Five ways to make it with little or no cash

Filed in archive Bootstrapper Resources on September 29, 2007

Yea, I know. This is what bootstrapping is all about, right?

But a week of putting these ideas to use with my own bootstrap startup made me want to check off some of the most helpful again with some real world examples.

1. Barter, barter, barter. Look back at my post on the Bootstrapping Principle. In the case of PostRanger.com we are trading content for the building of traffic and SEO that comes with having inbound links from a large Internet community. Those who consider the trade worth while will contribute. And, of course, some will just use it because it's easy and free.

2. Build your product to market itself. O.K., I'm stretching this a bit. But check out Seth Godin's thoughts about selling what people are buying. With PostRanger.com, I singled out the practice of guest authoring, its benefits and popularity with bloggers already. Why not build a community dedicated to it?

3. Get yourself a cheap platform. I started with free sites Blogger and Wordpress. From there moved to a pro site that cost less than $150 a year. A bootstrapper doesn't need a custom designed website to start. Use what's available.

4. Think sweat equity. Long days. Long nights. Sometimes while working a full-time job to keep the money coming in. I write my posts here and on my new venture site in the morning or late at night after finishing my full-time obligations

5. Focus on service first. Our company trades content for organic linking and ultimately improved page rank with any luck. It's a service using existing tools that could be started immediately with no real requirement but effort and very little cash. Developing products first can require time and worse yet lots more money.