☝ Stand out It's not enough to work hard, you also have to sell yourself the same way, and that's where most people fail. Being an expert is important, but it's not enough. Anyone wanting to impact other people's lives and get results also needs to be recognized by their expertise. It's like having the most awesome product in the world but nobody knows about it. While sharing your knowledge in blogs, YouTube, Twitter, Linkedin can help attract people that think like you do and may be able to pay for what you know, social media also mean more competition. That's the problem these days, there's a lot of noise. ☝ You can start by ♢ building a network of people you trust, those that can help you improve your ideas before you get them out into the world ♢ building an audience of people relating to your niche, by sharing your ideas ☝ Sharing is caring Don't be afraid of sharing your knowledge for free. You don't need to give away everything, focus on the benefits of what they need to do, and less on the how. People hesitate to pay a lot for consulting, workshops or your product if they don't know who you are or what you think. Look at what other people have done: Gary Vaynerchuk rose to fame by making videos promoting his wine business. Since then, he's been recognized as a social media guru, hustler, author of best seller books and TV appearances. He built his reputation by making low budget videos, getting them online and hustling so that they would be noticed. ☝ Have your own voice If you're an expert and you want to be known, you need to stand out. In the real world, there are other experts in the same niche you're in, so you don't want to be like everyone else. When you stand out, you'll be the one that people will go to when they need a problem solver. You can't be doing what everybody else is doing, and repeating the same mantra. Have your own mantra, and don't be afraid to have a different opinion. If they go left, you go right, if they go down, you go up. You'll eventually be seen as someone who isn't afraid to go against the herd, confident enough to tell it like it is and people will start seeing you as a leader.

It sounds like you'd like to be in a position to help startups grow, and know strategies for that. The answer is that it depends on what you'll be doing and the nature of the startup you're helping. There are a number of generic tactics you can use, however it mostly depends on the nature of the startup you'll be helping. Not all of startups might want to grow internationally. For those that do, they might not have a hard time growing outside of their country, it depends if their offer can be monetized outside their regions and traditional markets. Give us an example of a startup, and while you're at it, here are some quick generic strategies: http://blog.import.io/post/10-minute-growth-hacks-that-will-jumpstart-your-marketing-strategy

Technology is just a means to and end, it's often the road to where a problem lies. Determine what is your problem and why do you need a website.

There is a yes and no answer here. If your brand is going to "stay in place" and offer a single service, then NO. If your company services different locations or different products, that can be good enough reason to have a different color schemes, then YES. However the logo itself (lettering & symbol) should not change. Just remember that some professionals with a design/graphic background may be too opiniated on this (with good reason, for most), but don't waste too much time around the logotype if you have other more pressing problems (marketing, sales, like some of my consulting clients).