Ron McIntyre

I am not sure that I see a benefit that would justify investing in this type of service. With the current emphasis on opt-in validation I think there is more control provided the list owner making monitoriing an expensive option.

In my world, a partnership is based on sharing expertise and resources between two or more entities in exchange for a share of something, whether it would be a % of revenue or % ownership NOT that plus a fee. It has to be a win-win situation or it is more of a one sided agreement which will potentially cost you a lot of money, especially if he is developing your sites.

To be productive and profitable you must be able to monitor and highly influence the development but more importantly you MUST have a clear, definitive, documented agreement of who owns rights to what. You can be held hostage if someone develops your site as part of a loosely defined partnership and they decide they want more money or worse yet they want to high-jack the site and cut you out of the picture. Now this may seem to be a dire situation but I have seen it take place.

If you are the owner, you must have clear control and title to all the collateral, IP and coding. The best way to protect yourself is a good contract with set fees or partnership agreements.

Hope this helps.

Back in 2001, Havard had a Deal Crafing Toolkit what was used in some classes but I have never seen it beyond that reference. Even there the ultimate goal was to demonstrate the tension between creating and claiming value in negotiation.

"Deal Crafting" seems to imply that a particular deal can be manipulated in some way which is not what you want to happen in today's transparent environment. Not sure how the term is being used in your world but many could consider it a very negative phrase. My advice is to be very careful in using this term.

I would suggest you take one of your competitors and do a gap analysis between what they offer and what you offer in terms of Value, not necessarily price. What can you offer they don't or how can you do it better? Are facilities a factor in the client perception of quality and value? Do you have the network of satisfied clients to mine new clients?

A good PR firm will go down this path and charge you a lot of money in the process, so why not try to do it yourself first.

This is a hard task because you must be honest in your appraisal of yourself, your services and current client base but it can have a great payoff.

Thanks,
Ron

There is really no simple answer to your question the way you have phrased it. Many times we look for a trend or process to manage people when in reality it really boils down to relationships and how one manages their commitments.

As a certified John Maxwell team coach I would be open to discussing the details with you on a scheduled call but in the mean time here are some hints:

1. It starts with Passion but has components of belief involved. Can you demonstrate a committed passion for your business or products?
2. Do people around you feel and understand the vision, strategy and mission that you have developed?
3. Do you have established values that can be demonstrated?
4. What kind of expectations do you have anyone people you hire? Are the reasonable and allow for some input from the individuals so you can ensure engagement.
5. I would suggest you look for and hire a coach to take you to the next level.

Thanks,

Ron

1. Do people want the product or service?
2. Do you know who else offers similar products or services?
3. Do people have a burning need for your product or service?
4. Are people willing to pay for the product or service & How much?

If you know the answer to these questions you can start the hard work of building the brand, product and service then ensure it works reliably and is responsive. User Interface and performance are vital as evidenced by the issue with the Health Exchange issues going on right now.

I have a number of years in management around application development and would gladly answer any questions you may have on a scheduled call.

Thanks,

Ron

I would suggest you focus on one brand initially but make it flexible. Once you have established a brand you could look at either extending it or diversifying into segments. Suggest that you look at developing a "Unique Travel Experience" banner that can be used for a variety of your niches but I would start with the one you are most familiar and experienced. Let your customers drive your expansion.

After reviewing your site I found there was a potential for confusion with openup.com which is a completely different site. How does the name reflect what you are providing? Would be good to explain this somewhere.

I also found the About Us page was way too vague and the FAQ's, while better, still did not really describe the value for the various stakeholders. The tabs are almost hidden down at the bottom right so the first impression a person gets is that I need to sign up to find out what it is all about. That can be a tough sell today.

Suggest shouting the message of what you offer and why you're offering it on your home page so people can see the value before they commit a link. People are hesitant to give you a personal link before they know what you can do for them.

I, like the previous response pointed out, that you should really focus on the companies that would be willing to use a new methodology for finding potential employees then perfect the process with a few clients.

Finally, when I looked at the Contact Us page I found it very sterile. There is really nothing on the site that indicates who is driving this concept and therefore gaining trust may be difficult. People want to exchange trust before they commit personal information. People buy from people the like and trust, what can you do to encourage that trust?