One of the best incentives for employees is recognition, reward them by communicating face-to-face about how great of a job they are doing. They will continue trying to please you. Another great incentive is to give them flexible hours. Other incentives that worked were giving employees prime parking, pizza parties, flip flop/jeans day, day off work pass and new office chair. Just be creative how you reward your employees and they will work hard. An incentive I don't recommend is cold hard cash.

I own a digital marketing agency and I LOVE helping people with technology solutions! There are soooo many different inexpensive/free tools and technology solutions out there that can really benefit your business! Some of the ones we use are Facebook's Power Editor, https://www.leadpages.net/, and Rebrandly. If you'd like some more suggestions, please reach out to me! You can also look at our awesome blog, which has lots of info: http://www.bloominari.com/blog

There is a tremendous amount of buzz surrounding content marketing and its need within a brand’s overall marketing strategy. Doing content marketing is much more than publishing on your blog occasionally and posting your thoughts on social media. “Do stuff and maybe it will work” is not a strategy, it is a gamble. A risky and expensive one, at that. Even so, many brands have yet to create an effective content marketing strategy. What does such a strategy look like? Where are the examples of brands doing it well? What is Content Marketing: Content marketing’s purpose is to attract and retain customers by consistently creating and curating relevant and valuable content with the intention of changing or enhancing consumer behavior. It is an ongoing process that is best integrated into your overall marketing strategy, and it focuses on owning media, not renting it. This generation of customers are taking drastic steps to avoid marketing messages. As consumers, we use DVRs to skip television ads, pay internet radio subscription fees to avoid commercials, mentally block out — or use plug-ins to avoid — internet click ads, and gloss over road-side billboards, rendering them useless and ineffective. So how are marketers supposed to combat this shift? Education. Consumers are still buying and making purchases, but the way they go about making a decision has changed. With all of the world’s information at their finger tips, savvy consumers are doing enormous amounts of learning and self-education before stepping into a showroom or talking to a salesperson. Knowing this is a huge opportunity for brands. If you know consumers are looking for information, be the source of that information. Not with sales-y content that puts your priorities before theirs, but information that the buyer really wants and needs. The Marketing and Sales Departments must align to create a buying path for this new era of consumers that provides authentic and transparent information about a product or service (the mission of Marketing) and closing the sale (the mission of Sales). Content marketing closes this gap by using brand-created educational content to satisfy the prospective buyer while helping the sales team convert anonymous visitors into buyers. Thought leaders and marketing experts from around the world, including the likes of Seth Godin and hundreds of the leading thinkers in marketing have concluded that content marketing isn’t just the future, it’s the present (see the video below on the history of content marketing). The key ingredient to using content to attract new customers is in the advanced planning. The strategy. What is a Content Marketing Strategy: A content marketing strategy is a roadmap; a “User’s Guide” to how your brand will do the following: - Meet the customer at their specific point within their buying cycle - Align the customer’s needs with your knowledge and expertise - Use your brand’s assets to meet these objectives Business-to-Business marketers who have a documented content marketing strategy are 66% more likely to consider themselves effective compared to only 11% of those without a documented strategy. A content marketing plan helps you see the end-game before you have even started. Further, it gives a clear, articulable vision for your entire team and keeps you on track throughout the campaign. Just like New Years resolutions often fade into a foggy memory, our intentions are good – but we allow resolutions to fail. To be successful in any strategy, we need to be intentional. For proper sales and marketing alignment, and for the success of your bottom line, you must have a plan in place. How to Start Your Content Strategy: The framework of a content marketing strategy is fairly straight forward: - Who are you targeting? What are their needs? - How are you going to reach them? (Attract new and nurture existing) - What content do you have now to get started? - What is your plan to develop and share more - How will you measure your efforts 1. Personas Take some time to consider who you are targeting. Are they male or female? Does it matter? Do they have a career? Children? Are they affluent? Coupon cutters? What are their goals? What happens if they do not reach them? Is their a monetary penalty for them? Will meeting this goal further their career? Will it make them happy? Clearly defining your targeted personas will save you a lot of time, energy, and money as you continue your business. With this person in mind, your content marketing strategy will begin to fall into place and you will feel that you are having a conversation with this “person”, rather than blindly throwing stuff out there. 2. Outreach Content marketing and social media are often used synonymously. This is a mistake. Content marketing is a broad method of marketing whereas social media is a tool that complements getting your content seen. Imagine your website as your online hub, where all of your brand-controlled content resides, your social media profiles are spokes that lead back to your home base. Social media has the power to reach incredible numbers of potential customers, influencers, existing customers, and even the opportunity to convert customers from competitors. Social media, in and of itself, is not content marketing. It is one of your outreach tools. 3. Available Content Next, take stock of materials you have on hand already. Many of us sit in offices filled with brochures, flyers, handouts, manuals, and documents loaded with helpful information, but we do little to extend that information to potential customers on the web. Make a list of the content available to you immediately and start identifying which persona is most aligned, where they are within their sales process, and what pain point they are currently facing. Getting started, you can use what you have on hand. But I recommend expecting this low-hanging fruit to run out. You should plan on developing your own, unique content. For a number of reasons, search engines reward fresh, unique content. Further, your prospective customers will be looking for information that is not available everywhere. Your unique perspective and “voice” (the tone in which you talk, the way you communicate, and what you share) may be the first experience a prospective customer has with you. This is the beginning of a long business relationship. 4. Schedule and Share Your Content After you have compiled your educational materials, grab a calendar. I recommend looking out 3-4 months to start. Mark holidays, special events, and milestones. Working backwards, prepare your marketing message for these campaigns. For example, one client of ours hosts 4-5 annual sales. They all surround major US holidays (New Years, President’s Day, Memorial Day, Labor Day, and Thanksgiving/Black Friday). By knowing this, it is easy for us to prepare everything from banner ads, Pinterest images, blog posts, Facebook Status, videos, and even newspaper ads (don’t shoot the messenger). Once you have those events marked, consider a “theme” of the week for those 3-4 months. With that theme, and your personas in mind, write out the following for each week: - 2 Blog Posts - 8-10 Facebook updates - 20-30 Twitter updates - 4-5 product photos for Pinterest - 3-4 Instagram ideas - 1 Video By no means is this list all-inclusive. It is a starting point to get you thinking about how to plan content. To get a specific content marketing plan designed for your brand, I need to interview you and understand your goals, personas, and timeline. 5. Analytics Finally, how are you going to measure your work? Remember when we set up our goals earlier? Were you specific in identifying how many leads you want to generate? “Get more leads” is a horrible strategy, better is “Gain 50 new leads by September 1st” or “increase from 6% conversion rate to 12% conversion rate” These types of goals are easily measured and tracked. Do you have a mechanism in place to measure, monitor, and gauge your efforts? Further, do you have the right people on your team to help you know what is working and what is not? Can you explain why certain marketing dollars are generating a return on your investment while others fall flat? Final Thoughts Just like runners know the course of the race before they start, your brand should know the route you will take to your finish line. Having a strong content marketing strategy in place will ensure your team is setup for success. Using content is a great way to use search engines to bring people to your website/blog. Then use that content to share on social media where your ideal reader is hanging out. If you'd like help, please drop me a note here. All the best, -Shaun

Hey! The first thing that you should consider when trying to rebrand is identify your market's most common objections. Why are consumers hesitant to purchase second hand clothing? Once you've identified these problem factors, you can start developing a strong marketing strategy. For example, second hand clothing often triggers thoughts of "old", "worn out", or even "out of style." None of these are very appealing, and will force consumers to look the other way. Consider how you can effectively combat these thoughts. A possible solution may be how you're marketing your products. If you're selling products piece by piece, you could try marketing entire outfits. By showcasing the second hand pieces as an entire outfit, you can show consumers that the items are very much in style. As someone who has always struggled with being stylish, buying second hand clothes can be very intimidating. This is especially true for people who don't feel they have the fashion sense to accurately pair unique items and create a great outfit. By selling the pieces as entire outfits, you take the guesswork out of the styling process and make it easy for these people to buy. I hope this begins to spark some creative ideas for you as you rebrand your marketplace. I'd love to speak with you about this some more, and develop a strong strategy together. Please feel free to give me a call!

www.internshala.com

According to Sensor Tower volumes Snapchat has no signs of desperation. Rebranding usually has nothing to do with desperation or failing products, more likely with a different market positioning. Snapchat could be sold tomorrow for around 15 billions with just 330 employees. To me this looks pretty successful !

You need to do two things to get calls. First, optimize your profile so it is clean and professional. Make sure you have a picture of yourself and images to go with each expertise offering. Complete all parts of your profile so potential callers aren't turned away by an incomplete, haphazard appearance. After all, without any reviews, your profile content and images are all they have to go on. Read up on copywriting to understand how to make what you are presenting compelling. Second, spread the word and get your name out there. Answers questions on here for topics you can help people with. Add a link back to your Clarity profile on anywhere you have a presence such as Facebook, Twitter, your website, email signature, etc. Also mention your Clarity profile when you help them with something too so they can follow-up and book a call. If you need help with any of this, I'd be glad to chat further, just shoot me a message.

Hi, this is an issue faced by many entrepreneurs. I've sold two businesses and have been a business broker where I helped to sell over 35 others and I've learned from my own experiences and from observing others. Here's what you need to ask yourself: 1. Is there another project I wish to take on right away? 2. Could I use a rest? Employees are better able to forget the workplace once they leave the office. 3. Do I have a sense of duty to the employees to ensure the transition has a solid foundation? Even though you're no longer the owner you may still care deeply about the business and wish to see it succeed. Deciding to stay is not a 'forever' decision. Keeping active and earning while truly enjoying weekends and vacation can give you a rest while leaving your finger in the pulse to identify your next opportunity. Me, I left. In one case I was too excited for the next thing. In the next, there was no place for me. Cheers, Arrange a call if you'd like to chat. Dave

There are a number of blog writing / content creation & management resources: Zery's, ion, Ceros, Kapost, for example. However, your best bet is to handle this process in-house on behalf of your clients. Use LinkedIn to connect with freelance writers. Your best results will come when you can partner with a freelance writer who has a basic understanding of the topics you are looking to have covered. Let me know if you need any more guidance. I've operated an agency for 15+ years and now consult on the topic of running an agency (specifically outsourcing such tasks). -Shaun

Use Wordpress if you're familiar with Office tools like Word. Watch some videos on Youtube to learn about it. Advantage: you own the domain. If you're not, there are plenty of drag-and-drop builders available out there. Disadvantage: you don't own the domain; it's a subdomain of the host eg. yoursite.wix.com

Having worked in this area, both as a client and as a consultant, customer understanding is a key to differentiating yourself from your competition. First a personal belief: surveys are the worst tool to uncover any insights. They are best used to quantify how many do X. There are a couple of ways we look for insights into customer behavior, and they are both related by fact that you learn by observation. First is to have your customer demonstrate how they use your product/service, or the product you want to replace, in their normal situation. Ideally you let them run through once just observing what they are doing while taking notes. Then ask them to go through it again where you ask them open-ended questions as they go along. No judgement, just watch and learn. The second way is to engage them in a serious game, something like the ones we use from Conteneo.co. These are frameworks designed to have the customer create things like the Product Box which encapsulates the key features, benefits, etc. that they are looking for in an ideal product/service like your. The reason these techniques work well is that the customer is comfortable, they are not being interrogated, and you are cast in the role of the observer, so you're not selling! Let us know if there's something we can do to help you with this, because it's an important question.

Do the opposite. Think about it from their point of view. They get requests like these all the time and most of the time the request comes from random people they don't know. That would be kind of annoying right? You get an email from someone you don't know but they want you to do something for them? You'd delete that email too. Best way to get their attention...get a referral from someone they know and trust. Get someone else they know and trust to introduce you (this is the whole reason I built my business www.reverralriver.com). Referrals work the best. Second best way...develop a relationship with them before asking for anything. Don't email and ask for something right away. You wouldn't ask someone to marry you on a first date would you? Develop the relationship slowly. Give them value before ever asking for anything in return. Over just a few short weeks you could easily establish a relationship to the point where you could actually mention an "ask" which should be very open-ended and create absolutely zero work/friction for the person you are asking. One of my favorite techniques to warm-up a relationship...just email and tell them you appreciated (insert an article they wrote or service they provide, whatever, just stroke their ego). Tell them you're a fan and often point people their way. Then go way above and beyond and find their physical mailing address (it's not that hard to do) and send them a small gift or hand-written postcard in the mail just to say thanks. Then email them once you know they got it and just say thanks again. Then start emailing them various articles or things they might think are valuable, I'd say no more than once every 4 days. Connect on LinkedIN and message them funny pictures or GIF's. Show them you're human. Make them laugh and smile and just say "Hey I appreciate all you've done so just wanted to return the favor and make you smile (insert funny GIF here)". Then, once they know who you are, don't ask them directly to partner...ask them if they know anyone who would be interested in partnering. Below is a template I've used with great success...and the beauty is that they will often ask for more info and get interested themselves, but usually only if you have offered them some sort of value to stand out amongst the crowd. --- Hey (prospect first name), Hope you laughed at the last GIF I sent. I was just wondering if you knew anyone that would be interested in a partnership/affiliate opportunity… Real quick summary… I’m building a SaaS that automates the process of asking for referrals…it uses artificial intelligence to find potential leads in your existing customers network and makes it super simple for your customers to make the referral (one click of a button). If you know anyone that has an audience of people that would benefit from something like this I'd be grateful for an intro. I won't let you down I promise if you can make an intro. I’ll draft up all the marketing material and do all of the work, so all they would have to do is say “ok”, hit copy, paste, and send and I’d be happy to pay them 25% commission for life (or if there is another payment structure in mind I’m happy to talk about it) So what do you think? Can you help me out? Thanks, Parker ---- If you found this useful please upvote. Book a call with me if you want to know more or if I can help further.

Hello. I hope you are doing well! Are you trying to get your products into the EU through Croatia? Are you producing anything or only trading? Based on the information you provided, I would try contacting the local authorities or customs, you will have different fares depending on the direction of the shipment. Hope my answer was helpful, kind regards, Ignacio.

I know a few, send me your details and I'll see what I can do to connect you with them.

To speak I do not have contacts in the Industry. Saying this I would have a suggestion The subject of Revenue Valuations has five main principles Through having a very imminent finances to overcome debt. Then trying to find a solution to just capable ways of under following through preparatory subjects. I have a very knowledge through the related study. Then to trying to propose a solution I need to understand your key parameters to include an overwhelming process of deep justification to report the entered agreements. The given subsidy to evaporate the gathering info related to predetermined aspects related to funding and then approaching the veteran leaders of natural tendency The evaluation generally coincides with the negotiated matters of degree at which the main components of valuation are needed The approach is to find the details and then ask a negotiating financial advisor on your behalf to overcome the tendencies of natural inclination to prepare the differentiated models Saying these I request you to contact me if you are interested in another opinion not directly related to the subject but try to analyse the situation through elements and concepts related to building net worth individuals of highly regarded mentions. Thank You Karnati Kiran https://clarity.fm/karnatikiran

There are many consultants, brokers, appraisers and other experts who value businesses and cash flows. I do Most Probable Selling Price evaluations for my clients in most of the Western World. The problem with a pre-revenue enterprise is that you'd be relying on projections. Anyone who wants to buy a business is doing so because they wish to make money. This comes in one of two forms; cash flow from the subject business or savings because the subject business helps the acquirer save money. Acquirers sometimes also consider synergies. For example: how much money could they make if they offered your product/service to their existing customer base. The difficulty in the valuation process is deciding upon the reliability of the projections or trying to guess/estimate the savings or synergistic value to a potential acquirer who may not be known. If you did want to hire a valuation specialist to create an opinion, it would likely have a stern warning to readers about the subjective nature of the input data. Please arrange a call if you'd like to discuss your scenario and why you're looking for this type of expert. David Barnett

Great question! I love questions like this ones. First off forget about Silicon Valley. If you are not here with that sort of relationship you will spend a lot of resources before you make something sustainable here. Second, you mention you've had some success - ok, why aren't you simply making that effort that has worked more efficient and thus grow that effort scale to in return scale up your success rate? Emails are for long term nurturing not for quick generation. What I would suggest is first never show up empty handed, when you do make contact with one agency, know what they do and who for, offer directly related solutions for 1 client only. If you do a good job there they might build the relationship on their end. With that said, don't pitch for long term pitch for an opportunity to save money or time or etc once. Sorry but I gotta go, short reply. If you have any further questions let me know :)

What I've done is write a book... Eventually there were 4 books and other special reports. I sell them on Amazon but often give them away to prospective clients. There is no greater pleasure than to submit a proposal to a prospect which includes the words...' I am an expert in this area and the author of the 2014 Best-Selling book on the topic... The second step is to implement a social media strategy based on groups. Set up a call with me if you'd like to know what else I've done. Cheers Dave

Technically. Zero. Is just an image source change. If you're hiring someone then whatever they charge per hour x 1 hour lol. Good luck

The return is due March 15 for the previous year. Your S-corp doesn't pay taxes, it files a form 1120S informational return. The 1120S produces a form k-1 that states your share of the companies income and other items. You report that k-1 on Schedule E of your Form 1040 in April. You have to file the 1120S every year whether you made money or not. Definitely find a professional, the 1120S is not easy to do.

The one and only thing you should do to validate your idea is... Pre-sell the solution. TAKE MONEY. Real actual money. The only way to tell if something is viable is to take money from people who will buy it. Don't be fooled by people who say you can't do this. Apple does this all the time. The people you are looking for are called "early adopters". This is how I validated my business (www.referralriver.com) I talked to my target market (people I thought I could help and who I also thought could buy or actually had money to buy). At the end of the conversation I asked if they would pre-purchase the solution before it was made. Many didn't but some did. After I had enough people that purchased I could determine that yes this is a valid idea and worth pursuing. My general rule: Pre-sell to at least 10 people. If your solution/service/ or product has a lifetime value (LTV) of less than $1,000 then you need more than 10 pre-sales to validate. I happen to be in software so that's a subscription model so for that industry any solution that costs less than $50 per month per user is very difficult to build and be successful at, so a minimum of 10 pre-sales of at least $50 per month per user would validate an idea for me. Before finding this one I went through maybe 10 other ideas and decided not to pursue them (mostly because no one would pay for the solution before it was built!) Don't ask "hey would this be useful?" or "would you pay for this if it existed?" Ask for the sale now. If people don't pre-purchase this "idea"...then it's crap. Sorry, but guess what?! That's great news. You get to move on instead of wasting your time, money, and resources building something that no one will buy. If you want to know more, or if you find this useful, book a time with me. Happy to help. Please upvote this answer if you found it useful.

Try Google For Startups, StartUp Weekend, and Amazon Web Serices for Small Business. Good luck :)

With all due respect, this seemingly simple question has a complex answer. Much akin to "How do I drive a car?" The most basic overview I can come up with goes like this: 1. Decide on a niche There are a million freelance website designers. What makes you different and how can you offer something to your client that other may not be able to? 2. Connect with those who need your services to build a portfolio Reach out to non-profits or small businesses to get started. You will need a portfolio and client recommendations as you grow. By getting this done early, you can use them to get larger, better paying clients 3. Build your network by offering valuable advice for those who may not know they need you Use a platform like LinkedIn or Facebook to educate small business owners on the benefits of having a well-designed website. Offer tips on how to manage a website redesign, what to look for in a designer, how to manage a web project, etc. This plants the seed in the mind of your next customer and positions you in a place of authority 4. Have a process and system for growing your freelance business Communication and time management are two areas freelancers of any industry struggle with. Having a process in place early will help you effectively grow without dropping the ball on the many projects you may have going at the same time. Again, this is a very (very) high level overview. There are also considerations for pricing, demonstrating value (vs competing on price), lead generation and nurturing, outsourcing, and moving from project-based work to retainer work. I would be happy to discuss this more with you, if you'd like. Drop me a note. Best of luck! -Shaun

Every major city has some sort of network of angel investors or VCs. Do a quick google search in your area for incubators/accelerators. They typically have public facing events where you can go in and network. Since you're post-revenue you should be able to find interested people pretty easily. If you need help researching places, let me know.

In my business, positive bottom line equals bonus for everybody. Percentage of salary to employees - same for all, up to three months salary. That is simple and works well, and is aligned with overall goals. And it is easy to report where we are. We don't have sales targets, which we maybe should have. Depending on your business type that may not be feasible for you-startups don't make money initially. But building on your idea, hitting targets is important. Both growth and quality. People will behave as they are measured and challenging targets will help you create a sense of urgency instead of entitlement. (However, increase risk of suboptimization). I think hitting sales targets, finishing projects on time and budget combined with NPS for both sales and project process should be enough. You don't need many targets, but use them all the time, talk about them with your team, incl. what you are trying to achieve. KPI's are no substitute for leadership; your team needs to know what your intent is. One way of showing your commitment to quality could be to collect NPS yourself through customer interviews. That would also inspire new ideas, and give you better market knowledge. Given the size of your team that should be feasible. Good luck. Should you want to talk more to someone with a business of similar size, feel free to give me a call. Best regards Kenneth Wolstrup