Business Strategist & Conversion Expert
Meet them at industry trade shows. This gives you the opportunity to see them in action in your field, how they present (in the psychological sense more than the sales step sense), and to spend some time in person with them. After all, you can ask them to lunch or dinner after you've spoken with them for a bit at the show. Find out their attitude towards the show: do they resent being there (why? If it's taking valuable time away from prospects they've already qualified, that's a good reason. If they're bored and the company told them they had to attend, that's a bad reason). What do they like about their current role? Dislike? Look for a match-up to your situation. Don't expect an instant leap. If they do, that's likely a warning--they'll be quick to jump from you, too, later on. Just give them something to think about...and let it work on them. If they really are dissatisfied with their current role, they'll get back to you. People buy from people, and remember that you are selling something here.
Software Development
3
Answers
Engineering Leader | Coach
I have used Keynote on the mac for most of my prototyping needs. I help teams come up with a really cheap prototype as part of the design thinking experience and we have used keynote for both desktop and mobile prototypes. It supports clickable actions and some amount of animation with magic move. Here is a great video from WWDC 2014 where they talk about the how. https://developer.apple.com/videos/play/wwdc2014/223/ If you need help, give me a call.
Founder @ MotivLeads - Paid Media Pro
Engaging and communicating with your prospects is a sure way to build rapport and increase brand awareness in your local area. For a chiropractor, returning clients are typically the largest revenue stream. I would focus on reaching out to past clients and provide a compelling offer to get them in for another visit. If you are seeking to build new business, I highly recommend that you consider paid social initiatives (aka running Facebook ads). With a proper Facebook ad campaign targeting the right people, with the right message, at the right time, you are in a great position to quickly generate leads.
Serial Entrepreneur, Host of Entrepreneur Hour
From everything I've seen, 20-35% is definitely the sweet spot. It certainly depends on the price point and some people start lower but build in incentive criteria to bump the percentage up after a certain milestones have been met.
Tax Attorney
It depends on why you're going to IL. To be deductible the expense has to be ordinary and necessary to that trade or business. If there's a legitimate business reason then maybe, there are still limitations on how long you can live somewhere before it becomes your tax home. You're going to need to elevate this question to a tax attorney so you can go over it in detail.
Blockchain-DeFi-NFT-DAO-Solidity Mentor
Congrats on the success you have achieved in just 3 years! That's statistically uncommon and reveals that the initial focus of the company was effective and worth reviving. Yes, it must be frustrating to feel like you are the only one carrying the company uphill. I've been in a similar position. First, I suggest you take responsibility for the position you currently find yourself in. It's easy to cast blame on people and circumstances outside of yourself. It's the most common first reaction. If you really think about it though, you will realize that where you are did not appear overnight. Every day for the past 3 years you have either consciously or unconsciously agreed to move towards where you are now. By doing that you are no longer a victim of circumstances and can move forward from a place of power. As the primary producer in the company you do have the leverage however, you also need a pro-active plan to promote using that leverage and it needs to be something that benefits everyone involved. First of all I would check your perspective on the whole situation by calling a meeting of stakeholders to recalibrate the company vision. The idea here is to get everyone to tell you what they see as the primary problems with the company right now and where they each would like to see things improve. You need to see what everyone else is seeing not only what you are seeing. This meeting in and of itself might change your perspective entirely. If it reveals nothing that profoundly changes your view then move on to the next step. If you are the star salesperson then you have a method by which you get results. Try creating a sales training program out of that method and then go to the team and present this training plan. There are books and resources online on how to create a sales training plan like this. The goal is to duplicate and systematize how you achieve your above average results. Frame the plan as a way to get all the other team member goals accomplished. Whatever those goals are, inevitably they will require more money. By using your leverage as the star salesperson and taking the initiative to create a program that will effectively create more star salespeople then you are bound to create more revenue for the company. This way your goal is a means to an end for everyone else's goals. This way you get unanimous buy-in. Set a goal of 8 weeks or so to implement this training across the enterprise. Provide bonuses and other incentives to participants to achieve this goal as well as longer term sales increase goals. Create company-wide perks for achieving these long-term sales goals. Maybe a retreat somewhere awesome? You get the picture. The idea is to create a win-win situation for everyone to get going in a positive direction that will, in the end, alleviate your present problem as well as achieve a greater success for everyone involved. Hope that helps. Best of luck!
Product strategy, growth, UX, & customer research
I've used UserTesting (and its service Peek), as well as other user behavior analysis tools like HotJar, Crazy Egg, etc. To answer your questions: 1. Do you use such services? If so, what do you choose? // I use them to either confirm or reject hypotheses I have about my product's/business' performance metrics, and gain ideas as to how I could improve them. Best example: my team's goal was to increase the %age of users successfully making it through our onboarding process. We collected a handful of videos via UserTesting, and gained dozens of insights into ways we could simplify and clarify the process - and it resulted in a significant jump in our conversion rate. 2. How you choose it? // Being in the web/UX design industry for a while, I'd heard of them before (via following relevant Twitter hashtags and UX blogs), and mentally bookmarked them until we had a need. Did a quick price comparison first with other similar services, then decided to pull the trigger. My primary decision criteria were: 1. How much is it? 2. How quickly can we get back data/results, and 3. Are we able to find good-quality, targeted participants that are similar to the kinds of users we're going after? 3. What was the main problem of using such services? // I don't think we were able to find exactly the types of participants we needed, but we had pretty specific criteria our first time around. Once we relaxed our requirements a bit, things were smooth from that point onwards. This was probably a couple years ago, though, so I would imagine their pool of participants has expanded significantly in breadth, diversity and available targeting criteria since then. 4. If you didn't use it, tell me please why? 5. Will you use such services in future? // Yep, absolutely. It's one thing to look at the analytics to try and figure out why people aren't doing what you want them to do in your app/on your site; it's a whole other thing to *actually see* what individual users are doing, and hear their rationale in real-time. I hope that helps - feel free to gimme a call if you have any other questions! ~Jason
Fractional CTO
You must be very careful about this type of loan, as doing this wrong can have profound tax effects. This is called imputed interest penalty. So the IRS can determine a loan was paid back incorrectly + ascribe some random interest rate, then require you pay back taxes + penalties on whatever rate they make up. Best way to deal with loans - Avoid any fancy nonsense. If you make a loan to your company, really make a loan. This means you have a note with market rate interest, so if you write a loan with 1% interest, this likely won't pass an audit. Make the loan match market rates you'd get at a bank for a similar loan. Also make sure your loan is less than usury rates in your state. For me, in Texas US, this is 18%, so if I write a loan to someone for more than 18%/year, I can end up in court via a suit brought by the state's attorney general. Summary: When making a long, make a real loan, with a correctly written promissory note. Exception: If you're using Transfer Pricing + locating your IP (intellectual property) in a different jurisdiction than where you pay tax, then you have many additional tax optimization strategies available. Real Example: Last time I checked, Google's IP is held by a Bermuda IDC + licensed to other countries for use. This means licensing agreements can be modified on the fly, to move any profits out of any country to Bermuda, where corporate tax rate is 0%... so profits can be expatriated to Bermuda, so no tax is paid.
Emerging Markets Entrepreneur & Investor
It's really impossible to answer this question without a fuller analysis of your specific tax situation. "Float between" won't be the terminology used in a tax treaty! That being said, we've attempted to distill down different incorporation options at Incorporations.IO which is a free comparison tool for looking at global incorporation. Also there are plenty of articles on our FlagTheory.com website which talk about tax residency, bank accounts, obligations in terms of reporting and more.
Mentor, Entrepreneur, Lawyer, Public Speaker
Hi The terms that you are describing our much more common in a founders/partnership agreement, and less common to an NDA. Either way, there are a few issues missing in the conditions that you described, 3 of the most important ones being (1) the waiver of Intellectual Property rights, (2) the separating/firing of a founder/contributor and (3) the fact that there is no such thing (in most countries) as a "volunteer" (unless your business is an old age home and the volunteer comes more or less when he wants). I've successfully helped over 300 entrepreneurs and I would be happy to help you. Good luck
Social Media Marketing
7
Answers
I help you buy, sell, plan, value a business
Hi, I've spent my career in Business to Business sales. If you're not willing to make sales calls or deal with clients yourself, there are really only two options: 1. Create an interface for order taking and rely on marketing efforts. 2. Figure out a way to pay others to make the sales calls for you. For option 1, think of all the sales pages online which pitch a product and then invite the reader to make a purchase. Different marketing efforts can be employed to drive traffic. If your service is in demand and at the right price point, people may choose to just sign up. It works for a lot of businesses. Option 2 involves making deals with salespeople. Do you know what the most loved words are in the world of sales? RESIDUAL INCOME. Find complementary service providers or salespeople who are not afraid to knock on doors and offer them a cut of the monthly fee... forever. Imagine how motivated a salesperson would be if every successful sale netted them $100/m. By the time they hit 100 sales, they'd be enjoying a nice income and so would you. Best of all, there is no limit to the number of people you can have working under this system... it scales. Arrange a call if you'd like to explore some ideas specific to your situation, I've helped other entrepreneurs get their client journey and sales processes in order. Thanks David Barnett www.InvestLocalBook.com
Business Strategist & Conversion Expert
Obviously you need to generate more leads. But then you need to segment your list. Your basic list are those leads who "come aboard" and want to know what's going on. Your qualified leads list are your potential buyers. Between the two, you need a gate. So, they come on your big list. Then they need to get something that qualifies them from being a basic prospect to being a qualified prospect. That puts them on the second list. Leads >> Qualifier >> Qualified Leads. What's the topic of your book? Qualify by things people have said in similar book reviews. This is a lot easier if you are doing non-fiction, but it's possible with fiction as well. In the reviews you'll see people saying things like, "I bought this book because..." What they say after that is the pain point. Use this language, as they wrote it, in your qualifier. For example, in a review for SPIN Selling, someone says, " I don't do "hit and run," one-time sales. Tom Hopkins and Zig Ziglar offer great tactics for those kind of salespeople, but they don't work for me." Another says, "...I had no idea how to sell professionally. I had already read a few books by Tom Hopkins, but felt he was targeting used-car salesmen types. It seems as though Hopkins' techniques relied on "closing" gimmicks when it came down to it. (I must say I did learn some good principles from Hopkins, but his gimmicky style is not for me.) I was instantly attracted to SPIN SELLING when I saw that (1) it was based on extensive research, and (2) it dealt primarily with the large sale. Since I want to start my own corporation after my MBA, and want to have Fortune-500 companies as my customers, I realized SPIN SELLING was for me." See the commonality? So if I was launching a solid B2B sales techniques book, I would make use of this language. First, I would attract them to my basic list with the promise of a corporate B2B sales book. Then, I would qualify further with language like, "Are you looking to build real relationships with your customers, instead of hit-and-run one-time sales tricks? Are you eager to understand the secrets of professional corporate selling?" A Call To Action would follow. Those who respond to this language are qualified leads, as salespeople in other situations would not resonate with that copy. How can you transfer what I've shown you here to your niche? If you're writing non-fiction, as I said, it should be straightforward. If it's fiction, then you can find similar stories and pull from the reviews for those...the things they say they like about the author's style (assuming yours is like theirs), the story structure, the excitement, the thought process, or whatever. Why not just go straight for the qualified leads? Because your net won't be big enough. Better to grab a whole lot of interested readers, which you can make use of later as well, and qualify from there.
USA Today bestselling, multi-award winning author.
Such a great question, and one that I spent a lot of time trying to figure out with the last four books that I published. There are several ways that marketing a book can be done, but only a few ways that make the process fairly simple and give you the results you want. Wattpad is a great way to test out your chapters and build a following online. When you create an account and profile with them you have the opportunity to publish your book one chapter at a time, two chapters at a time, or the whole book at a time. What you'll find as you build a following is people are anxiously waiting for you to publish new material, and you can easily direct them to any published works on Amazon and other platforms such as Kobo or B&N, You will still face the same challenges on Wattpad that you do on any other platform when it comes to building an audience, and growth can be slow, which is why I always recommend that you build a loyal list of subscribers so you have a built-in audience to promote to. I've sampled plenty of authors' newsletters, and many of them will offer sneak peeks and first chapters to their fans who are eagerly waiting for the author's next release. Not only does this engage their audience by asking them for feedback once they have read the sample chapters, but it builds buzz for the release of the book, and if your subscribers go so far as to share the chapters with others so much the better. Pre-testing chapters can also be done with a launch team or street team. This is a group of people who have signed up to review your ARC (Advance Reader Copies) and give you feedback on your latest works. They also help get the word out about your book through their social media accounts and through the reviews they leave for your books on Amazon, Goodreads, etc. My launch team does a stellar job of reading my books and having reviews ready to post on release day. This is how I am able to get up to sixty reviews within a week of a book's release. I also have a large mailing list of eager fans who want that next book. So my marketing always includes that built-in audience So yes! Pre-testing chapters on platforms that allow for this can get you some great exposure, but using this strategy with an actual list of loyal subscribers is a far better way to tackle that particular marketing strategy.
Business Development
3
Answers
Tech Entrepreneur and Crypto-investor
Dear SCM User, With SAP SCM if you know how it works, you could rise customer expectations, run increasingly complex supply networks, and achieve faster-than-fast responsiveness . The solution cover everything from demand planning to inventory management and use technologies such as the Internet of Things, RFID, and advanced analytics to help you run a real-time supply chain. If you are a noob in supply chain and mainly order I recommend you to do some crash courses provided my Udemy/Quora or stackoverflow e.g with focus in supply chain. With SCM software you can run a real-time supply chain but consider that the licences service is pretty expensive if you are consider running an individual business. Interesting for you could be also combining Sap capabilities with Hybris that is helping a lot for a new e-commerce platform an enhancing your supply chain capabilities services. Furthermore you can think on a CRM solution too. It depends on your budgeting strategy and how you prioritise your tasks. Also Business One is a full ERP solution so which package do you really want and need? Let me know if you need something more. Worked a lot in Product Management i have a deep focus on this matter. Best francesco
I help Dietary Supplement brands make more money
There is no clear call to action on the site. What do you want a visitor to do? What's the primary goal, the secondary goal, etc. Additionally there is no value proposition. Yes you have reviews but so what. If I am the ideal customer why should I do x goal? These 2 elements will have the biggest impact on conversion, not color or anything else.
International Tax Attorney and U.S. CPA
Based on the fact pattern you provided, it sounds like the entity would be classified as an investment club, so there are no licensing requirements, nor is the entity regulated by the SEC. If all of the LLC members are actively participating in the investment decisions, and you do not accept capital from outside passive investors, then you should be okay. However, you still need to be mindful of all state and local regulations that may apply to LLC's in your jurisdiction. I would recommend consulting an attorney to discuss your specific facts and circumstances.
Clarity Expert
There can be. Debt is generally 'cheaper' than equity and also allows for flexibility in the event of default. Further, tying up equity precludes other investments.
www.palmoilproduct.com
Do u know Sensational Marketing Campaign? that's what i called it ! Example: Build The Largest Handbags on Guinness worlds Record or the most Valueable Handbags with diamond/sapphire/diamond on it .....etc Result: your Brands will get covered up by media around the Worlds!!! You can Boost your campaign with PR to expanded Your Brands
Entrepreneur and Finance Operations Specialist.
You can simply divide equally among the three companies or divide the fee based on usage. Count the volume of mail received for each company. Each individual company's share would be Individual Company divided by the Total.
Clarity Expert
Use company card for any mileage that you are driving for business purposes. It'll make tracking and end-of-year reporting much simpler. You may not, however, use the mileage you drive to and from your office (the IRS labels that as commute mileage) as a tax-deductible business expense.
Author, Speaker, CEO
That sounds right, but in my experience it's a good idea to get the W9 before you pay them anything. Vendors have a tendency not to get you that information when you need it, especially if you only use them periodically. I have found the best way to be sure you get the W9 is to have them submit it before you send the first payment.
Custom Packaging Expert. Howtobuypackaging.com
Shipping components are expensive and unless you have the volume to buy in quantity vs small bundles is when you'll be able to shop around for a better deal. For example, Uline offers packaging in bundles of 8 or 25 as their minimum, this is stock item for which they order several thousands units of to keep the cost down. For you it fits because you can buy in small amounts at a time. However, if you have a need for 1000 at least or more units then buying from Uline is really expensive compared to what you could buy them for. Uline is a major distributor with a 45-50% markup on their items (give or take) as they have large warehousing and infrastructures. If you are ready to move to the next level, first find the correct material name for each packaging component, and look for suppliers of that particular item. Search websites likehttp://www.thomasnet.com/ for suppliers. Or go through a packaging broker instead of a distributor, like Landsberg Orora, or Ernest Packaging, and they can do all the leg work for you and still save money. Additionally, I know your drawing is not to scale, but there seems to be excess empty air space, if that is true then you can customize your packaging per exactly your needs, which will help to further bring the cost down. An engineer should take a look at your current situation because there is more at play than just shipping components - method of shipping, weight, weather condition, materials thickness etc all play a roll and can all contribute to cost saving while making the whole thing function better. This question is common enough that I've written tutorials on it http://howtobuypackaging.com/how-to-buy-packaging-part-1-determining-your-packaging-needs/.
Branding & Identity
3
Answers
Names, Domains, Sentences and Strategies
I'd strongly advise splitting into 2 brands with separate websites and names. Both can advertise and link to one another; so you'd be losing none of the benefit of cross-promotion. Obviously, you're offering 2 services that barely overlap. Installing stadium bleachers is very different from producing video ads for dentists and jewelers. Today the overlap seems like a real connection because those dentists and jewelers had seen your earlier sports-themed videos. But once you begin promoting the video service itself, you will be marketing to people who don't know about your bleachers. Those new customers will have seen your later videos – the ones about dentistry and earrings. Coming from that angle, they'll find the connection to sports and bleachers to be bizarre, confusing, distracting. Here are a few disadvantages to keeping 1 brand with 1 site: 1. If Jack or Jill wants to hire you for video, then finding "sports" in the brand name will harm your conversion rate online and offline. Don't give anybody an excuse to click away from your site, forget your name, or deem you less professional than the competition. 2. Some day, you might want to separate the 2 businesses – keeping 1 and selling the other. If you brand them separately and market distinct websites, then they're easier to disentangle. That way, each can thrive on its own. 3. Position yourself so that neither service gets in the way of the other. Suppose you get a negative review for the video service. (Disgruntled customers don't need to be right to make a stink.) If you've only got the 1 brand, then this negative review affects your stadium business. Better if they can be separated. 4. So you're dividing the screen. That may look OK on a laptop. However, more and more, consumers are viewing the internet on tiny mobile devices. Half of a tiny screen doesn't give you enough space to pitch EITHER of your services adequately. A phone is barely enough room for a small picture or video. Don't throw half of that away. Your competitors won't. My own professional specialty is naming and domains, in case you'd like advice or feedback. Good luck!
Impostor Syndrome Coach
I really like the idea of specific benefits. "Have more time" is vague, but "get to your daughter's dance concert" is specific. Generally, if you can make the value proposition specific and something that your prospective clients can relate to, you've got a much stronger position than if you offer them the opportunity to: "gain control of your life", or "have more freedom."