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What's the best paid marketing channel for targeting entrepreneurs?

I've tried Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter with little luck. I'm thinking of trying Google and targeting the word "Fractional CTO" or "Interim CTO" but it does have a bit of competition. Honestly, I have had the most luck from BetaList so far.

I'm looking for some creative ideas.

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    I've tried Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter with little luck
    @ctosumo - Care to elaborate on what you tried on those platforms and the results? I'm especially interested in FB and Twitter as I keep hearing more and more people saying FB and Twitter are failing them seemingly because of the sheer noise on those platforms.

    Have you looked into Linkedin, ProductHunt, Quora or plain old Google ads albeit Google might be expensive? Thanks.

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      I'm find the same thing. There's a lot of noise and people see twitter and facebook ads, but don't interact with them even if targeted correctly.

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        I can totally relate. Most of us got used to skipping ads be it on TV or Web. Hard to get the attention through ads. No wonder click through rates are declining.

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    Expensive audience. An entrepreneur who has a CTO for hire need is someone who's made some headway, so they aren't making tool/product decisions on FB, IG, or twitter. I'd ignore all three.

    Quora, LinkedIn, possibly a Product Hunt buy (bit pricey IMO) is more on target. Nexus points for business owners is probably a good idea - Ecommerce forums, facebook groups, linkedin groups. Saas forums/fb groups/linkedin groups. Meetup groups/meetup ads.

    And then podcasts and newsletters. Wild west on pricing, but absolutely the right place to find that kind of market. I'd bet the right podcast(s) buy would ROAS really well.

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      FWIW - assuming this is about ctosumo (great name, albeit a bit close to appsumo) - the site isn't selling the right thing IMO. You're selling the features, without gaining any trust. Even wanting a CTO for hire, a visitor doesn't know why to choose YOU. Why not use Toptal (who's buying ALL the ads)? Why not use 'insert dev solution here/upwork/ask a potential investor for advice'?

      Your site needs a massive dose of trust. Tell me exactly why you're going to solve this major problem for me, and solve it really well, because you have experience/a process/a new take on the problem. Make it a no brainer.

      Your pricing page hurts your cause. Remove 'cancel anytime' - if I want a CTO I definitely don't want one I'm free to cancel at any time. And nobody looking for a Fractional CTO is looking for 3hrs at $120 an hour. They want something under $2k/mo that gets their company to the next level. They want quality and assurance, and they'll pay for it. $999/mo for a quality dev who's working on maybe 2 other things? No brainer. Some assurances from you that any issues will be solved quickly as part of the fee? Makes sense.

      Look at the 'content as a service' space right now - lot of these services making real headway. Cheaper than full time, relatively affordable, get you what you need when you need it. Priced above $500/mo and using underlying producers bandwidth to scale pricing with need.

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        I really appreciate the specific and thoughtful feedback. Thank you. Establishing trust on the landing page is something I have been struggling with. Maybe, I'll add some case studies or bios of a CTO or two and lower the emphasis on "features" since the features are really just suggestions of what a company might require of a fractional CTO.

        As far as pricing, I agree the ideal price would be in the $1k range, but having the lowest tier, I thought would be a lower barrier of entry. And having the "cancel anytime" or "refund" qualifier might lower it even more. I'd be able to prove myself and the customer would feel good about upgrading to a higher plan.

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          For sure! Glad it feels helpful.

          The most common tendency in new founders is to think lower pricing is a lower barrier to entry. In general, lower prices is a bad thing for both maker and customer. In general, starting priced low gives you the worst data and customers. There's nothing wrong with testing a product with early customers who know they're testing something new, but do it as a pilot or in-person or one-off and swap 'cash cost' for 'feedback cost' - ie an exchange of value.

          The other tendency is to think your product begets a pricing tier escalation model - ie customers will naturally upgrade to higher pricing once the product proves itself. This does work - but for the right tools/services. Design tools are good example; users are happy to try a lower tier to test drive the tool, then buy more 'access'. I'm pretty unconvinced that dynamic is strong in the customer you'd be targeting. Dev support/CTO/tech as a service really isn't a metered relationship - just like a CFO-service probably isn't. There's a reason Toptal and Bench price the way they do.

          Pricing psychology is complex, but in general you're better off pricing high, especially early on.

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        super smart and helpful stuff here. Cheers

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    LinkedIn for sure, but it's expensive
    For smart move, use reddit, laser targeted facebook group, and Quora.

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      How would I use reddit without making it look spammy? The reddit community does not respond well to things that seem self-serving.

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    LinkedIn sounds like the place to try that term.

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