Another channel is franchising: TEDx, Yahoo! Japan (operated by Softbank), Yahoo! China (operated by Alibaba).

Franchising is especially important for global expansion.

Great post, truly a comprehensive list of all the differing strategies commonly available to startups and establishments alike. Looking forward to "Metrics Every Startup Should Know."

There's probably stuff I missed and it's a basic overview too. Share other customer acquisition methods, hopefully unusual ones too that worked here.

Typo: "Another method might include putting together infographics and white papers that also educate your prospective customers with education."

That sounds like an awesome Bushism:

"Educate your customers with education."

Changed. Thank you.

When you are starting out small or if you're still testing a public beta, having discussions with your most passionate (or frustrated) customers can often end up turning others into brand advocates. Show that you care and others will be impressed with your product regardless off the temporary shortcomings.

Yet another channel is to recruit evangelists from your most passionate users. Microsoft did a great job with their Microsoft MVP program.

http://mvp.support.microsoft.com/

I still love this quote from the article:

Another more grandiose way of going about things is throwing your own conference. Alain from Fair Software did this with Founder’s Conference

Especially the "grandiose" part :-)

And another one: flyers, posters, t-shirts and souvenirs

Item 1 is public relations? Yeah, probably not.