Anyone who’s a parent or who’s been around younger kids are amazed at how quickly their young fingers become adept with our iPhones and iPads. And yes, listening to fathers gloat about their kids’ accomplishments can get tiresome.

But I gotta give it up to my daughter. Just started 1st grade and I think she’s ready to help run my web startup. One recent morning, she let out this zinger: “Daddy, how can people you don’t know get to your website?” I was flabbergasted. Just the other day a friend asked for my elevator pitch. And I was ready (it’s a web app for personalized trip ideas and on demand expert advice). But my daughter stumped me. Here I was, giggling on the outside but somehow stymied as I searched for a simple kid-friendly explanation of my marketing strategy! “Well…ah…you know, first you have to create something that people want…so that when they want to read about something…or, when they are searching for something that you have, you want to make sure they click on your site.” I totally flubbed it. How the hell am I going to pitch potential investors? Fortunately my wife chimed in: “you know, it’s just like when you search for Jonas Brothers videos on YouTube.” My daughter got the relevant example. “Oh. So you make it so people can find something they like on your website.”

Now as any entrepreneur knows, marketing is critical to any new business – the old adage about building a better mousetrap (and how the world will beat a path to your door) doesn’t hold true anymore. Finding a core group of “earlyvangelists” or champions for your product is critical to its success for sure. But continued growth will need to come from new customers – the strangers my precocious daughter was talking about. Fortunately I do have a plan, and part of it is something you can participate in. Please take the quick 3-minute survey at http://svy.mk/my6yrold

to see if you fit into our target market (or at least what we think it is). If you’re selected, we’ll give you a chance to earn gift certificates to your favorite places like iTunes, Amazon or Starbucks. And in the process, you’ll be helping out an entrepreneur trying desperately trying to stay one step ahead of his 6-year-old daughter. Which may just ensure success!