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Get ready to revolutionize your SaaS product signup process with some unique strategies, insights, and actionable tips from our much-awaited conversation with Ruben Gamez. We delve into Ruben's innovative practices — temporary changes to the signup process, leveraging surveys for data collection, and dealing with competitors in the e-signature business. We dissect the world of customer segmentation, the merits and demerits of freemium, and effective ways to solicit customer feedback. Listen closely as we unravel how Ruben sprinkles just the right dose of friction in the signup process to maximize conversions.In the latter half of our chat, we grapple with the recurring challenge in SaaS: revenue vs. customer acquisition. We underscore the importance of decoding customer needs and use cases early on and the hurdles in churning income in the initial stages of software launches. Hear it from Ruben, as he shares his vast experience in the field, making this conversation a treasure trove for anyone, from early-stage startups to established companies, intrigued by the world of SaaS. So why wait? Tune in to this conversation and prepare to take your SaaS game to a whole new level.Ruben on Twitter: https://twitter.com/earthlingworks00:00:00 Introduction00:01:38 Alternating Low-Touch & High-Touch 00:06:18 When to start surveying customers00:12:40 Cancellation interviews00:16:25 Finding insights from interviews00:22:36 JTBD00:26:08 Running two SaaS businesses00:30:08 Competing in the e-Signature market00:34:46 Word-of-mouth marketing00:40:33 Book recommendations for indie hackers00:49:33 Managing a small teamThe blog post: https://thebootstrappedfounder.com/248-ruben-gamez-cracking-the-e-signature-market/The podcast episode: https://share.transistor.fm/s/74b243f9The video: https://youtu.be/BSf_M2US1o4You'll find my weekly article on my blog: https://thebootstrappedfounder.comPodcast: https://thebootstrappedfounder.com/podcastNewsletter: https://thebootstrappedfounder.com/newsletterMy book Zero to Sold: https://zerotosold.com/My book The Embedded Entrepreneur: https://embeddedentrepreneur.com/My course Find Your Following: https://findyourfollowing.comThis episode is sponsored by Acquire.com
You don't need to have a huge audience or social following to start and build a successful and sustainable business. People have started companies this way for centuries. Jack and Paul speak with Ruben today on how marketing and sales work at his companies, how he's managed to succeed long term with two companies, what a lot of bootstrap founders get wrong and so much more.Ruben Gamez is the founder of Bidsketch and SignWell and can be found on twitter at @earthlingworks
In episode 605, Rob Walling is joined by Ruben Gamez, and they dig into a handful of listener questions. Topics range from building a SaaS with little development experience and using no-code tools to build your MVP to stair-stepping bootstrapping a two-sided marketplace. Topics we cover: [0:55] Selling to the enterprise [4:31] What level of […]Click the icon below to listen.
A conversation between Ruben Gamez and Rob Walling. Learn how Ruben maxed out the benefits of his AppSumo offer, what customizations are needed to improve your posts, and the points to back up these recommendations.
A conversation between Ruben Gamez and Rob Walling. Learn how Ruben maxed out the benefits of his AppSumo offer, what customizations are needed to improve your posts, and the points to back up these recommendations.
In Episode 555, Rob Walling answers listener questions with Ruben Gamez. They discuss different models of bootstrapping success, hiring W2 versus hiring contractors, determining if a business is an ideal fit for bootstrapping and they revisit enterprise pricing. The topics we cover [01:24] Bootstrappers Rob & Ruben admire [12:25] Pros and cons to hiring contractors […]
In this episode I sit down with Ruben Gamez, founder of both Bidsketch and Docsketch. Ruben has been running Bidsketch for some time now, and along the way he’s developed quite a savvy approach to marketing and content marketing in some unconventional ways. Now with getting Docsketch off the ground in a competitive market Ruben […]
Ruben Gamez is a specialist in Bootstrapping, marketing, User Experience, and software development, he is the founder of Bidsketch, a professional web app focused on designing, tracking, and customizing proposals in no time. In the past, Ruben owned 9thSign, a small business specialized in web development and consulting, after that Ruben worked In Oasis Outsourcing as a Web development Manager, the largest privately-held PEO at the time, then Ruben decided to quit his job and founded Bidsketch where he's been growing and improving since 2009. During this interview we cover: Shifting from part-time gig to running a full time startup Clearly identifying your startup idea & problem you're solving VC vs. Bootstrapping your company Growth Strategies that worked well for Bidsketch Failures & how to use them as experience Key differences when comparing winning or losing business proposals Conceiving other ideas to integrate with your StartUp (Docsketch) Proposals for closing SMB's vs. Enterprise leads Trends in e-Signature Market during COVID-19 Making Docsketch Competitive Considering Merger or Acquisition as a way to grow Links and mentions: Bidsketch Docsketch Get in touch with Andy: Ruben's LinkedIn Profile Personal Blog More about Akeel:
Today Noah and Ben chat with Ruben Gamez. Ruben is the founder of Bidsketch and Docsketch. We have an amazing conversation about what he has learned on his bootstrapped journey over the last 10 years. Ruben is a very experience entrepreneur and we learned a lot from him. We think you will too!
In this episode of Startups For The Rest Of Us, Rob along with guest Ruben Gamez answer a number of listener questions on topics including current marketing tactics, scaling from 5 to 10 employees, SaaS longevity and more. Items mentioned in this episode: Docsketch Bidsketch MicroConf Connect Peldi’ s article about profit sharing Quiet Light […]
Ruben Gamez is the Founder of Bidsketch, a web application that's used by freelancers, consultants, and agencies to create professional-looking proposals. Bidsketch helps cut down on proposal writing time. Before that, Ruben Gamez was a Web Development Manager at a big payroll company. He has been in tech for more than 10 years and has been working on Bidsketch for about 5 years.
Ruben Gamez asked how I go about taking stuff from the books I read and implementing and executing on them. 1. Read one chapter at a time 2. Underline key points and concepts as I go 3. At end of chapter, stop and write down all of the concepts into a note 4. Organize the notes so it logically flows 5. Rinse and repeat for rest of book 6. As ideas and applications of the core concepts come up, put them in my ideas inbox
Ruben Gamez asked how I go about taking stuff from the books I read and implementing and executing on them. 1. Read one chapter at a time 2. Underline key points and concepts as I go 3. At end of chapter, stop and write down all of the concepts into a note 4. Organize the notes so it logically flows 5. Rinse and repeat for rest of book 6. As ideas and applications of the core concepts come up, put them in my ideas inbox
https://fizzleshow.co How do you drive traffic to a new website without doing heavy blogging or content marketing? Ruben Gamez is a serial entrepreneur and founder of Bidsketch and Docsketch. Bidsketch is a web application that helps people create professional-looking client proposals in minutes. Docsketch is an all-in-one electronic signature, approval, and document tracking solution. In this episode of The Fizzle Show, you'll learn exactly what techniques Ruben is using to drive hundreds of thousands of visits to his websites without blogging.
Integrations are a fantastic way of growing your product while providing value to your customers. However, you need to approach them carefully and strategically. Our guest today is Rob Walling, co-founder of MicroConf, TinySeed, and Drip. You'll learn how to use integrations as a customer acquisition channel, and what goes into a successful integration — from making the initial decision to creating support docs and co-marketing opportunities. Podcast feed: subscribe to https://feeds.simplecast.com/4MvgQ73R in your favorite podcast app, and follow us on iTunes, Stitcher, or Google Play Music. Show Notes MicroConf, TinySeed, previously Drip — organisations co-founded by Rob Stripe, PayPal, Shopify, Zapier, Segment, Gumroad — some of the popular integrations The Power of Integrating Your SaaS With Other Apps — an episode with Ruben Gamez of Bidsketch Userlist.io — Jane's SaaS product Startups For the Rest of Us — Rob's podcast together with Mike Taber Rob's website Follow Rob on Twitter: @robwalling Today's Sponsor This episode is brought to you by Gusto. Small businesses across the US love running payroll with Gusto. Why? Because Gusto automatically files and pays your taxes, it’s super easy to use, plus you can add benefits and management tools to help take care of your team. Sign up today at gusto.com/uibreakfast and get three months free when you run your first payroll. Interested in sponsoring an episode? Learn more here. Leave a Review Reviews are hugely important because they help new people discover this podcast. If you enjoyed listening to this episode, please leave a review on iTunes. Here's how.
Show Notes In this episode of Startups For The Rest Of Us, Rob interviews Ruben Gamez of Bidsketch, about his 10 plus years of bootstrapping, lessons learned, improved decision making, and his new product. Items mentioned in this episode: Docsketch FounderCafe ZenFounder AppSumo Transcript Rob: Welcome to this week’s episode of Startups For the Rest […]
Rob talks to Ruben Gamez, the founder of Bidsketch, about how he approaches his business methodically, despite the endless amount of content and advice out there constantly pulling everyone in different directions.
Ruben Gamez, founder of Bidsketch, has built a business around strategic content marketing and he’s doing it again with DocSketch. Wondering what the ROI of content marketing is? Then this episode will show you how to maximize your efforts and increase the chances for your service to get the most ROI. Ruben saw a gap in the market when trying to help someone. He filled that gap through particular content around an ideal client to see if it’s something viable. Almost a decade later, Bidsketch is a multi-million dollar company. Putting a time and cost investment into testing and building content has proven what works and doesn’t work when it comes to converting leads into customers. Most people want it done for them, rather than do it themselves As a result of their testing, Ruben found how educated leads were more likely to convert from trial to customer than if he offered the trial right up front. So they went against the grain of conversion optimization and put a layer of friction in. In this episode Ruben generously shares how he’s building DocSketch from the ground up and insights into the freelance and consulting space. We dive deep into: How to get clients How to get quality feedback from clients What you should give away for free Why positioning is so important in selling your service The process Ruben does before he builds any product or service Make your service as close to a no-brainer as possible Getting clients obviously isn’t just about your skill set, but Ruben points out 2 things that freelancers struggle with most often. But understanding them will make getting clients easier. The 2 points about your business you should understand are: How did you get to where you are today? What are you doing differently than other businesses? Episode TakeawayRuben walks us through 3 steps in the show to help you craft the best content possible to validate an idea for a service, and the second step is to think about what someone may search for before they know that you and your service exist. Think about the problems, issues, questions your ideal client will have before they even know you. Jot down those down. Then, later on, go ahead and write a post about it and see how it works for you.
Process Hacker News for December 4, 2017 Get links to all the resources mentioned on the show notes: http://www.hacktheprocess.com/process-hacker-news-for-december-4-2017/ Media Gary Vaynerchuk shares his take on mobile apps, cryptocurrency and intuition when he appears as a guest on Adam Siddiq’s podcast, The Soulfully Optimized Life. Pay attention to Alex Cespedes’s advice: “Better writing starts with the title,” in his latest Project Book podcast episode. Oftentimes, we want to shape our children into perfection, but there is a huge difference between parenting and “childrening.” Listen in as Guy and Ilan Ferdman share a reasonable argument in their latest episode. Also check out their two new videos about breaking old habits and getting a growth mindset on their YouTube channel. Writing The Lead Fuze Blog by Justin McGill has just been recognized in Quickbooks’ list of 100 Best Business Blogs. Check out the latest Lead Fuze article on 5 pricing strategies, written by Ruben Gamez. The latest The Virtually Anywhere Daily curation is now out! Be sure to check out all the articles and videos shared by our most recent Hack the Process guest, Michelle Dale. Events Andi Galpern brings you CascadeSF’s UXNight: The Blockchain on January 17, where blockchain technologies and cryptocurrency are the main themes. Take advantage of a more affordable ticket price if you register before the end of December. Tools Take a sneak peek at the interface of RightMessage, an up and coming on-site personalization product, co-founded by Brennan Dunn. Share Ryan Waggoner’s tweet and take advantage of a 30% discount on LetsMakeApps.io, his lead generation system for freelancers. Causes Ashe Dryden just tweeted about donating GED textbooks to women in prison. Can you spare $20 for a good cause? Recommended Resources Huawei has been making waves as the third largest mobile phone company, and Shel Israel points out why Huawei is among the smartest social marketers on a recent Medium post. Previous Hack the Process guest, Tara Hunt told us that she was inspired by Shel’s work. If you’re looking for the best entrepreneurship books, Pat Flynn recommends his top business books for 2017. Watch the video until the end for a chance to get a free copy of his current favorite! Nicaila Matthews, Omar Zenhom and Paula Jenkins have all spoken of how Pat Flynn influenced them.
Rob and Sherry revisit their founder origin series. In this episode Sherry interviews Bidsketch founder, Ruben Gamez. The post Episode 117: Founder Origin Stories Part VI: Ruben Gamez appeared first on ZenFounder.
Rob and Sherry revisit their founder origin series. In this episode Sherry interviews Bidsketch founder, Ruben Gamez. Support ZenFounder
Ruben's story with Bidsketch is a great example of how a simple small business can grow into something healthy sustainable on a reasonable timeline. He started out simply with very little in the way of expectations, and bootstrapped the business to profitability it on the side of a full-time job and now manages a remote team of four additional people. We talk about the challenges of growing and managing a remote team as an introvert, the process of recovering after he accidentally deleted all of the customer billing data, and much more. Special Guest: Ruben Gamez.
Ruben Gamez is the founder of online proposal software BidSketch. We explore his work habits since starting his own business and "the resistance" which is a concept introduced by Steve Pressfield in his book The War of Art. Ruben's 2 Cents... Parenthood is like practice and every opportunity with your children is an opportunity to practice and get better
Today's Bootstrapped Web is going to be an up-date episode. We both have a lot to talk about with what we're working at the moment. Audience Ops and Carthook have new products and we discuss what is working for our sales respectively. We talk about transparency and some resources that will help you improve your sales game. So tune in for the latest developments in Carthook and Audience Ops and what you can expect in the coming months. [tweetthis]Force the demo and you will get fewer sign-ups, but you will get into a lot of conversations. - Jordan[/tweetthis] Here are today's conversation points: Why we don't see the point to total transparency. When to ask for the credit card during a sign-up. Brian's plans to redesign the Audience Ops website. Getting ideas from Ruben Gamez from Bidsketch. Jordan's lessons from demos. Tweaking Audience Ops for a Resource Hub pivot. Brian's plan for launching Calendar for beta testers. [tweetthis]I feel like I can't launch anything else, until I have the new site up and running. - Brian[/tweetthis] Resources Mentioned Today: Audience Ops Carthook Securing the Five Figure Sale, by: Ian Landsman Product Demos that Sell: How to Deliver Winning SAAS Demos, by: Steli Efti Audience Ops Calendar As always, thanks for tuning in. Head here to leave a review in iTunes.
Welcome back to Bootstrapped Web. Our guest today is Ruben Gamez, the founder of Bidsketch.com. We are talking to Ruben today because Bidsketch is getting ready to launch a new product. Since we both are launching new products we thought it would be good to compare notes. Bidsketch's main product has been a proposal tool. Now they want to add a signature app to their brand. Today we discuss how to research for a new product and how to handle expanding when there are competitors. We compare notes about our own product lines and how to get the customers to notice. [tweetthis]I think there are plenty, well established competing companies who just have feature bloat. - Brian[/tweetthis] Here are today's topics: How to find positioning and distribution for a new product. Why begin a separate product line. Finding the “why” when people don't use your product. How to focus on two product lines. Creating a good elevator pitch. Finding your hook. Asking the right questions of new customers. How to reach people outside of your network. Ruben's timeline. How to find the gaps in your competitor's products. Why you shouldn't copy just to copy a competitor. If you are interested in Bidsketch and their new product, you can go to bidsketch.com or find Ruben on Twitter. [tweetthis]There is all this lead up that goes into it [switching apps] that you don't see it beneath the surf. - Jordan[/tweetthis] Resources Mentioned Today: Audience Ops Calendar Bidsketch Carthook Ruben Gamez's Twitter As always, thanks for tuning in. Head here to leave a review in iTunes.
Trying to avoid center stage? You can get all the benefits of building an audience without putting yourself in the spotlight. In fact, you don't even have to be the center of attention to connect with your peers and build relationships with your clients. Allowing your brand to take center stage can bring your business the returns you're looking for and the email list you want.Ruben Gamez is here to tell us how you can stand back and let your work and your products speak for your brand. He is the creator and lead marketer for his website BidSketch.com, but you'd never know it. He and his team put together professional business proposal templates for freelancers, entrepreneurs, and anyone looking to find work and build a business online, but you won't see him speaking at conferences or selling on tv spots. That's because he prefers for his business – his tool – to speak for itself. Find out how he built his audience through his own specially designed content marketing campaign, and how he designed a product that practically sells itself.Topics Discussed Creating and using drip campaigns to your advantage Using your email list to your advantage for pre-sales and promotions How to build an efficient contract team Developing your skills and uncovering your skillset How you can do content marketing for your blog Find out why we don't always trust Google ResourcesCheck out ConvertKit.com/blog for conversion tips and tricksGet a proposal template from Ruben at bidsketch.comFollow along with all of the great things Ruben is putting together @bidsketch and follow him personally @earthlingworks on Twitter.
The SaaS Podcast - SaaS, Startups, Growth Hacking & Entrepreneurship
Ruben is the founder of BidSketch, a web app which helps freelancers, consultants and agencies to create professional-looking proposals in minutes. Ruben launched Bidsketch as a one-person company in 2009. Since then, it's grown to help over 1000 paying customers earn over $261M in revenue. Links & Resources Mentioned Bidsketch Failing to Get Traction and (Almost) Giving up on the Road to My First $1,000 in Revenue Noah Kagan Freshbooks Enjoyed this episode? Subscribe to the podcast Leave a rating and review Follow Omer on Twitter Need help with your SaaS? Join SaaS Club Plus: our membership and community for new and early-stage SaaS founders. Join and get training & support. Join SaaS Club Launch: a 12-week group coaching program to help you get your SaaS from zero to your first $10K revenue. Apply for SaaS Club Accelerate: If you'd like to work directly with Omer 1:1, then request a free strategy session.
The SaaS Podcast - SaaS, Startups, Growth Hacking & Entrepreneurship
Ruben is the founder of BidSketch, a web app which helps freelancers, consultants and agencies to create professional-looking proposals in minutes. Ruben launched Bidsketch as a one-person company in 2009. Since then, it's grown to help over 1000 paying customers earn over $261M in revenue.Links & Resources MentionedBidsketchFailing to Get Traction and (Almost) Giving up on the Road to My First $1,000 in RevenueNoah KaganFreshbooksEnjoyed this episode?Subscribe to the podcastLeave a rating and reviewFollow Omer on TwitterNeed help with your SaaS?Join SaaS Club Plus: our membership and community for new and early-stage SaaS founders. Join and get training & support.Join SaaS Club Launch: a 12-week group coaching program to help you get your SaaS from zero to your first $10K revenue.Apply for SaaS Club Accelerate: If you'd like to work directly with Omer 1:1, then request a free strategy session.
Smart Agency Masterclass with Jason Swenk: Podcast for Digital Marketing Agencies
Are you going wrong when it comes to creating proposals and the proposal percentage you give your clients? In this episode of The Smart Agency Master Class, I chat with Ruben Gamez, founder of Bidsketch, about what agencies are doing wrong on their proposals and you can do to win new business. Bidsketch is a web application that helps create professional looking client proposals in minutes. Common Proposal Mistakes Most Agencies Make The #1 mistake is talking about yourself in the proposal. If you're not talking about the client, the client's problems, and solutions you can offer, then you're proposal isn't doing you any favors. Clients want to know that you understand their problems and that you have actual solutions for them. Those are the kinds of proposals that have the most appeal. You also need to take the time to understand the buying process from the other side. Most companies go out and get a lot of proposals, meaning they talk to several agencies at the same time. It's not the ideal place for you to be but it's pretty easy to change that conversation. Tell the client that, in order to help them, you need to talk about their problems and get as much information as possible. This will help you better determine if this is the right kind of client for you, as well as what solutions you can offer. How to Increase Your Proposal Percentage in Closing Ruben puts the average closing proposal percentage somewhere between 30-40%. If you fall into this range (or below), here's a tip from Ruben for increasing your closings: Give pricing options. Don't just have one set price in your proposal. The only answer to one price is a yes or a no. By offering pricing options, you may be able to avoid getting a hard no. Plus, your conversion rate will go up if you have multiple options. However, steer clear of having too many options; Ruben advises somewhere between 2 and 4. My feeling on pricing options is different. If you're asking the right questions and communicating with the client throughout the process, you'll have already agreed on a price along the way. For me, you should pretty much have a “yes” by the time you get to submitting the proposal. My advice is to use B-A-N-T: Budget Authority Need Timing Using B-A-N-T to prequalify clients will save you so much time. Do you want the EXACT PROPOSAL TEMPLATE that won clients like AT&T, Legal Zoom and Hitachi? Writing a winning marketing proposal is key to winning new business. Over the past 12 years, I have created the ultimate web and marketing proposal template. This proposal is unlike other people's proposal templates for sale because this is the actual template that won big name clients for our web, technology and marketing engagements. If you want to be able to use a proven template for getting bigger projects, that are well over $10,000, check out this proposal. This proposal template will give you insights to winning even more proposals. Check out the Marketing Proposal Template now! Discover the best Digital Agency Strategies today. Get Online Training to help you setup the right systems and strategies to help you grow faster. Creating the Best Agency Creating a strong client proposal with the best proposal percentage for your agency is a step forward in creating the best best agency. Through my own career and professional life, I have more than likely experienced all if not most of the different struggles you have and can help you with what I have learned. From bad agency clients, developing agency products as well as how you can build authority for your agency. If you want to grow your agency even further, I have agency growth hacks, the best ways to improve management of your business as well as why building a remote team can be beneficial in the long run. As well as this, you can learn more about my career as well as tips, tricks and insights by checking out my blogs that cover a wide variety of topics. I also hear the experience and advice from other successful agency experts in my Ask Swenk series and more of my videos on my Youtube channel.
Welcome to Episode #29 of the WP Elevation Podcast. Our guest this week is Ruben Gamez from Bidsketch, absolutely beautiful proposal software for sending proposals to your clients. If you are a web designer, freelancer, or consultant of any sort, you should definitely be checking out Bidsketch to send beautiful proposals to your clients. We always talk about the lean startup approach to developing products but Ruben actually uses the lean startup approach for developing free content based on what his customers have told him they want. Stay tuned, I'm sure you're going to get a lot out of this interview. The post Episode #29 – Ruben Gamez from Bidsketch appeared first on WP Elevation.
Ruben Gamez, founder of Bidsketch, shares how he was able to leverage integrations with other apps into promotional opportunities that skyrocketed Bidsketch’s early growth. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
This is one of our best episodes yet. If you’re interested in content marketing be prepared to take notes. We also discuss the SaaS release cycle and lifestyle, working hours, business coaching and Andrey abducting Ruben. Ruben’s client proposal software Bidsketch Ruben’s personal blog Seth MacFarlane’s tweet on the Family Guy Brian stuff Ruben’s post on getting to his first 1K a month regarding Andrey’s previous question on Bootstrapped 15 Keyword Funnel – Adwords keyword finder/organizer Old Bidsketch video demo Eric Sink’s on the Business of Software Discuss this episode on our Bootstrapper forums.
Have you been making excuses as to why you can't build your product, bootstrap your own business?
Ruben Gamez is one of the most thoughtful and wise entrepreneurs I've met. Learn how he built Bidsketch.
Hi there! To help Chasing Product grow, please take a moment to visit iTunes and give the show a 5-star rating. Thanks! Ruben Gamez of Bidsketch joins me on this second episode. We discuss his journey from freelancer to day job and on to product. We learn what Ruben did right from the very start. Read More The post Episode 2: Delegating Your Bootstrapped Product Efforts w/Ruben Gamez appeared first on Chasing Product.
Hi there! To help Chasing Product grow, please take a moment to visit iTunes and give the show a 5-star rating. Thanks! Ruben Gamez of Bidsketch joins me on this second episode. We discuss his journey from freelancer to day job and on to product. We learn what Ruben did right from the very start. Read More The post Episode 2: Delegating Your Bootstrapped Product Efforts w/Ruben Gamez appeared first on Chasing Product.
Justin and Jason interview Ruben Gamez, solo founder of Bidsketch, about the mistakes he made and the lessons he learned on his path to building a successful bootstrapped web application.