You can really introduce a subscription model in the beginning. This would mean you could have a free model and a subscription model. You would have to make the subscription model more robust than the free one in order for people to want to subscribe but the free model could at least help you to build up your list of subscribers by signing up for your newsletter.

Ask your parents. I know that sounds glib, but honestly in today's rich technology access landscape you should be able to build a prototype of anything for free or at least under $50. In many cases you don't even need to know how to code. Here are some examples: SiteGround - Wordpress hosting plan: $3.95/mo Install Wordpress: Free Web template: Free (or spend a few bucks at Elegant Themes - I love them) Add WP tools: Free mostly, some cost a tiny bit Need a DB for CRM, planning, scheduling, other? You don't even need to know how to create one or connect it. Airtable. I could go on and on. Chatbots, marketing tools, selling/ecom, webinar tools, etc. Nobody but your mother will pay you to do what anyone else with a spoonful of hustle will do on their own. That said, once you do have a prototype THEN you have something that could be interesting to angel or seed level VC investors. And we can really get into how to succeed at that. If you have more questions, let's setup a call. I've built a LOT of prototypes. I've built and run 3 startups. I mentor founders almost every day of the week. I can help.

Any specific service category has its own unique areas that you can add value to your customers/potential customers. But what every industry is advice, just like you're seeking. Without needing to be an industry expert on a subject.. most sales reps will have a broader knowledge base on many topics than your customers. Being able to get simple questions answered and get a baseline of info on certain areas is hugely valuable to everyone. In my industry (animal care), being able to offer customers a 90 second-5 minute conversation with some advice on a minor problem takes minimal time out of my day.. but can add a ton of valuable in their life.

To a large extent, the skills required to develop an app have become commoditized over the past few years. Also available, are a large number of templates to kickstart app development (specially games). That being said there are some key issues which differentiate successful apps: User Acquisition: - Organic - Paid (at a price that gives best ROI). Sustained Development: - Ability of the developer to consistently make changes based on user feedback. I think that app development really starts after the first version is released to the market. Customer Support: - How well can the developer interact with customer and build a community. These are my immediate thoughts.

In this order: 1. Track record 2. identification with your app 3. Personal fit with you 4. Location 5. Costs

As an current investors and former Chief Strategist of Metroclick one of the largest interactive touchscreen & kiosks suppliers in the states. It's very easy to lease the equipment, the more important questions is the reason behind the use of the equipment. Also the location of the kiosks test market is extremely important for a successful market test. The team at Metroclick offers customize equipment and kiosks software developer for your specific niched market. I can assist you in this endeavor, please setup for an quick 15 minute call so I can discover the scope of this project and connect you with the right development team for this project.

The most important thing to understand is your audience, or rather your target customer. In the beginning, it can be a bit overwhelming to all of a sudden tackle half a dozen social media platforms and do them all well. Focus on just one or two platforms where you know your ideal customers are. For example, if you're building a saas product for techies, get your butt on Twitter and engage with anyone and everyone who's commenting on related hashtags or other Twitter-ers. Twitterites. If you're producing high-end physical products that look awesome in photos, post daily on Instagram and get people to oogle at your Instagram feed. Of course you should still claim your business name on all the platforms just in case, but focus on a few. Use tools like Hootsuite, MeetEdgar, IFTTT, and Zapier to help you automate some of the posting process. Just don't cheap out on your content ;)

First of all, it sounds like you have a great idea with a positive impact. To your question: Make sure to include a chat option in whatever page you have clicked-through from your PPC. In addition, what information are you able to capture on your landing page (that I presume clicks through)? I'd highly recommend including a phone number. Whatever info you do capture, make sure to follow up as soon as possible (within 10 minutes ideally). I'm happy to share more next steps from here.

In my experience a technical co-founder's primary responsibilities are to be a visionary first, a hacker second and a manager third. first you recruit a tech co-founder to help visioneer what your product can, will and should do. then you have them support the one key part of the development process (prioritizing around the area of the technology with complexities or is part of your secret sauce) and then that person also manages whatever internal or external developers/technicians that are needed to launch or sale the product. Personally I think the evolution of the IT support model is better positioned as an "AND" play - meaning you find a competent technical partner that is cost accessible, scalable and reliable in terms of experience with similar startups and products. From there you continually look for a good fit CTO/tech co-founder and if you discover them early that is excellent, but do not force the issue (it is easier to scale down or replace a third party vendor, an equity holder not so much.) Over the last 12 years my firm has helped 300+ entrepreneurs over thousands of projects plan, build, launch and scale their applications (all told raising about $700M in venture financing). So I've seen pretty much ever permutation of co-founder/CTO/product manager you can imagine in the startup space through the lens of my software development company. So if you'd like to connect and chat about how best to plan out the road ahead feel free to reach out.

Map the industry down to individual level. Talk. Verify your idea. Have a good pitch ready. Regarding documents: 1. webpage with clear UVP and CTA 2. one liner for the "aha" moment 3. one pager pitch - number focussed. 4. three pager pitch - if the one pager was interesting. 5. blog posts, long content for people to dive in.

You have to create a sorto of demo or a video of how it works, and give a free trial. Then use facebook ads, or adwords, or native ads to do lead generation in order to acquire your potential customers. Use the leads generated by exporting them in facebook ads to create a lookalike audience to reinforce the lead generation strategies. Give to this lead in exchange of their mail a trial of your product, and then with DAILY EMAILS pith che product by showing how this is suitable to their needs, ASK THEM QUESTIONS through a survey and create different funnels depend on the answers they give.

I would absolutely suggest a content-focused marketing strategy. development of white papers, blogs and other SEO-rich materials which are actively managed and cultivated will pay dividends over the long haul along with any offline or other activities you want to consider. A lot of people hesitate to go down the content marketing route because of cost, but there are several "accessible" options as far as rates out there. Start first with having a technology partner do research into your competitive space, make suggestions on phrases/keywords to target, then create a framework and timeline for rolling out this content and how best to deliver it. My firm launches these quick sprint portal/framework engagements all the time and they dont have to break the bank in my experience. FWIW I would avoid Medium and stick with your own custom branded theme. establish your brand as the expert and have your own portal to engage potential clients (plus you can control your conversion funnel much easier that way with cool add-ons like IM chat, email submissions, newsletter signups etc.) There are a few other intermediary strategies likely worth considering as well (targeting connectors or people who are also targeting this group but are not directly competing, like say attorneys who specialize in international corporation formations, or accountants perhaps.) There are opportunities like that which would certainly be good to look into.

After founding one company on my own, and co-founding several others with teams, I've written and spoken extensively on this topic - it's an under-recognized risk and challenge of entrepreneurship. You can read one of my more popular articles at http://lp.co/perspective, but I'll summarize it here... Entrepreneurship can be a very lonely endeavor. Even when you have others on your team, no one else is in quite the same "boat" that you are. Looking to other entrepreneurs for support can be deceptive. Most entrepreneurs are always "on" - showing only the best side of their business - and it's easy to understand why. As an entrepreneur, you're constantly selling yourself and your company to potential customers, employees, and investors. As a result, you compare yourself with others who are only showing their best side (and only sharing the good news), while you know that your own pursuit is a daily struggle. Raising money (if you are going that route) is an exercise in perpetual rejection. It's a real test of your self confidence to be told over and over why your idea won't work and isn't worth an investment. If you're not raising money, you may deal with this same challenge when trying to find your initial customers or employees. I've found three primary ways to counteract these forces and stabilize my own perspective: 1. Find some peer entrepreneurs with whom you can build some truly deep and transparent relationships, where the masks come off. Share your insecurities and vulnerabilities with them, and allow them to do the same. 2. Find mentors, advisors, and coaches who have experienced the same ups-and-downs you are facing. Listen to their stories, soak up their wisdom, and most of all, realize and remind yourself that they survived it, and so can you. 3. Recalibrate your perspective by taking time off to help others who are less fortunate than you are. Volunteer with an organization that supports a cause that you care about. The side effect of focusing on others is that you will be reminded that the challenges you are facing are not the worst problems in the world.

There are a lot of options out there for you to explore when launching your new eCommerce site (ranging from utilizing an open source/self-guided platform to hiring an agency to build a completely custom web experience.) But before you think of the "how", make sure and be spend a considerable amount of time around the "whos" and "whats" of your new eCommerce business. The type of platform, plugins (including dropshipping) and tools you need to be aligned before launching your new store largely depends on the type of product or service you are selling and who are you planning to sell it to. My company has helped launch hundreds of new ecommerce/marketing sites over last 12 years and without fail businesses who strategically and in a detailed fashion map out who their target market is (and calibrate the front end of their eCommerce platform accordingly) as well as think through the nuances of their production/manufacturing/supply cycle (and have their back office tools be congruent with those nuances) are far more likely to succeed. So in order to answer which plugs and which platform/agency i would start with a detailed laying out of all the factors that impact your business specifically and begin to work your way back to start answering some of those questions. With the entrepreneurs/site owners I work with there is a list of questions you can go through and answer as a starting point, but they most resolve around the areas you'd imagine (target market, growth goals, whether or not there is an existing business attached to it, offline sales, digital and content marketing needs, budget/timeline etc.) Best of luck and feel free to reach out if you'd like to discuss any items in greater detail!

What you're talking about is starting a business with the first customer already identified. You could even make the sale and sign a contract before you start. This is a great way to reduce the risk in doing something new. For added advantage, see what you might do to recycle the systems and efforts created for this business to the benefit of other clients. Then you get something that can really grow. If you'd like to brainstorm, set up a call. Dave

One of the tried and true methods for finding a winning idea boils down to finding a common problem and providing or building a solution for it. Step 1: Find a specific demographic of people/businesses. (Ex: Accounting Firms in Chicago, Sushi Restaurants in California, Small Advertising Firms in Nebraska). Step 2: Conduct 20-50-100 short interviews with willing people who fall within that demographic. Ask them a standard set of questions involving their day-to-day operations, their challenges, their roadblock/bottlenecks etc. Step 3: Ask if they'd be open to you coming back to them a few weeks with some ideas on saving time/money or solving those problems. Step 4: Find the most common problems, and decide on one, or a small subset of them to tackle. Optimize a solution, then return to those people you've interviewed with a proposed solution. Step 5: Give them a timeline for when you can have a first demo/MVP (minimum viable product) by. Once you have this, have them commit to 3 months of your service and see how it goes. Step 6: Prepare the roll-out, and build out full functionality now that you have the money to do it with.

The best step is to look at things in your everyday life, and figure out what are the pain points, or what can run smoother. Your best chance to get a business idea isn't from something that you know nothing about (for instance, I'm sure there are great ideas to start businesses in aircraft production, but I know nothing about that industry, so I wouldn't know). What's going on in your world that seems like it could be easier? Think about everything you do on a daily basis and look for improvements. Then think through your head what those might look like. If you'd like to chat through this process, let me know!

The entire point of an expert network is to have the best and brightest answer industry specific, or even company specific related issues. A standardized platform with canned answers may be useful for cursory topics. However, the customers who pay for experts from the expert network community want very detailed information that cannot simply be produced by a streamlined response.

Use Facebook insight. There is a feature in facebook that you can use to identify your potential customer and i'm revealing you a simple trick. Choose a 'public figure' of your niche: as an example if you are a personal trainer you can choose a very known name, then go to facebook insight, in the business manager, and put the name of him. If it's very well known, probably he has a fan page or something, so Facebook will display you the identikit of the people interested. They go VERY IN DEEP: you can see how much they earn, what is the average family, where they live etc Write down these datas. You can use it further also for paid ads.

Would rather suggest you focus on current buyers and either table a deal you expect to them or walk away and then solicit other bids...See two prev messages re soliciting bids.

Surprised PPC wasn't good. What did you try and how long? Did you use things the target market already likes, such as magazines or public figures, as a starting point? One of the most powerful things you can concentrate on as a marketer is bringing around the prospect to your point of view. I do a lot of this with my clients: the prospect arrives with curiosity but does not know what "the thing" is, why it matters, or how they could use it. An educational course entertains and explains, and often gets used as a revenue generator. The product/service is positioned as essential to the prospect. Then the offer is made. Much better conversion rates. Articles and ebooks require people to read. Many don't like reading (I do, but I'm in the minority.) What are you doing with video as a marketing tool? Have you asked in your group what the members would say if explaining the idea to a friend? What the biggest problem it solves for them is? Getting the target market to explain in their own words what's up...and then using those exact same words in your copy...works wonders on marketing material. Unfortunately, most business owners and product creators have The Curse of Knowledge and believe the reasons *they* would use or buy the thing are the reasons everyone else would. Not the case.

Without knowing what you're doing, it is hard to tell you how to improve it. Discounting SEO strategy and PPC because of low search volumes is kind of throwing the baby out with the bathwater, likely, *someone* is searching for your services (otherwise, perhaps it is time to consider a new service). If the market is enough to justify your entire business plan, there is enough to justify a targeted marketing plan. I'm happy to discuss the details and learn more of what you have done, and are doing now, to attract traffic - then offer suggestions on how to improve. All the best, -Shaun

In general, your database has value. Probably very little, but value, nonetheless. It would have considerably more value if you revived it and were able to prove that you had a viable business and active user base. While there are investors who buy dormant businesses, you'll find a much larger buyer pool if you have a turnkey business. All the best, -Shaun

Finding a coach is easy - there are many of them out there. Finding the right coach is the challenge. There are several factors to consider: Working with a coach that has similar experience in their background is not absolutely necessary, but can be very valuable. Having someone that can truly understand what you're trying to accomplish, and can empathize with the challenges you face, will help smooth communication. Coaching skills are equally important, though. Many experienced business people position themselves as "coaches", but they aren't actually very skilled at coaching - they're more likely to tell you what *they* would do, rather than truly help you dig deep and find the right answer for yourself. The result is that you end up pursuing your version of someone else's goal, or someone else's version of your goal. Neither is totally fulfilling. "Fit" is also really important. Personality, communication style, sense of humor... - these all factor in to the quality of a coaching relationship, and are very personal and unique to each coach. Take the time to meet several potential coaches and see who you connect with. Also, don't ever feel bad about saying "this just isn't working". I used to be very skeptical of coaching as a profession, for a number of reasons. Once I found the right coach, though, the experience was transformational for me, and pivotal to my success as an entrepreneur. I'd be happy to have a conversation to determine if there's a "fit". I work with dozens of entrepreneurs, having been one myself for over 12 years. I'm not right for everyone, though. You have to make that determination for yourself.

Unless you are trying to rank for /"country"/, it does not matter for search engine optimization purposes. If you are using a CMS like WordPress, you can actually edit these categories and tags in bulk. It would take approximately 2 minutes. All the best, -Shaun