking event, consider the cost of that trip. Chances are, your costs are exceeding the $40 you'll spend on your entry fee and bar tab... It will also include another $5 in gas. And for those of you who attend multiple events each week... well... do the math.

The attractive alternative of course, is to take part in more online networking - which allows you to network on your own terms, with more people, at less cost. Speaking of cost...

A monthly membership to Fast Pitch!
costs less than 2 gallons of gas.

Maybe it's time to put the breaks on all of those networking events and try a different approach?

Bill

Two and a Half Men

2011-03-25T08:36:00.000-07:00

Let me start by saying in full disclosure that I have never watched a single episode of Two and a Half Men... but that doesn't mean I'm not willing to ride the coat tails of Charlie Sheen to get Fast Pitch! some nice SEO pop from this blog title... :)

For these next few blog posts, I plan to shed some long overdue insight into what makes Fast Pitch! tick. Everything from the history of the company to our corporate make-up, our day to day operations (i.e. who does what), our office culture, our business processes (i.e. how we do what we do), and more. We may even throw in some video for a change. My hope is that many of you involved in start-ups will find motivation through our David vs. Goliath story.

For example, many of you will be surprised to hear that Fast Pitch! has been around since 2006, has hundreds of thousands of members worldwide, and is owned and operated by just two and a half men (that's about 997.5 less people than our largest competitor employs).

What you may also be surprised to know is that we've been profitable for over five years now and are 100% self-funded (that's exactly $103 Million less funding than our largest competitor). Or, that we operate out of a creative / technology incubator called The Hub which is not located in Silicon Valley but rather Sarasota, FL (that's exactly 2,917 miles from our largest competitor).

Wait a minute. Back up. Did I just say, "Fast Pitch! is owned and operated by only Two and a Half Men?"

Yes. That's not a typo. Fast Pitch! is owned and operated by just two full time people and one part-time contractor (he's the half- man). The Two Men include co-founders Bill Jula (that's me) and Rich Swier (he's the guy with the amazing hair in the picture above). Between the two of us, we're responsible for every line of code you see (or don't see), every marketing campaign, every demonstration, every financial transaction... you name it. We do it.

The half man is part-time contractor Bob Poole (pictured center) who primarily serves on the front-line for Fast Pitch!, helping thousands of members worldwide learn how to use social media to grow their business while also managing customer support issues related to the network. Bob is also proficient in all aspects of our industry leading press distribution service, email marketing tool, search optimization features, and more. In reality, Bob is anything but a 'half-man' (interpret that how you would like Bob :)

So there you have it. As the 3rd largest online business network in the world, Fast Pitch! is #Winning with just two and a half men.

Bill

Up Next: Fast Pitch! On Auto Pilot - A look at what's behind the curtain and how we do what we do with so little...

Be A Big Fish In A Smaller Pond

2011-02-17T11:17:00.000-08:00

There's a 17 year old kid in my neighborhood who stands 6'3" and weighs around 185 pounds. He's athletic and attends a very large and competitive high school in Florida (over 2,500 students). He just finished his senior season as a back-up tight-end on a powerhouse team. Needless to say, he has managed to slip under the recruiting radar... and within a few weeks his athletic career will officially come to an end. I can't help but wonder if it's over before it ever really had a chance to get started.

What if he were to have played in a smaller market where 6'3" 185 lb. players were less of a commodity? Or to put it another way... what if he could have been a big fish in a small pond? Might his opportunities to succeed have increased as a result of being in the game more, resulting in more confidence, more success... and ultimately more exposure? Instead of hanging up his cleats, would he be taking his game to the next level?

Okay, here's my point...

Your professional presence on social networks is much like being a fish in a pond. You can either choose to participate as a small fish in a big pond (i.e. Facebook, LinkedIn)... where you are constantly competing against millions of other fish for attention. Or, you can participate in a smaller pond (i.e. Fast Pitch), and have a much better chance of becoming the big fish that eventually dominates the pond. Think about it.

Login and start connecting: http://www.fastpitchnetworking.com

Bill

SEcOnd to none

2011-02-16T07:56:00.001-08:00

While I'm on the topic of SEO (see my prior post 'Badge of Honor'), I thought it might be as good a time as any to show-off our Search Engine Optimization skills for getting profiles ranked on Google for member names and company names. For the sake of argument, I decided to do a quick search for myself (Bill Jula) and my company name (Fast Pitch).

You'll see that for my name, other than my personal URL (www.billjula.com), my Fast Pitch! Profile ranks as the 2nd highest search result - outranking my profiles on Facebook, Tech Crunch and YouTube! Kudos to our SEO team (of 1 person) for beating the collective engineering teams of probably hundreds of Stanford grads at three of the largest Internet properties in the world! Rich - you are obviously way underpaid. :)

As for my company name (Fast Pitch)... this is where things gets even better.

Type 'fast pitch' into Google and you'll discover that the century old phrase is no longer associated with softball or baseball, but rather, 'online business networking'. In fact, we rank #1 for the phrase, having single handedly outranked the SEO efforts of every softball and baseball reference across the Internet. Keep in mind, softball is the most popular participant sport in the United States with over 40 million people playing at least one game annually (source: Wikipedia - whose entry by the way - we also outrank!).

Now if we can just find a way to get all 40 million of them to put down the gloves and create a profile.

Bill

A Badge of Honor

2011-02-16T06:11:00.000-08:00

We're honored!

Publicly traded Vocus, Inc. (VOCS - Nasdaq) with a market cap of over $500 million dollars, appears to be advertising their online press distribution company PR Web by purchasing the keywords, "Fast Pitch Networking" on Google.

The ROI on that advertisement is probably pretty good. PR Web charges people upwards of $300 to post a single press release on the Internet. By comparison, Fast Pitch! lets you post unlimited press releases and does everything (and more) PR Web does, for less than $9 per month.
Check out the yellow shaded area above. Or, do your own search.

I encourage all of you to click their ad and see what they have to offer.

Bill

Business Networking: It's About Who You Don't Know...

2011-02-11T09:11:00.000-08:00

I'm always amazed at how many people join Fast Pitch! with what I would call the 'Facebook' or 'LinkedIn' mentality - which is to connect only with people they already know. Isn't that counterproductive to what it takes to generate new business? I mean, imagine a retailer not allowing new people to enter their store. They wouldn't be in business very long would they? The same can be said for your Fast Pitch! profile. By not embracing new connections, you may as well close up shop on Fast Pitch!

Unlike other networks, Fast Pitch! is all about 'OPEN NETWORKING'. In other words, connect to as many people you do not know... as often as you want! We're here to encourage networking and to help you generate new business.

Much like the doors to a retail store, your profile gives people a doorway into your business. The more new people you get to enter those virtual doors (i.e. connect to you), the more opportunity you have to sell them. Remember, the larger your network on Fast Pitch!, the more real estate you capture on their Wall when they login... where they will be forced to view your latest press, blogs, connection updates, tweets, and more.

Login and start connecting: http://www.fastpitchnetworking.com

Bill

0.0003555888%

2011-01-11T07:06:00.000-08:00

Back in August I wrote a blog about how unusual I thought it was that LinkedIn had 75 million members worldwide, but only 16,506 Fans on Facebook. In other words, less than 2 ten thousandths of a percent of their members claim to have 'Liked' the company (0.00022008%).

To put those numbers in perspective, I compared LinkedIn's Facebook Fan Base to some other popular Internet websites. For example, at the time... YouTube, Google, and Bing all had over 1.5 Million Fans. Twitter and Wikipedia both had over 400,000 Fans. Even BP (a non-tech company with a whole lot of negative press) had more Fans than LinkedIn with over 40,000. Again, LinkedIn (a social network) had only 16,506 Fans...

So after five months, surely things have improved, right?

After tons of press about enormous growth (15 million members added since August), billion dollar valuations and talk of going public... I'm excited to announce that LinkedIn has added a whopping 15,598 new Fans since August... for a total of 32,003.

Yep, that's 3 ten thousandths of a percent of LinkedIn members now 'Like' them on Facebook (0.0003555888%). Coincidentally, I did notice they added about 10,000 of those 15,598 Fans within two weeks of my previous blog. I guess if all thousand of their employees got the memo and asked 10 friends... :)

Now, to remain fair to LinkedIn, we should also re-visit our comparison chart to see how those other companies are doing.

YouTube = 23.5 million new Fans added since August (25 million)
Google = 1 million new Fans added since August (2.5 million)
Twitter = 1.2 million Fans added since August (1.6 million)
Wikipedia = 160,000 Fans added since August (560,000)

So, while LinkedIn is to be commended for doubling its fan base... it still managed to add 1,184,000 less Fans than Twitter... and 23,484,000 less Fans than YouTube.

Is it me or is something not adding up?

Bill

A Snowball Effect

2010-12-28T05:04:00.000-08:00

Let me begin by saying that although the entire Northeast corridor of the United States is on lock down due to severe blizzards in recent days... this blog has nothing to do with the weather. :)

Sitting atop my virtual perch as CEO of Fast Pitch!, I have a unique perspective of the ebb and flow of business activity (particularly small business) happening around the world.With hundreds of thousands of professionals logging into Fast Pitch! on any given day to perform a wide variety of business processes including: networking, writing press releases, creating email marketing campaigns, etc... we're a pretty good barometer for gauging the world's work ethic. Right now, our barometer is showing a disturbing trend - people are working less each passing week.

When we first launched Fast Pitch! a little over four years ago, we were burning the candle at both ends. We worked really hard, all hours of the day, everyday, regardless of whether it was a late Friday afternoon, or the weekend before a major holiday... every waking moment was viewed as an opportunity to attract a new member and capture market share. Looking back, I would say we were a bit naive in those early months as it became apparent that certain days brought diminishing returns.

For example, in 2007 it was safe to assume that the attentiveness of our market (small business professionals), declined by 75% as soon as lunchtime on a Friday rolled around. Remember, in 2007, the recession had not hit yet... credit was plentiful, etc... who could argue with people 'checking out' early on a Friday to start their weekend? As a hungry entrepreneur starving for new business I didn't like the fact that my work week was being forced to end at noon on a Friday, but I understood why it was happening.

Now fast forward to 2010... the recession is in full swing. Small business owners are getting pinched harder than perhaps any other identifiable group. Credit has dried up, people aren't spending, people aren't buying... Heck, people aren't working! The days of long weekends are officially over, right?

Think again...

Not only are people working less... there are some days when they are not showing up at all! Fridays are now the new Saturdays. Mondays... are the new Sundays. The weekend now officially begins on Thursday afternoon. I'm not making this up... Here's my evidence.

Fast Pitch! has a very sophisticated marketing process which includes everything from highly targeted (and timely) email marketing, telemarketing, internal messaging and more. After having marketed to millions of people worldwide for nearly five years now, we know within a few percentage points what our return on any given campaign will be. Everything from how many people will typically open a message, answer a phone, call us back, etc.... all of which are pretty good indicators of how attentive the business world might be at any given moment.

We've sent marketing messages on every imaginable day and time to every conceivable type of person on all four corners of the globe. In other words, we try to capture your attention both when you expect it and when you least expect it.

The results of all of this marketing activity have produced one consistent trend. The work week is now officially fifteen hours long. In other words, the 'window' to capture people's attention lasts for a total of 15 hours and they are Tuesday, Wednesday & Thursday between 9AM and 2PM. Efforts to market outside of those times result in diminishing returns the more you deviate from that five hour window on those three days. Planning to send an email newsletter on Friday afternoon... and you're not in the hospitality industry? Don't waste your time.

So why, despite the worst economic downturn since The Great Depression, is the work week continuing to shrink? My theory is that we're witnessing a 'snowball effect'.

Snowball effect is a figurative term for a process that starts from an initial state of small significance and builds upon itself, becoming larger (graver, more serious), and perhaps potentially dangerous or disastrous (a vicious circle, a "spiral of decline").

In other words, the lackadaisical work ethic many people developed when times were good are still in motion - causing everyone else (whether they like it or not) to internalize those same work habits. "If I work 12 hours on a Friday and see no return, I might as well start my weekend at 5PM on Thursday like everyone else"... and so on. This has the formula for disaster written all over it, when those people who want to work more, become frustrated and they themselves essentially 'give up' and conform to those same work habits.

So... what will be the catalyst that changes this trend. Or will our collective work ethic just continue to deteriorate? Time will tell.

One thing I do know... the larger a snowball gets, the harder it is to move.

Bill

An interesting graph showing the decline of the average work week in the United States. Obviously, a 10% unemployment rate (probably closer to 15% if you count under employment) affect the numbers during our current recession. However, during 'good times' the numbers have declined as well.

Make Your Pitch in 140 Characters

2010-12-13T06:54:00.000-08:00

Fast Pitch! just added a cool new feature to our profile. It's called the TwitPitch! - and it's a great way for our members to send out a concise message about what makes their business great. Similar in concept to Twitter, the TwitPitch! sits along the top of the profile and allows members to quickly tell the world about their business in 140 characters or less. Additionally, the TwitPitch! can be easily shared across each members Facebook and Twitter accounts - allowing them to quickly tell followers and friends about their business. Each members TwitPitch! can also be changed or updated at any time.

Creating a TwitPitch! is also a great exercise in helping members formulate their 'pitch' and forces them to think creatively about how to grab people's attention. TheTwitPitch! also provides members with another way to add keywords to their profile which will ultimately get indexed and become searchable on Google. This is particularly useful for our Platinum Members who receive our industry leading search optimization service as part of their membership.

To create your TwitPitch! simply login to your profile.

Bill

Fast Pitch! Takes It's First Bite of the Apple

2010-11-18T07:11:00.000-08:00

Yesterday, we went live with our first version of the Fast Pitch! iPhone application. For now, the application is fairly basic - allowing you to showcase your latest press releases (Platinum Members), and providing you with direct access the latest announcements coming from Fast Pitch! We've also made it easy for you to access your account via the website with the click of a button.

Version 1 gave us an opportunity to learn more about developing for the iPhone and the process of getting things approved. Moving forward, we will continue to add more functionality to the application such as the ability to access your current network, managing your inbox, and updating your profile. Much like our current Android application, we will make it simple to communicate with the people you are already connected to. Beyond that, look for some effective location based networking functionality to reach the application in 2011.

To download the application, search the App Store for 'Fast Pitch Network'

Good Luck!

Bill

Location, Location, Location

2010-11-12T06:59:00.000-08:00

Yesterday I took some time to look over some of our newest members profiles. A few years ago when we first launched Fast Pitch! I made it a habit of doing this regularly as a way of understanding who was joining us. However finding the time to do this these days has became more and more difficult as we continue to grow at a faster pace. Also, we eventually got smart and built some nice reporting features that give me pretty good snapshot of who our newest members are at any given moment.

In any event, as I went through a few new member profiles yesterday, I was surprised to see how many people were failing to include their physical location of their place of business (i.e. address) to their profile. By default, we force everyone who joins the network to provide us with their zipcode, but we make completing their address optional. We do this in order to make the initial sign-up process as painless as possible.

That being said, all of our members should take the extra few seconds to type in their street address. Not only does it help other members inside of Fast Pitch! have an easier time searching for your business, but as people outside of Fast Pitch! come across your profile from Google, they too have an easier time locating your business (particularly if they are actually typing in your address) Think about it - your address is a set of very important keywords!

Good Luck!

Bill