Loading...

Clarity

Jeff Barnes

Seattle, WA

Founder of Self Directed Company, a retirement planning, financial education, coaching, and business startup training company. Focus on building financial assets, raising money for private investments, and leveraging retirement plans to build businesses and wealth.

Former U.S. Navy nuclear trained mechanic, Global Fortune 100 Manager, and business operations specialist. I analyze growth and business opportunities and future pace businesses in the finance, insurance, and other professional services space.

$5.00/min

—
0 Calls

—

0 Reviews

—

Avg. call

Call me to talk about

Growing Your Business Online

The world of internet marketing is riddled with do's, don't do's, how to's, and every type of expert you can imagine. I should know, having spent hundreds of thousands of dollars online for marketing and seeing a lot fail, and plenty work.

The main goal is to identify a strategy that will help you reach your target audience, craft the right message, and then convert your prospects to paying clients.

I have experience with Facebook, LinkedIn, Google, Bing, Yahoo, and several different CRM programs when it comes to marketing. I have set up my own email marketing campaigns in Click Funnels, Infusionsoft, Aweber, and MailChimp, and can quickly steer you in the right direction to build your marketing plan.

My main focus is direct marketing, which allows you to get a lead/prospect in the door as cheap as possible, then scale from there.

Financial Consulting

Using capital wisely is a necessary tool for building a business, life, and wealth. Deploying capital the wrong way leads to failure and destroys our egos and ability to move forward. If you have questions about finances, whether how to raise money, invest it, where to spend it, or how to set up a capital allocation plan, then look no further!

I have helped people invest in new businesses, private ventures, real estate, mineral rights, and insurance products to boos their personal ROI and increase their chances of business and investing success.

Direct Response Business Development

Growing a business is hard. What is harder is crafting your message to match your ideal clients and prospects. I'm able to quickly get you on the right path to creating a business development plan that works by identifying the hot topics your potential customers have so you can position yourself accordingly. It's better to spend an hour honing your target market so you can save months of agony searching for the right people to serve.

Remember, if you are for everyone, you are for no one. Even Facebook started as simply a social channel for Harvard students. Start where the clients are, then grow.

Answers 4
Reviews 0

Answers

Jeff Barnes answered

If I get a virtual address for my company and I work from home; will I still be eligible for tax credit on my home office?

Yes, you will. Be sure you calculate your office space as a percentage of your total home square footage. You need to be sure you also use your office space only for work. I have had clients and friends who have had "surprise" IRS audits to verify that the home office was really only used for work.

Your personal tax return doesn't need to list your business' mailing address, so they won't question the difference in mailing vs. physical address.

Schedule a call • Share • Flag

Tax

Corporate Tax

Tax Credits

Jeff Barnes answered

Where do I being to file a corporate tax return?

Investments aren't taxable. You need to make sure you have proper documentation from your investors showing either their membership interest (LLC), shares (C or S Corp), or other article of organization showing their ownership interest in some way.

You are required to pay taxes on revenues earned, but in many cases you aren't required to pay unless you cross a certain threshold. Each state has its own laws, and you can search "Department of Revenue for [STATE]" in Google and find the best way to record your revenue and taxes.

Once you get enough revenue, hire a firm like ADP to do your payroll processing and also set up the corporate tax payments through them. This makes things easier, but does cost money.

Since you didn't mention how your entity is set up or where you are doing business, it is hard to give specifics.

Schedule a call • Share • Flag

Corporate Tax

Jeff Barnes answered

How do you market a product that's a new concept or "wavelength" for the target market intended when they have somewhat "unconscious incompetence"?

Don't focus on the features of what you do. In your question you describe a lot of features that don't really address the emotional aspects of what your target wants.

Instead, focus on the outcome. If they are struggling, then they definitely have these insecurities, even if they don't openly admit it. The thought in their mind is "If I could only overcome _______, then my life would look like _________."

Fill in those blanks and you will be onto something. For example, "If I could only stop eating so much junk, then I would finally feel secure enough to ask that hot guy to go get coffee with me."

Most people won't admit they have a problem, but everyone yearns for a better version of themselves and their life. Touch on that in your message (and test using social media, email, surveys, etc.), and you will be off to a good start.

Schedule a call • Share • Flag

Inspiring People

Branding & Identity

Marketing Strategy

Jeff Barnes answered

How much salary can i ask for,getting my first full-time job offer as a business development Exec. and product manager at a hardware startup?

This is difficult to answer because you haven't given us much to go on. What type of hardware are they building, and how big and fast do they plan to grow?

It really doesn't sound like they have a growth strategy in place yet, so my guess is you would need to create that for them, right? If that is the case, then you would need to show them how you have helped others in similar situations do the same. When I was trying to land a multi-million dollar client, I had to show how I had already helped a similar client do the same thing they were attempting.

If you have that experience, then you can justify by saying, "They paid me X for that service. I know that may be high for your budget (and it should be), but maybe there is a way to work on my salary and also offer something else to compensate for that?"

This gives them a framework to start from, and opens the door to equity conversations. It also puts the ball back in their court, but with a little guidance.

Most importantly though, don't settle if you don't think you will enjoy the job or career. If you know what it will take to keep you engaged and happy, set that as your stop-limit and don't go lower unless the upside potential is worth it.

Schedule a call • Share • Flag

Start-ups

Hardware Development

Career Counseling

Reviews

Member since June 2015