Hi, even if you hired a sales executive you would need to give them training on your product so they could effectively sell it. And even then the person would ideally need to know the best way to sell it, as not all sales executives are good at building the sales process itself. The idea thing for you to do in my mind, is sell that yourself, or hire a sales consultant to help you build the process. You will pay more in the short term for a cinsultant, but the sales should make that money back. Once you are accutley aware of how to best get leads and covert them, you can hire sales staff and have them refine it. By that point you should have some income to be able to pay them Base+. It is likely you could get commission only sales folks, but in order to do that they need certainty that you at a minimum know how to sell your own product and they can spend the time working for you and making enough money doing so.

Hi: Good job tackling this important exercise. There are many entrepreneurs who shy away from it. That said, if you're in the US, check out SCORE (https://www.score.org/). The organization has chapters around the country or you can connect virtually. This is the perfect type of project for their counselors. If you wish to discuss, send me a PM through Clarity for 15 free minutes. Cheers, Kerby

Hi. There are several proven approaches you can test to see what is more effective to your specific public. I can elaborate them better after getting some further details about your marketing strategy. ------------------------------------------- 1. Turn subscribers into affiliates ------------------------------------------- Just offer a discount or any other benefit which your subscribers would appreciate. Such tracking is easy to do with affiliate ready-made tools. This strategy is very powerful. A good example is the Dropbox case: they grew 3900% in 15 months mainly by giving extra free space to their affiliates and referred users. ------------------------------------------- 2. Are you using lead magnets? ------------------------------------------- Whichever is the medium you are reaching your potential subscribers, make sure to tease them properly, by giving a freebie (PDF, webinar or whatever) in exchange to their precious emails. ----------------------------------------------- 3. How exactly is your free content? ----------------------------------------------- Either it is a lead magnet, blog article, video, each piece of free content you provide has 3 purposes: 1) To provide value to the prospect. 2) To establish your authority. 3) To drive prospects towards action. Just think about the biggest immediate problem your ideal prospects might have, mapping out ONE thing they must do to solve it. Remember to put your focus solely on that one thing, being as specific as possible. In the end, promote your paid subscription. Then make several freebies like this covering different topics. ------------------------- 4. Paid advertising ------------------------- I would recommend you to run ads targeting prospects with specific job titles and/or from specific industries etc, on LinkedIn and Facebook. Yes, I said Facebook. I know top millionaire professionals reaching 7-figure serious clients with Facebook Ads with great success (best example I know: Frank Kern). You can run lead-generation ads, using lead magnets as I've described above. --------------------------------- 5. What about YouTube? --------------------------------- Besides the high search volume within YouTube, their hosted videos have a high relevance on Google searches (especially because they are own by Google). The main difference in the YouTube strategy is that your prospect will start the interaction seeing your content rather than first giving their email to then see the content. A workaround is to talk about the subject mentioning they can download a PDF with the framework to solve the problem. So when they click on the link in your video description you're gonna collect their emails. -------------------------------------------------- 6. How is your marketing automation? -------------------------------------------------- The vast majority of people who receive our marketing messages say no. That's just the human nature, no matter how skilled we are. That's why we have to track non-converted prospects and bring them back with a smart approach. Nowadays we have several ways of tracking prospects behaviour in order to divert them to specific funnels according to their interactions, such as: who opened or not the email, watched the webinar, watched only X% of it, downloaded or not a PDF etc. -------------------------------- 7. Get a qualified coach -------------------------------- Just give me a call and I can coach you on any of above proven strategies, so that we can draw a marketing plan tailored to your own goals and niche. Best regards, Carlos.

"Is content marketing the right direction for our ecommerce business?" Yes. It takes a lot time and work, but it can be worth every minute. It's a method of utilizing SEO: letting Google drive searchers to your website when they search for phrases related to your business. Movoto wrote a great piece that explains the thinking behind using Content Marketing, and how they took their blog from 2,000 views per month to over 18,000,000 in 2 years. Here’s the home run that exemplifies the thinking behind content as a marketing initiatve: >Our first thought isn’t, “Oh, this will be cool” or “This would fit perfectly on The Atlantic” or “This will soooo go viral.” No, our first thought is, “Is there an audience out there that will link back to us?”< Audience first. Whatever content you publish has to reach and resonate with the right audience. ————— "What's is the best way for your suggestion to move forward into content marketing?" Figure out who you want to reach and what they care about. Then create videos, graphics, and written text (blog posts or educational resources) that appeal to those users. Then you have to promote it. "Publish and pray" doesn't work. Andy Crestodina at Orbit Media famously said "It’s not the best content, but the best PROMOTED content that wins." But that's a separate question altogether. Hope that helps! Please reach out to me here on Clarity if I can provide any more answers for you. Good luck!

Crowdfunding for startups is a difficult task if there isn't a tangible product at hand currently. If he kept the funding on a personal level and only involved family and friends, then it could work, but that opens pandora's box of "borrowing" money from people you have a non-business connection to.

Hi , I think I can help you in Metatrader , If I have more Info about requirements for your strategy , From your question if I understand right you based on some entry signal you want to build multiple entry positions with different lots size till exposition of a trend and gradually close (exit) the position and also your entry must have different lot size based on signal strength (MA(50,100,200) or/and MACD) or something else

Hi: Sounds promising. Something to remember, however, is that a VC who invests in a series B round has different objectives than an angel investor, a seed investor and perhaps even in investor in a series A round. If one of the B round investors in that other company has been with that company through all of those stages, they may be a candidate for you to approach, but if they're only in at the B level, you may not interest them at this time. That said, it may not hurt to chat with a B round investor to get on their radar. They may even point you to an earlier stage investor colleague. That should be part of the prioritization exercise you take with your potential investor pool. Before you approach any investor, however, get your story straight around differentiation and your company's unique approach to solving a marketplace problem. If you wish to discuss, send me a PM through Clarity for 15 free minutes. Cheers, Kerby

From an identity and branding standpoint, it sounds like your operations in the two states provide the same product or service to the same target demographic. Thus, they should stay as a unified brand as far as your look and feel, including logo, website, business cards, and social media. It's not unusual for companies to co-locate. This is partially a legal question, so be sure to contact your accountant and lawyer about the matter. However, it would be helpful to learn more about what your startup does in order to best solve your dilemma, including how location-dependent the service is. Would you like to set up a call so that we can dive into the issue further?

I have lived and worked both in Dubai and Bahrain and done business and help set up branches all across the GCC - also known as the Arabian Gulf. Firstly, let me commend you on having boots on the ground in trying to sell your product in this part of the world. Its really tough to sell a software product from afar unless you are so unique that customers are going to be forced to listen. I assume you have competitors. Dubai is usually where most multi national companies set up their regional head quarters and there are very good reasons for that. Namely easy set up, great infrastructure and desirable living conditions for your personnel. However its not inexpensive to both set up as well as operate in. Bahrain is a less expensive place to operate with good infrastructure, hungry job seekers and easy access by road to the Saudi market. If you have researched which country may be your primary target market - its usually one of the two - UAE or Saudi, then take your pick: Bahrain or UAE. Oman is also not too difficult to set up a branch but without significant investment, setting up in the other Gulf countries is more challenging. Travel connections are easy except for the recent rift with Qatar. Feel free to set up a call with me to get more detailed answers to any questions you may have.

You can base your business in mostly referrals, however, if you want to grow substantially, you should use some paid advertising to boost your revenue. It all really depends on how much you want to grow and how fast. If you are alone as an architect without staff, then referrals are a good place to begin since you can only take on so many projects at any given time. -Richard

Looks like you have already defined your ideal customer; Next You need to find out where the potential students spend their time - Online & Physically - and meet them there. I'll start with the option, which I think has the most potential: and the answer is NOT online - do not underestimate the value of networking; going to meetup's - interest clubs - sticking adverts on buildings, bus stops etc. with little rip-off pieces. Online: - do they spend time on facebook? probably the most undervalued forms of marketing - quora - you can do a very narrow targeting through Google Ads, but you did mention a very low budget. Hope this helps Sylvia

Hi, I was once in such an environment. The company had an interesting way of dealing with the slowdown... they sold vacation time. Here's how it worked (and it may only help you in 2019) If you know you don't need a full complement of staff in the last weeks of the year, offer your employees the chance to take an extra week of vacation in that time which will be unpaid. However, if they do want a paycheck, they can 'buy a week of vacation' by deducting 1/51st of a week's pay from each week's pay over the course of the year. So a person who earns $1000/wk would have $19.61 taken off each week's pay in order to get a paycheck on the week which is essentially an unpaid absence. The money just goes back and forth. The effect though is that your labor cost is cut in the slow period of the year. People get excited about their extra vacation week. Happiness and fun fill the air in the lead-up to 'vacation time.' Hope that helps. dave www.DavidCBarnett.com

I've watched different companies struggle with customer acquisition, and I myself struggled with it. I doesn't matter if its a physical product, a service or an app. Attention costs a lot of money, usually more than we can afford. Paid acquisition should never be your main driver of new users, it will almost never pay for itself on its own. The only way to create a sustainable business is to have enough organic growth. I would suggest using your marketing budget not on generating direct sales but rather on cultivating channels that can grow organically. There are many ways you can achieve this. Some tactics that are commonly used: Offer free products in exchange for "honest" reviews (https://www.amazon.com/gp/vine/help). Find influencers (read people that are active on social media) that might have interest in your product, in your case - outdoor people - hikers, travelers, etc. Send them free samples, ask them to recommend it to their users if they like the product. Another avenue I would suggest exploring is going to B2B or B2B2C. Camps & resorts for example would be places that probably have interest in product. Reach out to them, send them free samples. Offer them to purchase it, or to sell it in their gift stores. I would be happy to discuss this further, answer questions and offer more advice. Good luck, Ron

Hey, This is a great question that can be answered with many answers. Simply, and as cliche as it is, it is to believe in yourself and promote your true self. Simon Sinek wrote a book called "Start with WHY" and it is about finding out WHY you do things and start with telling people why you do things instead of what you do. Mostly everyone promotes WHAT they do and HOW they are different from everyone else who does the same thing they do. I firmly believe Sinek is correct when he says to start with telling people WHY you do what you do then tell them how you do it. Once you start to apply this to everyday life, you will notice yourself become different from your peers. It will be subtle but this is a way to stay true to who you are and what you believe and you can be a leader with that. Good luck

I'm a buyer and not a shopper so I've already decided I'm going to purchase before I'm in front of a salesperson. Prior to choosing to buy I ask; Do I want this? Do I need this? Can I afford it? I've already done my research and know what price is fair. What makes me say yes is based on convenience and whether or not I like the person selling me. What is the path of least resistance for me the buyer? Is the salesperson genuine and do they actually care about helping me? As a salesperson, I always strive to take as much off my client's plate as possible and it's very easy to "sell" to someone who likes you.

It would run more smoothly if there were fewer people in the communication chain HOWEVER do not connect your client direct to the developers. 1) clients will casually "remember" things that need to be added and go direct to the developers with their requests, which will cut into your margins 2) developers that you don't have air-tight contracts with will negotiate direct with the client and cut you out - make no mistake about it, you could have a great relationship with the client but business is business Do NOT mention the development partner name anywhere. The client is not signing an agreement with, or contracting with them - it is with YOU so the agreement needs to be with you. Unless you are planning to reverse the relationship and become an affiliate of the development company, you need to touch all the money. Why would you allow your valuable clients (assets) to be managed in any way by someone that isn't your company?

Hello, thanks for ask. Well, in the Web are specialized sites for coders, developers and testers. I reccomend you the three I consider best for your searching: 1.Toptal: It matches the a good percentage of freelance developers with employers. Based on your project description, you will be matched with the developer most suited for the job. You will then have two weeks to decide if they are right for you. 2. Matchist: This site connects top freelance developers with entrepreneurs and startups. You submit your project, and they will give you three great developers from which to choose. Matchist accepts only 15 percent of developer applicants to their network. 3. Guru: Guru allows you to look for specific services and people who provide them. These include general programming, language-specific programming, software, and management. I hope this info would be useful for you. Greetings.

Hi: Congrats on arriving at this important juncture in your business. Regardless of how you decide to compensate the development team (or any other employees/contractors), your most valuable asset at this point is your vision -- rallying others around conquering a big, broad challenge is stickier than cranking out code for a platform/app. Otherwise, please know that raising money will take longer than you anticipate, via either the crowdfunding route or the angel investor path. What is your plan for the period where you are developing the product but have received $0? Lastly, I can't tell if you have an MVP, but if you don't yet, consider one of the many low-cost hacks that others have had success with -- presenting even a rudimentary version of your solution is easier than pitching a dream. If you wish to discuss, send me a PM through Clarity for 15 free minutes. Cheers, Kerby

Hello, thanks for ask. Well, in the Web are specialized sites for coders, developers and testers. I reccomend you the three I consider best for your searching: 1.Toptal: It matches the a good percentage of freelance developers with employers. Based on your project description, you will be matched with the developer most suited for the job. You will then have two weeks to decide if they are right for you. 2. Matchist: This site connects top freelance developers with entrepreneurs and startups. You submit your project, and they will give you three great developers from which to choose. Matchist accepts only 15 percent of developer applicants to their network. 3. Guru: Guru allows you to look for specific services and people who provide them. These include general programming, language-specific programming, software, and management. I hope this info would be useful for you. Greetings.

Jon Loomer has an excellent library of resource that can help you: https://www.jonloomer.com/tag/facebook-custom-audiences/

Hello: Sounds like you have some pieces in place, which is good. To get the rest secured, consider the following: * Develop a financing plan that encompasses how the money you raise will drive your business' growth as well as how much you need - it sounds like your initial approach fell a bit short. * Explore borrowing options through community banks, credit unions, microlenders or other places that help earlier stage businesses and usually offer lower interest rates than credit cards. * On the investment side, really think through your needs - weigh buying vs. leasing and new vs. used, in addition to prioritizing your equipment from must-have to nice-to-have. If you wish to discuss, send me a PM through Clarity for 15 free minutes. Cheers, Kerby

This is a very large matter, of course. It needs thorough investigation, otherwise would be a grandiose waste of money and time and will lead to a failure. I have business experience in Western Europe, Eastern Europe, Middle East and Central Asia. And I am convinced, whatever is well working in one place, doesn't work mandatory well in other places. Provided, it is not about any international brand of electronic gadgets, construction machines, power generators or fashion clothes. As you say to "set up branding business", obviously you mean to set up a new brand. In that case, first I advise if you are not African, find somebody lived for long and last years there. Local mentality and culture' knowledge is the most important factor. There are tons of investigations, reports, etc. from banks, agencies, companies or private investigators. Those can be supportive to you. But the main support shall be from a local person, he/she will explain to you the culture. And there is the starting point of your business. all the best Val

Video production is in super high demand and a great lucrative niche! I would start by building up your social media channels with your work. Showing off your skills. Demonstrating your value consistently. Next find brands that get you motivated and offer them a free video for their brand. You will find 9 outta 10 brands are always looking for high quality video. Study their social media channels and if they are not using a lot of videos odds are they dont have a source of good video production. Offering the free video will show your skills, help the brand and make them want to hire you (if you are good) and also can also go viral. Make sure to watermark the free video. From there you just have to seal the deal with those brand and then you can start using them as a reference to your clients and that will surely help attract high paying clients. I have lots of other ideas here too. If you need my help along the way Im just a call away.

Chiropractors often sell supplements to drive revenue in their business. They're capped out like dentists and tradespeople on the hours they can crack backs (or 'drill and fill' as the dentists do), so supplements are a great complimentary product that doesn't eat time to fulfill. You'll see a bunch of them and doctors getting into CBD oil now. Their client base already has trust in them so these recommendations are easy to swallow heh heh. Be looking for your version of supplements in the architectural field. Something complimentary, that your clientele already trusts you about, that you can earn a recurring income on while not using up more of your time. One advantage I see them having over you is I presume they see more people in a day. What can you do to increase the number of people you see in a day, to leverage your "architect authority" and drive the income stream of the complimentary product or service? Could be as easy as loans: helping people rent money from your position as a professional. Food for thought.

Create a simple logo in photoshop using a font. Zero cost. But, it's worth hiring a designer. If you don't know any, just hit the #logodesign hashtag on instagram and DM the one you liked most and offer the money you have.