I'd recommend first reading Aaron Ross' - Predictable Revenue before choosing your CRM system. Flexible and complete solutions I'd recommend Nutshell Hubspot CRM + Sidekick Feel free to contact me for a quick chat about it. Thanks David

Why not outsource it? An easy search on upwork or fiver could find you the people you need to get your wikipedia campaign done. In the end it will only cost a fraction compared to an entire affiliate program.

You need to publish tidbits of how to accomplish this online for free to become an authority on the subject. When you become known for this then companies will pay you to consult on it. In the short term, partner with development shops who build apps for customers. Get them onboarded as resellers and have them recommend you for the post launch acquisition of customers. Check the store on http://chanimal.com for a great reseller program kit to get started with building a reseller program. Call me on here if you want some more help.

I founded a VC fund and successfully backed over two dozen startup, seed and early stage ventures. There is a "new" type of security called a SAFE which allows you to raise money and to put off the valuation until the professionals come in on an A round. Failing that you can offer a simple proposition to the seed investors, a multiple and a round percentage. I have found that a 2X multiple and 1 percent per $25,000 is almost always compelling to both the issuer and the angel. Let me know if you need anything else.

What I usually do with my team is to store the data locally until the machine connects to the web and then push it to the cloud at that point. The data won't be live but at least it will appear once the PC is online. Makes sense?

Hello, If you're looking for people like me (who have the change to have a Wikipedia page), you should target them with LinkedIn ads. I believe LinkedIn will get you better results than Facebook or Twitter.

My very first job out of college (a loooooooong time ago). Was working in a boutique marketing and public relations firm. They hired me to do just that, get new clients and develop the business so that we were the agency of record or on "retainers". It's funny how many firms don't want an in house team but want the flexibility and accessibility of one. By offering them the access of a dedicated account manager and setting realistic expectations of what they are REALLY in need of, the task of finding these strategic partnerships can be easier than you think. The first thing you have to do is build your relationships though. It sounds easy enough, but going in to make a sale wreaks of desperation and ulterior motives. If you want to be a firms' go-to on-demand agency you must be valued as not only the expert in the field but the trusted advisors that they need before and while they make moves. Pricing points also play a factor, but without knowing more about your business Od be hard-pressed to offer any advice on this topic. I'd love to speak more with you about the size of your firm, the direction it's going and what percentage of the business you actually want to devote towards your larger secured contracts versus the freedom of project work. Keep in mind, the balance must always be there in case one falls away down the road. Good luck!

The best ones are done over the weekend. My favorite schedule for it is from Saturday morning until Sunday noon. You could make it a competition for people to build something to solve something specific. They have the liberty to do whatever tool they think best to solve that problem. Also, make sure the prize is useful for them.

It's becoming more and more difficult for patent trolls to litigate with the current discussions in Congress. It really depends of your market. If it's involving software patents, it's even harder. At Nesting Partners my firm actually bring patents to life then to product then to market to exit! We know quite a lot about patents and work with a lot of trolls (or NPEs) to help them find an alternative to litigation.

Slack is best for internal communications but not exactly sharing information. Have you thought about Evernote Business?

I've worked both in-house (at Business.com) and I built and ran large agencies as well (eVisibility, Geary Interactive, Organic Media Group). IMHO, outsourcing SEO is the best way to go no matter what. And I'll give you 3 good reasons why. 1. In-house SEO teams (and individuals) get myopia. They stare at and analyze the same site every-single-day. So its tough for them to "notice" things. A third party perspective really comes in handy, and that's where an agency fits in. 2. In my 11+years of experience, there has never been an in-house team that is as creative and cutting edge as an agency. In-house teams don't usually innovate when it comes to SEO and link building in particular. Agencies work across many niches, constantly. They develop new techniques. In-house teams almost never do. 3. Management. Managing and paying salary and benefits to an in-house team or person is expensive and takes time. Most companies aren't big enough to really afford to hire an in-house person or staff properly. They are better at other things. Which is why you hire a professional agency and then you get out of their way and let them do their thing, with accountability and reporting of course. And its easier to cut bait with an agency than it is to fire an employee, for various HR reasons. Can you get results with an in-house team, of course. But your probability for success goes up alot when you allow an agency to handle things. And if you don't have a ton of budget for SEO, an agency is actually much more affordable too. I guess this is bonus point #4. You can't hire anyone decent at SEO for less than $4k-$5k per month, plus benefits and time spent managing them. You can get a VERY good SEO campaign with an agency or consultant for $3k-$4k per month or less.

I started my last company and grew it with $20,000 to $12 million in 10 years. And while I was in the early phases, I did put in on my resume.. So, I believe you should. If it is a registered business entity and you are working it, it is still what you are doing, regardless of revenue of the company. If you are performing the tasks in your position, it shows you have been attempting to launch as well as (hopefully) prevents any gaps in employment. It also shows a level of commitment to your venture. We specialize in assisting startups with business plans and structure, so fee free to contact me for additional questions.

I've been a co-founder of three ventures and have had to negotiate ownership stakes with my partners for each one. I've also conducted intellectual property diligence, as a consultant to IP/M&A attorneys, for multiple multi-million dollar software M&A deals. As Stoney said, it's a bit hard to come up with a firm number, given the number of unknown variables involved here. Also, it almost sounds like you and your product are being acquired by this larger company, while essentially selling or licensing a product you've built to this company in the process. If that's the case, you may want to speak with an attorney who's experienced in software licensing agreements and M&A. They may be able to steer you in the right direction of a valuation, as well as make sure you're very clear in what you're giving away, from an intellectual property rights perspective. Another thought that comes to mind is that if the company is providing you with a lot of support, including a salary, be prepared for them to possibly low-ball you on the ownership stake. Once you decide on an ownership stake to suggest, I wouldn't be afraid to start at the high end of your estimate, taking into account the fact that they may try and negotiate the share down quite a bit, given the financial contributions they'll be making. In my experience, investors putting money on the table typically and unfortunately don't value sweat equity too highly or fairly, when compared to cold, hard cash. Always happy to discuss further on a call and good luck!

Option #1 (recommended): Use https://www.voiq.com/ and skip hiring someone. Option #2: Hire an SDR (right out of college, ex-athlete): and pay them an hourly rate as a consultant (3 month trial period). Pay them upon deals closing (commission % - the % will depend on your margins and the the On-Target Earnings you'd like them to make) and then give them bonuses in the form of prizes (i.e. a trip to Vegas for hitting their quota -- # of calls, # of meetings/# of opportunities created, # of deals closed that they sourced). Bonuses in the form of physical Gifts, especially at the SDR level, have been proven to drive employee happiness over $. If you have additional questions, happy to get on a call.

Here is a simple thought to ponder: if the landmark is famous, is image recognition of people (with all the ethical issues that brings) necessary to promote it? What value does the image recognition bring that simple user documentation (i.e. user supplied data and imagery) would not? As a marketing consultant to tourism, health, robotics and HR startups, I look at what people are asking for, and what minimum tech application is necessary to provide it. Consider this - does your image recognition better serve the 'hidden gems' of tourism? Happy to discuss further :) Arjun.

I have experience running an ecommerce store on many different platforms including Amazon FBA, Etsy, eBay, and Shopify. Each have different nuances for what is required for packaging and shipping. Could you share more details about your situation or I would be happy to discuss this further and how you can optimize your supply chain.

Questions you should think about (assuming you have existing customers) * Can you run these case-studies past your existing customers' buyers to see what you're missing? Basically why is a use-case, whitepaper not convincing enough? * Can you get prospects to talk to existing customers or do a walk through of an existing installation? This is very key in high ticket sales, esp where you are making big claims. * Can you get video testimonials, including walk-throughs of the installs? On the pricing model for the trial * How good/measurable is the RoI? If it's very measurable, can you put in a pricing model which goes up if they make/save more money? * How fast is the RoI? Will they get an indicator in days/months/years? Your strategy will change based on the period * What is the install cost? To me more than the monthly recurring, the install cost might be a bigger barrier. Can you fold that into the recurring for a few customers? * Can you offer a 100% refund if unsatisfied after trial? To me this sounds less like a pricing issue, and much more like a sales/pre-sales issue. I have done technical pre-sales, sales & mktg, and can help with thinking through this problem over a call.

From a corporate law perspective, the money is being invested into a COMPANY, not a product or portal. From an investor perspective, they are investing in 1. Team 2. Business NOT in a portal or a product. As an investor, if you're doing two completely different things with one company, I would be very wary of investing. Typically one startup == one line of business, one product when you start. Once you cross a few million USD in revenue, you can think of more product lines. This is more of a corporate structuring question, so a lawyer and your investor are the best people to help you with this.

* What is the customer RoI? * How much do they save/earn per unit of use of your product/tool/service? * How many users do you have right now? * Are the free users likely to upgrade? * Are they needed to provide a different value (community, content, network, ...) to the paid users? * Are the free users providing an increased SEO or other lead gen surface area for you? A la widget with your link on their site which steers traffic and link-juice your way? * Is your different audience better paying, more mature, in-a-tearing-hurry, or is it the lower end of the market? There is no easy answer to your question. It will depend on many many factors. But the questions above should help you think through and choose an option. I've used my own custom frameworks in the past to help many hard tech founders with similar questions. If you want to go deeper, will be happy to do so over a call. Refs: https://davidjaxon.wordpress.com/2015/07/21/the-contrarian-view-with-freemium-its-easier-to-start-with-the-paid-product/ http://sixteenventures.com/freemium-or-free-trial

Congrats! You've solved the first big problem, having a few happy customers who love your product/service. Questions you need to think about (and the traction book is the absolute best resource I'd recommend to DIY growth). 1. How many customers do you need/want to pick up in the next 6m, next 12m? Without overwhelming your team/resources. 2. If you take a 10X goal, 200 customers, when would you want/expect to reach that? 3. Do your customers have good networks with others like them? If they do then that's the absolute best source for you. 4. Assuming you have a recurring revenue relationship with your customer, how can you touch base with them (on phone perhaps), and actually ask them for referrals? And if they give you referrals reward them with swag/goodies? 5. How many customers do these FB groups have? Can they give you 200+ customers? 6. Does the nature of the end-result you produce give you a marketing advantage? i.e., doing case-studies for each design, posting it on the fb groups, etc. which are value add and not spammy in nature? Referrals are the best channel, since you will have a warm lead who is looking for your services, rather than a cold lead that has to be educated about your benefits, so I would heavily invest in them. If you'd like to know more about how you can grow more strategically in the early stage, first read the traction book, and then I can assist on a call if you still need help :)

This is a pretty broad question -- what are you looking for specifically on the PR front? You get what you pay for. There are a million and three press release apps that are just spam-generators. They don't actually do what you would like. Instead, try something like HARO or contacting journalists in your industry to establish a relationship. Happy to help or field more questions, just schedule a call. -Shaun

So if I understand correctly you're building your own fund and you're trying to raise capital to make investments. Building your own fund is a very complex process (I know, I did it with mine). You will need to get a law firm to help you build the GP docs and the LP docs: NDA, LPA, SBD, PPM, Term sheets etc. I could help you with a call if you have more questions. I do have some samples of these documents and can recommend some law firms.

The primary distinction is: 1. A theme implies a ready-to-launch WordPress theme with design, back-end functionality, and anything else you might need (according to the theme author's discretion). "Theme" can be roughly equated to "plug-and-play" in the WordPress world. 2. A framework is a set of tools to assist in building custom themes rapidly by handling common challenges ahead of time. "Framework" can be roughly equated with "toolkit". HOWEVER. WordPress is an enormously popular, extremely accessible platform, which means that not everyone who builds for WordPress actually A) knows the difference between a theme and a framework, or B) actually did a good job of implementing anything that's promised. That means that for every high-quality, no-hassle theme or framework you'll find, there are dozens more that are fragile (e.g. can't stand up to even light customization) or just plain terrible (e.g. full of security holes, silenced warnings, bad practices, etc.). Popular frameworks like Genesis have large contributor networks, which cut down on poor quality and security risks. But for a non-coder, the learning curve may be a little steep. The best solution may be to evaluate the cost of getting your current theme audited for quality by a professional coder with a good reputation in the WordPress community. I'm not familiar with the theme you're using, but it's possible that it's a great theme that's well-built. If that's the case, you can keep using it even if the theme creators were to suddenly disappear (though not for long, as there's always a need to modernize themes as WordPress matures and PHP marches forward). If the theme is NOT well-built, consider having a pro build something quality that's specifically suited to your needs. This costs money, but you have to weigh that against your revenue (and the potential loss of it if your DIY site collapses in on itself unexpectedly). Otherwise, do your homework and read reviews from the users of the various themes and frameworks you're considering. Contact the positive reviewers directly to determine how closely your level of skill and comfort with WordPress resembles theirs. That's important, because what I can do comfortably with WordPress (after a decade of building custom themes from scratch) will be very different from someone who's only comfortable using the theme customizer. Sorry if this is a little overwhelming; this is a big topic with a lot of pitfalls and challenges down every path. It ultimately comes down to whether you'd rather spend time or money to solve problems, and which will ultimately end up costing you more. If you'd like to go into the specifics of any of this, or if you want to discuss your theme in particular, hit me up for a call. Good luck!

You can raise money for 2 online businesses with the same parent at the same time. The term sheet and closing documents need to be crystal clear regarding the ownership and rights. If the parent company pays compensation for any of the employees that work on the 2 online businesses, a management agreement may make sense to outline the percentage of time allocation. I have seen this arrangement in many situations and the "if" - compensation - is one of many "ifs", you should think through when deciding if you should raise money with the existing legal entities or set up new one(s). You do need to make certain the arrangement is transparent and clear to all or disputes can slow the progress of the business. Please feel free to schedule a call if you would like to discuss the arrangement you have in mind.

We can help. Send me a message with your email and the URLs you're looking at fixing and I'll shoot you over a quick consulting contract.