What factors could prevent online display ad spending from hitting $21 billion and surpassing search spending by 2015 as eMarketer forecast?

I started on Clarity just by answering questions last summer. I used to love Quora but really disagreed with a number of changes they made and so when Clarity launched answers, I started answering questions. I'm incredibly busy but let's face it: we all have extra time. We spend it looking at our phones, on Facebook, socializing with friends, whatever way each person does it, we all spend time on non mission critical stuff. Because I genuinely enjoy helping others, I treated Quora as a way of relaxing the same way others would read news sites or blogs. And so I switched all that time to Clarity by answering questions. I don't recall the exact specifics but by providing real answers (not just, "call me, I can help you), I had my first call request within about a month of my first answer. And I got a nice review. And some more questions answered, and a couple more calls, and a couple more reviews. And from that point, the call volume increased. Simultaneously, I started referring all "can I pick your brain" requests on LinkedIn and email to my Clarity account. And so some calls initiated that way. More reviews. Now, a year later, I have done over 200 calls, with the majority of it inbound from Clarity. Take it from me, if you make the time, and provide genuine help to people, you will get rewarded for it. But like anything in life, if you're not willing to invest the time and resources, you're unlikely to see any return.

I have registered over 20 companies in the last decade and from my experience I can tell you that every country serves a different purpose. I run a small gambling company that I have registered in Malta due to the legality of online gambling there. I have another company registered in Delaware, whilst my main company is registered in the Netherlands. If your business is only online I would advise you to register it in Europe or if you must in the United States in Delaware/Nevada. Credibility wise I would say that registering your company in Singapore or Malta or Costa Rica, will not benefit you much opposed to say Delaware or The Netherlands. I am available for a call if you need anymore help. I am currently doing a promotion for a one time free 15 minute phone call so just send me a message for the discount code.

There are a few ways to track things automatically, but they get complicated: - referral program software - Give your referrers special URL's with parameters that identify them as the referrer (like http://url.com/?referrer=JohnDoe), then push that value into a hidden form field - Create a separate landing page for each referrer I'd keep things much simpler to start. Just tell your social club that there's a referral program in place, then add a form field on your signup process asking who referred the new customer. If John Doe knows that there's a program in place, when he refers someone, he's likely to tell them "make sure you say I referred you". When the new customer joins, they'll likely remember to enter "John Doe" as the referrer. It's not bullet proof, but it's an easy way to start.

It really comes down to 2 major buckets. 1) CONTENT / INBOUND MARKETING Some people consider this option free, but it's not. Time is money, and it requires an major investment to do it right. The options are: - Company blog - Guest post on other blogs - Engage on social media (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram) - Press - Videos on YouTube - Create a free App (web or mobile) etc ... This strategy is all about create amazing content/information/tools for your customers. Think about their major questions they have for your industry, and answer them. Even consider teaching them everything you know about your industry. Doing so will attract them, and make you look like an authority. I've done this with my past 2 companies Flowtown (300K U/V), and Clarity (40K U/V) blogs. Each of the items mentioned above have a unique strategy and tactic .. so best to pic the one you'd be most excited about creating, and do just that one with all your resources. 2) PAID MARKETING Paid means using advertising to introduce your company to potential customers. Some options you have: - Google Adwords - Facebook Ads - Twitter Ads - Bing Ads - Banner Ads etc ... The only way I would suggest paid marketing is if you truly understand your customer LTV (Lifetime Value). If you don't know that, then you could be wasting money attracting views to your startup that aren't profitable. So be sure to have a product / service that makes profit, then you can test different paid marketing channels. My rule of thumb, is it'll cost your $200 to get 1 new paying customer (on avg.), so unless you're making $600 profit from a new customer, don't both for now. If you need to discuss further, you know how to find me.

You have a lot of options to market to boomers and seniors. That age group is facebook's fastest growing segment. Build ads that target that age group and think about having a facebook page to supplement your efforts there. Older people search just like the rest of us as well, so build an adwords campaign around keywords that might align with your product. Contact me if you'd like to chat about some options or need some help building your campaigns. Good luck!