Hendrik Lennarz Interview About Growth Hacking at SMXL MIlan 2018

“Nobody knows which idea performs in the end.” 🚀

At SMXL Milan 2018, after we both spoke on an early-morning panel, I talked with Hendrik Lennarz, founder of Growth Europe, about growth hacking. 🎙️

📊 In this episode, we unpacked:

• 💻 80 affiliate projects, 5 winners
• 🧪 Execute more ideas in less time
• 🎤 The talk with four people in the room
• 💬 How to handle criticism
• 🐢 Baby steps and patient SEO

🎥 Watch the full episode:

💻 80 Affiliate Projects, 5 Winners

Hendrik calls himself a nerd who learned to code at university. About 12 years earlier, he was one of the first employees at Trusted Shops, a popular European e-commerce trust provider, where a curious person could learn everything: coding, online marketing and SEO. 💻

Like many who started SEO in 2007-2008, he launched his own affiliate projects, more than 80 of them. Only five worked. The other 75 taught him about customers and SEO, and sparked his growth hacking spirit. For another growth hacker’s story, read Rohan Chaubey’s interview. 🔗

🧪 Execute More Ideas in Less Time

Two years earlier, he founded Growth Europe, a growth hacking learning platform with online courses, public boot camps across Europe and corporate workshops that build a growth mindset in teams. 🧪

Growth hacking is trial and error. An idea that works for you may not work in his market or language, so execute more ideas in less time. His favorite channels were Facebook and Instagram ads, using the Facebook pixel to target Instagram users too. He called buying Instagram and WhatsApp a great move: Zuckerberg owns three of the biggest platforms, and “if the product is free, you are the product”. For more on Facebook ads, read Tim Burd’s interview. 🔗

🎤 The Talk With Four People in the Room

The hardest part at the start was finding customers. He once drove 500 km from Cologne to Berlin for a presentation in a basement room, and only four people showed up. 🎤

He gave it full power and emotion anyway. Two of the four bought corporate workshops: one said his boss had sent him to check Hendrik out, and the other came back six weeks later. “Never give up, and take every chance to tell your story.” For another persistence story, read Earnest Epps’s interview. 🔗

💬 How to Handle Criticism

First, calm down. Don’t reply emotionally. Leave it for a few hours. 💬

Then answer openly: thank them for the feedback and offer to talk in more detail so you can understand and improve. Treat it like dealing with people in normal life.

🐢 Baby Steps and Patient SEO

Gary Vee publishes several pieces a day with a whole team, after 20-plus years. Don’t compare yourself. Hendrik’s goal was one great piece of content a week, about 50 a year. He recommends Neil Patel for explaining complicated things like funnels simply. 🐢

He tells startups to start SEO, but not to expect fast results, since many only have three or four months of runway. He sliced his growth hacking book into blog posts, and after a year to a year and a half, organic traffic arrived without link building, helped by links from his presentations. Give SEO six months to a year. His English podcast had over 25 episodes. For more patient SEO, read Matthew Woodward’s interview. 🔗

📝 Key Takeaways From the Hendrik Lennarz Interview

• 🧪 Run more experiments, faster
• 🎤 Give every talk your full energy
• 💬 Respond to criticism calmly and openly
• 📅 Publish one great piece a week
• 🐢 Give SEO six months to a year

❓ FAQs About Hendrik Lennarz

Who is Hendrik Lennarz?

The founder of Growth Europe, a growth hacking platform with courses, boot camps and corporate workshops.

What is the growth hacking mindset?

Trial and error: executing more ideas in less time, because nobody knows in advance which will work.

How should you respond to online criticism?

Calm down, wait a few hours, then thank them and offer to discuss it in detail.

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• Bill Slawski Veteran SEO Expert On Google Ranking Factors
• Dennis Yu Facebook Advertising Expert Interview Founder of BlitzMetrics
• Jabez Reuben’s Inspiring Entrepreneurial Journey: Life Lessons and Insights 🤩

How many ideas did you test before one worked? Tell me in the comments. 💬

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