Your Questions Answered by Industry Experts

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Answers from Industry Experts

New Business Development

What's the best way to launch a chocolate brand?

Todd Troha answered: You'll need to provide some level of detail to get answers from this group. - Consumer retail or wholesale foodservice or ingredient? - Do you have a competitive advantage that is easily communicated? Happy to provide some direction if you can define the scope a bit.

5 answers • almost 7 years

Sustainable Business Agriculture Business Strategy

Which innovative business models are out there to give staff a stake in the outcome of the organization?

David C Barnett answered: Hi, giving farmers ownership, such as shares, in your business would only invite confusion as the level of business awareness is likely to vary among all the different parties. Instead, create a relationship whereby the farmers have a direct benefit tied to their sales to you such that they will always want to sell to you over others and they will want to direct potential customers to you. Essentially, some kind of volume bonus to the farmers akin to the volume rebate schemes often seen in B2B sales. If you hit certain goals, they get something extra. It gives them a stake in your business without all the complications of actually making them owners. Good luck and arrange a call if you'd like to discuss your situation further. Dave

3 answers • almost 7 years

Lead Generation Website Design Digital Marketing

What are the best lead generation channels for a small digital marketing company mainly focused on design?

Paul Anderie answered: Depending on your target group I would recommend doing facebook lead ads with a zapier integration to your mailchimp list. That works quite well. There is also an option on linkedin, where you can get directly leads within the channel. Hope that helps you :)

8 answers • almost 7 years

Social Media Marketing

What is the best way to outsource social media advertising and find a social media advertising company?

Pamela Hazelton answered: You're best bet is to find out who's behind some of the campaigns you love.

4 answers • almost 7 years

General Management Business Management Successful Business Owner

Who should I hire to help me run the day to day of my business?

Sharique Nisar answered: Hire a smart virtual assistant (VA) capable of performing various activities. This will ensure focusing on your core activities and relatively cheaper cost. Don't hire freelance VA, always look for companies who provide these services. You will be better of with almost no downtime plus having access to their tool and automation platform. I collaborated with one, who gave special services like: 1. Flexible hours of work based on need 2. Work as per your desired time zones. 3. No additional Project Management charge. 4. No upfront investment. 5. 100% security i.e. own the copyrights of the work done. 6. Track performance by daily reporting schedule. 7. Rate as low as $8/hour. Let me know if you need any help.

5 answers • almost 7 years

Account Management Key Account Development Client Relationship Building

Where are the best resources for learning account management?

Cold Calling, Phone Sales, & In-Person Sales Expert | Bob Harper Coaching answered: Focus on improving your sales skills and delivering constant value to your accounts. With that in mind, I would recommend: "If You're Not First You're Last" by Grant Cardone "Closers Survival Guide" by Grant Cardone "Fanatical Prospecting" by Jeb Blount

3 answers • almost 7 years

Blogging Affiliate Marketing Website Monetization

If I'm wanting to start a blog on a particular topic, how do I know if the topic is going to be profitable?

Cold Calling, Phone Sales, & In-Person Sales Expert | Bob Harper Coaching answered: I recommend reading "Will It Fly" by Pat Flynn and "The 4-Hour Work Week" by Tim Ferriss. Go ahead and run a Google Adwords Campaign to a landing page with the option to purchase something related to your topic. If you get a good conversion rate of people who click the Buy button, then it is a winner. Ideally, you are looking for a topic that is a huge need for your target audience. A friend of mine always says that he is looking for at least an 8 out of 10 on the BIG Problem scale.

4 answers • almost 7 years

Start-ups Mobile Apps Strategic Planning

How can I test if my business idea would be successful?

Matthew Baker answered: This is an interesting idea. In fact I faced a similar problem recently - I wanted to pick up a sofa that I'd bought from ebay. My options were - borrow a big van and drive it there and back, hire a man and a van to do so. I chose the man and the van via this service - https://www.anyvan.com/ So a solution already exists here but perhaps there's a spin on it? Get people to pick up your items when they're traveling that way anyway - it's been done too - https://www.nimber.com/ It maybe that your market isn't mature and there's a need for this where you are. What I'd suggest is the following: Sketch out the problem/s and what people do about that problem Sketch out the use cases Sketch out all your assumptions Then try and debunk them - one by one Speak to people - whether that be on forums, facebook, in person, friends, relatives etc and gain as much insight as you can. Once you've got that insight try and sketch out the solution to the problem Once you've got that - then go back to your BMC and re-hash the whole thing Then build a cheap website/landing page saying that you can solve that problem by doing xyz - you don't even have to have the service or anything Promote it and collect feedback Re-hash the BMC Then decide whether it's viable or not. Happy to chat through in more detail.

4 answers • almost 7 years

Healthcare Healthcare Industry Artificial Intelligence

How would healthcare jobs change in next 10 years with AI and with Amazon now going into healthcare?

Jim Rickards, MD, MBA answered: Clinical Decision Support coupled with cost optimization will grow over the next ten years in light of AI and Amazon development. So what do I mean in a practical sense by this? Say you are a patient with abdominal pain. Your doctor thinks you may have a gallstone, but it could also be a kidney stone or perhaps a bulging disc in your back among other conditions. A test would help your doctor diagnose you. But what test? It could be an ultrasound, CT, MRI, or a nuclear medicine study along with blood work. But what would be the best test for you given your medical history, past tests you've undergone and cost of the tests in the area? This is way too much information for a busy doctor to analyze in a 15-minute office visit. Ahh, but there is an AI platform with all your past medical history and costs of local services Amazon has figured out. Your doctor, working in conjunction with the platform can enter relevant clinical information based on their physical exam and interstation with you to determine the optimal test to order to diagnose your condition. This would result in high-quality, cost-effective care to be delivered with the help of AI in collaboration with your doctor's input. How does this change the job of a doctor? Well, it would make them more efficient and able to provide higher quality. They would need to learn how to interact more closely with an AI platform and recognize a stronger partnership with technology. As a result, decrease mental burden and job satisfaction would result. Ultimately, there could be lower rates of provider burnout and increased job satisfaction with more individuals wanting to enter medicine. This could help address our issues around limited access in light of an aging population requiring more services.

4 answers • almost 7 years

SaaS Software Development

What are some suggestions for a business management statistics reporting software with options of creating custom fields, graphs & charts visuals?

Mark Michuda answered: Chartmogul is the best one I've found. There are many great ones though. You can even use open source analytics software to build your own.

2 answers • almost 7 years

Business Development Sales Small Business Development

What is the best way to get onto retail shelves?

Eric Nicholson answered: Hello, I wholesale part time. I have sold multiple products to a variety of different stores. My goal was to never get into a huge department store, it was to provide small mom and pop shops with products that would sell. Steps I took to sell multiple items: 1. Establish a contact person 2. Provide sample products to display in store on counter 3. Follow up with contact person to see what reaction they are getting from the consumer. 4. Discuss how your product will bring more revenue to there establishment. 5. Sell your idea. I have done this in multiple different types of stores. Example: Sold knives to a gift store to put in gift baskets. Sold shot glasses to a dollar store. Sold musical gardens to a small knick knack store. Sold table top fountains to a novelty shop. I used the steps above in order to achieve my goal. My personal opinion is 85% of your time and effort is going to be selling the idea. That's it. It really is that simple. Feel free to contact with any questions. Happy Earnings!!!

3 answers • almost 7 years

Technology Mobile applications

Is it possible to build apps that connect to Google Home?

Rajat Agarwalla answered: Yes, this is possible. I am an active stakeholder in an organisation that has developed high performing voice apps and is currently building fitness apps (skills) for Google Home and Amazon Alexa. One of the easiest ways to start is from the following link: https://developers.google.com/actions/dialogflow/first-app There is a lot of nuance in this upcoming field of Voice Development. If you need further answers or would like a call then please connect with me.

5 answers • over 6 years

Lead Generation Virtual Assistance Graphic Design

How to hire an outsourcer (Upwork, Freelancer, etc.) for lead generation for a design and branding firm?

Herve humbert answered: I've been using UW for a few years. It is very useful but you have to be careful. Lot of unreliable people out there. Over the years, I've narrowed a couple of people I keep using. And have excluded others. Few things: 1- It's best to give clear instruction. I tend to build GSheet on what I need, interact a lot of Skype at the beginning 2- If you are searching for mails, do use email verification services. I find that people I work with tend to have a 95% success rate but, at the start, best to be on the safe side rather than burn your mail server (bounce rate need to be low) 3- Focus helps but if you are testing things out, you could use a platform like Reply.io to test out a few verticals and see what works or what doesn't work. 4- It feels your target markets are a bit too generic. Using UW, you'd have too wide a net. There are various ways to narrowing things down, from geos to title to company size or even keyword in company profile. Again, what is possible is to set a filter and share it with UW. Hope it helps, UW etc... are useful and best in my experience than the products out there. But it is a bit of work (no pain no gain). Happy to set up a call if you see value (am rather new to Clarity so not too sure how it works!). Best, H

8 answers • almost 7 years

Accounting CPA Bookkeeping

How should we manage affiliate payouts?

David Favor answered: 1) Payment distribution. Use a system like Post Affiliate Pro or similar, which allows you to export a .csv file compatible with PayPall "Mass Pay". "Mass Pay" cost $1/batch to process, so your Affiliates won't be charge normal PayPal fees. 2) You must send 1099 Misc forms to all people you pay more than $600/year. Failure to comply... well... Like the bootleggers in Oklahoma (where I grew up) use to say... "Don't mess with the revenuers." I suggest anyone with a US address, you require a SS or EIN number. Period. Do this during their signup process. You'll thank me for this tip, as it's like pulling teeth to get this info at some future date. Here's another trick. Defer asking for SS or EIN number till the first scheduled payment to each US affiliate. Then send an email saying payment will be issued when SS or EIN has been provided. 3) Don't ever wait for an affiliate to invoice you for their payment. This will create a mass of nonsense work for you + all your affiliates, which will rapidly sour your affiliate relations. 4) Sounds to me like you're new to affiliate payments. You're welcome to schedule a call with me for information about how to select + hire an affiliate manager. After you provide me with details about your business, my guess is I can recommend one of several affiliate managers which might take on your project, if their schedule permits.

2 answers • almost 7 years

Start-ups Non-profits

How can I further my dog treat dispensing product?

Yvette Parker answered: You may improve your product's credibility by getting endorsements from vets. Consider partnering with local/regional animal welfare groups.

3 answers • almost 7 years

Online Marketplace

How are peer to peer marketplaces like Spinlister dealing with general liability insurance and liability insurance for their users?

David Favor answered: Wow. This is a tough one. If I found myself in possession of a business like this, I'd likely create an IDC domiciled in non-US jurisdiction. Then look for insurance for the non-US company. My guess... insurance rates will be far less this way.

2 answers • almost 7 years

eCommerce

Does any one know a luxury watches drop-ship company or companies based in Europe specifically Swiss?

Nicholas Jones answered: What price points are you looking for? Do you want drop ship with allowance of white labeling a product? Does it need to be direct link e-commerce or will you personally fulfill each drop ship order? I have a client that sells watches through amazon, get in touch with me and I'll see how I can help you!

3 answers • over 6 years

Growth Hacking Growth Strategies

Is growth hacking just for SaaS?

Humberto Valle Texas Real Estate Investor, Wholesaler, & Airbnb Superhost answered: Hello! My name is Humberto Valle, I'm a marketing strategist for www.unthink.me. The term “growth hacking” is now being widely used to describe startup marketing, but its meaning has changed since Sean Ellis originally coined the term in his 2010 blog post. You have a very good question here! In short, the answer is No, its not just for SaaS. Service based companies, professionals looking for work, and other non-digital physical product based companies use Growth Hack methodologies every day with great success. Let's get a few things straight first, there is no traditional or digital marketing, only good marketing. Just as how there is a difference in advertising and marketing. Marketing is a management level effort for anything customer facing while advertising is much much simpler than that, albeit still a complex responsibility. traditional is now also including platforms like social media and PPC so in many ways, growth hackers are referred to as that when they can combine management level insight in a business and it's market and pair with easily launched and measured customer acquisition tactics. Sometimes these efforts can very well combine traditional and new traditional as well as highly technical efforts. What differentiates a growth hacker from a "traditional" marketer? Well, while a growth hacker certainly has the skills of what is now becoming traditional marketing in his toolkit, Sean Ellis recognizes that those skills are not always relevant to most early startups, but just as well they are used by many. I have personally implemented non-technical growth hacking methodologies for service-based businesses such as in the cleaning industry, manufacturing of sports apparel, table top games, and others. I haven't had the chance yet to apply Growth Hacking to a SaaS which tells me that it can be done outside of the SaaS industry. If you think about it, growth hacking is understanding where your customers are coming from, what will make them tick, and how to be in the right place at the right time with an offer that is so easy to claim or engage with that it's almost intuitive so the conversion is high. Growth Hacking may have been coined by a technical aspect for a SaaS but in reality is no more than good practice marketing efforts at a management level effort. As a business owner, startup founder, or high level CEO - and of course as head of marketing - you must know who your ideal target it, the market, the competitors, things that make your prospects tick, how much are they willing to go through to acquire what you offer, what are their stages of decision making, howlong is your pipeline for conversion, where and how to retarget them, etc. - this is what every good marketer should be able to do, but in many ways it was unfortunately coined for the higher level experts like us who do have this type of insight when it reality it should be common practice for anyone wanting to call her or himself a 'marketer.'

5 answers • almost 7 years

Web Design

How much should a mobile repair services website cost along with an eCommerce shop in 2018?

Danny Halarewich answered: Cost will definitely depends on your specific requirements, and the web agency. For example, for the mobile repair side, are customers able to schedule a date/time for the repair and have to enter in their location? Does there need to be a system in place to ensure there's no double bookings? That's just the tip of the iceberg, but a good web agency will dig in deep and ask you a lot of questions in a discovery session to determine your requirements, so that they can propose a solution that'll meet your needs. The first step is find a web agency who has experience building similar websites. Then, have a conversation with them. Look for professionalism, clear communication and honesty. Ask if they have a minimum project budget. If they check all those boxes, consider paying them to do a discovery session to help you determine all of your requirements (paying for 2-5 hours should be enough). This is a useful exercise for you as well, so that you are clear about what you really need (even if you don't end up using this agency). After that, the agency could put together a proposal for you. Generally speaking, a website of this nature will not be less than $3K to build. It could easily be upwards of $20K, depending on all your needs. Your best bet is to keep things as simple as possible, and launch with the essentials rather than building everything at once. Use tools like Squarespace, LemonStand or Shopify to get a lot of features out of the box and reduce development cost. After launching, gather qualitative feedback from customers, and measure traffic patterns and conversion rates using Google Analytics. This data can tell you what to change, add or remove from your website. That way, you're building what customers actually want without just making guesses. Best of luck on your project!

3 answers • almost 7 years

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) SEO SEO Strategy

What are the predicated SEO trends in 2018?

Jan-Willem Bobbink answered: Make sure you got your mobile visitors covered with a mobile friendly and fast working website.

6 answers • almost 7 years

Start-ups

How can I bring my disruptive technology idea to life?

Lee von Kraus answered: Without any more details only very general advice can be offered. But that general advice would be to build an 'MVP' (minimal viable product) and start testing it. Test it with yourself, then friends, then family, then strangers, then more strangers etc. You'll be making changes to it along the way to make it fit closer and closer to what people want and find useful, and you'll be refining your knowledge of who your target market is. When you have enough data showing people like and will pay for your product, you can get investment if you want, to grow faster, or grow more slowly and organically without investment. If you can't build your 'disruptive tech idea' yourself, there are several options that will still let you make and deploy and test an MVP version of it. Feel free to send more background info if you'd like advice better tailored to your actual idea, best of luck, Lee

5 answers • almost 7 years

Nonprofits

How can I go about starting a food bank, not just a pantry?

Athena Druid answered: Find a place to store the food so nothing spoils. Contact local organizations around in your area that can help you bring in food donations. Let other food banks know of your operation. Set up a specific and time schedule that lets others know when they can receive from food you. Hold a food drive. Make sure you get boxes and grocery bags prepared to put food in for your clients. You should have no problems and, yes, there is hope.

6 answers • almost 7 years

Marketing Strategy Business Strategy Strategy

How can I narrow down what target market or niche to focus on?

Jason Kanigan answered: I can think of a few ways to solve this problem but there's only one I really like. And that is because the truth of the solution is not out there in the marketplace, but here inside the mind of the contractor. What does this freelancer believe is "a lot of money"? That's your first and key question. It drives all the others. You have to be totally honest about this because people often lie to themselves about this number...the reality is the truth is a figure a whole lot lower than they initially say. Why are we doing this? Because if you mismatch your beliefs with your target market, you will never sell. Either the projects will be too small for your taste, in which case you'll find ways to screw up the sale because the ideas are boring...or (more commonly) the projects will be valued too highly for your personal sense of value, and you'll screw up the sale because it's too big for you. The sweet spot is a level that is just a small bit higher than what you think of as "a lot of money." Let's say you get real with yourself, you've never earned more than $50K a year (most people have not), and so you're used to a salary of around $4K. Earning $10K or $15K at once is frightening to you. Exciting, but scary. You don't really believe you can do it...that someone will actually pay you that in one go. So looking for companies that have a $10-15K or higher project level comfort zone is a bad idea for you at present in this example. Projects at $5-7K are a much better choice, because they will draw you on while seeming believable in terms of someone really sending you that much at once. And if you're used to twice monthly salary payments, $3-5K may be even better. Once you understand what is true for you right now--and the goalposts can be changed; this is all habit and you have to be consciously aware of it and work on it continuously--then you can go out and look for a match in the marketplace. The fact is there are customers at every level. I had a South African friend I worked for about 10 years ago who had a design agency there before he moved to Vancouver, Canada. One of his designers bid on a job to redesign a credit card cover, and that art project was awarded to them at $80K. $80K to redesign that small space. Why? Because that customer felt it was worth it. But if the designer hadn't believed THEY were worth it, they would never have bid on that project, not at that amount...heck, they may not have even SEEN the listing for the project because their RAS would have screened it out. So find your sweet spot, then go and find out who has projects that are worth 10-20X that figure. It's easy to get someone to say "Yes" to a project where they know the value is $100K when your price is $5K to solve the problem. Maybe even $10K as the investment to fix things. And $100K problems are lying around everywhere in business. As for what niche, I like to pick niches I enjoy talking about all day. Beyond typical project value that's another good factor. If I'm going to be stuck in there, I might as well enjoy it. Also makes the marketing easier, since I stand out due to knowing the industry jargon. Yeah, a designer could work on anything...but that's the wrong perspective to be using when it comes to finding clients. The client's perspective is this: "Is this for me? Will this work for me?" And appearing general does not help answer those questions confidently.

8 answers • almost 7 years

Startup Consulting

Can someone offer advice on business models and marketing for a tutoring agency?

David C Barnett answered: I regularly help franchisees in this industry. Send me a message with some of your questions and I'll let you know if I can help in a call. Cheers David

3 answers • almost 7 years

Productivity

What are some helpful ways to find balance in working time and break time?

Maria Berger answered: I have learned a lot about this from Benedictine nuns and monks. According to Rule of Saint Benedict time should be equally divided to work, prayer and relaxation. A bell is rang to remind everyone when its time to begin the next segment of the day. Benedictine monastic "enterprise" managed to thrive this way 1500 years with happy nuns and monks. There is always room for flexibility, particularly when we get inspired to perform a certain task and do not wish to get interrupted. In our own business, especially if this is the right business for us, we tend to go into flow during our work. In this state we lose track of time and we do not get tired. We can allow ourselves to go into flow from time to time in some of our projects. We may also wish to increase our working hours, for example when our business has just entered the stage of rapid growth. However we can be much more efficient and provide better quality service if we limit our work to a reasonable number of hours. In an average day the best option is to plan not only work but also leisure activities, keep photos of your loved ones on your desk and set up reminders in your watch or phone. This will be like imitating life regulated by a Benedictine bell, which can be helpful in fully enjoying all the aspects of your life. Feel free to contact me if you have more questions.  I'm an Industrial Psychologist specialized in personal happiness and life satisfaction. I can also can help you find the right business idea which will bring you the flow experience and make it easier for you to become successful.

8 answers • almost 7 years

IT Service Management Managed Services Technology

Would you hire a full service virtual IT department for your business, if it could save you time and money?

Colleen Greene answered: It depends on your business but in my experience, the best was to do a half and half model where some of it was virtual and some of it was onsite. After hours is something that costs effective outsourcing to a virtual company can be effective.

6 answers • almost 7 years

Customer Development

How can I get feedback from potential customers for an inclusive Christmas vacation concept as part of the customer development stage of my startup?

Rebecca G Brizi answered: I suggest doing some of your own research and brainstorming first, to help you craft questions to ask people. Then: simply ask. Use surveys, social media and face to face and try to change up the questions here and there to track consistency in answers.

3 answers • almost 7 years

Blogging

Is Shopify or Wordpress better for blogging if I would like to sell some services on my store?

Gareth Hughes, PhD, MBA answered: Wordpress will give you many more blogging options and capabilities than Shopify. There are also numerous plugins for Wordpress that allow you to sell services. WooCommerce is great for selling products, but you may want to find a plugin that allows you to sell just services. You don't really need all the inventory and other product-related capabilities that WooCommerce provides if you are just selling services. Shopify is great for selling tangible products. However, it sounds like you want to sell services, so the many tools and plugins that give Shopify users the ability to quickly set up shop aren't really helpful to you.

5 answers • almost 7 years

Team Building Outsourcing Marketing Automation

What are your best resources and advice to structure and build a business that can fully run without the owner?

Pamela Hazelton answered: 1. Make sure you have the right team in place. 2. Make sure job descriptions and methods of practice are well documented.

4 answers • almost 7 years

angel investing

Do a start-up should search for angel financing between seed and round A even if it's burn rate is low and have a budget to operate till round A?

Aramis Jordan answered: Raising money is a choice, if you can self funded until the concept is proven and you start getting traction, don't give up equity early on. In any round, you give up a piece of the pie, the longer you are able to self fund, the better the end result for you. You will be in strong position if you are able to stay out of asking for funding early on, but remember you need to have a good hold of the market and your numbers to understand when

3 answers • almost 7 years

Startups Lean startup Fundraising

How do you work for someone that has an idea for an app but no money?

Joshua Blank answered: You really have two forms of payment here given that you can't be paid out of the small sum of money the founder has. The decision as to what to accept depends on the idea the person has and your belief in it. 1. Equity It's called sweat equity for a reason. If the person you've been approached by is not willing to give you equity to work on the idea it's a major red flag. You should be compensated for your work and if the person is cash poor they still have equity in the company that they can assign to you. This is given that the person who has the idea plans to scale the company and potentially exit it. 2. Delayed cash compensation. If the person is planning on raising capital you can create and agreement that states that they will pay you once the company has raised capital. If you do decide to accept a delayed cash compensation package, you should first understand if the person is planning on raising capital and how much they are planning to raise. From a founders perspective they'll want to only pay you the delayed cash comp if they raise over a certain amount which is understandable. Make sure you understand what that mark is and that it's attainable. 3. A combination of equity and delayed cash compensation A combination of equity and cash compensation has less upside then only equity as well as less risk. You'll be paid less because of the equity piece but also have a part of the company for the long term. With all those options out there it's important to note that the best option for you depends on your current situation and long term interests.

5 answers • almost 7 years

Loans Construction Loans Funding

Is finders fee of 1mio USD normal for a 20mio USD loan?

Srinivas Nag Srirangam answered: No that pricing is too high as the maximum finders fee that is offered is 2.2% i.e. 440K max. Although if he is doing other tasks for you other than finding the investor that price may change. Traditionally the commission is as stated 2.2%.

2 answers • almost 7 years

eCommerce Web Design

Is Shopify the best option for putting a store on my Wordpress site?

Wil Brown answered: You can't embed Shopify into WordPress. They used to have a plugin but that has been scrapped. Currently the best way to have a WordPress ecommerce store that sells physical products is to use the free WooCommerce plugin from WooThemes. It allows you to receive payments from PayPal. As you will be shipping products you will need a shipping plugin - this will depend on which postal service or courier you are using to ship, e.g. Australia Post or UPS. These shipping plugins are not free. Have a look at the official list here https://woocommerce.com/product-category/woocommerce-extensions/shipping-methods/ That's probably the minimal set up you need to start to sell your T-Shirts and hats. There are of course a lot more WooCommerce extensions that will enhance your store and your customer experience. Hope that helps. Wil.

4 answers • almost 7 years

Patent Strategy Patent Litigation Software Patents

How does one start a software company these days without being clobbered by patent trolls?

David Favor answered: Get Legal Shield coverage (Ada Oklahoma company). Then you can simply bankrupt any patent troll who comes after you. I can tell you from personal experience, bankrupting people who sue you is highly gratifying. I've done this twice now. Each time I get sued, I'm filled with glee, because this means I have a new opportunity for bankrupting someone, so they can't sue anyone else. Search Clarify for my previous answers detailing how to accomplish bankrupting people who sue you.

3 answers • almost 7 years

Early-stage Startups Startup Consulting Starting Companies

If someone proposed a deal with me to control 60 percent of my company, and I had the remaining 40 percent, is that a good deal?

Jason Kanigan answered: Do you want a job instead of to be an owner? No way! Read "How To Get Rich" by the dear departed Felix Dennis, who did not have to sell a single copy of his book because he was already bloody rich. (Compare/contrast against so many other "gurus".) You'll read that he says not to give one single % of equity away. Without 51%, you are no longer in control. If you want someone else telling you what you can and can't do with the company you created...if you want a job or worse because they can limit you to being a silent partner or consultant now that you are just a minority partner with a few rights...go ahead. You can do this some other way.

7 answers • almost 7 years

Brand development Youth Marketing Retail

What are some good resources for growth and acceleration of a child-based education/creative brand?

Lee von Kraus answered: Are you doing 'maker classes' for kids, or are you making and selling toys that help them learn on their own? If you're doing classes, the only way to sustainably scale up is to make sure that a majority of your classes are using digital maker tools, instead of physical ones. For instance, using https://scratch.mit.edu instead of Lego Mindstorms. This is because scaling up with digital tools will be enormously easier than dealing with physical inventory: No need to buy / keep track of / store / transport, etc., no need to do on-location training of new instructors (they can train at home), etc. If you're not doing classes, but are instead making toys for kids, again a software product would allow easier scaling, but if that's not possible for you, then you're going to have to work on getting into retail shops and/or increasing your online presence in the maker space. Feel free to send more background info if you'd like advice more tailored to your specific problem, best of luck, Lee

1 answer • almost 7 years

Pro Tools Online Marketing

What is best tool/platform to use to make an online course?

Adrian Salamunovic answered: I'm using Teachable.com and so far I really like it. I'm producing a course on "How to get massive amounts of free PR" that I will be launching in March 2018.

5 answers • almost 7 years

Retail Retail Marketing Retail Industry

How important is understanding your customer demo (gender, age, race) to retail operators?

Shakirah Dawud answered: It seems you're asking two different questions: 1. What is the importance of demographics? 2. What are the pain points in building facial recognition into a retail transaction? To answer the first, demographics inform what products are being sold, who gets what promotion, what to start and stop carrying, and more in retail. The degree to which a retail shop pays attention to its clientele is directly related to those decisions and thus to its success. To answer the second, you will need to deal with the legal ramifications of facial recognition technology, and once you've handled that, you'll need to deal with the range of reactions you'll get from customers who will need to know they're being recognized--not by humans but by robots. I'd say the second issue is the most important one to consider as you shape the technology and how it will be used.

6 answers • almost 7 years

Exit Strategies

How can an entrepreneur go about exploring what's the best exit strategy for his/her startup?

Jason Kanigan answered: Listen to my interview with exit strategist Jock Purtle of Digital Exits here (no opt-in, simple download): https://www.mediafire.com/file/ufbe877j6qupun6/JockPurtleInterview.mp3

3 answers • almost 7 years

Early Adopter Customer validation Early-stage Startups

What are some signs my startup may be "too niche" to ever become mainstream?

Andrew Lee Miller answered: The easiest answer to this is something a mentor told me a few years ago when I was working on a niche app....she said "do you honestly feel like you could be passionate about this for the next 10 years"? That may not sound like it's relevant but it is...honestly that's the only thing that matters when starting a compay (besides the obvious of is this valuable)...That's the first thing to figure out. Then when I answered and said maybe, she said "do you think that this is the biggest thing you could be doing with your time? Why stop at helping a few thousand people, why not pour 10 years of your life into something that can help millions".....so reframe your question, is my product only helping a few people? Is there something else I could be doing that will help more people? If the answers are obvious then you know what you need to do...back to the drawing board.

6 answers • almost 7 years

Lead Generation New Business Development

What's the best way to start an outbound marketing campaign for a web/ mobile development agency?

Tyler Gillespie answered: I would highly recommend connecting with someone who has experience here to shorten your learning curve if this is not what you do. For our agency, we spent a lot of time & money outlining and creating the infrastructure which now is mainly on autopilot for our outbound strategy. For example, we now have a small team running it while sending on average 5-10k emails per month consistently. I can help outline how to do the same thing as well. Team-wise I would lean in the direction of learning the framework, building a small team and launching some base campaigns internally. I have looked and hired a lot of 3rd party companies that claim to handle all your outbound campaigns but most are 5/10 quality wise and charge a hefty premium. Once you know the structure it mainly comes down to team building, having a quality product/service, and creating value through very personal outreach campaigns. Resources wise- there are some great books out there on this. I would highly recommend "The Ultimate Sales Machine" by Chet Holmes and "Predictable Revenue" by Aaron Ross. These both will give you a lot of higher level ideas and ways to structure your outbound campaigns. A lot comes down to your internal resources and budget as well. Hope this helps!

4 answers • almost 7 years

Lead Generation B2B Marketing

What are the new techniques in b2b lead generation today?

Sharique Nisar answered: Lead generation or in more specific form, prospect building is done by almost all companies in some form or the other. The traditional approach of lead generation is rapidly going through a transitioning stage. The need of the hour is to be smart and gain competitive advantage by utilizing “Time Sensitive Sales Trigger”. So, what do we mean by Time Sensitive Sales Trigger? These are basically events that can lead to quick conversion in your sales and marketing efforts. Few examples can be: Competitive Changes: This can be in the form of business model changes, closing/expanding facilities, contract win, FDA approval, joint ventures & partnership, new market opportunities, product launch, real estate transactions, technology advancements, weak operational performance, etc. Financial Changes: Sales drop, bankruptcy, credit downgrade, distressed loan, EBITDA drop, IPO, loan default, restatement of earnings, etc can be few examples within this. Ownership Changes: Here, we can think of divestitures, legal issues, M&A, strategic alternative and others as some possible events. Personnel Changes: This can be crucial specially when we think about fortune companies- typical example could be headcount changes, top level management (CEO, CFO, COO, CMO, CIO, etc.) removal, resignation and appointment. Recognition Changes: Awards, press releases, conferences, events, trade shows, reviews, feedback and perhaps improved web ranking also give insights on company’s current standings. The above scenarios help companies to target the right prospect with the right solution at the right time. Also, with social media at its peak, companies have started leveraging social media big time and it’s showing positive impact. Now, apart from dependency on above news and events, companies have also shown great amount of interest in reviews, comments, social post to create real time/concurrent leads for their sales funnel. This is based on my recent consulting experience. Thoughts??

3 answers • almost 7 years

Consulting

What is the best way to get more consulting clients?

Marlino Bitanga answered: Here are some ways to get more customers: 1. Start by reaching out to your friends who own businesses and ask to doncome consulting work for them in exchange for case studies. You need to show credibility to give people a reason to trust you and work with you. 2. Create content. Either document your journey as a consultant or create a blog/vlog that will give you the ability to demonstrate your expertise. 3. Once you have content to work with, promote it via ads. 4. Lastly ask people to introduce you to people or businesses they may know could use your services. Hope this helps! I'm available for followups if needed!

8 answers • almost 7 years

Speaking Engagements Keynote Speaking

What is best way to get more speaking engagements?

John Wannamaker answered: Great question for anyone who has a newly published book and would like to hit the speaking circuit. I was once in the same boat and here is what I would suggest as the fastest and most effective method to getting your speaking engagements. You must be active on social media. You should give away small tidbits of your book in videos and join FB groups related to your topic. There are millions of groups that you can join which will give you instant access to the people you need to know. When I ran for U.S. Congress, I joined the political groups of my party. Your book was written for someone at some stage of life, so find the groups associated with their interest. I also hired someone to work for me 1 hour a day to make calls to decision makers of associations, conferences and trade shows. They would contact the organizer and send them the videos and one-sheets about me. Use free speaking engagements to build your brand. Take lots of pictures, record videos and use these pictures in your promotional material. Cut and splice them. Be sure to wear different clothing to each speaking engagement, so you can have the appearance of different speeches in the beginning It's always a great idea to have loads of books at any event to sell them after you speak. Bon Chance!

4 answers • almost 7 years

LinkedIn Growth Hacking

How do I get more engagement with my content on LinkedIn?

Ben Mistretta answered: The best way is to begin with friends and colleagues, and then LinkedIn will suggest hundreds of people who you probably know or know of. LinkedIn is a place for people to interact, so don’t be afraid of shooting someone more experienced than you a message for some advice. It might help you more than you think!

6 answers • almost 7 years

Product Development

What are people's experiences with using recycled plastics in their manufacturing?

Aaron Jason Post answered: Hi! I work for a Injection Molding company. Injection molded grades of plastic will behave differently than Blow Molding Grades, sheet plastic or extruded grades. I could write an encyclopedia here on this subject as it is very complicated and there are a lot of different types of plastics and grades of each one of them. As far as Injection molded plastics goes, the easiest to recycle are also (luckily) the most common. Polyethylene (HDPE, PE, LDPE), Polypropylene (PP, homo or copolymers) ABS, Poly-carbonate (PC), PVC and Nylon. All of these materials will lose strength and other properties when recycled. It is always recommended to mix virgin material with the recycled material (known as regrind). What percentage would depend on the material and the molded part. For HDPE and PP you could use up to 70% regrind, depending on the barrel size of the machine. Virgin material is in round pellets but regrind will have rough edges and won't flow down the hopper as easily. ABS and PC can be mixed together in many cases and can be used in mixes up to 50% without any major property loss. Nylon 10%-20% but it is hydroscopic so it will absorb or lose moisture when recycled. This will change it's flexibility and strength. This may be remedied by adding an impact modifying additive or glass. PVC 10%-20%. As far as recycling companies go, there are a lot and I can't just recommend one. The key will not be so much the recycling company but the source of the material that that company has. - How consistent is the material type? Is it mixed with other material types, colors or grades (e.g. melt flow). - How consistently clean is the material? You would be surprised to know that it is very common to find metal and paper in recycled plastics which is a major headache for molders. As far as a waterproof enclosure goes. You could easily use recycled material in large quantities, no problem. Just don't use recycled seals! :D Hehehe... I hope this helps! I apologize for the delay in answering. There are very few plastics questions here on Clarity! Feel free to contact me or schedule a call if you have any more questions and I would be glad to help with material selection! -Jason

3 answers • almost 7 years

Business Strategy

How does a catering business find their unique target audience?

Marlino Bitanga answered: Start by creating a persona of your desired audience... here are some basic ways to create them: 1. Common behavior patterns 2. Shared pain points (professional, personal) 3. Universal goals, wishes, dreams 4. General demographic & biographic information Basically you are creating a fictional character of your audience to help you figure out how to connect with them in an impactful way

5 answers • almost 7 years

Sports Marketing Sponsorship Sports Management

How to attract potential sponsors for a Competitive Fitness Athlete?

Christine McHugh answered: I love that she's doing this! I don't have expertise in athletic sponsorships but I am familiar with being a brand ambassador. This is a great way to get on the path toward sponsorships if she's not currently doing that.

7 answers • almost 7 years

Market Research Product Development

How can I reach out to travelers about my Christmas season inclusive vacation concept to test for viability and market fit?

Cold Calling, Phone Sales, & In-Person Sales Expert | Bob Harper Coaching answered: Are you asking how to find travelers to reach out to, or what to say when you get in touch with them?

1 answer • almost 7 years

SaaS Pricing Strategy SaaS Sales

Our SaaS product is ready, but do we launch with simple pricing (15-day trial, 1 plan) or do we do what our competitors do (freemium, 4 plans)?

Marlino Bitanga answered: I think at this stage there are a couple things to research 1) your audience and their behavior in trying new things 2) Test it out... it's really hard to tell unless you try it and see what works. Most companies are using the freemium approach only cuz it makes sense with their product/service but also it makes sense with their business model.

8 answers • almost 7 years