How can a guy develop a simple web application in about 30 days and get it launched on TechCrunch? I think the formula is fairly simple, build something interesting (simple) and don’t try to make it seem bigger than it really is. Be real, be transparent.

In this blog post, I am publishing the steps that eventually lead to SalaryScout being posted on TechCrunch. I couldn’t have asked for a better way to launch. It has simply been amazing.

This “TechCrunch Methodology” was inspired by Guy Kawasaki’s post, “How to Get in TechCrunch“. It features a video of Michael Arrington answering many of the most frequently asked questions. The advice given works, SalaryScout is proof. The advice is gold. Read it, memorize it, and say it in your sleep. Thanks for making this available!

Step 1:

The first thing I did was fill out the TechCrunch company profile submission form. The form isn’t too long, but I really wanted the TC staff to read my about page. I feel like that really captures the sprit of what I was trying to achieve. Believe it or not, I was actually nervous when filling this out. It was my only shot.

Please note, I left out some details in this blog post out for privacy reasons.

---

TechCrunch Profile Submission Form
(click to view form)

Benjamin D. Thomas
SalaryScout, LLC.
http://www.salaryscout.com

Louisville KY

Description:

We are an anonymous community of professionals seeking fairness in compensation.

* Browse Real Salaries
Find out if you’re getting paid what you’re worth by viewing other’s salary profiles.

* Ratings and Comments
Find out if your job is really as bad as you think it is by allowing others to rate and comment on your total package.

* Customized RSS Feeds
Create custom RSS feeds based on search term(s) and location to monitor salaries in your area.

Launch date:
11/21/2006

Funding range:
< $500,000

Additional Information:

I’m planning to launch SalaryScout on 11/21/2006 (next Tuesday) and would love to give TechCrunch the opportunity to have “the exclusive story.”

Please let me know if you do plan on posting something so that I can be prepared and coordinate it properly.

SalaryScout.com REQUIRES a password (HTTPAuth) until the launch date:

Username: hidden
Password: *******

URL:
http://www.salaryscout.com

If you would like to login to the site without filling out the registration form, feel free to use:

Username: bdthomas
Password: techcrunch

Read the story behind SalaryScout:
http://www.salaryscout.com/blog/about/

Read the FAQ:
http://www.salaryscout.com/blog/faq/

Read the launch notes:
http://www.salaryscout.com/blog/launch/

Please feel free to contact me if you have any other questions.

Kind Regards,
Ben

Step 2:

Realizing that I forgot to mention that the site had international support, I sent a follow-up email several minutes after submitting the company profile form.

---

(Sent Wednesday Nov 15, 2006 11:17 PM about 5 minutes later)
SUBJECT: SalaryScout follow-up comments.

Michael,

I forgot to mention in the company profile that I filled out that I also lived in Surrey (Egham) for a period of time. I attended grad school at Royal Holloway. Although the site’s features are fairly limited, one thing that I’ve tried to build in from day 1 is international support. I recognize how important it is, and how few sites tend to address an international market.Let me know if you have any questions.http://www.salaryscout.com

HTTPAuth
Username: hidden
Password: ******

You can login to the site:

Username: bdthomas
Password: techcrunch

My estimated launch date is 11/21/2006. Please refer to the company profile that was filled out.

Regards,
Ben

Step 3:

By this point I was starting to get nervous. I had already submitted the form, sent the follow-up email and did not receive a reply. I thought it would be worthwhile to give it just one more shot before giving up. Read below.

---

(Sent Sunday Nov 19, 2006 10:36 PM)
SUBJECT: SalaryScout Launch - 11/21

I just wanted to let you know that I am still planning to launch SalaryScout.com this Tuesday (21 Nov. 2006) You can take a look at the site here:http://www.salaryscout.com
(It is password protected until launch)

Username: hidden
Password: ******

I wanted to give TechCrunch the opportunity of have the exclusive story for the launch. Please let me know if you plan on writing about it, so that I can be sure and not tell anyone else about the launch before your story is live. If you don’t plan on writing about it, that’s fine too, just let me know. Thanks!
Please let me know if you have any questions.

Regards,
Ben

Step 4:

I remember waking up that Monday morning with an email in my box from Michael Arrington saying that he was going to post about it that night. Wow, that meant I would need to launch the site a day early! That really wasn’t a problem, because it was ready. As you can imagine, I promptly replied with a lot of excitement. It was going to happen!

Later that night around 6:00pm EST I got an email from Marshall Kirkpatrick asking for a little bit of information. We traded a few emails and my adrenaline began rising.

Shortly after replying to the first email, I sshed into the server and ran a quick:
tail -f access_logs

I wanted to see exactly what was going on. The TechCrunch staff did a very thorough review of the site. It seems as though they checked every function. Wow, this was deep.

I put a frozen pizza in the oven and then later had a sit down dinner with my wife Erica.

8:00pm EST, the access logs were still just sitting there. Meanwhile, I was vigorously continuing to test the site. Would it crash? Would it take the pressure?

8:45pm EST, the logs began FLYING across the screen!

I quickly opened Firefox, went to TechCrunch, SalaryScout was there! My heart was racing. Wow!
It made it on the front page of TechCrunch!

What happened next?
http://www.salaryscout.com/blog/1600-users-in-24-hours/

It was an amazing ride, and I’m so thankful for the opportunity. Thanks TechCrunch!

Have you ever been taken advantage of during a salary negotiation? Have HR personnel ever tried to pin you down on a number early during the process? What if it is a dream job? The truth is, hiring managers are expecting you to negotiate. Learn how.

When developing the concept of SalaryScout, a site that allows users to anonymously exchange compensation data, I researched hundreds sources related to salary and salary negotiation. Rather than keeping these hidden away in my own personal bookmarks, I thought I would post them so that everyone can benefit. Enjoy!

• The Noel Smith-Wenkle Salary Negotiation Method (NMT.edu)
• Tips for Negotiating A Better Pay Package (CareerJournal)
• Sample Salary Questions and Answers (iSeek.org)
• IT Salary Negotiation Tips (eWeek)
• The New Salary Negotiation (AOL)
• 11 Commandments For Smart Negotiating (Worktree)
• The Fine Art of Salary Negotiation (iHispano)
• Salary Negotiation: The Art of the Deal (CareerBuilder)
• Salary Negotiation Tips (Pass to Canada)
• Salary Negotiation and Job Offer Tutorial (Quintcareers.com)
• Successful Job Offer Negotiation (CollegeGrad.com)
• How to Negotiate a Compensation Package (About.com)
• Top 10 Tips for Salary Negotiations (Monster.com)
• Show Me the Money: IT Salary Negotiation Tips (eWeek)
• 20 Salary Negotiation Tips (AskMen)
• Tips on Negotiating Salaries (Andrews.edu)
• Learn How to Negotiate a Higher Salary (EmploymentSpot)
• Salary Negotiation Advice (Wormen Work)
• Salary Negotiation is a Sticky Subject (eZinearticles.com)
• Keys to Effective Salary Negotiation (Christian Career Center)
• 10 Best Tips to Win Salary Negotiation (Job Street)
• Tooling Up: Salary Negotiation (ScienceMag)
• Salary.com’s Negotiation Clinic (Salary.com)
• Salary Negotiation (JobEmploymentGuide)
• Dos and Don’ts of Salary Negotiation (About.com)
• Salary Negotiation Online Tutorial (GetAhead Direct)
• Suggested tips for Negotiating a Salary (iSeek.org)
• The Principles of Salary Negotiation (Workopolis.com)
• Negotiating the Salary You Deserve (Mindtools)
• Interview & Salary Negotiation (cuny.edu)
• Salary Negotiation Q&A (Vault.com)
• Job Offer and Negotiation (WorkSmart)
• Salary Negotiation Guide (SusanIreland)
• Show Me the Money: Effective Salary Negotiation (Business Programs)
• Nine Key Negotiating Points (ScienceMag)
• Effective Salary Negotiation (Smart Pros)
• Winning at Salary Negotiation! (Black Career Zone)
• Stanford Salary Negotiation (Stanford)
• Top 10 Tips for Salary Negotiation (CBSalary)
• Negotiation Europe Salary Negotiations (Negotiation Europe)
• Salary Negotiation is a lot Like Monopoly (Careerhub.typepad.com)
• Job Offer Salary Negotiation (CV Tips)
• Salary Negotiation: The Art of the Deal (Resume Resource)
• Closing the Deal (Interview Stuff)
• Salary negotiation in the interview process (Devlicio.us)
• 4 Tips for Salary Negotiation (Penelope Trunk)
• Salary Negotiation Secrets That Work (Beyond.com)
• Salary Negotiation Secrets (Theladders.com)
• Monster.co.uk Salary Negotiation (MosterScotland.co.uk)
• The Art of Effective Salary Negotiation (TechTarget)
• Robert Half Salary Negotiation (Robert Half)
• What are the best ways to handle salary discussions? (CareerPerfect)
• The New Salary Negotiation (AOL)
• Is that your best offer? (JobSeerksAdvice)
• Salary Negotiation Skills and Strategies (1st Writer)
• S1 Jobs Salary Negotiation (S1 Jobs)
• Salary Negotiation: The Art of the deal (AJC Jobs)
• The Four-Step Salary Negotiation Method (Five-o-Clock Club)
• 7 Nifty Salary Negotiation Tips To Get A Pay Raise (mftrou.com)
• Successful Salary Negotiations (SC.edu)
• Disclosing Salary Requirements and Salary History (About.com)
• Starting Salary (Guardian.co.uk)
• 30 Salary Negotiation Mistakes to Avoid! (OU.edu)

After looking at many of these, I came to the conclusion that there probably isn’t a single best way to conduct negotiations. It depends a lot on the job and the person you are negotiating with. Many of these are good, however, others aren’t so good. Regardless, I think this list is a great starting point for learning how to negotiate. Don’t forget to signup at SalaryScout and find out how much others are making.

I’m a procrastinator. There, I’ve said it. I also have perfectionist tendencies. As you might imagine, this can sometimes be a lethal combination. Not only do I “wait until the last minute”, but I’m never satisfied with the outcome. I’m sure you’re asking, “how do you get anything done?”

Several years ago I recognized that this was an area of my life that needed improvement. Although I’m still reluctant get started on tasks too early, I have made much progress in determining the optimum time to work on a project. Completing work weeks or days ahead of schedule is often not desirable and may result in work having to be re-done. However, waiting until the night before a major deadline, no matter how small the task, can lead to unnecessary elevated stress. Depending on the scope of the project, the optimum time to start a project is a few days or weeks before your most conservative projection.

Those of us plagued with perfectionism have a tendency to never be satisfied. While this can be valuable at times, more often than not it leads to major delays and missed deadlines. To address this problem, I consciously try to set attainable goals, be pragmatic, and realize that a completed product/project/or task is much more important than perfection. Perfection can only be achieved when a project is refined over time. It is unrealistic to believe that perfection can be accurately defined during a project’s inception.

Before anything, I want point of that I am not expert in this area. I am a person with more interests than time and continually look to take on new projects and responsibility. Rather than get bogged down, I decided to approach the problem directly and find ways to increase my work efficiency. I offer no guarantees and can not really take credit for any of it. The tips given below are simply an explanation of what has worked for me.

Write down what needs to be accomplished

As soon as you recognize that a certain task that needs to be completed, write it down. Otherwise, additional time and concentration (another resource) will be wasted thinking about all of the things that need to be done, rather than actually doing work. By keeping a list of tasks to be accomplished, you can keep yourself from being overwhelmed by seeing that that the amount of work to be done is finite.

Break tasks down into the smallest unit possible

It’s not enough to write down broad project descriptions. e.g. ‘Complete Web Project’ Tasks should be broken down into the smallest unit possible. This will ensure that whether you have 5 days, 5 hours, or 5 minutes to work on a project, something with be accomplished. Any time you sit down to work, the mantra should be, ‘complete at least one task, complete at least one task, complete at least one task…’

Prepare your environment for productivity

Determine the environmental requirements for you to be most productive. For me, it’s a clear desk, up-tempo music without words (typically electronica, techno, traditional Irish, bluegrass, jazz), a steaming cup of tea (yes, I put milk in my tea), and dark outside (after 9:00pm) with the window open. After years of telecommuting, I realized that I seem to get the most accomplished when all of these variables fall in place. Find what works for you and recreate that environment time and time again.

Start with the quickest/easiest tasks first

We all love the sense of accomplishment. Projects often fall behind due to frustration and lack of initiative/excitement. When possible, complete the quickest/easiest tasks first. In order to maintain the motivation required to see a project through to completion, the ability to show steady progress is key. In certain circumstances completing smaller tasks first may not be possible. However, it is important to maintain the sense that the project is not stagnant.

Set small, medium, and long term goals

If you don’t know exactly what you want to accomplish, you’ll waste a lot of time in the process. Set attainable small, medium, and long term goals for all projects. For example:

Small goal:
I will create three images before I make a cup of tea.

Medium goal:
I will have the template completed before I go to bed next Sunday night.

Long term goal:
I will have this web-application completed in 3 months.

Long term goals encompass the entire scope of the project. Medium goals are for the major sections of the project, and small goals are groups of tasks that can be completed in a very short period of time. For me, setting goals is usually not enough. I always reward myself for accomplishing each goal. As noted above, after I create three images, I’ll go make a cup of tea. Other rewards may be eating a snack, taking a break, putting on music, turning on the fan, checking Google news, etc. Typically a small goal consists of multiple tasks and takes around 30 minutes to complete.

Medium and long term goals require accountability. Once you have established medium and long term goals, tell as many people about your deadline as you can. Doing this provides extra pressure to ensure that goals are achieved on time. Be sure not to be overly optimistic when setting goals. Tasks always take longer than expected.

Only work on one task a time

In the age of multitasking, it seems counterintuitive to focus on one task at a time. All I have to say, it works! Rather than chatting on your instant messaging client, refreshing Google news for the 100^th time of the day, pulling up your RSS reader, listening to a podcast, and working on several tasks of your project all at the same time, work to discover the value of pure concentration.

I have found that focusing on tasks sequentially rather than in parallel is much more effective. While I have difficulty focusing intensely for a long period (the Internet is too distracting) of time, I have found that I can regularly do it for periods of 5 minutes. This goes hand in hand with breaking down tasks to the smallest unit possible. When each task has been completed, physically mark it off the list so that you feel the sense of accomplishment and can visually see progress.

End Notes

By knowing what needs to be accomplished, breaking tasks down into manageable pieces, setting goals, rewarding yourself, and focusing on one task at a time, you’ll be surprised of what can be accomplished. Although these tips can be helpful, often the greatest road block is lack of commitment to change. If you truly want to improve work efficiency, don’t just think about it, make it happen.

Several weeks ago Kiplinger posted a funny but true article titled “What Not to Say at a Job Interview.” Having a solid resume is only part of the equation. Job seekers often eliminate themselves by making mistakes during interviews.

This Kiplinger article points out some of the more common mistakes that can lead to a bad interview. To sum it up, look good, be prepared, be focused, and be real. Oh by the way, don’t discuss salary until you’ve been offered the job.

Honestly, I didn’t quite know what to expect. The response has been simply amazing. As with most user-generated-content sites, SalaryScout provides little to no value without users. (cliche chicken and egg problem) Well, the users have spoken!

My initial fear was that people would be quick to criticize SalaryScout before it is populated with enough users. It appears that most users have been pretty understanding and realize that SalaryScout has a lot of potential for growth.

I just wanted to send out a thank you to everyone who jumped on board early. I have a lot of ideas brewing, so expect enhancements in the near term. SalaryScout is a living and breathing beta.

If you haven’t already told your friends or blogged about SalaryScout, now’s the time. The success and value of this site is directly related to your participation.

I’m extremely happy and a bit nervous to announce the public beta release of SalaryScout.com. No worries, right? Actually, most web launches are dismally small. Usually a combination of excitement, adrenaline, caffeine, and large egos cause most founders to be over optimistic. “We have the next biggest, baddest, greatest product/service ever!” Don’t worry, you won’t be subject to that sort of unearned confidence here. I live and work by the philosophy, “under promise and over deliver.”

Expect bugs. Expect a limited feature set. SalaryScout was created during nights and weekends over roughly 30 days. I don’t consider myself a programmer or designer. Although I enjoy those activities, SalaryScout was started as a personal challenge just to see what could be accomplished.

Rather than continue to refine and build additional features, I felt it was time to invite the public (you) to participate. Please keep in mind and understand that the initial data set is limited. SalaryScout will only grow with your participation and support.

Initial Features:

• Ability to rate and comment on salary profiles
• Basic search by title, description, country, and region
• User customized RSS feeds based on search results
• Multiple country and region support
• Mulitple currency and currency formatting support
• Community-based quality control

Additional Information:

Read the story behind SalaryScout:
http://www.salaryscout.com/blog/about

Read the SalaryScout FAQ:
http://www.salaryscout.com/blog/faq

Submit comments and questions to:
info ]at[ salaryscout.com

Once again, thank you for your interest in SalaryScout. If you have comments, questions, or bug reports, don’t hesitate to send them my way. Good luck in your negotiations!